Global Markets Continue to Slide as Recession Fears Mount
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Persistent recession fears and new layoff announcements contributing to the gloom
Following big losses in Asia, Europe is faring little better on equity
markets. Persistent recession fears and new layoff announcements are
contributing to the gloom as VOA's Tom Rivers reports from London.Current bad economic news seems to be echoing around the world one time zone at a time.At issue, serious concerns that the world is entering what may be a protracted downturn that few will be immune from.With
the Dow index dropping five percent in New York on Wednesday to below
the psychologically important 8,000 level, Asian markets
picked up on that gloom and "down" was the byword there.Passers-by watch the electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Japan, 20 Nov 2008In Tokyo, the Nikkei lost nearly seven percent as Japanese October exports took a 7.7 percent drop.In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index closed more than four percent down.In Europe, that same sentiment prevails.Stockbroker
Richard Hunter, from London's Hargreaves-Lansdown, says the latest
Federal Reserve report forecasting lower U.S. economic growth next year
coupled with the major money problems facing the big three American
automakers is being felt around the world. "That then fed into
Asia because of course a lot of Asian economies are dependent on the
U.S. in terms of their own exports, needless to say in the U.K. and
indeed in Europe this morning that fed through once more," he said. "A
lot of Footsie [Financial Times]-100 companies for example either have
dollar-denominated earnings or indeed that are dollar-facing."Hunter
says the current mood is that new lows will continue to be probed.
"It
is yet another example of sellers pushing against an open door and in
terms of investors being risk-averse, they are choosing to go towards
things like bonds and perhaps gold again as opposed to equities," he
said.In addition to the dropping stock indexes, rising unemployment is rearing its head in various countries.In Japan, Isuzu Motors says 1,400 contract workers will be let go.European carmaker Peugeot-Citroen has announced that 2,700 workers will be laid off.And
in Britain, aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce says it plans to cut 2,000 jobs next year as worldwide demand for its products
continues to ebb in this time of global economic downturn.
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Putin Says Russia Can Weather Global Economic Crisis
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Prime minister expresses confidence country has adequate financial resources, however Russia may now be spending money faster than it can save it
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says the global economic crisis tests the stability of all countries, including his own. Mr. Putin is expressing confidence that Russia has adequate financial resources but as VOA Moscow Correspondent Peter Fedynsky reports, Russia may now be spending money faster than it can save it. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin addresses the 10th United Russia Party Congress in Moscow, 20 Nov. 2008Speaking as head of Russia's ruling United Russia Party, Prime Minister Putin laid out a long-term vision for his country to delegates at the party's annual congress in Moscow. He blamed the United States for jeopardizing his hopes for an expanded Russian middle class, increased life expectancy, improved health care, adequate pensions, better housing, and lower levels of corruption. Mr. Putin says abuse of cheap credit and mortgage troubles in the United States created a chain reaction, which has paralyzed the global financial system and sown general distrust on markets.Nonetheless, Mr. Putin told party members that Russia will avoid steep inflation and sharp declines in the value of its currency. He said the country will also maintain its reserves and budget stability regardless of falling global oil prices. Those reserves were accumulated through taxation of profits when the price of oil soared in recent years. Russia is a major oil exporter. Mr. Putin says the reserves will allow Russia to maintain the salaries of civil servants, pension payments, and social benefits. He adds that the system of social support will continue to work normally. Nikolai Petrov, a political analyst at the Moscow Carnegie Center, told VOA that Mr. Putin's plan assumes the global economic crisis will end soon. Petrov says the situation in the country is reminiscent of a doctor who thinks about the mood of his patient and fears any radical measures, and instead of treating a serious disease, spends all of his efforts lifting the sick person's spirits.Russia's national media report extensively on U.S. economic troubles, and do not dwell on negative domestic financial news, including a 70 percent drop in the Russian stock market since May. According to Bloomberg News, Russian currency reserves have fallen by nearly $123 billion since early August. On Wednesday, Russian Central Bank Chairman Sergei Ignatyev said the institution spent more than $57 billion in the last two months to support the declining market value of the ruble, which has dropped to its lowest level since April 2006.With an estimated $475 billion in the reserve fund earlier in November, Nikolai Petrov notes that Russia can continue tapping its currency reserves at the present rate for about six months. Russia's 2008 budget assumed revenues based on oil prices of $70 per barrel. Next year's budget was set for $95. The current price per barrel has fallen below $60.
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Pacific Rim Leaders Head to Peru
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Pacific Rim leaders preparing for their annual economic summit, a meeting sure to be dominated by need for action to deal with global financial crisis
Pacific Rim leaders are preparing for their annual economic summit - a meeting sure to be dominated by the need for action to deal with the global financial crisis. VOA White House correspondent Paula Wolfson looks ahead to this year's APEC forum in Lima, Peru.President George W. Bush makes remarks at the Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy in WashingtonThis is expected to be U.S. President George Bush's final trip abroad while in office and his last formal summit.But aides say Mr. Bush does not see this as a farewell tour. Instead, they say, the President plans to use the summit to draw attention to efforts to stimulate the world economy - especially through expanded free trade.They say Mr. Bush will seek to build support in APEC - the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum - for measures endorsed last weekend by the leaders of the world's 20 largest economies to prevent a deep global recession. He is also expected to seek a reduction in trade barriers, and to build on bilateral and regional free trade agreements already in place along the Pacific Rim. Soldiers guard the government palace in Lima, where APEC summit will meet 21-23 Nov. 2008Experts say what is likely to emerge is some sort of statement of aspirations and goals - a result very much in keeping with APEC tradition. It is not a formal organization, but rather a venue for discussion of key economic issues - a chance for leaders across the Pacific Rim to share thoughts and ideas.Sidney Weintraub is a former senior U.S. State Department official who was involved in the early development of the APEC concept. "Just by looking at the attendance you're getting at a meeting in Peru in the middle of other crises and other meetings and other summit meetings sort of shows that a lot of the leaders like this particular venue because it is a less pressure-filled venue than you get, for example, at the G-20, which just ended," Weintraub said.There will also be numerous bilateral discussions on the sidelines of the summit. President Bush, for example, is expected to meet with the leaders of China, South Korea, Japan, Russia and Peru.Experts in international trade and finance say these types of informal exchanges are key. "There's always going to be a real value in having the broad-based fora at regional levels, whether it's APEC or the OAS [Organization of American States] or things in East Asia that deal with issues cross-border where you need a broad participation," said Steven Schrage, who is with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.President Bush's initial APEC meeting was in Shanghai, China in November 2001. It was his first trip out of the United States after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and his stay lasted roughly 48 hours.With a financial crisis unfolding in the United States, this trip will also be brief. Plans for other stops in the region were dropped weeks ago, leaving only the Lima summit on his schedule.
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Pakistan Protests Missile Strikes
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Foreign ministry summons US ambassador to protest missile strikes, saying strikes undermining public support for country's anti-terror campaign
There is a widespread anger and outrage in Pakistan over the latest
suspected U.S. missile strike against a terrorist target deep inside the
country. Taliban militants have threatened to launch revenge attacks
across Pakistan unless the United States puts an end to the attacks.
Ayaz Gul reports from Islamabad the foreign ministry summoned the U.S
ambassador to protest the missile strikes, saying they are undermining
public support for Pakistan's anti-terror campaign. In the
past two months, the United States is believed to have launched about
20 missile strikes targeting al-Qaida and Taliban bases in Pakistan's
semi-autonomous tribal region that borders Afghanistan. The attacks
are said to have killed dozens of people. The United States
neither confirms nor denies it is behind the missile strikes, but U.S.
officials are reported as saying they have killed key al-Qaida
operatives in Pakistan in recent months. Local residents sit over the rubble of a house hit by suspected U.S. missiles strike in Indi Khel village near Bannu, Pakistan, 19 Nov 2008On Wednesday, a
suspected U.S. missile strike hit a target outside the tribal area in
the district of Bannu. The strike killed several al-Qaida-linked
militants. That strike, which was deep inside Pakistan
outraged the government and opposition parties. U.S. ambassador Ann
Paterson was summoned to the foreign ministry to receive a strong
protest. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq says the
U.S. ambassador was told these attacks must be stopped.
"So [the U.S.]
ambassador of course, she was summoned," he said. "This is a diplomatic
step. She assured us that she would convey our concerns and our
position to the U.S government."Earlier, speaking in the
National Assembly, parliament's lower house, Prime Minister Yousaf
Raza Gilani called the missile attacks "intolerable", saying they are
counterproductive for Pakistan's war against terrorism and are adding
to his government's problems. Mr. Gilani voiced hope that
President-elect Barack Obama's administration will show more restraint
and these attacks will be stopped. But critics of Pakistan's
government allege a secret deal between Islamabad and Washington has
paved the way for U.S. missile strikes inside Pakistani territory, a
charge Prime Minister Gilani and other officials have denied.The
opposition leader in the National Assembly, Nisar Ali Khan, says mere
criticism of the missile strikes on part of the government is not
enough. "Over the last five weeks the number of drone attacks
has multiplied," he said. "We should say enough is enough. We should
send a clear message to our friends, the Americans, that in case there
is another drone attack then we should review the facilities for
transit that we have provided to our American friends for passing
through the territory of Pakistan"Meanwhile, Taliban militants
in the North Waziristan tribal region have threatened to carry out
suicide attacks on foreigners and official targets if there are new U.S.
attacks.
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Obama to Contend With High Expectations
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New president will have to contend with byproduct of his political success
President-elect Barack Obama will face an international economic crisis and two wars when he takes the oath of office as the 44th president of the United States on January 20. But the new president will also have to contend with a byproduct of his political success, great expectations from Americans at home and people around the world. VOA national correspondent Jim Malone reports from Washington.US President-elect Barack Obama at his first news conference, 7 Nov. 2008Obama supporters experienced a kind of political euphoria on election night as the candidate from Illinois scored a convincing victory over his Republican opponent, Senator John McCain.But just a few days later, Mr. Obama took pains to caution Americans that there were no quick fixes to the nation's economic challenges."It is not going to be quick and it is not going to be easy for us to dig ourselves out of the hole that we are in," he said. "But America is a strong and resilient country, and I know we will succeed if we put aside partisanship and politics and work together as one nation."But the reaction at home and around the world following Mr. Obama's election victory has been notable.Obama supporters see his election as ushering in a new era of progressive change in Washington.Around the world, foreign governments and various international newspapers have made it clear they expect changes in U.S. policies and viewpoints after eight years of the Bush administration.Professor Robert Guttman directs the Center on Politics and Foreign Relations at the Johns Hopkins University in Washington. He told VOA's Encounter program that the expectations for Obama around the world are extremely high."We have two wars, we have an extreme economic meltdown, a financial crisis, but Obama does not have any power until January 20," he noted. "So, while there is honeymoon around the world and excitement, by the time he actually takes power a lot of people are going to be saying, well, how come he did not save this bank or how come he did not do that?"Another expert, Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute, says international expectations of the Obama presidency should be tempered by reality."Barack Obama will be an American president who will pursue America's national interest, and America's national interest is not always the same as other country's national interest," he explained. "And so if they just think that he is going to do what they want, they are going to be sadly mistaken."In the short term, Mr. Obama's transition team is focused on the monumental task of building a government ready to take power on January 20."The president-elect has a total of about 3,000 political appointments at various levels that he has to make," said William Galston, an expert on government at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "There is no permanent government. There is no shadow cabinet. And so the president-elect has to create a government from scratch in about 10 weeks."Mr. Obama demonstrated great rhetorical skills during his presidential campaign. But as presidents from Franklin Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan to Bill Clinton have realized, the power to communicate with the people can be just as important when governing."If a president is going to be successful, the president has to not only set the vision about where he wants to take the country, he also has to be very truthful about the challenges that the country has to confront, the sacrifices that are going to have to be made and the tough decisions that are involved in trying to deal with the problems facing this country," explained Leon Panetta, who served as White House chief of staff for former President Clinton.During the presidential campaign, Senator McCain often referred to Mr. Obama as one of the most liberal members of the U.S. Senate.But political analyst Stuart Rothenberg says the early appointments to the incoming Obama administration suggest a pragmatic, centrist approach to governing."I was talking to somebody who worked for him at the Harvard Law Review who said recently that Senator Obama is probably more liberal than most Americans know, but he will be more pragmatic than most Americans expect - certainly most Republicans expect - because he is ambitious, he wants to succeed," he said. "He knows he cannot go too far and he knows where the country is. And the picks he has made suggest that is the case."Mr. Obama will have the advantage of having fellow Democrats control Congress when he takes office in January. But Democratic control of both the White House and Congress has not always worked out so well.Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson worked effectively with Democratic-run Congresses early in their terms.But the last two Democratic presidents, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, had significant problems early on with Congress and eventually paid a political price.Mr. Carter lost his re-election bid in 1980, while Mr. Clinton was forced to deal with a Republican-led Congress only two years after he won the presidency in 1992.
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Arab States Meet to Discuss Solution to Pirate Attacks
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Meeting explores ways to launch joint effort to curb piracy, protect Suez Canal traffic
Seven Arab states, including Egypt, Yemen, Jordan and Saudi Arabia are meeting in Cairo in a bid to find an effective response to the growing threat of piracy in the Red Sea. Participants have been discussing the need to create a force to protect shipping, as Edward Yeranian reports from Cairo.Top officials from Arab states flanking the Red Sea are meeting in Cairo in an attempt to mount a joint effort to curb piracy in shipping lanes off the coast of Somalia, in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden.Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hussam Zaki said the piracy is an "increasingly difficult and unusual situation."The Arab League, which is also participating in the Cairo conference, condemned the situation off the Horn of Africa Wednesday with Assistant Secretary General Ahmed bin Hali complaining piracy had reached an "unprecedented level of gravity."Conference host Egypt is increasingly concerned about the effects of the recent wave of hijackings by Somali pirates on shipping through the Suez Canal. Last year, Egypt earned more than $5 billion from the canal.Residents watch the Norwegian-flagged tanker 'Torm Kristina' pass through the Suez canal in Egypt, 20 Nov 2008Three major world shipping companies have announced they are re-routing their vessels to avoid the Horn of Africa, a step that could seriously hurt the canal.Analyst Mohammed al Shazly, a contributor to the Arab daily al Hayat, said the piracy is "catastrophic" for Egypt and other Red Sea nations:He said Egypt is seriously affected by the crisis, because revenues from the canal, along with tourism, oil exports and worker's remittances are the four main sources of Egypt's gross domestic product. Yemen, he argues, which is working alongside Egypt to resolve the crisis, is also upset about having a flotilla of foreign warships off its coast.Al-Jazeera TV reports that delegates from war-torn Somalia are also attending the Cairo conference and that many participants, including the Arab League, are pushing for a political settlement in that country, including a national unity government as the "best option for putting a stop to piracy."Egyptian Admiral Mahfouz Taha Marzouk, formerly in charge of naval operations in the Red Sea, told al-Arabiya TV that "coordination between the world's navies, in addition to installation of radar in many shipping corridors, would put a damper on piracy."Mohammed Shazly said the Cairo conference is debating every possible solution to the piracy crisis, military and otherwise.He said that all options are on the table, including military options, despite the limited capabilities of many Arab states participating at the conference, but that the best options are probably finding mechanisms for coordination, consultation, and exchange of information, as well as installation of pre-warning systems [to alert for pirates], if possible.The Director of Egypt's Suez Canal Authority, Ahmed Ali Fadel, said Wednesday the canal was being directly affected by the world financial crisis and that piracy is also having a toll on the canal's revenues. The hijacked Saudi-owned oil tanker MV Sirius Star is at anchor off the coast of Somalia, 19 Nov 2008 A report by Britain's Chatham House warned the Suez Canal could even "be closed due to mounting piracy in the Gulf of Aden." The report added that 16,000 ships cross the Gulf of Aden, annually, and that 60 cases of piracy have occurred this year, or nearly double the number from last year.12 ships and 259 crew members are being held by Somali pirates, including the Saudi state oil company's Sirius Star. Pirates are demanding a ransom of $25 million to release the oil-tanker and its crew.
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Rebels Pull Back in Eastern Congo
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UN spokesperson says Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon welcomes development and calls for establishment of humanitarian corridors in area
Rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have pulled fighters
back from three front lines north of the provincial capital, Goma.
Derek Kilner reports from VOA's East Africa bureau in Nairobi that U.N.
officials say it is a positive development.Rebels belonging to
the National Congress for Defense of the People, led by Laurent Nkunda,
pulled back from positions around the town of Kanyabayonga, about
130 kilometers north of Goma.A woman carries some of her belongings on the main road crossing North Kivu town of Kayna, Democratic Republic of CongoA U.N. spokesperson said
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon welcomed the development and called for
the establishment of humanitarian corridors in the area.But the
field coordinator for Doctors Without Borders in the town of Rutshuru,
in the area, Romain Gitenet, said humanitarian corridors would have
little impact for the group's operations."Concerning Doctors
Without Borders, it will not really help us," he said. "We are already
in Nkunda's troops' area. Rutshuru is Nkunda troops' area. Nyanzale
is Nkunda's troops' area. So we do not need corridors, we are bringing
our drugs, we can go through, they let us go."Doctors Without
Borders has warned that using peacekeepers to provide humanitarian
corridors can compromise the neutrality of aid organizations in the
conflict. He was speaking in Nairobi, at the launch of a new Web site
to highlight the long-standing humanitarian suffering in DRC, which
Doctors Without Borders says remains neglected despite occasional
bursts of media coverage."There was hundreds and hundreds of
thousands of people displaced since lots of years," said Gitenet. "It
is not new. It is not just from August, it is from years and years, so
now you just have more displaced than before but at the beginning of
2008, the United Nations was talking already about 850,000 displaced
people, and there was kind of peace at this period." Numerous armed groups have been operating in eastern Congo since the formal end of the country's last civil war in 2003.Laurent
Nkunda says he is protecting the region's ethnic-Tutsi community from
attacks by a Rwandan Hutu militia. His group signed an agreement with
the government in January, but fighting broke out again in August, with
an estimated 250,000 people displaced since then.The U.N.
Security Council is set to approve a resolution introduced by France to
authorize the deployment of an additional 3,000 troops for the
peacekeeping mission in the Congo, known by the French acronym MONUC.
With 17,000 troops the mission is the largest in the world, but its
forces are spread across a wide area, and only 5,000 or 6,000 are in
North Kivu province. On Wednesday, MONUC forces engaged in brief clashes with members of the government-allied Mai Mai militias.
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US Lawmakers Debate US-Iraq Security Accord
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Experts testifying at a congressional hearing offered their assessments
Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were on Capitol Hill Wednesday briefing U.S. lawmakers on the security agreement now being considered by Iraq's parliament. VOA's Dan Robinson reports, members of Congress continue to debate the U.S.-Iraq accord, as experts testifying at a congressional hearing offered their own assessments.
Gates and Rice held their classified briefings for lawmakers behind closed doors, and neither official commented to reporters.
The product of months of negotiations, the U.S.-Iraq security accord establishes the basis for a continued U.S. troop presence in Iraq after a United Nations mandate expires on December 31st of this year.
It sets a June 30, 2009 deadline for U.S. combat troops to withdraw from Iraqi cities and towns, with a December 31, 2011 date for final withdrawal, provided Iraqi forces have assumed full security responsibilities.
However, many lawmakers have been angry with what they view as a secretive process in which the Bush administration undertook very little if any consultation with Congress.
These feelings were evident in a public hearing of a House foreign affairs subcommittee, where Democratic Representative William Delahunt voiced his frustration. "There has been no meaningful consultation with Congress during the negotiations of this agreement and the American people for all intents and purposes have been completely left out."
Delahunt referred to a request from the National Security Council that the text of the agreement not be released publicly, and be withheld from witnesses at the hearing.
Oona Hathaway, Professor Law at the University of California at Berkeley calls the lack of consultation with Congress unprecedented, asserting that aspects of the accord exceed the independent constitutional powers of the president.
Among troublesome provisions she points to is one involving a joint U.S.-Iraqi coordinating committee that she suggests would require U.S. commanders to seek permission to engage in military activities other than self-defense. "The provisions granting authority to U.S. troops to engage in military operations, the grant of power over our military operations to this joint committee, and the specification of timetables for withdrawal of military forces. These are unprecedented in a standard SOFA [Status of Forces Agreement] have never been part of a standard SOFA, and extend in my view far beyond what the president can do without obtaining congressional approval."
In Baghdad Wednesday, the accord ran into difficulties, when its second reading in the Iraqi legislature was disrupted amid arguments between supporters and opponents.
Raed Jarrar, consultant in the Middle East Peace Building Program of the American Friends Service Committee, suggests opposition to the accord remains intense in Iraq. "There are many people who think signing of the agreement now will be divisive in Iraq, it will split the Iraqi community and the parliament yet again. And so it will not be a reason for unification, it will be a reason for more violence and more fighting among Iraqis and maybe it will push the security situation [to] deteriorate even more," he said.
Jarrar says extending the United Nations mandate, in the absence of approval by Iraq's parliament, would give Iraqis time to adequately discuss the agreement.
Michael Matheson is a visiting Professor of Law at George Washington University. "Maybe by the end of this week we will find that it is not going to be possible to conclude this agreement before the end of the mandate in which case we do have to go to the U.N. options."
Matheson says this course would allow more time for the U.S. Congress to work out details with a President Barack Obama next year. /// END OPT ///
Thomas Donnelly, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, calls the U.S.-Iraq agreement important for Iraq and U.S. security interests in the region relating to Iran:
"Not only is this an important agreement for limiting Iran's ability to make mischief in Iraq, but it is an important step forward in Iraq's own self-image as a free and independent state, not too much under the influence of Tehran."
Republican Representative Dana Rohrabacher expressed this view during Wednesday's hearing. "It is not in our interest to stay in a country like Iraq unless those people want us there to help them defeat evil forces that threaten to overrun their own defenses. So, if they don't, it's time to go."
The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Democrat Ike Skelton, said this week that while the U.S.-Iraq accord contains some positive aspects, he remained deeply troubled by vague language he fears could cause misunderstandings and conflict between the U.S. and Iraq.
Skelton referred to provisions he believes could result in U.S. troops facing prosecution in Iraqi courts.
U.S. officials say while the accord gives Iraq an element of legal jurisdiction over U.S. troops and private contractors who commit certain crimes while off-duty, service members would remain in U.S. custody.
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Journalists Protest Sudanese Government's Arrest of Reporters
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Most Sudanese newspapers did not publish Tuesday in protest of arrests
Top Sudanese journalists are protesting the government's censorship of the press, after the unprecedented arrest of more than 60 journalists outside the country's parliament two days ago. Most Sudanese newspapers did not publish Tuesday in protest of the arrests. The next round will be in a Sudanese court, as Edward Yeranian reports for VOA from Cairo.Sudanese men read sports news in the absence of ten political newspapers in Khartoum on 18 Nov. 2008The Sudanese press and the government continue to lock horns, after the government arrested more than 60 journalists Monday, and many newspaper editors responded with a decision not to publish Tuesday.Top newspapers, including the influential Al Ray al Ahm, were on newsstands Wednesday, although one woman journalist, who refused to give her name, insisted that journalists were "considering what the next step would be" in the ongoing, protracted battle with the government over freedom of the press.A spokesman for the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement in Cairo, Nasr El-Din Musa Koshi, described the current situation.He says there is no freedom of the press in Sudan and newspapers are shut down by the government once or twice a month with stringent censorship before going to press. Newspapers, he adds, have a margin of about 10 to 20 percent freedom, but when they start criticizing the government they are shut down.Several top Sudanese political leaders, when contacted by the Voice of America, refused to comment on the situation.In Cairo, Egyptian Press Syndicate head Makram Mohammed, who often deals with Sudanese journalists, describes the state of the media in Sudan.He says that the Sudanese government must really be more tolerant about press freedom, rather than beating and detaining journalists, which harms Sudan's image abroad and drives a wedge between North and South. He says only a democratic atmosphere can help solve the real problems in Sudan. He also urges Sudan's President Bashir to release those journalists still under arrest.Media reports say many Sudanese journalists arrested Monday have been released, although there are conflicting reports that some are still in detention.Makram Mohammed argues that freedom of the press is not a given in most Arab countries, and Arab governments often find the press to be "uncomfortable."He says many ruling parties in Arab states find freedom of the press to be unpleasant and uncomfortable, but that it is the only way for Arab society to make progress and advance. Jailing journalists, he insists, is no way to progress in today's world.The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), former rebels who now govern in tandem with the Arab-led north, protested Monday's arrests and threatened not to approve the 2009 budget in retaliation.The U.S. government also protested the arrests and has called for an end to media censorship.The Sudanese government has set no date, as yet, but the next round in the battle with the press is due to be in court, according to several journalists who where detained and released.
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Freed Guantanamo Bay Detainee Seeks Greater Freedoms
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David Hicks returned to Australia from the prison at the US military base at in May 2008 after pleading guilty to terrorism charges
A former Guantanamo Bay detainee, Australian David Hicks, has broken his self-imposed silence, calling on the authorities to relax restrictions on his freedom since his release from jail. The Australian police say they do not plan to extend the restrictions when they expire in a few weeks. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.Handout photo received 27 March, 2007 shows undated photo of Australian David HicksDavid Hicks appeared largely impassive in the brief video message, in which he pleaded with his supporters to help him win back his freedoms. The former kangaroo hunter returned to Australia from the prison at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay in May 2008 after pleading guilty to terrorism charges. Under a plea agreement, he was transferred to a prison in his hometown of Adelaide, where he served out the remainder of his sentence. He was released last December and is subject to a control order, which the Australian Federal Police sought. The order requires him to report to police several times a week and adhere to a strict midnight-to-dawn curfew.The police said Thursday they will not seek to extend the order when it expires early next year.In his video message released Thursday, Hicks expressed concern on the effects of the order. "I don't know what the future holds for me," he said. The only thing I do know is that until the control order is lifted I will not be able to get on with my life."Hicks spent five years at Guantanamo Bay and was the first detainee to be tried and convicted at a special US military commission.He was captured in Afghanistan in late 2001. At his trial, he admitted training with al Qaeda and meeting its leader Osama bin Laden.Hicks' video message was organized by a group of supporters, who claim he has wide public support and has received offers for work, although he remains mentally fragile after his imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay.Rights activists say the Hicks case shows that Australia's anti-terrorism laws need to be reviewed because they compromise human rights for security.
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Scientists Decode Genes of Prehistoric Woolly Mammoth
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Scientists say achievement will give them information about migration of elephants as well as why woolly mammoth became extinct
For the first time, scientists have decoded much of the genetic blueprint of a prehistoric creature - the woolly mammoth. Scientists say the achievement will give them information about the migration of elephants as well as why the woolly mammoth became extinct. VOA's Jessica Berman reports.Illustration by ExhibitEase LLC - Steven W. MarcusEvolutionary biologists at The Pennsylvania State University extracted the genetic material from hair found in the Siberian permafrost. With its thick coat, the extinct woolly mammoth, a relative of the African elephant, was uniquely equipped to live in the frigid northern hemisphere. The work on the woolly mammoth's genetic sequence is published this week in the journal Nature.Lead author Stephan Schuster says the modern-day African elephant and the prehistoric mammoth share 99.4 percent of their genes.Prehistoric drawing of a woolly mammoth in a cave"So this tells you that they are very, very similar," he said. "And also, just because they are extinct doesn't mean it is an ancient elephant. It is as modern as an Asian or African elephant. It just had the bad luck to go extinct before today."Schuster says the data show the mammoth evolved from the African elephant six million years ago, around the same time human ancestors are thought to have split from chimpanzees. Researchers hope their work will help shed light on how the woolly mammoth evolved and why it died out.Mammoth hairBut Stephan Schuster says the genetic research will not enable scientists to clone a woolly mammoth or other prehistoric creatures as in the movie Jurassic Park."It is a relevant scientific question to do this," he said. "And for that, the answer would be always, 'No.' I think what we need to know about mammoths we can study in other ways."Michael Hofreiter is an evolutionary anthropologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. In a commentary in Nature, he marvels at the latest technology that made it possible to sequence the entire genome of a prehistoric animal."It's pretty astounding for me, especially if you think that these animals have been dead for like 40,000 years," Hofreiter said.Meanwhile, biochemist Stephan Schuster says researchers hope to apply the techniques they are using to study mammoths to the preservation of animals, like the Tasmanian Devil, on the verge of extinction today.
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