Iraq's al-Sadr Urges Rejection of US-Iraqi Deal
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Tens of thousands of Shi'ite cleric's supporters rally in Baghdad against deal
Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has called on Iraq's parliament to
reject a security agreement with the United States, as tens of
thousands of his supporters rallied in Baghdad against the deal.Demonstrators carry banner during rally in Baghdad to protest draft US-Iraqi security agreement, 18 Oct 2008 The
demonstrators chanted anti-U.S. slogans and waved Iraqi flags as they
marched from the capital's Sadr City district to the central
Mustansiriyah Square Saturday.A Sadr aide read aloud a
statement from the influential cleric, who urged Iraqi lawmakers not to
vote for the proposed security deal. He said the agreement will not
end the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq, and will not give sovereignty
to the Iraqi people.The mass demonstration comes as U.S. and
Iraqi leaders try to build political support for the draft security
agreement. The deal would allow for the extension of the presence of
American forces in Iraq after their United Nations mandate expires on
December 31.The U.S. Defense Department spokesman, Geoff
Morrell, has said the draft includes target dates for the withdrawal of
at least some of the 154,000 U.S. troops stationed in Iraq.U.S.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice briefed key members of Congress on the draft Friday to try to
build broad political backing for it. It has not been publicly
released.The Bush administration has said the text does not
need ratification by Congress. But a final deal will require the
approval of Iraq's parliament and other bodies.Separately
Saturday, Bahrain's foreign minister arrived in Iraq's capital for a
visit aimed at improving bilateral relations between the countries.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
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UN: Thousands of Iraqi Christians Flee Mosul
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UNHCR says almost half of Christian population in Mosul has fled after attacks and threats
The U.N. refugee agency says almost half of the Christian population in the Iraqi city of Mosul has fled after attacks and threats. UNHCR says nearly 10,000 people have fled to other areas in the past week. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from UNHCR headquarters in Geneva. The U.N. refugee agency says the Ministry of Displacement and Migration in Mosul reports more than 1,500 families have been displaced so far. It says it cannot confirm the exact figure, but is very concerned about the situation in Mosul that is causing this mass displacement of Christians.U.N. refugee spokesman, Ron Redmond, says at least 10 field assessment missions have gone to areas surrounding Mosul to check on the situation. He says initial reports indicate most Christian Iraqis decided to leave the city following direct as well as indirect threats or intimidation."One of those interviewed witnessed the killing of a Christian Iraqi on the street, while several of the displaced told us that they had received printed threats at the university campuses, in their homes and through text messages on their mobile phones," he said. "Several others told our teams that they left when they heard news of 11 reported killings of Christians in Mosul. And, others were warned by family members, friends, neighbors of potential threats and they decided to leave before it was too late." Redmond says there is no firm indication as to who is issuing these threats. He says the Iraqi authorities reportedly have deployed more than 1,000 additional police to Mosul to protect the Christians.Mosul is about 390 kilometers north of Baghdad. It remains one of Iraq's more violent cities. The Iraqi authorities and U.S. military say al-Qaida and the Sunni Islamist militant group allied to Osama bin Laden are still active in Mosul.Redmond says the thousands of Christians who fled Mosul to other areas have many needs."Most of those who fled are staying with extended family members. There is an urgent need for food, clothing, non-food items like mattresses, blankets, stoves. They also need access to health facilities, hygiene kits, clean water and their children, of course, are unable to go to school, so things need to be done to get them into classrooms," he said. Redmond says most of the displaced say they fear for their lives and are not thinking of returning home for now. A few said they would only return if and when their safety and security could be assured by the local authorities.
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Bush to Meet European Leaders for Financial Crisis Talks
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy and European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso meet with US president in bid for global overhaul of world's financial structure
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and European Commission chief Jose
Manuel Barroso meet Saturday with President Bush in a bid for a global
overhaul of the world's financial structure. From Paris, Lisa Bryant
reports that Washington may be less enthusiastic about the European
proposal.The meeting between the European and American leaders
is taking place at Camp David, a bucolic retreat outside Washington. It
comes just days after European leaders in Brussels agreed to work
jointly to aid their ailing banks and fight against the world's worst
financial crisis in decades. From left: European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British PM Gordon Brown, and EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso, in Paris, 12 Oct 2008At the Brussels summit, President
Nicolas Sarkozy of France, the current European Union president,
stressed the need for a coordinated EU response to the bloc's economic
problems as well as its financial ones.Sarkozy said European
leaders wanted to defend savers and businesses that wanted to invest.
Behind the financial crisis, he said, was a potential economic one.But
Sarkozy and other Europeans, including British Prime Minister Gordon
Brown, want to go further. They talk about overhauling financial
institutions and having a new version of the post World War II Bretton
Woods conference that established a new monetary and financial system. That is what they may be bringing to the table during talks with President Bush at Camp David.In
remarks in Brussels this week, Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Junker
said discussion and coordination between Europe and the United States
on the financial crisis was indispensable. Emerging countries like
India and China should also play a role, he said, in talks that should
take place by the year's end.But the Bush administration has
offered a more cautious reaction to the idea, particularly as it comes
less than three weeks before the nation's presidential elections. White
House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Friday she did not believe the
summit between Mr. Bush and the Europeans will lead to any new policy
announcements.
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Signs of Market Stabilization Appear as Dow Industrials Register Gain for Week
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Tentative signs Friday credit markets becoming unfrozen with overnight bank lending rates in London registering decline
There was more volatility on world stock markets Friday with the Dow industrials swinging between gains and losses. VOA's Barry Wood reports that the while the Dow closed lower on the day it was up on the week.
The Dow Jones industrials lost 127 points Friday to a finish at 8,852 points. However, for the week the closely watched index was up nearly five percent, its best gain in over three years. European exchanges closed higher, following through on the sharp gains on Wall Street the previous day.
Commodities were lower as investors continued to fret over the prospects for a steep global slowdown and recession in the United States. Gold lost seven percent for the week and has been down for seven consecutive trading sessions. Oil was up from its 14-month low, but still closed down eight percent on the week. Oil ended Friday at just under 72 dollars a barrel.
Consumer confidence in the United States, as measured by the University of Michigan index, fell in September by the most on record. The index fell to 57, down from 70 in August. In addition single-family housing starts hit a 26-year low in September.
Chris Ripkey, chief financial economist at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi in New York, says one should treat the latest data with caution. "I'd be a little bit careful about the U.S. because the recession began in January or February and we're already nine or ten months along. I don't think it is going to last that much longer. In other words, the spectacular decline in consumer confidence today, that's not making me lengthen or deepen the call for this recession," he said.
Ripkey, speaking on Bloomberg Television, is not alone in believing the U.S. economy is in recession. But as yet there have not been two consecutive quarters of negative growth, the usual definition of a recession.
There were tentative signs that credit markets were becoming unfrozen. Ten days after a coordinated central bank interest rate cut, and seven days after a pledge of concerted North American, Japanese and European action to stabilize markets, overnight bank lending rates in London registered some decline.
That is interpreted as a good sign as the gap between the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and the three-month US Treasury bond yield had reached very high levels over the past few weeks.
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US Says North Korea Reverses Steps to Restart Reactor
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Action by Pyongyang in line with agreement reached late last week to salvage six-party accord under which N. Korea is to scrap nuclear program
The United States confirmed Friday North Korea has reversed the steps it took in recent weeks to restart its Yongbyon nuclear reactor. The action by Pyongyang is in line with an agreement reached late last week to salvage the six-party accord under which North Korea is to scrap its nuclear program. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department. A satellite image provided by Space Imaging Asia of the Yongbyon Nuclear Center, located north of Pyongyang, North Korea (Aug 2002 file photo) The State Department is confirming that North Korea has completely reversed the series of steps it took toward restarting the reactor that produced the plutonium for its small arsenal of nuclear weapons.North Korea in August said it was moving to revive the Yongbyon reactor to back demands that it be removed from the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism.Pyongyong maintained it should have been removed from the list in late June when it issued a declaration of its nuclear holdings under the 2007 agreement by North Korea to end its nuclear program in return for aid and diplomatic benefits.The United States however said de-listing was dependent on North Korea providing a plan to verify the declaration. The deadlock was broken late last week when the two countries agreed on a verification regime and Pyongyang was dropped from the terrorism blacklist.Following the agreement, U.S. and international inspectors were allowed back into the Yongbyon complex. State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said Friday the monitors have confirmed that disablement of the reactor is again back on track. "The North Koreans have in their efforts, have reversed all their reversals in the reactor," he said. "All the seals are back on. The surveillance equipment is back, reinstalled, and the equipment that had been removed is back where is had been. In addition to that, they have removed more rods from the reactor. So on the reactor, they have actually gone beyond where they were prior to their reversing the disablement steps."McCormack said that the situation at the fuel reprocessing and fabrication facilities at Yongbyon had not yet returned to the status quo before the dispute, but that progress is being made there as well.The spokesman said heads of delegation of all six parties to the talks will convene soon to approve the U.S.-North Korean verification deal. He said announcement of a specific date will be made by China, chair of the negotiations.The other parties to the talks are South Korea, Russia and Japan. North Korea shut down the Yongbyon complex and is to permanently disable it in return for energy aid from the other parties in the first phase of the accord.The verification plan is to open the way to the next phase. Under it North Korea is to scrap its nuclear program, including weapons, altogether and get - among other things - the lifting of sanctions and normalized relations with the United States and Japan.
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China's Premier Says Government Partly to Blame for Milk Scandal
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In interview in US publication 'Science Magazine,' Wen Jiabao says government was responsible for monitoring industry at core of crisis
Wen Jiabao (file photo)Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao says his government is partly responsible
for the tainted milk scandal that has killed four infants and sickened
53,000 throughout the country.In an interview in the U.S.
publication Science Magazine, Mr. Wen said the government was
responsible for monitoring the industry at the core of the crisis.He
told the magazine the production of raw milk, collection, transport,
processing, formulation and manufactured goods all need to have clear
standards and testing requirements.China has ordered all liquid
and powdered milk made before September 14 be taken off store shelves
so it can be tested for melamine.The chemical is used primarily
in plastics, fertilizers and flame retardants. Chinese authorities say
it was added to milk products to make them appear richer in protein.Melamine can cause kidney stones, and in some cases can lead to life-threatening kidney failure.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
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Thai, Cambodian Army Commanders Discuss Border Truce
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Cambodian Major General Srey Deok and Thai Colonel Chayan Huaysoongnern discuss how to prevent future flare-ups of violence
Cambodian and Thai military commanders met on their disputed border
Saturday to discuss ways to avoid clashes, after deadly gunfights this
week.Surrounded by dozens of soldiers in full combat gear,
Cambodian Major General Srey Deok and Thai Colonel Chayan Huaysoongnern
discussed how to prevent future flare-ups of violence. After their
meeting, the two ate lunch together.A deadly gunfight between
Cambodian and Thai soldiers erupted Wednesday along the disputed area
near a centuries-old temple. Two Cambodian soldiers were killed in the
shootout, and soldiers from each side were wounded. Cambodia claimed
to have captured some Thai troops.Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said the border clash would not escalate into a wider conflict.The
prime minister told reporters in Phnom Penh Friday the two rivals have
agreed to resolve the dispute directly, rejecting the need for an
outside mediator to negotiate a settlement.Military officials from both sides reached an agreement Thursday to conduct joint military patrols along the border. Wednesday's fighting took place near the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple - the center of the decades-old land dispute. In
1962, the International Court of Justice granted sovereignty of the
temple to Cambodia, but it did not rule on the surrounding land.Troops
have been building up on both sides of the border since July, when the
United Nations approved Cambodia's application to make the temple a
World Heritage site. The honor enraged Thai nationalists.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
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Zimbabwe Opposition Says Power-Sharing Talks Fail
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Opposition leader Tsvangirai says talks with President Mugabe Friday failed to determine allocation of key Cabinet ministries
Zimbabwe's opposition leader says several days of negotiations have failed to break a deadlock in power-sharing talks, and called for African leaders to intervene.
Morgan Tsvangirai (file photo)Morgan Tsvangirai said after talks Friday with President Robert Mugabe that the two men had failed to agree on the allocation of key Cabinet ministries.
He said he is committed to a power-sharing deal signed last month but called on the African Union and the Southern African Development Community to help end the deadlock on forming a unity government.
President Mugabe said Friday the discussions went in the wrong direction.
The two leaders held four days of talks in Harare this week meditated by former South African President Thabo Mbeki.
Last week, President Mugabe unilaterally gave his ZANU-PF party several key Cabinet positions that oversee the military, police and foreign affairs. This prompted the opposition to threaten to pull out of the power-sharing agreement.
The original deal, reached in September, was meant to end the crisis stemming from Zimbabwe's disputed presidential elections.
It calls for ZANU-PF to control 15 ministries, with the two factions of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change getting 16. Mr. Mugabe would remain as president, with Tsvangirai becoming prime minister.
The sides are under pressure to reach a final deal so Zimbabwe can start to recover from its deep economic crisis. The country has 80 percent unemployment and an inflation rate officially estimated at 231 million percent.
Witnesses are reporting severe food shortages nationwide, especially in the south.
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Chad Demands France Pay Damages for Kidnapped Children
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Court says France liable for damages awarded to children French aid workers tried to take out of Chad last year
Members of Zoe's Arch Eric Breteau (C back) and Emilie Lelouch (R) leave court house in N'Djamena, 26 Dec 2007 Chad says it wants France to pay more than $8 million in
damages to the Chadian children French aid workers tried to take out of
the country last year.A Chadian court sentenced six French aid
workers last year to eight years of hard labor and ordered them to pay
$88,000 to each of the children involved in the case.Chad said Friday that France is liable for the damages awarded to the children. The
aid workers said they believed the children were orphans from Sudan's
troubled Darfur region. But an international investigation found most
of them were Chadian and had at least one parent or guardian.The aid workers have been returned to France, where their sentence was converted from hard labor to eight years in prison.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
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American Journalist Says US Should Lead New 'Green Revolution'
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Thomas Friedman says energy technology key to solving economic and climate crisis
Welcome to American Profiles, VOA's weekly spotlight on Americans who are making a positive difference in how we think, live and act. VOA's Rosanne Skirble introduces us to Thomas Friedman, a foreign policy analyst, three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and best-selling author whose works have explored some of the most urgent issues of our time. Thomas Friedman has won three Pulitzer Prizes for international reporting as The New York Times foreign affairs columnistBorn in 1955, Thomas Friedman grew up in a Jewish family in the midwestern city of Minneapolis. He says the greatest influence on his early life was a remarkable high school journalism teacher named Hattie Steinberg. "She got me excited about journalism," he says. It was the same year he went to Israel for the first time. "Those two passions have converged ever since," Friedman says. As a boy, Friedman was curious and assertive. He wrote for his high school newspaper and published an article based on an interview with Israeli General Ariel Sharon, who later went on to become Israel's prime minister. Friedman's From Beirut to Jerusalem is based on coverage from Lebanon and Israel from 1981-89In 1978, after college and a graduate degree in Middle East studies, Friedman started his journalism career with United Press International in London. A year later, he joined The New York Times as a financial reporter specializing in the oil industry. Friedman moved on to Beirut in 1982 to head The New York Times bureau there. Later, he headed up the paper's Jerusalem bureau, a post he held until 1988. During his Middle East posting, Friedman developed a writing style that he calls "clean, unfiltered news." He says he lives by the motto, "If you don't go, you don't know." "You have to see things," he says. "You have to talk to people, listen to what people have to say." Friedman explores how globalization is shaping the world in this release in 2000Back in the United States in 1989, Friedman wrote From Beirut to Jerusalem, an account of his coverage of the conflict in the Middle East. The book won the National Book Award and was a best seller for more than a year. Friedman says he believed then, as he does now, that the key to Middle East peace is the creation of a Palestinian state. "It is just getting the will and the leadership to get us there," he says. In the mid-1990s, he began a twice-weekly foreign affairs column. That column now appears in 700 newspapers worldwide and has won him the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting three times. He says he gets to be a tourist with an attitude. "I get to go wherever I want, talk to whoever I want, write whatever I want in The New York Times," he says. Friedman sees the world as "flat" or, in terms of commerce and the marketplace, as a level playing field in this best seller released in 2005 Friedman has written five books on topics ranging from the conflict in the Middle East to globalization and terrorism. His most recent book, Hot, Flat and Crowded, debuted in September 2008 as number one on The New York Times Best Seller's List. In it, he says many countries have adopted consuming habits much like America. "They are consuming oil, food, energy at American levels," he says, which is linked to the problem of global climate change. Speaking recently at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington, Friedman called for what he terms a "green revolution." He says the engine for this worldwide environmental transformation will be the development of clean energy technologies that could lessen the burden of global warming. (Click to view video of event.) Friedman calls for a green revolution powered by clean energy technology in his current best sellerFriedman wants to turn away from capital-intensive power plants and dirty fuels. He writes that the future doesn't have to be a nightmare. As he puts it, "If we think strategically about how to mitigate what we can, adapt to what we can't and innovate our way to new possibilities that right now seem unimaginable." Friedman remembers when the United States and the former Soviet Union were engaged in a space race to put the first man on the moon. "What we need actually today is an Earth race with China and India and Europe to see who can invent the clean powered, energy technologies that will allow men and women to live on Earth," he says. "We have exactly enough time, starting now!"
Previous American Profiles
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