Africa : 08 july 2010 [Brazil leader offers $240m debt waiver] -

Daily Africa News

{jcomments on}OMAR, BXL, AGNEWS, le 08 juillet 2010 — Visiting Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva yesterday offered to write off a more than $240 million (about Sh336 billion) debt Tanzania owes his country. Speaking in Dar es Salaam, the Brazilian leader said his country was ready to discuss the modalities of relieving Tanzania of the burden.

BURUNDI :

RWANDA

France Requests S Africa To Extradite Ex-Rwandan General
7/8/2010 /(RTTNews)

(RTTNews) – France has sought South Africa’s help in the extradition of a replaced ex-Rwandan Chief of Army Staff to face charges for his alleged role in the 1994 assassination of leaders of Rwanda and Burundi.

Lieutenant-General Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa was found guilty in 2006 for his involvement in shooting down an aircraft in 1994, killing former presidents of Rwanda and Burundi and sparking a civil war in that African country which left hundreds of thousands dead.

Nyamwasa, who was the chief of staff of the Rwandan Army until this year, fled to South Africa via Uganda after he fell out of favor with Rwandan president Paul Kagame, and sought asylum there.

A Justice Ministry spokesman confirmed the French request, which was made in addition that of Rwanda. South Africa is expected to consider the request from Rwanda first before taking up that of France.

The former military head survived an alleged assassination attempt recently outside his house in Johannesburg, in which four men are currently facing charges.

He is also wanted in Rwanda for alleged involvement in mortar attacks in country’s capital, Kigali, in February this year in which one person died and more than 30 others were injured.

And in 2008, a Spanish court issued a warrant for his arrest for alleged involvement in the murder of nine Spanish missionaries and humanitarian workers in that African country.

by RTT Staff Writer

UGANDA

Cnooc, Tullow in ‘Final Discussions’ for Uganda’s Oil
Bloomberg /July 8, 2010

July 8 (Bloomberg) — Cnooc Ltd., China’s biggest offshore energy explorer, said it’s in “final discussions” on cooperating with Tullow Oil Plc to develop three oil blocks in Uganda’s Lake Albert basin.

The Beijing-based company is “happy” with the Uganda government’s conditional approval for Tullow’s purchase of assets from Heritage Oil Plc, spokesman Jiang Yongzhi said by telephone today. Shares of Cnooc rose in Hong Kong trading.

Tullow, the U.K. explorer with the most licenses in Africa, had agreed earlier this year to buy Heritage’s interest in two Uganda blocks. Heritage had originally expected the sale to be cleared in the first quarter. The approval, delayed by tax issues, will pave the way for Tullow to bring in Cnooc and Total SA to help develop blocks 1, 2 and 3A in Lake Albert.

The U.K. explorer is enlisting partners to help shoulder an estimated $5 billion needed to develop the fields. About 1.5 billion barrels of oil are still to be discovered in the basin, according to Tullow estimates.

Cnooc aims to increase production by as much as 27 percent this year to help meet demand from the world’s second-biggest energy consumer. China’s economy may grow 10.1 percent in 2010, according to a Bloomberg survey of 27 economists.

Shares of Cnooc gained 2.2 percent to HK$12.98 at 10:30 a.m. local time, compared with the 1.5 percent increase in the benchmark Hang Seng Index.

–Wang Ying. With assistance from Chua Baizhen in Beijing. Editors: Ryan Woo, Ang Bee Lin.

Hoax Underscores Urgency for LGBT People in Uganda
Post by Candace Chellew-Hodge/www.religiondispatches.org/July 8, 2010

Reports that the man whose head was found in a latrine in Uganda worked for a pro-gay group in the country have proven to be false. Integrity USA, a group representing LGBT Episcopalians, has confirmed that the dead man, Pasikali Kashusbe, was not associated with Integrity Uganda.

Bishop Christopher Senyonjo—recently returned from his seven-week speaking tour of the United States and Ireland—today issued a public statement on recent reports that the headless body of an Integrity Uganda member had been found in Uganda…
“I have never worked with anyone who goes by the name Pasikali in my organization. I also did not make any comments as quoted in earlier statements made by Rev. Erich Kasirye. Rev. Erich Kasirye no longer has any legitimate connection to Integrity Uganda.

Rev. Kasirye appeared as a source in the original story, but he was apparently kicked out of Integrity Uganda in 2004 for fraudulent activity according to Bishop Senyonjo. Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin believes Kasirye may be involved in the hoax.

Some believe that the story was planted by Kasirye to discredit the Ugandan LGBT community, foreign bloggers, and Integrity Uganda specifically when the story is inevitably revealed to be a fraud. Other possibilities include Kasirye’s using this story for another run at fraudulent fundraising. At any rate, it’s hard not to imagine the source of the story somehow tracing itself back to Kasirye himself in some form or fashion.
Burroway, whose reporting on Uganda since the introduction of the anti-homosexuality bill has been impeccable, issued an apology for perpetuating the false story:

To say that knowing that this web site helped to propagate that hoax is humiliating would be an understatement. We’ve worked hard at BTB in establishing our credibility, and I believe that a key component of that is also to maintain an atmosphere of transparency and accountability when we get it wrong.
The more profound damage, Burroway fears, however, is that this hoax will damage the fight for LGBT rights in Uganda.

This hoax can provide ammunition to our opponents who would try to use it as proof that LGBT people are deliberately spreading rumors and falsehoods. It can be used as a “crying wolf” case to dismiss future reports in which LGBT people are really attacked and killed. The hoax can be used as an excuse to silence LGBT people, organizations, and news outlets. It can give someone an idea for a copycat crime. It can do so many other damaging things as well, and knowing that I was a part of its spread is something that I am deeply sorry for.
Burroway is to be commended for his fine reporting on this issue. He trusted a source that had, up until now, been credible. He’s not the first serious journalist to be taken in by a scammer and he won’t be the last. I expect Burroway’s reporting on Uganda from this point to continue to be top-notch.

The story was so believable because the atmosphere in Uganda is ripe for just this kind of violence against people who are gay or lesbian or are perceived as such. With the anti-homosexuality law still pending, this issue is front and center in the country. Christian conservatives in the United States also continue to fuel the flames of homophobia in Uganda making life even more difficult for gays and lesbians there.

As The Rev. Canon Albert Ogle, Integrity USA’s Vice President for National and International Affairs noted, the hoax is a call to LGBT advocates around the world to redouble their efforts to foster full acceptance of LGBT people everywhere in the world – and most especially where they face the prospect of violence and death on a daily basis.

”This story is a wakeup call for all of us to ensure that something like it will never actually happen. The climate of fear and intimidation created by the Bahati Bill by external organizations like Exodus International and religious leadership in Uganda has increased the potential for violence against the LGBT community and their families. We cannot allow the rhetoric of misinformation and misinterpretation of Holy Scriptures to justify hatred and fear towards our fellow human beings.”

TANZANIA:

Brazil leader offers $240m debt waiver
Thursday, 08 July 2010/thecitizen.co.tz/By Frank Kimboy

Visiting Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva yesterday offered to write off a more than $240 million (about Sh336 billion) debt Tanzania owes his country. Speaking in Dar es Salaam, the Brazilian leader said his country was ready to discuss the modalities of relieving Tanzania of the burden.

Mr Da Silva, who is on his first official trip to the country, told his host, President Jakaya Kikwete, at Ikulu, during their talks that there was great possibility that Brazil would cancel the debt, considering the growing close relations between the two countries.

Talks on the issue, involving teams to be headed by Finance ministers of the two countries, are expected to start soon.

Mr Da Silva said the debt waiver to Tanzania was part of Brazil’s deliberate moves to ensure that the least developed and developing countries team up to liberate themselves.

He said that for many years, Brazil had been extending loans to poor countries but it had now started to review the debts to help ease the problems of some of the poor countries.

“If we can lend money to the IMF to support various economic activities in Africa and Asia, why can’t we review our debt to Tanzania and find out ways to cancel it?” he posed.

President Kikwete thanking his visitor for the pledge, said the $240 million was accumulated debt, interest and penalties imposed after the country failed to pay the $49 million it borrowed in 1980, to construct the Morogoro-Dodoma highway.

He said that if Brazil would cancel the debt, it would be a big relief to the country, as it had not been able to service the loan for some time.

“I must admit that we, as a country, due to financial difficulties and various economic development setbacks, have failed to repay the loan… and I express my sincere gratitude to His Excellency, Da Silva and Brazil, at large, for this gesture,” President Kikwete said.

President Da Silva made his announcement during the second of his two-day official visit.

For his part, President Kikwete said he was disappointed about the trade imbalance between the two countries. Available statistics show that Tanzania exports goods worth only $30,000 (about Sh42 million) annually to Brazil, while it imports from the South American country goods worth $12.1 million (about Sh16.9 billion).

However, he was optimistic that President Da Silva’s visit and Brazil’s participation in the Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF) were good signals that the situation would change soon.

“The unfair trade balance between the two countries is due to lack of awareness by the traders on what each of our countries has to offer to another but I am positive things will change soon,” Mr Kikwete said.

The two leaders also witnessed the signing of three Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) between the two countries. The deals signed include an agreement to tackle climate change, the training of diplomats in Brazil, and an exchange of students in the field of ethanol fuel between Petroleum Brasiliero of Brazil and Tanzania Petroleum Development Company (TPDC).

Before meeting President Kikwete, Mr Da Silva had officiated at the closing ceremony of this year’s DITF, at the Mwalimu Nyerere Grounds on Kilwa Road in Dar es Salaam.

Closing the 34th DITF, President Da Silva presented prizes to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), the University of Dar es Salaam and the Small Industries Development Organisation (Sido) for emerging first, second and third among the exhibitors.

Earlier, the visiting Brazilian leader had met with members of the business communities from both countries.

Speaking during the meeting, Mr Da Silva urged Africa to invest heavily in the production of biofuels. He said this would see Africa eradicate poverty by having an alternative source of energy source and reducing the heavy dependence on hydro-electric power.

He said should Africa invest in massive biofuel production to attract capital from many of the developed countries. He said the product could also earn Africa a lot of revenue, as many countries were looking for alternative energy sources.

He said some investors had been reluctant to put their resources in Africa because of lack of a reliable source of energy.

He praised Tanzania for formulating good environmental policies, which were a prerequisite for investment in the production of biofuels.

Mr Da Silva said his visit to Tanzania, was his 27th to an African country since he became president. It was aimed at opening a new era for his country as well as for Africa from which the both parties could mutually benefit due to improved economic relations.

He said since Brazil was advanced in technology on tropical agriculture, and he would influence its transfer to Africa to enable the continent address food security challenges.

Brazil’s National Development Bank, he said, was in talks with the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) to earmark several projects in Africa, which could be sponsored by Brazil.

Mr Da Silva advised Tanzania to build a self-sufficient economy that would ensure that the country would not be adversely affected by the global economic crisis, as happened last year.

Brazil, Russia, India and China, the so-called BRIC group of emerging powers, have gained clout over the past decade as their economies grew faster than those of the developed countries. Together they accounted for about 22 per cent of the world economy in 2008, up from 16 per cent a decade earlier, based on the widely followed measure of purchasing power parity.

Real economic growth from 1999 through 2008 averaged 9.75 per cent in China, seven per cent in both India and Russia, and 3.3 per cent in Brazil.

CONGO RDC :

Red Cross Assists Thousands of Displaced in Remote Area of DRC
Lisa Schlein | Geneva /www1.voanews.com/08 July 2010

The International Committee of the Red Cross has begun the distribution of seed, agricultural and fishing tools to some 35,000 people in Equateur province, a remote region in northern Democratic Republic of Congo. The aid will allow tens of thousands of people in the town of Dongo and the surrounding area to plant their crops in time for the next harvest in November.

Almost the entire town of Dongo, some 100,000 people, fled ethnic clashes that erupted in October. The violence between rival tribal groups erupted over farming and fishing rights.

Most people fled to the neighboring Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic. But, tens of thousands have remained in the DRC and several thousands have returned to Dongo to try to pick up their lives as best they can.

Red Cross Spokeswoman, Nicole Engelbrecht, says both the returnees and the displaced are in dire need of help.

“They did not have the possibility to plant seeds due to the violence that broke out there in October of last year,” she said. “So, they have a hard time providing for themselves. A lot of the infrastructure such as schools, health centers and the markets were partly destroyed by looters over the past few months. So, it is really a difficult situation that, indeed, very few people know about and not very many talk about.”

Englebrecht says many people would like to return to Dongo, but are discouraged from doing so because of the damage done to their homes.

She says it is very important to help people reconstruct their houses. So, the ICRC plans to employ local workmen to repair 1,000 houses.

“We pay people to construct the houses, maybe people from other families who do not have the same problems,” she said. “And, then they on their behalf, they can invest the money they earn for something else they might need. So, this whole system boosts the local economy. There are two groups of people who benefit from reconstructing their houses. The people who will eventually live in them again and those who are paid for rebuilding the houses.”

The Red Cross seed distribution operation will benefit 25,000 people. The organization also will provide 2,000 fishermen with fishing equipment to replace that which was looted so they can resume their trade.

Besides this, Englebrecht says the Red Cross is working to restore contact between family members who became separated during the violence.

She says two children already have been reunited with their parents, and seven others living in the neighboring Republic of the Congo are waiting to rejoin their families in the DRC.

She says the ICRC currently is trying to track down the parents of more than 130 children in Equateur province who became separated from them.

KENYA :

Kenya: How Country’s Wretched of the Earth Are Abused
Walter Menya/ daily nation/allafrica.com/8 July 2010

Nairobi — She has been in a battle of her life against HIV-related complications, and Nicoletta Kambura is not giving up. Yet far from the robust, fun-loving manager of an orphanage in Mathare’s Kosovo estate, Ms Kambura is a pale shadow of her former self.

In 2006, she was gang-raped by four men who infected her with the Aids virus, hardy 100 metres from her one-room home. She had gone to the “toilet” in Athara, one of the open fields that residents of this informal settlement run to for lack of sanitary facilities. It was 8pm, but for residents here, that is late enough to be mugged, raped, even killed by gangs that roam the slums.

They pounced

“They did not waste time. They pounced on me at once and tore off my clothes,” the single mother of two teenage boys told the Nation. She shouted for help but none was forthcoming. “I also feared that they might decide to kill me if I attracted the attention of other people,” she added.

In a place where residents rarely venture outside their shanties after 5pm, no one would dare risk coming to the rescue of another, even if it is a next-door neighbour, explains Ms Kambura. The following morning, she reported the matter to Muthaiga police station. It is the only one around for the hundreds of thousands of slum dwellers and the up market residents of Muthaiga estate.

To date, no one has been arrested for the crime as Ms Kambura continues to suffer the pain and stigma of HIV slowly eating up her soul and person. She fell sick soon after the rape. With no support from any quarter, she closed her orphanage. “I feel a lot of guilt because I left the innocent children to go into wilderness.

“I was their mother and father and I feel a lot of pain. It was forced on me and I would reverse it given a chance,” her voice trails off as emotion takes over. Like Ms Kambura, many women in the sprawling slums live in fear of rape by marauding young men whenever they step out at night.

Raping daughter

Last year, a 13-year old school girl was raped in the same field Ms Kambura met her tormentors. This time though, it was the father of the girl who was lying in wait for victims, and so ended up raping his own daughter. The man was arrested and is currently serving a prison sentence.

On Monday this week, a 10-year-old mentally ill girl died after she was continuously raped by two men who have not been arrested. The girl was walking alone late in the evening when two men pounced on her and for two days, she went missing. She was found in pretty bad shape on Friday last week and admitted to Blue House Hospital on Juja road. She died after being discharged. The mother refused to report the case for fear of reprisals.

Ms Kambura says cases of rape have become normal occurrences in Mathare. Amnesty International, the global human rights organisation asserts in a report released on Wednesday, that fear of attack has left women and girls in Nairobi’s slums prisoners in their homes. The report, Insecurity and Indignity: Women’s experiences in the Slums of Nairobi found that women are too scared to leave their houses to use communal toilets.

It details how the government’s failure to incorporate slums in urban planning has resulted in poor access to services. Consequently, gangs have taken that space to terrorise residents, with women bearing the brunt. “Women in Nairobi’s informal settlements become prisoners in their own homes at night and sometimes ell before it is dark,” said Godfrey Odongo Amnesty International East Africa researcher.

“They need more privacy than men when going to the toilet or taking a bath and the inaccessibility of facilities make women vulnerable to rape, leaving them trapped in their own homes.” The situation is compounded by the lack of police presence in the slums. For instance, Kibera with a population of a million people does not have a single police station, Amnesty says in the report.

Women especially find solace in flying toilets — using plastic bags thrown from the home to dispose of waste and human excreta. This creates yet another health hazard for the slum dwellers. With few toilet and bathrooms, and the state of insecurity, women have to bathe in full view of relatives and children. Only 24 per cent of residents in Nairobi’s informal settlements have to toilets at home.

Ms Kambura shares a one-room shanty with her sons who are both in secondary school in the middle of Kosovo area. In the house are two beds — the boys sharing one, the second for their mother. Between the beds and in the middle of the room is a table. In one corner are water containers and washbasins.

She stretches her hand out and points: “That is our bathroom.” At another end, she shows us where she keeps the polythene bags for the “flying toilets”. “Whenever I want to bathe, I simply tell my sons to sit outside for a few minutes. It is normal here. We cannot simply afford to take another risk one more time,” she says.

Amnesty says that the government’s commitment to meet the Millennium Development Goal of meeting sanitation has faltered and fails to address the specific needs of women who face the threat of violence. The government has also been criticised for failing enforce the requirement that landlords to provide sanitation.

“There is a huge gap between what the government commits to do and what is going on in the slums every day,” observes Mr Odongo. “Kenya’s national policies recognise the rights to sanitation and there are laws and standards. However, because of decades of failure to recognise slums and informal settlements, planning laws and regulations are not enforced. “

Lack of enforcement, Mr Odongo explains, has let landlords and structure owners off the hook for failing to provide any toilets or bathrooms for tenants. But the inability to access toilets and bathrooms also boils down to the economic status of most residents many of whom are unemployed. Others do menial jobs to earn a living.

Ms Kambura for instance, treks every morning to Eastleigh estate to wash clothes. She does laundry and other household chores for a paltry pay of Sh100 a day. Armed with Sh100, her Budget reads something like this: One kilo of maize meal, Sh50; vegetables, Sh20; paraffin, Sh20; cooking oil, Sh5; and water Sh5 — bringing the total to Sh100. Other times, there is no job and she has to trek back home, tired and hungry.

The only public toilet built through CDF that serves the village costs Sh5 per visit. The thinking here is simple; Why pay Sh5 for a single visit or to shower when the same amount will afford one 20 litres of water for the entire family? “We hope one day, the government in its priorities will remember us and provide us with policemen, quicker justice and sanitation. Till then, we will continue to use the flying toilets,” she said.

Kenya: Polls Agency May Go to Court Over Autonomy
8 July 2010/daily nation/allafrica.com

Nairobi — The electoral commission may seek the constitutional court’s interpretation of its independence if it continues to be denied resources by the government.

Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) chairman Isaack Hassan made the remarks on Wednesday just hours before a meeting with officials from the Finance and Justice m
inistries failed to take off.

The meeting, which was scheduled for the afternoon, was pushed to today because the officials were unavailable. Mr Hassan said that they had decided to first seek Parliament’s intervention after the Treasury failed to allocate the required funds for the August 4 referendum.

He noted that financial independence would enable the commission to act in a more independent way. “We may have to go to court and seek a constitutional interpretation of our independence,” Mr Hassan said.

The electoral boss added that while the commission had procured all the materials needed for the referendum, the money allocated could not cater for all the logistics and personnel.

Mr Hassan indicated that the commission needed 200,000 clerks for the 31,000 polling stations in the country.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi has asked the government to ensure that all institutions involved in the August 4 referendum have the resources they need.

He said that the government had the obligation to ensure that institutions like the Committee of Experts and the Interim Independent Electoral Commission have the resources needed to discharge their duties.

Kenyan Government Agrees to Raise Police Wages by a Quarter, Daily Reports
By Sarah McGregor /www.bloomberg.com/ Jul 8, 2010

Kenya agreed to increase the salaries of police officers by about a quarter in an effort to improve morale and help motivate them to fight crime, Business Daily reported, citing Internal Security Minister George Saitoti.

Junior officers will get a 28 percent pay rise while senior officials will earn 25 percent more, the Nairobi-based newspaper said, without giving the salary amounts.

The East African nation’s government also plans to provide police with more equipment, including 1,000 new vehicles, closed-circuit television cameras and a forensic laboratory in the capital Nairobi, Business Daily said.

ANGOLA :

SOUTH AFRICA:

S.Africa’s rand firms against dollar, stock futures up
Thu Jul 8, 2010 /Reuters

* Rand firms on risk appetite, government bonds flat

* Stock futures point to strong bourse open

JOHANNESBURG, July 8 (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand edged up against the dollar on Thursday ahead of manufacturing and business confidence data expected to give further clues on the state of the domestic economy.

Statistics South Africa will release May manufacturing data at 1100 GMT, with analysts seeing a year-on-year slowdown from April. The business confidence data is due out at 0930 GMT.

At 0643 GMT the rand ZAR=D3 was trading at 7.5890 against the dollar, firming by 0.21 percent from its previous close of 7.6050, as investors tip-toed back towards risky assets.

“With equity markets in the black it means that it’s going to be a day of risk on, I would expect dollar/rand to trade heavier today in line with other risky assets and other emerging market currencies,” a trader in Johannesburg said.

“We have the business confidence numbers out today. Depending on how that goes, I think that might add a bit of impetus to this move lower,” he added.

Central Bank Governor Gill Marcus on Wednesday cautioned that fiscal problems in the euro zone would have adverse consequences for the local economy, as South Africa exports a third of its products to the troubled region.

Local stocks looked set to open higher, with the JSE’s blue-chip blue chip Top-40 September futures contract ALSIc1 up 1.24 percent ahead of the 0700 GMT start of trade.

Government bonds were flat, with the yields on the benchmark 2015 bond ZAR157= and the longer-dated 2036 ZAR209= issue subsequently unchanged from Wednesday’s closing levels at 7.77 percent and 8.805 percent respectively. (Reporting by Xola Potelwa, editing by Mike Peacock)

AFRICA / AU :

APN, BHP, GPT Group, Qantas, Rio, Woodside: Australian, New Zealand Stocks
By Lisa Pham and Shani Raja /www.bloomberg.com/ Jul 8, 2010

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 2.4 percent to 4,356.70 at the close of trading in Sydney, the biggest gain since June 3. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index advanced 0.8 percent to 2,983.93 in Wellington.

The following were among the most active shares in the market today. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names.

Mining shares: Copper futures for September climbed 1.5 percent to $3.015 a pound in New York yesterday.

BHP Billiton (BHP AU), the world’s largest mining company, rose 2 percent to A$38.16. Rio Tinto Group (RIO AU), the world’s third-largest mining company, gained 1.8 percent to A$67.05. CuDeco Ltd. (CDU AU), formerly known as Australian Mining Investments Ltd., jumped 10 percent to A$4.65.

Oil companies: Crude rose for a second day in New York. Oil for August delivery gained as much as 1.4 percent to $75.10 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL AU), Australia’s second- largest oil and gas producer, climbed 1.9 percent to A$42.09. Rival Santos Ltd. (STO AU) increased 2.5 percent to A$12.76. New Zealand Oil and Gas (NZO NZ) rose 4.2 percent to NZ$1.24 in Wellington.

Gold producers: Bullion for immediate delivery advanced 0.2 percent to $1,204.73 an ounce at 1:25 p.m. in Singapore, rising for a second day.

Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCM AU), Australia’s biggest gold producer, increased 2.1 percent to A$34.18. Eldorado Gold Corp. (EAU AU) gained 1.5 percent to A$19.23.

Retailers: Australian jobs growth capped the best quarter in almost four years in June, with employers adding 45,900 workers last month, a statistics bureau report showed in Sydney. That beat all 22 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey of economists.

Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. (HVN AU), Australia’s biggest furniture and electronics retailer, jumped 5.8 percent to A$3.65. David Jones Ltd. (DJS AU), the nation’s second-largest department-store operator, climbed 3 percent to A$4.51.

APN News & Media Ltd. (APN AU) rose 3.1 percent to A$1.98. The publisher of newspapers in Australia and New Zealand was raised to “buy” from “hold” at BBY Limited by equity analyst Mark McDonnell.

Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP AU) plunged 6.9 percent to A$5.16. The miner of the metal in South Africa said five workers were killed and two injured in the company’s worst accident after a “major fall of ground” at its Marikana mine yesterday.

Boral Ltd. (BLD AU) dropped 7.5 percent to A$4.40. Australia’s largest seller of building materials raised A$490 million after competing its institutional entitlement offer, according to a regulatory filing.

GPT Group (GPT AU) advanced 1.1 percent to A$2.90. The Australian property trust is the leading bidder for the Top Ryde City shopping center in Sydney that may sell for A$700 million, the Australian Financial Review reported in its Street Talk column, without saying where it got the information.

iSOFT Group Ltd. (ISF AU) gained 2.8 percent to 18.5 Australian cents. The health information software developer was raised to “hold” from “sell” at Deutsche Bank AG by equity analyst Michael Simotas.

Qantas Airways Ltd. (QAN AU) rose 3.2 percent to A$2.28. Australia’s biggest airline retained its “overweight” valuation at J.P. Morgan Securities Australia Ltd. by equity analyst Scott Carroll.

UN /ONU :

Eritrean Official Warns More Peacekeeping Troops in Somalia Will Lead to Chaos
Peter Clottey/www1.voanews.com/08 July 2010

A senior official with Eritrea’s government told VOA a decision by the Heads of State and Government of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional bloc to increase peacekeeping troop levels in Somalia, will plunge that country into chaos.

Information minister Ali Abdu said the main cause of the growing insecurity problem, as well as the refusal of insurgents to recognize Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government, can be attributed to foreign interference or intervention.

“The external intervention, be it in the name of peacekeeping, be it in the name of humanitarian mission, be it in the name of combating terrorism, are the main cause of this destructive conflict in Somalia. Somalia remains today fragmented and the battleground of all kinds of conflict because of external intervention mainly from Ethiopia for its intermittent military invasion in Somalia,” he said.

Minister Abdu’s pronouncements follow a decision by IGAD to work closely with the African Union as well as the U.N. Security Council to raise peacekeeping troop levels in Somalia by 2,000.

Backed by the United Nations, the African Union deploys a peacekeeping mission to Somalia (AMISOM) with only Burundi and Uganda contributing troops to help Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG).

After a two-day meeting that ended Monday in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, IGAD released a statement saying, “The summit regrets that the approved level of AMISOM troops has not been achieved thus far, and decides to deploy 2,000 peacekeepers under AMISOM to Somalia immediately.”

Critics say Eritrea is opposing the troop level increase because of its alleged logistical and financial support to Hizbul-Islam, a hard-line Somali insurgent group.

But, information minister Abdu said Asmara has nothing to do with the growing insecurity problems in Somalia.

“Eritrea has been saying consistently that the only way out to Somalia (problems) is to let the Somalis do their own internal political process. And, that is what exactly (we) were doing in 2006 when the Ethiopians invaded Somalia and, since that time, we’ve been saying this is not the solution. You can’t impose and make military intervention,” Abdu said.

He maintained that Somalis have the “capability and the know-how” to find lasting solutions to their own problems devoid of direct or indirect foreign interference, intervention, or influence.

Last year, the United Nations imposed sanctions on Eritrea for supporting Somali insurgents, including al-Shabab, who have vowed to overthrow the Somali administration to fully implement the strictest form of the Sharia Law, a charge Asmara denies.

Cases against soldiers have Israel wondering
Indictments and disciplinary actions stemming from Israel’s Gaza offensive are raising a prospect many might find unsettling: the controversial Goldstone report may have been on the right track.
By Edmund Sanders, Los Angeles Times/July 8, 2010

Reporting from Jerusalem — A short but growing list of criminal indictments and disciplinary actions stemming from Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip 18 months ago is raising a prospect that many Israelis are likely to find unsettling: that the controversial Goldstone report might have been on the right track after all.

The conclusion last year by the United Nations-appointed panel that Israel committed war crimes, targeted civilians and used disproportionate force sent shockwaves through Israel. The facts and findings were dismissed by the government as deeply flawed, and panel chairman Richard Goldstone, a Jewish jurist from South Africa, was reviled in Israel as a traitor and even anti-Semitic.

The government says the recent disciplinary actions do not shake its opposition to the report’s sweeping conclusions. But the military’s own investigations during the last six months have now verified some of the panel’s findings.
In seven cases disclosed so far, the military found that a sniper “deliberately targeted” civilians; soldiers used Palestinians, including a 9-year-old boy, as human shields; and commanders authorized at least three separate bomb attacks that killed and injured several dozen civilians who were taking refuge in a family home, a U.N. compound and a mosque.

Some human rights experts regard Tuesday’s manslaughter indictment against the sniper, who confessed to firing into a crowd of civilians waving a white flag and killing at least one person, as an acknowledgement that Israeli forces had committed a minimum of one war crime.

In the case of the mosque attack, an officer was accused of ignoring last-minute intelligence that the religious facility was in the vicinity of an impending bomb strike, and of failing to alert his superiors. About a dozen people were killed. The officer was reprimanded but faced no criminal charges.

“The military is finding out that some of what Goldstone said is true, even though no one wants to admit it,” said Gershon Baskin, a political consultant and former Labor Party advisor. “This should indicate that there needs to be deeper investigation.”

The most serious criminal investigation still pending involves the Samouni family. During battles in January 2009, more than 100 members of the family were reportedly ordered by soldiers to gather in a house that was later attacked by Israeli bombs. As many as 30 people died, including women and children.

Israel launched the 22-day assault at the end of 2008 in an effort to crush Hamas militants in Gaza who had fired thousands of rockets into Israel for years. As many as 1,400 Palestinians died, as well as 13 Israelis. The Goldstone report also accused Hamas of war crimes, but focused more attention on Israel.

Yehuda Shaul, founder of a group of soldiers who went public last year with their concerns about overly aggressive military tactics in Operation Cast Lead, said the military inquiries vindicated their complaints, which at the time drew a blistering rebuke from the government.

“These are the same people who six months ago told us this never happened, that they never used human shields,” said Shaul of the group Breaking the Silence. “But they couldn’t cover it up. Now the military finds we were right.”

Israeli newspaper columnist Amos Harel said the debate over Operation Cast Lead may be shifting from a dispute over facts to an argument over how they should be interpreted.

“The problem, it turns out, was not false testimony by the Palestinians, but the way this testimony was distorted by the Goldstone committee to paint [Israeli] soldiers as war criminals,” he wrote Wednesday in Haaretz newspaper.

Military officials had previously acknowledged that there could be isolated cases of misconduct and criminal behavior, and declined to comment Wednesday. Supporters said the cases against soldiers demonstrate that, contrary to some outside criticism, Israel’s military is willing and capable of investigating itself.

“This proves that when there is a case that warrants investigation and punishment, the [Israeli military] knows how to investigate and punish soldiers found guilty,”said Ronen Shoval, founder of Im Tirtzu, an advocacy group. “We don’t need Goldstone or anyone for that.”

And although military officials have verified some allegations cited by the Goldstone panel, they have dismissed dozens of others as unfounded and inaccurate, according to local media reports.

Public reaction to the latest cases in Israel was muted Wednesday. None of the top three newspapers put the story on
the front page. In a radio interview, Defense Minister Ehud Barak didn’t mention the cases and was not asked about them.

Few expect to see dramatic changes in public opinion, which has been highly critical of the Goldstone report and supportive of the military.

“But within certain circles, such as the army legal office, there is more of an understanding that something went wrong,” said Sarit Michaeli, spokeswoman for B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group that has documented alleged military abuses in Gaza.

Last year, the group came under heavy fire from Israeli citizens who accused it of betraying the country and by lawmakers threatening to block funding. On Tuesday, in a subtle change of tone, the military’s legal advocate publicly thanked B’Tselem for its assistance.

Michaeli said the criminal cases have dealt a blow to the military’s frequent claim that it is “the most moral army in the world.”

“We are chipping away at a very big wall,” she said.

But she also said the number of cases under review was too small and that officials were ignoring broader policy issues and political decision-making that led to the bulk of the civilian casualties.

Rather than focus on a few “rotten apples,” she said Israel should examine the rules of engagement, the weapons used and other factors that led to so many deaths.

“Three criminal cases are minuscule when you look at the degree of destruction,”she said.

Goldstone critics called the military’s crackdown on soldiers unfair, accusing the government of sacrificing soldiers in a bid to show the world it is taking action.

“Israel would not be putting these soldiers on trial if it were not for the report,” said Jacob Shrybman of the Sderot Media Center, an advocacy group representing victims of Palestinian rocket attacks. “They’re scapegoats.”

edmund.sanders@latimes.com

Batsheva Sobelman of The Times’ Jerusalem Bureau contributed to this report.

USA :

Nedbank, Old Mutual, PPC: South African Equity Market Preview
July 08, 2010/By Renee Bonorchis and Janice Kew/Bloomberg

July 8 (Bloomberg) — The following is a list of companies whose shares may have unusual price changes in South Africa. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names and prices are from the last close.

South Africa’s FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index rose for a second day, increasing 131.05, or 0.5 percent, to 26,854.92.

Old Mutual Plc (OML SJ): HSBC Holdings Plc is in the early stages of assessing a bid for Nedbank Group Ltd., majority owned by Old Mutual, Sky News reported, without attribution.

HSBC appointed Lazard Ltd. to advise on a possible takeover deal, though there are no current talks between Old Mutual and potential buyers of its Nedbank stake, Sky said.

Old Mutual rose 19 cents, or 1.5 percent, to 12.57 rand. Nedbank lost 1.88 rand, or 1.5 percent, to 127.12 rand.

Pretoria Portland Cement Co. (PPC SJ): Statistics South Africa publishes May manufacturing data. Manufacturing probably increased an annual 8.3 percent in May, after gaining 8.7 percent in the previous month, according to the median estimate of 12 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. PPC, Africa’s largest producer of cement, slid 20 cents, or 0.6 percent, to 31 rand. ArcelorMittal South Africa Ltd. (ACL SJ), Africa’s largest steel producer, slid 57 cents, or 0.8 percent, to 74.86 rand.

Shares or American depositary receipts of the following South African companies closed as follows:

Anglo American Plc (AAUK US) rose 2.7 percent to $18.13. AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (AU US) gained 1.2 percent to $40.94. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BBL US) added 3.6 percent to $55.01. DRDGold Ltd. (DROOY US) appreciated 2.8 percent to $4.40. Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI US) rose 3.5 percent to $13.15. Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HMY US) increased 2.7 percent to $10.64. Impala Platinum Holdings (IMPUY US) added 1 percent to $24.35. Sappi Ltd. (SPP US) gained 6.8 percent to $4.10. Sasol Ltd. (SSL US) rose 2.1 percent to $37.15.

–Editors: Paul Richardson, Ben Holland.

Do U.S. Donors Drive Israeli Politics?
By THE EDITORS/roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/July 8, 2010

A Times article this week examined tax-deductible gifts from Americans to support Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. These donations, which run counter to American policy opposing settlements, totaled more than $200 million over the last decade. A substantial share was given by Christian Zionist groups in the United States.

What effect does citizen action (aside from formal lobbying efforts) by Americans in the form of charitable donations or even divestment campaigns have on the Israel-Palestinian conflict? How does foreign support for the West Bank settlements — including gifts from Christian Zionists — play out in Israeli domestic politics?

Yossi Shain, political scientist, Tel Aviv University
Ori Nir, Americans for Peace Now
Naomi Chazan, president, New Israel Fund
Stephen Spector, author of “Evangelicals and Israel”
Benjamin N. Schiff, professor of politics

The Diaspora’s Influence
Yossi Shain is a professor of political science and the director of the Aba Eben Program of Diplomacy at Tel Aviv University and a professor of comparative government at Georgetown University. He is the author of “Kinship and Diasporas in International Affairs.”

As early as Hellenic and Roman times, politically motivated charitable donations from sources abroad have played a role in international politics, particularly in the Middle East. Members of all sorts of ethnic and religious communities, including Jews, who settled in the Hellenic world, felt no tension between duty to Jerusalem, the symbolic and real embodiment of their faith, and loyalty to their place of domicile.

Attachment to Jerusalem manifested itself in yearly tithes for the maintenance of the Temple, paid by Mediterranean Jews after the Seleucid and Ptolemaic overlords ceased subsidies. The historian Erich Gruen has written that the overseas contributions brought great wealth to the Temple, a gesture that did not signify a desire for return. On the contrary; it signaled that the return was not necessary.

In our time, money from the diaspora to influence national identity and finance conflict in the country of origin is a common phenomenon in many parts of the world. But financial transfers come not only from kin communities; non-kin organizations and individuals may see the conflict affecting their own international vision or even identity.

This has always been the case in the Arab-Palestinian—Israeli conflict, where Muslims and Christians funneled money to promote their causes, while liberal-left groups have invested money to advance their politics.

For example, an Israeli group, Im Tirtzu, recently published a detailed report demonstrating that 16 “anti-Zionist” non-governmental groups supported by the liberal-left New Israel Fund worked to provide the Goldstone committee with material that accused Israel of committing war crimes during the 2009 Gaza operation. The report provoked calls in the Israeli Knesset to investigate the New Israel Fund and its operational arms in Israel.

For many evangelicals, Israel’s victory in 1967 was a confirmation of the accuracy of the biblical prophecies and the nearness of Christ’s own reign. Indeed many Christian fundamentalists find Israel’s conflict with Palestinians over the control of God’s territorial gift to Abraham, not only as a matter of contemporary political battle, but in the words of Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma as “a contest over whether or not the word of God is true.”

The historian Joseph Dan noted the disparity between the theological significance attached by many Christians and Muslims to the existence of a sovereign Jewish entity, and the little attention paid by most Israelis to the way non-Jews view their country.

While Israel’s theological significance is accentuated by both friends and foes, the vast majority of (secular) Israelis is completely ignorant about such perceptions and is paying little attention if any to foreign Christian involvement in their domestic affairs.

Undoubtedly, transnational money flows is often a source of influence on politics and national identity in Israel, but most Israelis believe, correctly so, that the solution to the conflict with the Palestinians will be determined in a different arena.

It’s About Politics, Not Money
Ori Nir is the spokesman of Americans for Peace Now, the nation’s leading Jewish organization advocating for Middle East peace.

The fact that tax-exempt U.S. dollars help finance the West Bank settlement enterprise is upsetting. But private American money plays a relatively small role in the patterns of settlement construction; the real question is political. Only the Israeli government can – and should – stop all West Bank settlement construction.

Settlements have diverted funds from desperately needed projects and programs inside Israel. Protecting settlements – as opposed to protecting Israel – has sucked up security resources and put generations of Israeli soldiers at unnecessary risk carrying out needless and demeaning tasks. Settlements hinder the creation of a viable Palestinian state, without which Israel cannot survive as a Jewish, democratic state.

In most of the West Bank, privately donated American dollars have little impact on settlement. The planning and authorizing of construction in settlements are entirely in the hands of the government of Israel. According to Israeli law, the West Bank is an area under “belligerent Israeli occupation” and therefore under the authority of an Israeli military government.

Furthermore, settlements have long been heavily subsidized by the government, whether directly or indirectly. The millions of US dollars that make their way to the settlements are a drop in the bucket compared to the tens of billions of dollars that Israeli governments have for decades pumped into this disastrous enterprise.

The exception is East Jerusalem, which is governed by Israeli civilian law. There, settler organizations are working feverishly to change the facts on the ground in the most sensitive areas, in and around the Old City, with the openly-expressed goal of ensuring that there will be no future compromise with the Palestinians on Jerusalem. Unlike the rest of the West Bank, these settlement projects are private initiatives, funded by millions of dollars of privately donated funds, including – and perhaps mostly — from the US. But just as in the West Bank, Israel’s government plays a key role: even private projects in East Jerusalem could not go forward without the tacit support of the Israeli government.

Stopping the flow of private funds will not solve the issue of settlements. The solution will be a negotiated agreement that ends the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Such an agreement will come only as the result of political decisions by the Israeli government. And such decisions will only be the result of pressure from inside Israel and from friends of Israel worldwide. Shining a bright and unflattering light on private US funding for settlements can be part of this pressure, but ultimately political capital matters most.

Transparency for Donors
Naomi Chazan, professor emerita of political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, served in the Knesset between 1992-2003 and is now president of the New Israel Fund.

The Times article raises issues for U.S. policy-makers in general and for those concerned with how tax-exempt dollars are used. But in an era of increased globalization, these concerns should not be used to curtail the freedom of Americans and others in the world community who share a de
ep interest in Israel’s policies and prospects, and who donate to Israel in ways that reflects their values and aspirations for the future of the country.

These contributions, of course, cannot fund illegal activities and must adhere to clear, concrete standards of transparency to ensure accountability.

The New Israel Fund, which I am proud to chair, has over the years supported hundreds of Israeli N.G.O.s committed to social justice, equality and tolerance in Israel. The fund and its grantees not only live up to, but often exceed all legal requirements for disclosure in both Israel and the United States. It welcomes close scrutiny of its activities and invites other organizations — especially those with which it disagrees — to do the same.

Many N.G.O.s in Israel depend on foreign support to maintain their viability, and access to such funds should remain open. It is therefore ironic that many organizations supporting settlement activity have used their resources and energies to attack progressive groups in Israel.

They have not only attempted to stifle dissent and silence critical voices by demonizing those who disagree with government policy, they and their allies in the Knesset have also introduced legislation to impose funding restrictions on progressive groups (which also receive support from foreign governments), while exempting private financial support to right-wing groups from similar constraints.

The entire human rights and civil rights community in Israel is at risk. Should this legislation be adopted, it would abrogate Israel’s status as an advanced democracy dedicated to open debate and the protection of a diversity of civil institutions.

Of course, from a progressive and pro-peace point of view, support for settlements, including the takeover of Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, negatively effects the prospects for peace. The principles of democracy must nevertheless be upheld. Those who are truly dedicated to Israel’s future would do well to reject efforts to use outside financial support to skew the Israeli political landscape by selectively constraining their opponents. The same standards must be adopted by all and applied equitably to every group in Israeli civil society.

The Evangelical Perspective
Stephen Spector is the chair of the department of English at Stony Brook University. He is the author of “Evangelicals and Israel: The Story of American Christian Zionism.”

Born-again Christians support Israel more than any other group, aside from Jews. Widespread reports that they do so to hasten the end-times are exaggerated and alarmist. Though some American evangelicals believe that Israel must hold on to its entire biblical inheritance in order for Christ to return and usher in the Millennium, nine out of ten of them do not.

Rather, they believe that God will bless them if they bless Israel, and they are deeply remorseful for Christian persecution of the Jews. Their faith typically comports perfectly with their political views: they consider Israel a crucial democratic ally in a dangerous neighborhood, an essential firewall protecting the West from Islamic extremists.

President George W. Bush knew this. When he asked Karl Rove in 2002 what “our people” thought of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Rove replied that that they consider it part of his war against terror. Although conservative Christians enjoyed generous access to the Bush White House, Bush’s advisers insist, on and off the record, that evangelicals had little or no influence on U.S. Mideast policy.

Still, a high official in the White House did ask the Southern Baptist Convention’s Dr. Richard Land how evangelicals would react if Washington supported Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s planned disengagement from Gaza in 2005. Land replied that if Israel ceded territory for peace, most born-again Christians would not object.

Under President Obama, a smaller camp of progressive evangelicals has access. They sympathize with Palestinian rights and support a two-state solution. For Prime Minister Netanyahu, however, conservative Christians remain key supporters. They backed him enthusiastically during his first term, in 1998, when President Clinton summoned Netanyahu to Washington to confront him over his foot dragging on the peace process. Jerry Falwell promised to mobilize 200,000 evangelical pastors to oppose returning any of the West Bank. John Hagee led a large crowd in chanting, “Not one inch!” Yet both Falwell and Hagee declared that if Israel decides to give up land in the hope of getting peace, they will not oppose it.

Some traditionalist Christians go even further in their pragmatism. They believe that God’s promises will be fulfilled, but in God’s time and according to His plan, not man’s. Indeed, despite a deep distrust of Islam among evangelical pastors, fifty-two percent of them favor a Palestinian state, as long as it doesn’t threaten Israel. Why? They want peace.

The Effectiveness of Divestment
Benjamin N. Schiff is the William G. and Jeanette Williams Smith Professor of Politics at Oberlin College. He has written books on nuclear arms control, Palestinian refugees, the South African transition from apartheid and on the International Criminal Court.

With a new divestment movement at colleges and universities rising in reaction to Israeli policies toward the Palestinians, comparisons to South Africa have been made, along with questions about the effectiveness of these boycotts and their role in foreign policy.

Calls to divest from apartheid South Africa in the 1980s complemented other efforts intended to pressurize the Pretoria government to terminate racial domination. Opponents argued that the investment decisions of educational institutions should not be politicized. They also expressed concern that the economic damage to South Africa would hurt that country’s most vulnerable citizens.

Advocates argued that divestment would show the government that its policies were unacceptable, that U.S. corporations would become uncomfortable operating in South Africa, and that divestment would show solidarity with the anti-apartheid movement in the country and in exile. They believed that it was immoral to benefit economically from profits generated in the officially racist state: investment supported apartheid just as divestment expressed condemnation.

The divestment movement helped isolate the apartheid government, along with other boycotts. The Afrikaners really hated being international pariahs, and as international banks refused to roll over South African loans in late 1985, economic sanctions began to bite.

All these efforts paled compared to South Africa’s own anti-apartheid struggle and domestic economic dependence upon the oppressed majority, but they showed international solidarity and increased the pressure on the Nationalists.

The calls to divest from Israel are similar. Proponents argue analogously to their predecessors in the anti-apartheid movement, as do their opponents.

But corporate and national links between the U.S. and Israel are much tighter than those with apartheid South Africa, and they are probably harder to unravel and politically more sensitive. Debate over the U.S.-Israel relationship is moving into the political mainstream, and activists will seek all possible demonstrations of disapprobation with Israeli actions and policies in the territories.

While divestment on its own did not bring down South African apartheid, the campaign added to a snowballing opposition that contributed to Afrikaners’ perception that they had to negotiate. Similarly, while the Israel divestment movement won’t by itself alter U.S. or Israeli policy, it can supplement wider efforts to convince U.S. legislators and policymakers that support for Israel should be conditional o

n movement toward a resolution of the occupied territories’ status and communicate to Israel’s leaders that change is imperative.

CANADA :

AUSTRALIA :

Sigma shareholder wants higher Aspen bid – paper
Jul 8, 2010/Reuters

SYDNEY |

July 8 (Reuters) – Orbis Australia, one of the biggest shareholders of Sigma Pharmaceuticals (SIP.AX), said that a takeover offer from South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare (APNJ.J) was less than generous, the Australian Financial Review said.

Orbis, which holds an 8.2 percent stake in Sigma, said that the 55 cent per share offer for the drug maker was low and the board should negotiate to at least get Aspen’s earlier, 60 cent per share offer back on the table, the AFR said on Thursday.

Aspen, Africa’s largest drug company, reduced its offer to A$0.55 a share on Wednesday from A$0.60 following a review of Sigma’s books and Sigma’s writedown of its generic unit. The cut lowered the size of the bid to A$648 million ($552 million) from A$707 million previously.

Analysts have said it would be difficult for Sigma, which controls about a quarter of Australia’s generics drugs market, to recommend the lower offer, considering that its shares were trading at more than double the offer level just a year ago.

Sigma’s board has recommended shareholders take no action for now but analysts said it was likely to reject the offer. (Reporting by Balazs Koranyi)

EUROPE :

Europe bans illegal timber to protect forests
By Yann Ollivier (AFP) /08072010

STRASBOURG — The European Union on Wednesday barred the import and sale of illegally harvested timber in a bid to fight climate change and deforestation from the Amazon to Asia.

The European Parliament voted 644-25 to outlaw illegal timber or products made from such wood, which makes up around one-fifth of all timber imports into the European Union, and punish unscrupulous dealers.

“With this, we are sending a signal to the world that the EU will no longer serve as a market for illegally harvested timber,” said European Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik.

Green member of the European Parliament Satu Hassi, who negotiated a deal with the 27 EU member states, called the legislation an “internationally important breakthrough.”

The European Council must now formally approve the ban and it will take two years for the rules to take effect, as governments must draw up their own penalties to impose on lawbreakers.

The European legislation, which comes two years after the United States passed a similar law, closes a loophole in the industry. For it is currently not against the law to sell timber in the EU that was cut down illegally in its country of origin.

“Those who have been making a profit from illegal logging and destroying forests around the world have finally been given a good slap in the face,” said Anke Schulmeister, EU forest policy officer at environmental group WWF.

More than half of logging activities take place in vulnerable regions such as the Amazon Basin, central Africa, southeast Asia and Russia, according to the European Union.

Illegally harvested timber represents 20 to 40 percent of global production of industrial wood, or 350 million to 650 million cubic metres (460 million to 850 million cubic yards), according to the UN.

The environmental group WWF estimated that in 2006 the EU imported around 30 million cubic metres of timber and wooden products made from illegal logging, mostly from Russia, China and Indonesia.

Under the new EU rules, importers will have to seek sufficient guarantees that the timber they are bringing in is legally harvested.

Traders such as furniture sellers must then make sure that the origin of the wood used to make their products is traceable.

While the legislation covers the 27-nation EU, it will be up to individual member states to set penalties for wrongdoers.

In drafting fines, governments can take into account the impact of the damage done by illegal logging to the environment, the value of the timber and the tax revenue that was lost.

It will also be up to individual governments to decide whether to “make the worst offences crimes,” Hassi said.

The new rules will be implemented in 2012 to give national governments time to draft their own sets of sanctions and fines, she said.

Environmental groups have welcomed Europe’s move to combat illegal logging, saying it would help curb climate change. Deforestation accounts for 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the EU.

“We think that although the law is not perfect it is an important step forward,” said Greenpeace EU forest policy director Sebastien Risso.

But they were disappointed the law was not coming into force immediately, he added.

“Greenpeace is altogether happy with the decision but we will remain vigilant because the adoption of the legislation is not the end point, it is the beginning.”

CHINA :

Mukherjee to Head India Panel Tasked to Boost Energy Security
July 08, 2010/By Rakteem Katakey/Bloomberg

July 8 (Bloomberg) — India has formed a group led by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on energy security as the nation competes with China for global resources to meet demand for fuels in Asia’s fastest-growing major economies.

The group of ministers is scheduled to meet for the first time today, Power Secretary Uma Shankar said by telephone from New Delhi today. “The panel will discuss the bigger, broader issue of energy security for India,” Shankar, the top bureaucrat in the ministry, said, declining to give details.

The panel meets as the government considers using part of India’s $277 billion of foreign-exchange reserves to create a sovereign fund to help state-run energy companies including Oil & Natural Gas Corp. and Coal India Ltd. bid for energy assets. China, which has $2.4 trillion of reserves and a $300 billion sovereign fund, spent four times more than Indian companies on overseas assets in the past year.

Indian and Chinese companies are scouring the world for access to resources as demand rises in the world’s two most populous nations.

ONGC, Reliance

China spent at least $21 billion on overseas resources in the past year compared with India’s $5.18 billion, including $2.18 billion by ONGC, the nation’s largest explorer, and other state-run companies for a field in Venezuela and Reliance Industries Ltd.’s purchases of shale-gas assets in the U.S.

State-owned Coal India, the world’s largest producer of the fuel, may use the proposed sovereign fund to buy mines overseas, Alok Perti, additional secretary to the coal ministry, said in an interview in New Delhi yesterday.

The planned sovereign fund is meant for all energy companies, Perti said, adding that the finance ministry hasn’t decided on its size.

India’s energy use may more than double by 2030 to the equivalent of 833 million metric tons of oil from 2007, while China’s demand may rise 87 percent to 2.4 billion tons, the Paris-based International Energy Agency said.

The oil ministry formally asked the finance ministry to set up a fund using a part of India’s foreign-exchange reserves, a government official said in March.

–With assistance from Vandana Gombar, Archana Chaudhary and Kartik Goyal in New Delhi. Editors: John Chacko, Amit Prakash.

INDIA :

Poll: Fewer opportunities seen for minority kids
By ILEANA MORALES (AP)/08072010

WASHINGTON — Minority children have fewer opportunities than their white peers to gain access to high-quality health care, education, safe neighborhoods and adequate support from the communities where they live, according to a nationwide survey of professionals who work with young people.

Of the professionals surveyed, 59 percent said young white children in their communities have “lots of opportunity” to play in violence-free homes and neighborhoods, while only 36 percent said the same about Hispanic children, 37 percent about African-American children and 42 percent about Native American children.

The survey refers to young children as 8 and under.

Fifty-five percent of respondents viewed young white children as having good access to high-quality health care, while 41 percent said the same of Hispanic, Arab American and American Indian/Alaska Native children and 45 percent said the same for African-American and Asian-American/Pacific Islander children.

The survey shows that children of all ages from low-income families, regardless of race, are at a greater disadvantage, in the view of the professionals who work with them.

The Kellogg Foundation survey, conducted in April, was set for release on Thursday. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the findings, which Kellogg said is the first known national assessment of health, educational and economic opportunities for minority children by adults who work with them at the community level.

Researchers with C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan conducted the poll of 2,028 adults from all 50 states and the District of Columbia who work as teachers, childcare providers, health care workers, social workers and law enforcement officials.

Whites made up 71 percent of the poll’s respondents, African-Americans 12 percent, Hispanics 7 percent, Asian-American/Pacific Islanders 3 percent, and other racial or ethnic groups the rest. The poll had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

Gail Christopher, a Kellogg Foundation vice president, said those in jobs engaging children can more easily see the disparities between whites and minorities and can offer a closer look into the results of racism: communities with unequal systems of income and services.

“So you have major, major pockets of poverty in this country, many of which are tied to race,” Christopher said. “Not all, but many of them are.”

The Kellogg Foundation, started by the breakfast cereal pioneer in 1930, has recently focused its resources on vulnerable children who face poverty and discrimination. The group announced in May a five-year, $75 million initiative aimed at undoing the effects of racial inequalities on children in poor communities.

Matthew Davis, associate professor of pediatrics and communicable diseases at the University of Michigan, was the director of the study.

It also found:

_Fifty-five percent of respondents viewed white children 8 and under as having good access to high-quality health care, while 41 percent said the same of Hispanic, Arab American and American Indian/Alaska Native children and 45 percent said the same for African-American and Asian-American/Pacific Islander children.

_Forty-six percent of respondents felt that white teenagers ages 13-18 have ample opportunity to receive high-quality mental health care. The percentages who said that opportunity existed for teens of other races and ethnicities were 31 percent for Hispanics, 32 percent for blacks, 35 percent for American Indians/Alaska Natives, 36 percent for Arab Americans and 37 percent for Asian-American/Pacific Islanders.

_Nearly one out of three respondents cited family struggles with money as a bigger barrier to finishing high school for minority teenagers than for whites. Two out of three said the barrier was about the same regardless of race.

_Twenty-five percent said “unfair or inappropriate” treatment by law enforcement presents a larger threat to minority teens than whites when it came to earning a high school degree. The majority, three out of four, said the barrier was about equal for nonwhites and whites.

India Day Ahead: Coal India May Buy Mines Abroad; Khazanah’s Bank Loans
By Hari Govind / www.bloomberg.com/Jul 8, 2010

Business ExchangeTwitterDeliciousDiggFacebookLinkedInNewsvinePropellerYahoo! BuzzPrint The following are some of the important stories that broke overnight, and newspaper summaries in India today: