US Presidential Candidates Debate Economy, Foreign Policy
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McCain hails success of military surge in Iraq; Obama criticizes decision to invade Iraq in first place, saying US should have focused on Afghanistan
The two major party candidates for president of the United States, Republican Senator John McCain and Democrat Senator Barack Obama met in a spirited debate over the financial crisis and foreign policy Friday at the University of Mississippi. As VOA's Greg Flakus reports from the debate site in Oxford, Mississippi, the two candidates clashed frequently over such issues as tax cuts, Iran's nuclear ambitions and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. John McCain, left, and Barack Obama shake hands after first presidential debate (26 Sep 08)Although this was to have been a debate focused exclusively on foreign policy issues, the grave financial crisis that almost undermined the debate was the top issue addressed during the first half of the debate. Both Senators came to Mississippi from Washington, where they had been involved in the effort to put together an emergency package to stem the crisis.On Wednesday, Senator McCain suspended his campaign and called for a postponement of the debate in order to concentrate on the financial crisis. Senator Obama said he would come to the debate alone, if necessary, and for two days the fate of this first presidential debate of the 2008 election was uncertain. On Friday, however, just hours before the event was to take place, Senator McCain said enough progress had been made in Washington for him to come to the debate.In their responses to questions about the crisis, the two senators gave support to the general idea of a government bail out plan, but differed over what needed to be done to restore the nation's economic health. Senator McCain said government needs to restore fiscal responsibility."We have to, obviously, cut spending. I have fought to cut spending. Senator Obama has 800 billion dollars in new spending programs. I would suggest that he start by canceling some of those new spending programs that he has," he said.Senator Obama fired back, accusing Senator McCain and Republicans of approving tax cuts for the wealthy while neglecting the needs of average working Americans."If we are spending $300 billion on tax cuts for people who do not need them and we're not even asking for them and we are leaving out health care, which is crushing on people all across the country then, I think, we have made a bad decision and I want to make sure we are not short-changing our long-term priorities," he said. John McCain at first presidential debate (26 Septmeber 08)When the debate moved to foreign policy, the exchange became more heated, with Senator McCain frequently suggesting that Senator Obama did not fully understand such issues as the threat of a nuclear Iran or how to deal with Russia. Senator Obama fought back with criticisms of the Bush administration's policies, which he said Senator McCain has largely supported. Senator McCain hailed the success of the military surge in Iraq and Senator Obama attacked the decision to invade Iraq in the first place. One of the fiercest exchanges between the two candidates came over the issue of Iran and what to do about its plan to develop nuclear weapons. Senator McCain emphasized the threat this would pose to Israel and attacked Senator Obama for saying he would hold direct meetings with Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad."What Senator Obama does not seem to understand is that if, without precondition, you sit down across the table from someone who has called Israel a stinking corpse and wants to destroy that country and wipe it off the map, you legitimize those comments. This is dangerous. It is not just naive, it is dangerous," he said. Barack Obama at presidential debate in Oxford, Mississippi (26 Septmeber 08)Senator Obama responded by defending his willingness to meet with any foreign leader at any time if he believed it would make the United States more secure."Now, understand what this means, meeting without preconditions. It does not mean that you invite them over for tea one day. What it means is that we do not do what we have been doing, which is to say that 'until you agree to do exactly what we say, we will not have direct contacts with you," he said.Senator Obama said one of McCain's own advisors, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, had endorsed the idea of meeting with Iran's leaders without preconditions. Senator McCain said that was not true. In a recent meeting with other former secretaries of state, Kissinger did say U.S. officials should meet with the Iranians without preconditions, but he did not say the two presidents should meet.The next scheduled debate will be between the two vice presidential candidates, Republican Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska and Democratic Senator Joe Biden of Delaware. That event is scheduled for October 2 at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
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What's Behind the US Financial Meltdown?
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As officials and business leaders struggle to rescue economy from serious problems, news has been filled with strange terms like 'mortgage-backed securities' and 'leverage'
As officials and business leaders struggle to rescue the economy from serious problems, the news has been filled with strange terms like "mortgage-backed securities" and "leverage." We asked VOA's Jim Randle to translate some of this Wall Street-speak into more understandable language.Trader Stephen Guilfoyle uses a phone post as he works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, 18 Sep 2008The financial crisis grows out of problems with mortgages, which are loans from a bank that helps a borrower to buy a home.The borrower must repay the loan, as well as additional charges called "interest." Interest is rent paid to the lender for the privilege of using the money for a specific period of time.Traditionally, U.S. lenders required prospective borrowers to prove that they earn enough money to repay the loan. The borrower either pays back the money with interest or the lender "forecloses" - taking back the house. University of Maryland finance Professor Elinda Kiss says that meant borrowers were unlikely to "default" or stop making payments."That is that people would keep up and make every kind of sacrifice to stay in their homes," he said.But the risk of default grew when low interest rates cut bank revenue and prompted lenders to scramble for new customers.Lenders boosted revenue by offering "subprime" loans that charged higher interest rates and required less verification of creditworthiness, things like whether the borrower has a job, how much money they make and whether they pay their bills on time.But lower lending standards meant some subprime borrowers got mortgages they could not afford.As long as home prices were rising, this caused few problems because borrowers who had difficulty repaying their loans could sell their homes at a profit and pay off the loan. A sale sign sits in front of a home in the Shaker Heights section of Cleveland, Ohio (File)But when home prices fell, homeowners with financial problems were stuck and the number of foreclosures soared in the subprime market. This hurt borrowers who lost their homes and meant banks lost revenue they were expecting from loan repayments. The impact of foreclosures was magnified by "mortgage-backed securities." These are created by investment firms that buy up a group of mortgages from lenders. The firm "bundles" these debts and revenues together in a package and sells them to investors. Investors, including investment banks, usually get their money back with interest from mortgage-backed securities. But when subprime mortgages collapsed, they got huge losses instead. George Mason University Professor Gerald Hanweck says mortgage lenders and investment banks who bought the securities that depended on mortgages badly misjudged the risk. "The problem occurred because investors as well as the originators of the mortgage pool, did not price the mortgages correctly to take account of higher risk," he said. Morning commuters walk past Lehman Brothers headquarters in New York, 16 Sept 2008 The collapse of some mortgage-backed securities hit investment firms very hard because the firms were using "leverage" - huge amounts of borrowed money - to make investments.When some investments went sour, some "highly leveraged" investment companies did not have enough money in reserve to cover their expenses and obligations, so some went bankrupt. These losses shocked banks and other lenders and made them stop lending because they had no confidence that they would be repaid.The head of the Economic Outlook Group, Bernard Baumohl, says without lending, the economy was paralyzed."Credit is the lifeblood, the oxygen this economy needs," he said.Without loans, owners cannot build new factories, farmers cannot get seed and equipment needed to plant next year's crop, and the economy could stall.The advocates of the massive bailout of troubled financial firms say their plan to buy up bad mortgage-backed securities and other problem investments is intended to restore confidence, spur lending, and get the economy growing again.
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Car Bomb Kills 17 in Syrian Capital
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Bomb went off on airport road near crowded intersection, leading to holy shrine popular with Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims from Iraq and Iran
A car bomb has exploded in the Syrian capital, Damascus, killing at least 17 people and wounding 14 others. From Beirut, Edward Yeranian reports the target of the blast was not immediately clear.Damaged buildings with shattered glass are seen after car bomb blew up in Damascus, 27 Sep 2008Syrian state television says the vehicle, packed with 200 kilograms of explosives, went off Saturday near a crowded intersection, leading to the holy shrine of Sayyeda Zeinab, popular with Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims.Shi'ite pilgrims from both Iraq and Iran frequent the shrine, and a tour-bus was reportedly damaged by the explosion.Eyewitnesses say the explosion created a large crater in the road, and that nearly 20 vehicles were destroyed. Windows from dozens of nearby buildings were also blown out and shards of glass littered the area.One man, who lives in the neighborhood, describes what happened to Syrian Television"It felt like an earthquake," this man says, "so we went outside to see what happened. Our entire building was damaged, and five of my family members are at the hospital."A Syrian police precinct borders the site of the explosion, and may have been a possible target, but most of the victims were reportedly civilians.Syrian security forces immediately closed off the neighborhood to investigate the cause of the bombing. Syria's Interior Minister Bassam Abd al-Megid is calling the bombing an "act of terrorism.""It was a cowardly act," he says. "We are investigating, and we have dispatched our anti-terrorist squad, to figure out the cause." He says it is not yet known who was behind the bombing, but we will ultimately find out.Neighboring Iraq has witnessed a plethora of explosions targeting Shi'ite religious shrines in recent years, and Syria reportedly houses close to two million Iraqi refugees.Another car bomb, in February, killed Hezbollah terrorist Imad Mughniyah in a residential neighborhood of Damascus. Syrian officials accused Israel of the killing, but Israel denied responsibility. Mughniyeh, was implicated in deadly attacks against Western and Israeli targets in the 1980s and '90s.A key advisor to President Bashar al-Assad was also killed in the port city of Tartous, in August, but no one claimed responsibility. And an advisor to Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal was assassinated under mysterious circumstances, two weeks ago.Israeli agents attempted to kill Meshaal, who is now based in Damascus, in 1997, in the Jordanian capital, Amman.
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Bomb Explodes in Busy Indian Market
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Explosion rocks crowded flower market in New Delhi, killing at least one person, wounding several others
Authorities in the Indian capital, New Delhi, say terrorists are
responsible for a blast near a crowded wholesale flower market Saturday
afternoon. Police say 17 people were injured. Indian media say at
least three people have died. The blast appears to be of relatively
low magnitude compared to the serial attack two weeks ago which left
more than 20 people dead. VOA Correspondent Steve Herman reports from
New Delhi.
Forensic experts and Indian policeman examine the site of a blast in New Delhi, 27 Sep 2008 Just days after police claimed they had
arrested those responsible for the fatal September 13 bomb blasts in
New Delhi and elsewhere earlier, another explosion hit a market in the
Indian capital. On the scene, New Delhi Police Commissioner
Y.K. Dadwal says eyewitnesses saw two young men on a motorcycle drop a
black plastic bag containing a lunch box outside an electronics shop in
a narrow lane. He
says when a small child picked up the package from the ground,
attempting to return it to the cyclists, smoke immediately came out and
it blew up, causing casualties. The explosion occurred in the
Mehrauli Main Market, in a low income neighborhood, near a major
heritage site: the 800-year-old Qutub Minar, the world's tallest brick
minaret. The bomb, described as crudely made and of low
intensity, renewed alarm in the capital that New Delhi remains
vulnerable despite the recent crackdown against purported members of
the little known "Indian Mujahideen" group. Media report that
the major access roads to Delhi were sealed following the market blast
and police advised people not to go to markets in the city.The
home minister, who had been criticized for his response to the blasts
two weeks ago, called another emergency meeting of top intelligence and
security officials to discuss the latest attack.
Television
commentators say the bombers intended to deliver a message that
terrorists retain their capability to hit the capital despite the
recent police proclamation that those responsible for the earlier
blasts have been neutralized. The September 13 attacks in
the capital followed recent bomb blasts in such notable cities as
Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Jaipur. Officials say more than 400
people have been killed in such explosions in the country during the
past three years. The attacks are usually blamed by police on Muslim
groups, alleged to have funding or support from Pakistan or Bangladesh.
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US, Afghan Presidents Discuss Reconstruction Effort
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President George Bush meets with President Hamid Karzai at White House for talks on security, economic development
U.S. President George Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai met at the
White House to talk about improving security in Afghanistan and
expanding the Afghan army. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns
has the story.President Bush and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, 26 Sep 2008At what is likely to be their last White
House meeting, President Bush praised President Karzai's service to his
country, saying he admires the Afghan leader's determination to succeed."I
want to let you know that the United States is committed to the people
of Afghanistan. We will stand by your side and do the hard work
necessary to achieve our objective. And our objective is for you to
become a thriving democracy and to deny al-Qaida and other extremists a
safe haven or a base from which to launch their murderous attacks," he
said.Al-Qaida terrorists responsible for the September 2001
attacks in New York and Washington were backed by what was then the
Taleban-led government in Afghanistan. U.S. forces toppled that
government in 2002.U.S. troops make up the bulk of the NATO
mission in Afghanistan fighting Taleban militia, some of whom U.S.
military officials say are based across the border in Pakistan.Earlier
this month, Mr. Bush announced that a Marine battalion scheduled to go
to Iraq in November will instead be sent to Afghanistan. That battalion
will be followed in January by an Army combat brigade.Before
their Oval Office talks, President Bush and President Karzai had a
video conference with Afghan governors and members of U.S. provincial
reconstruction teams in Afghanistan. Mr. Bush said those teams are a
central part of a counter-insurgency strategy that combines economic
development, education, and security to help President Karzai's young
democracy thrive. "No question it's
difficult. But if you listen to the people who are actually on the
ground working with the citizens of Afghanistan on matters such as
agriculture or education or infrastructure, you will understand why I
said that there is progress and promise and hope," said Mr.
Bush. There have been difficulties between the
Bush administration and the Karzai government, chiefly resulting from
public anger over the deaths of Afghan civilians killed by U.S. troops
targeting terrorists.President Karzai thanked President Bush for his friendship, his support, and his patience. "I
have yelled at times. I have been angry at times. But you have always
been smiling and generous. And that is so nice of you," he said. President
Karzai says Afghanistan has made more progress in the last six years
that it would have made in 50 or 60 years under the Taleban. He says
infant mortality is down and national reserves of $180 million in 2002
now total more than $3 billion.
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Mideast Quartet Urges Israeli-Palestinian Peace Accord by Year's End
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US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Quartet envoy Tony Blair both insist early deal still possible
The international Quartet on the Middle East peace process Friday called on Israel and the Palestinians to make every effort to conclude a peace agreement by the end of this year. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Quartet envoy Tony Blair both insisted an early deal is still possible. VOA's David Gollust reports from our U.N. bureau.(from left) UN Sec. Gen. Ban Ki-moon, Condoleezza Rice and Tony Blair at UN, 26 Sep 2008It is widely-held among Middle East analysts that Israel's government crisis, the pending change in U.S. administrations and other factors make achievement of a Middle East peace deal in 2008, as envisaged at last year's Annapolis conference, all but impossible.However the Middle East Quartet, made up of the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, says a meaningful negotiating process between the Palestinians and Israel is underway, and it appealed to the sides Friday to continue to make every effort to conclude an agreement by year's end.The appeal followed a senior level Quartet meeting at U.N. headquarters
Friday. At a news conference, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
rejected Arab assertions at a special Security Council meeting earlier
in the day that the regional peace process is failing because of
Israeli settlement activity.Rice said the current closed-door negotiations between the sides is the most serious effort of its kind in seven years and have been bolstered by Quartet progress in building Palestinian Authority security forces and economic activity in the West Bank. "It is a difficult process. There are difficult issues. Had this been easy, it would have been solved 30 years ago. But they are indeed working very hard. And I think it is a process that deserves the support of all of the parties and the encouragement of all the parties, and I would ask all parties including those in the region to be encouraging of the parties," she said.Rice said it is noteworthy that Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, only a day after being designated by her party early this week to replace outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, returned to talks with Palestinian lead negotiator Ahmed Qureia.She said while the sides have kept the content of the talks secret, the negotiations are ongoing and robust and said if they work urgently, the prospect of a deal this year is still within reach.Rice's optimism was shared by Quartet envoy Blair, the former British Prime Minister who has been spearheading efforts on the ground to develop infrastructure for the envisaged Palestinian state. "The last thing anyone should ever be in this situation is foolishly-optimistic. We know what all the challenges are. And as I say, it's possible to be totally negative. But that's not my perspective. My perspective is that this was going down and down and down for seven years. It has stopped going down. It is moving back up. It has to move far faster back up. But there is for the first time an agreed strategy around politics, the security situation, and how we lift the pressure of occupation," he said.In a statement, the Quartet expressed deep concern about increasing Israeli settlement activity, which it said has a damaging impact on the negotiating environment. It called on Israel to freeze all settlement activity including so-called natural growth, and to dismantle settler outposts erected since 2001.At the same time, it condemned acts of terrorism against Israelis including rocket attacks from Gaza and stressed the need for further Palestinian efforts to dismantle the infrastructure of terror and to foster an atmosphere of tolerance.The four powers commended Egyptian efforts to overcome the split between the Palestinian Authority and the militant Hamas movement which controls Gaza. They expressed hope the relative calm in Gaza the last three months will lead to more normal movement of people and goods in and out of the coastal strip.U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon welcomed an offer by the two parties to brief the Quartet on the content of their confidential negotiations in the region soon.
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China Leaves Footprints in Space
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With successful spacewalk, China becomes third country, after US, Russia to do so
A Chinese astronaut has made the historic first step in outer space for his country. With the successful spacewalk, China has become the third country, after the United States and Russia, to do so. Stephanie Ho reports from Beijing.In this video grab taken at the Beijing Space Command and Control Center Chinese astronaut Zhai Zhigang walks outside the orbit module of the Shenzhou 7 spacecraft for a spacewalk, 27 Sep 2008 Cheering erupted in the control room when Chinese astronaut Zhai Zhigang opened the hatch of the Shenzhou 7 spacecraft and went outside.His emergence from the module was captured by video cameras mounted on the outside of the space ship and broadcast live to millions of Chinese viewers.Zhai, who became China's first-ever spacewalker, waved to the camera at this historic moment.Zhai says he sends greetings to the Chinese people and all the people in the world. Shortly afterwards, his teammate handed him a Chinese national flag, which he also waved for the camera.Outside the craft, Zhai recovered a scientific experiment that official Chinese media said were solid lubricant samples. The ship also will release a satellite that will circle the orbiter and send back images to mission command.For his 20 minute spacewalk, Zhai wore a Chinese-made Feitian suit, which is being highlighted as the first indigenous space suit.It cost nearly $4.5 million, has 10 layers and weighs about 120 kilograms. The Feitian is like a mini space ship. It provides pressurized atmosphere, oxygen and temperature control to keep astronauts alive in outer space, while still allowing them to carry out their tasks. The suit also protects wearers from radiation and small flying meteoroids.One of the Shenzhou 7 astronauts, who did not actually exit the craft, wore a Russian-made Orlan space suit. Chinese authorities say Russian experts have been on hand to support the entire mission.Shenzhou 7 launched Thursday night from the western province of Gansu, and is due to land in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia Sunday. Official Chinese media report the country's ultimate goal is to build a permanent space laboratory and a larger-scale space engineering system. The chief designer of the Shenzhou spacecraft system, Zhang Bainan, is quoted as saying China is planning to begin mass production of the spacecraft starting from the Shenzhou 8 mission.
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US, India Nuclear Deal Poised for Approval by House of Representatives, Senate
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House debated version of legislation approved this past week by Senate Foreign Relations Committee
A civilian nuclear deal between the United States and India, the
subject of controversy since proposed by President Bush in 2005, is
poised for final approval in the U.S House of Representatives. VOA's
Dan Robinson reports, opponents in and outside of Congress made last
minute efforts to block it, while supporters said approval could not
wait until a new U.S. president takes office.With the Bush
administration pressing for action before Congress adjourns, the House
debated a version of the legislation approved this past week by the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee.The agreement was the
subject of long and intense negotiations between the White House and
Congress, in particular Democratic Representative Howard Berman who
chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee.During debate on the
measure late Friday, he discussed what he called a personal commitment
made to him by Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. "That in a change in
policy, the U.S will make its highest priority at the November meeting
of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the achievement of a decision by all of
the nuclear suppliers to prohibit the export of enrichment and
reprocessing equipment and technology to states that are not members of
the treaty on nonproliferation," he said.President Bush had
hoped to win congressional approval before India's Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh came to the White House this past week.The
president referred to it as he welcomed the Indian leader, calling the
agreement one sign of a good strong strategic relationship. "This has
taken a lot of work on both our parts, a lot of courage on your part.
And of course we want the agreement to satisfy you and to get it out of
our Congress so we are working hard to get it passed as quickly as
possible," he said.Opponents say the agreement will undermine
nonproliferation efforts and make it more difficult to dissuade other
countries not to develop nuclear weapons."Approval of this
agreement undermines our efforts to dissuade countries like Iran and
North Korea from developing nuclear weapons. By approving this
agreement, all we are doing is creating incentives for other countries
to withdraw from the nuclear nonproliferation treaty," said Barbara
Lee, a California Democrat.Democrat Edward Markey said it fails
to meet even minimal nonproliferation conditions Congress has required,
and poses unacceptable risks to U.S. security and the nuclear
nonproliferation regime. "By breaking the rules for India, we are
making it less likely that the rules will hold against Iran or anyone
else. Iran is looking at this deal for India and they're saying "where
can I sign up?"Since conducting its first nuclear weapons test
in 1974, India has refused to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty,
something critics say should happen before India gets full access to
global nuclear trade.Supporters say the agreement recognizes
what they call India's responsible handling of its nuclear program,
helps nonproliferation by subjecting more than half of India's 22
reactors to monitoring, and assists India's development of a clean
energy infrastructure."The IAEA (International Atomic Energy
Agency) will be able to inspect two thirds of India's civlian nuclear
facilities, because those facilities will be under IAEA safeguards and
all future civliian nuclear facilities will also be under safeguards,"
said New York Democrat Gary Ackerman.Last week, opponents made
last minute efforts to persuade lawmakers not to vote for the
agreement. At a briefing in the U.S. Capitol, Daryl Kimball, who heads
the Arms Control Association, called it flawed."It does not
clearly resolve the inconsistency between the 123 agreement that was
initialed last August 2007 and the Henry Hyde Act which established the
terms and conditions under which the U.S. can engage in nuclear trade,"
he said.The description of the U.S-India accord as a 123
agreement refers to a section of the 1954 U.S. Atomic Energy Act. The
U.S. has some two dozen such 123 agreements with various countries.Ambassador
Robert Grey, a former U.S. representative to the Conference on
Disarmament, urges lawmakers to take more time to review the agreement."This
is a bad deal that we are getting into here in terms of
nonproliferation. We created the nonproliferation regime, we got it
through the international community. We supported it consistently over
successive administrations, both Republican and Democrat. Now we have
reversed course. We are opening a hole with this agreement with India
that you could drive a truck through," he said.A decision by
the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, which sets rules for
international nuclear trade, lifting a prohibition on India's access to
global nuclear trade paved the way for congressional approval."That
NSG decision represents the will of the international community to make
the rules conform to the realities of India's energy situation,"
Republican Ed Royce.The House of Representatives will take a
final recorded vote on the U.S. - India agreement on Saturday. If
approved as expected, it would go to the U.S. Senate where supporters
expect it to win bipartisan approval.
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Watchdog Group Urges Africa to Create Anti-Corruption Organizations
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Many African countries are at or near bottom of Transparency International's latest Corruption Perception Index
Anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International says the African
Union and regional institutions must do more to encourage good
governance in East Africa. Many countries, including Burundi, Eritrea,
Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda are at or near the bottom
of the organization's latest Corruption Perception Index released on
Tuesday. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu has more from our East Africa
Bureau in Nairobi.Calling the results of the survey for East
and Horn of African countries "grim," Transparency International's
executive director in Kenya, Job Ogonda says the time has come for the
African Union and the East African Community to create anti-corruption
bodies, which are solely accountable to the people and have the power
to curb abuses."If I, as a Kenyan, do not trust in my
government to uphold good governance and accountability, then I have to
be able to appeal to the African Union or the East African Community.
That means institutions within the African Union, such as the African
Union Convention against Corruption, need to have teeth and they need
to begin biting. Right now, there is an advisory council that has been
set up within the African Union. That advisory council needs to
scrutinize the reports that have been submitted by countries that are
signatories to the convention. They also need to tender the same
reports during the general meeting of the African Union and demand an
explanation or action."War-ravaged Somalia topped Transparency
International's index as the most corrupt out of 180 countries
surveyed. But other countries in the region did not fare much
better. Djibouti, Rwanda and Tanzania were the region's best by
placing 102nd.Existing anti-corruption agencies, such as
Kenya's Anti-Corruption Commission and Uganda's Inspector General of
Government have been widely criticized for lacking independence because
they are funded by their respective governments, where power largely
rests in the hands of a few elite politicians.Ogonda notes that
Uganda, for example, dropped 15 places in the Corruption Perception
Index, from 111 last year to 126 this year, on the belief that the
government of President Yoweri Museveni has been weakening the office
of the Inspector General of Government. "The office of the
IGG, it is largely toothless. Parliament has also been largely
disempowered from its oversight role. As a result of that,
institutions such as the National Social Security Fund is beginning to
engage in shenanigans, where they buy property for the
politically-connected for inflated prices, passing on tax money or
citizen savings to politically-connected people," he said.Kenya's ranking of 147 was little changed from last year, placing it just barely ahead of Zimbabwe.Ogonda
says the formation of a coalition government in Kenya earlier this year
has done little to stem rampant corruption in the form of bribery,
kickbacks, and embezzlements in the public sector. "You find that all
institutions of government are working not in the interest of citizens
but in the interest of either individuals or a narrow group of
people. When politics is arranged like that, how then do you expect
the civil service to deliver services to the citizens?" Last
week, the President of the East African Association of Anti-corruption
Authorities Edward Hoseah suggested that the best way for existing
institutions to combat corruption is to work closely with the local
media.He did not say how this would work in countries where governments are under equal pressure to allow more media freedom.
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Swiss Adventurer Flies English Channel on Homemade Jet Wing
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Yves Rossy flew on 2.4-meter-long carbon-composite wing with four small kerosene-burning jet engines
Swiss adventurer Yves Rossy has become the first man ever to cross the English Channel strapped to a jet-powered homemade wing. For VOA, Tom Rivers in London reports on the hair-raising trip.Yves Rossy lands after flying across English ChannelFor real-life rocket man,Yves Rossy, it was a dream come true. To retrace the route of French pilot Louis Bleriot who 99 years ago was the first man to fly across the English Channel in an aircraft.But the crossing for modern day adventurer Rossy, was very different.Strapped to him was an 2.4-meter-long carbon-composite wing with four small kerosene-burning jet engines.Dropped from a plane 2,400 meters above Calais, Rossy fired up his engines and headed in the direction of England. Flying at 200 kilometers per hour he crossed the 42 kilometer stretch of water in about 10 minutes.Once over the white cliffs of Dover the Rocket man opened his parachute and down to earth he floated to the delight of the assembled onlookers gathered in a field.For Rossy, absolutely everything went according to plan.
"It was the perfect flight, as planned. Really, everything worked as planned. Perfect. Like I wanted it and like all my team did prepare it. so, perfect," he said.As he says once the preparation work was done, all that was left to do was to enjoy the moment and to soar like a bird. "I was really living it in the present and it is like in a dream, like you are with a big bird," he said.But that is not the end of the story. Rossy wants to improve on his flying wing and he promises more adventures in the future.
"There is a big potential to improve everything," he said. "To be with the lighter wing, with better engines, to fly vertical, aerobatics. I am sure we are now technically ready to go in that way."When not soaring like a bird, the 49-year-old still has his head in the clouds. In real life he is an airline pilot who flies the Zurich to Heathrow route.
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