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. . . Day by Day with VOA .. . BBC -- Wednesday, 20 November, 2002, 15:36 GMT . Islamists riot
over Miss World report
.
Security has been tight
around the Miss World contest Muslim radicals have burnt down the premises of a newspaper in the
northern Nigerian city of Kaduna after it published an article referring to the
Prophet Mohammed in a report on the Miss World contest, which is currently
taking place in Nigeria.
Correspondents say Kaduna state is regarded as one of Nigeria's most volatile regions because of its large Christian as well as Muslim population. Two years ago over 2,000 people died in communal clashes in Kaduna, before the army was eventually sent in to restore order. Text alerts The riot started after the paper published an article on Saturday which said that the Prophet Mohammed would have married one of the beauty queens. The fire brigade has put down the fire in This Day's offices, but the BBC's Yusuf Sarki Muhammad in Kaduna says that the atmosphere is "chaotic".
There is debris everywhere, as well as broken furniture and burnt pieces of newspaper in the premises which are now being guarded by police. No-one has been injured, but the staff of the newspaper have gone into hiding for fear of more attacks. Our correspondent says that local mosques have been calling for action against the paper since yesterday. He says that some people were first alerted to the article by text messages being sent to their mobile phones. Death by stoning The newspaper later retracted the story and published an apology on two separate days. Witnesses told Reuters news agency that the rioters have vowed to attack This Day offices all over the north, where Sharia law has been introduced.
The Miss World pageant is taking place over several weeks in Nigeria, but only in the southern, largely Christian and Animist, part of the country. Muslim groups say the contest is unIslamic. The contest had also been threatened by a large-scale boycott by beauty queens protesting against a Sharia court's sentence of death by stoning against Amina Lawal, a woman convicted of adultery. The Nigerian Government has moved to calm fears by promising it will not allow any Nigerian to be stoned to death. . BBC -- Wednesday, 20 November, 2002, 15:23 GMT . Mozambique
leader 'wants justice done'
. Carlos Cardoso was
investigating corruption cases The president of Mozambique, Joaquim Chissano, has urged judges to
carry on as normal in a murder trial which has linked his son to the killing of
the country's most famous investigative journalist two years
ago.
Carlos Cardoso dominated Mozambican journalism and led the struggle for press freedom as Mozambique abandoned Marxism and became a multi-party democracy. The BBC's Southern Africa correspondent Barnaby Phillips says his murder, and the subsequent investigation, have highlighted the growing corruption in one of Africa's best performing economies. Protection On Wednesday, a second man implicated Nhyimpine Chissano in the murder. Momade Abdul Satar told the court that the president's son had asked him to pay $41,000 to the chief suspect, Anibal dos Santos. Mr Satar said he did not know what the payment was for.
On Tuesday, Mr Fernandes said Mr dos Santos had told him that "there would be no problem, nobody would touch them". Nhyimpine Chissano has not reacted to Mr Fernandes's testimony, but his father has said through a spokesman that justice must take its course. "What the president wants is justice. He wishes that the trial continues normally, regardless of the mention of his son," presidential spokesman Antonio Matonse said. Bloodstains Mr Fernandes said he had been promised $21,000 to help murder Mr Cardoso. Mr dos Santos was reported to have escaped from prison in September but his lawyer said his client might have been killed in jail as, he said, there were reports of bloodstains in his cell. The five other defendants are standing trial inside a top security prison.
Mr Cardoso's murder shocked Mozambique and the trial was initially broadcast live on national television until the trial judge abruptly halted the process on Tuesday, saying it could prejudice the case. Mr Cardoso was investigating banking scandals two years ago when he was shot dead on a Maputo street. At his funeral, President Joaquim Chissano promised that the state would do everything it could to arrest and bring his killers to trial. Judge Augusto Paulino said before the trial opened that he would question a former government minister and President Chissano's son in connection with the case, although he had not yet decided to charge them. The Cardoso family is demanding the equivalent of over $580,000 in compensation from the alleged killers for moral and material damage. . BBC -- Tuesday, 19 November, 2002, 14:41 GMT . No-one
fighting for Angola's child soldiers
. Former soldiers
receive food, but little other assistance
During the years of war in Angola, both the government army and the Unita rebels regularly forced children to fight in their ranks.
Fifteen-year-old Jose says he was a soldier - a radio operator. I meet Jose at Capembe in south-eastern Angola, one of the reception centres for former Unita soldiers. Military training He says that he served for four years, in charge of communications between one area and another, and served as a radio operator during a battle. All he can remember is that after the battle there was hunger and people were left wounded. Other people ran away.
As we talk, Jose starts to admit that he was more than just a radio operator, and underwent military training at Unita's former headquarters in Jamba. "I learnt to attack, to shoot. I had an AKM, I used it in battle. The first time I was in battle I was 14 years old," Jose says. 'Volunteer' Unknown numbers of children were forcibly conscripted both by Unita and by the Angolan Armed Forces during the course of the war. I ask Jose who exactly ordered him to join the army, but he insists he was a volunteer. Did no-one encourage him to fight?
"I encouraged myself," he says. We had to defend our country because we were at war." Jose believes his parents are still alive, but when I ask him how he became separated from them his answers become difficult to understand. Eduardo, a Unita official in the camp who is familiar with Jose's story, explains what happened. "His parents left him at Jamba when they went to Malanje," Eduardo says. Separated "Because he was in military service they were not allowed to take them with him. They wanted to go back to Malanje because it was their land. Since then he has never met his parents. But he knows they are still alive and in Malanje." Separated from their families and communities, and forced into the trauma of war, child soldiers need special care and support if they are to have any hope of living normal lives as adults. "It's extremely complex. You're talking about children who were involved in armed conflict when they were too young, some of them possibly children of adult soldiers," Abubakar Sultan, the child protection officer for the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) in Angola says.
"Others are children who were kidnapped from their families, and still you might have children who were born and brought up in a context of violence," he says. "So talking about rehabilitation and reintegration of these children means you have to basically rebuild their lives, you have to deal with their psycho-social problems that they're facing at the moment." Mr Sultan says it is necessary to "rebuild their access to basic education and help them on a day-to-day basis to cope with the conflicts, with the dilemmas, with the challenges of life back in their communities". Support for the former Unita soldiers has so far remained on the level of supplying basic foodstuffs. And in the various government and non-governmental programmes for the social reintegration of former combatants, the special needs of children get not a single mention. . BBC -- Wednesday, 20 November, 2002, 18:40 GMT . Thousands
displaced by Burundi fighting
. Burundians are
caught in the civil war More than 20,000 people have been displaced by fighting between rebel
and government forces near the capital of Burundi, Bujumbura, over the last few
days.
The two sides have been given until 28 November to try to agree a ceasefire. More than 300,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Burundi's nine-year civil war. Destitute Civilians, mostly women and children, have been fleeing five days of clashes between the army and the rebels of the Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD) in Buganza province, 25 kilometres from Bujumbura. The authorities of Buganza province have now asked the United Nations for help to assist the displaced people. The mayor of Mpanda district said that villagers had sought shelter in the district's main town.
"They have nothing. We are still counting them because they are still pouring in and we have nothing to give them," the mayor told the French news agency AFP. The BBC's Christophe Nkurunziza in Bujumbura says that fighting has also been going on in the north, centre and south of the country. The UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) told the BBC that nearly 390,000 people are currently uprooted throughout Burundi. Ocha said it is the largest concentration of internally displaced persons in Africa or possibly in the world. 'Tutsi domination' Mediators in the peace talks in Dar es Salaam have hinted that sanctions may be taken against those groups seen as responsible for the deadlock if no peace deal is signed. However, the FDD rebels have warned that they will pull out of the negotiations if, as they claim, the army continues its offensive against them. A power-sharing arrangement between ethnic Hutus and Tutsis was inaugurated a year ago, but two Hutu rebel groups have continued to fight. Under the power-sharing deal, Tutsi President Pierre Buyoya is due to swap places with his Hutu Vice-President Domitien Ndayizeye on 1 May 2003.
Ethnic Tutsis, who make up 15% of the population, have traditionally dominated Burundi and this has continued since independence, angering the Hutu majority. The rebel groups still fighting say that while Tutsis dominate the army, a Hutu president would be mere window dressing. A key stumbling block is the issue of disarmament. The government delegate had previously rejected a plan for simultaneous disarmament of the army and the militias, saying that disarming the army would be "disastrous". . BBC -- Wednesday, 20 November, 2002, 01:07 GMT . Unita
denies Angola diamonds claim
. Diamond diggers
still dream of striking it rich
In Angola, the former rebel movement Unita has reacted angrily to a United Nations report accusing it of retaining unknown quantities of weapons and illicit diamonds. During the final years of the civil war in Angola, Unita relied on diamond sales to fund its military activities. The UN imposed sanctions against this trade, but the report admits that the illegal trade nevertheless continued right up until the end of the war.
Ever since the Angolan Government and the Unita rebels signed a peace accord in April this year, both sides have sounded up-beat about the progress in implementing that agreement. Accusations A report by the sanctions monitoring committee of the United Nations Security Council paints a less cheerful picture. The document was released last month, but only recently made public in Angola.
The UN sanctions monitoring mechanism was set up to try and halt the flow of cash and arms to Unita during the last years of the war, when the rebels' military campaign was funded largely by diamond sales. Now, more than six months after the cease-fire, the committee reports that Unita is still in possession of what it calls stashes of illicit diamonds. It says that some key Unita figures who were involved in the diamond trade have not yet committed themselves to the peace process in Angola. The UN document argues that sanctions against Unita were generally successful, but it says that the criminal networks which played an essential role in sustaining the war still exist. It points to Congo-Brazzaville and to rebel-held areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo as being the main conduits for diamonds leaving Angola illegally in recent years. The report also notes that considerable quantities of arms held by Unita remain unaccounted for - even though Angolan Government officials had earlier expressed satisfaction that Unita had been disarmed. 'Counterproductive' A statement from Unita's political committee has condemned the report as false, and challenged the UN to present the data on which it is based.
The Joint Commission - the body chaired by the UN which is overseeing that peace accord - was preparing to disband on Thursday. Yet sanctions remain in force against Unita's leaders, who now appear worried that the UN report will further delay the lifting of those sanctions. Unita now says that the Joint Commission cannot disband until all sanctions are lifted. But one UN source in Luanda said that since Unita had previously agreed to the Thursday deadline, it was unlikely that this would be reversed. . BBC -- Wednesday, 20 November, 2002, 22:45 GMT . Canada
strikes deal on church abuse
. Many native
children faced abuse in Canadian schools
The government will pay 70% of the costs, leaving the Anglican Church to find up to $16m. The government owns the schools but they were run by four Christian churches. It is the first such deal between the government and the church. But it doesn't satisfy many of the native Americans making claims. Dark times The affair is a dark period in the country's history that continues to be felt today. From the 1930s until the mid-1990s, tens of thousands of native American children were sent to residential schools in Canada. They were supposed to learn the ways of the European settlers.
Most native American communities are blighted by social problems, that many people there now argue result from the suffering caused by the schools. Around 12,000 people have filed law suits, but only 500 have been settled, as arguments continue over who should pay the compensation. Moving on Last year, the government announced it would meet 70% of the costs, but at the time the churches said that wasn't enough. The Anglicans are the first to agree. Meeting the claims on their own would have bankrupted them. The government minister who arranged the deal, Ralph Goodale, says it means money can be focussed on helping those who suffered. "Any progress in putting aside that argument about percentages as between the government and the churches will certainly be of benefit to aboriginal claimants and victims," he says. Catholic cases unresolved But it will still be a long time before all the cases are settled. The Anglican church has only around 20% of all the claims. The Catholic church faces more than two thirds of them, and it has no agreement with the government. Nor have many native Americans in Canada. In order to get access to the compensation, they must agree to drop all legal action. And many are now fighting for compensation for being deprived of their language and culture. The government says it will continue to fight those cases in court. . BBC -- Wednesday, 20 November, 2002, 10:22 GMT . US
accuses charity of financing terror
. Charity is
accused of buying weapons for mujahideen fighters The US Government has declared that a US-based Muslim charity is a
terrorist financier with links to Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda
network.
The finances of the Benevolence International Foundation (BIF) have been frozen, along with those of two affiliates in Canada and Bosnia, said the US Treasury Department.
Earlier this week, the same charity had its funds frozen by the UK Treasury which accused it of diverting funds to the al-Qaeda terror network to help it build a nuclear weapon. 'Bin Laden authorisation' Mr Arnaout - a Syrian-born US citizen - was charged earlier this year with racketeering and supporting violent groups. The US Treasury Department said Bosnian authorities had found documents linking Mr Arnaout and Bin Laden in a raid on the offices of alleged affiliate charity Bosanska Idealna Furuta in March. "In one handwritten letter, Bin Laden indicates that Arnaout is authorised to sign on Bin Laden's behalf," the department statement said. "Various documents also established that Arnaout worked with others, including members of al-Qaeda, to purchase rockets, mortars, rifles, and offensive and defensive bombs, and to distribute them to various mujahideen camps, including camps run by al-Qaeda." The department said it would ask the United Nations to add the charity to its list of groups whose assets all UN members must block. Bombings "UN designation of these financiers of terror will cut off their access to the global financial system and strip them of their ability to fund evil," Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said.
At midnight on Monday the UK Chancellor, Gordon Brown, ordered financial institutions to cut off funds to BIF, on "strong evidence" of links with al-Qaeda. This included alleged attempts by al-Qaeda to obtain uranium for the purpose of building a nuclear weapon, a Treasury spokesman said. The evidence also includes personal contacts between senior BIF officials and al-Qaeda operatives involved in the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa, the spokesman added. 'Humanitarian' On its website, BIF describes itself as "a humanitarian organisation dedicated to helping those afflicted by wars and natural disasters". The Illinois-based organisation, which was set up in 1992, says it has aid programmes in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and the Russian Federation states of Ingushetia and Dagestan. In its accounts for 2000-2001, BIF claims to have spent $3,365,457 on aid projects and running expenses. . BBC -- Thursday, 21 November, 2002, 01:36 GMT . WTC
revival begins in earnest
. Construction of the new tower has already begun Plans have been revealed for a new skyscraper
for the site of the World Trade Center complex, the first major new
construction there since the attacks on 11 September 2001.
Real estate development Larry Silverstein, who leases the complex, displayed the plans at a ceremony attended by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor George Pataki. Work on the foundations has already begun. The project is part of a major redevelopment of the 16-acre site which will include a memorial for the victims of the attack.
The building, which is scheduled to open in 2005, is being built with stairs 20% wider than stipulated by city fire regulations, stronger fireproofing and an internal antenna system for improved communication by firefighters and police. 'Shaft of light' Mr Bloomberg said: "The fact that this building is going up now and going up here, right on the site of the old No 7, says that we will not be intimidated by the terrorists. "It's a shaft of light welcoming you to the new site of the World Trade Center," said Mr Pataki. The original building on the site collapsed in flames several hours after the twin towers were hit by two hijacked passenger aircraft. There were no fatalities in No 7, which had been evacuated by the time it fell. The cost of the new building is expected to be covered by $800m in insurance proceeds. . BBC -- Wednesday, 20 November, 2002, 11:31 GMT . China faces up to environmental challenges
. China's
flooding is partly man-made
That immense population, roughly 1.25 billion people, has only 7% of the world's arable land on which to support itself.
And increasingly it informs policy-making in other areas as well. The sheer number of people in the country makes huge demands on natural resources, notably water supplies, cropland and forests. Those demands are compounded by the speed of China's economic growth, an annual average of 11% from 1993 to 1997. And that in turn has fuelled a very rapid doubling in demand for energy - up from 602 million tons of coal equivalent in 1980 to 1,290m tons in 1995.
Coal is the most polluting of the fossil fuels, emitting more carbon dioxide (CO2) than either oil or gas, and the last two decades have seen its use in Western Europe and North America decline. Many scientists and politicians believe the extra CO2 human activities are adding to the atmosphere is likely to trigger catastrophic climate change on present trends. And they believe climate change is likely to be the most severe environmental threat of all, partly because it will affect almost every area of life. So the pressure is on to reduce the use of all fossil fuels, and especially coal, as quickly and radically as possible. 'Growing awareness' Sir Crispin Tickell is a long-serving adviser on the environment to the UK Government and co-chair of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development. He told BBC News Online: "The Chinese have published statistics saying they have achieved an absolute reduction in CO2 emissions over the last decade, while also increasing growth. "The statistics are un-testable, and they've prompted some scepticism. But there's certainly been a substantial change. Mr Tickell said China's leaders were now prepared to admit to environmental mistakes and ask for advice. "Climate change is going to mean the rain falling in all the wrong places," he said. "But the Chinese are very aware of the issues - unlike the US "The water problems China faces may mean it has to undertake large-scale movements of people. "I once expressed my condolences on the lives lost in floods along the Yangtze.
"The prime minister said: 'Thank you - but we Chinese recognise the floods are our own fault, because of the trees we've cut down and the rivers we've diverted. We've got rid of our natural buffers.' "There is an awakening of awareness." Exotic potions Another significant area of concern is pollution, with outdated technologies the main reason why the air in many Chinese cities is a real danger to human health. Growing demand for energy and the spread of economic development to areas of western China will increase emissions of sulphur dioxide and produce more acid rain. And the demand for higher living standards will put further pressure on the environment, including the expansion of the urban population and a constant growth in the number of road vehicles. These are daunting problems, and China will need all its new-found environmental sensitivity to cope. But for all the improvements in understanding and performance, China alarms environmental campaigners by its continuing voracious demand for rare (and sometimes still common) species. There is an appetite for almost anything that walks, flies, swims, slithers or crawls, so long as it can be eaten. There is a demand for medicines and potions made from parts of tigers and rhinos. There is a growing market, prompted by the growth in the size of the middle class, for ivory - something which could spell the death knell for many of Africa's remaining elephants. China has come a long way towards recognising that the world shares one environment. But it has not yet come far enough. . BBC -- Thursday, 21 November, 2002, 02:00 GMT . Pedal power drives Laos internet dreams
. An
ingenious plan should get remote villages online
Diplomatically isolated and desperately poor, the country has only recently taken the first tentative steps towards cyberspace. But stroll around the capital, Vientiane, and you can now find a number of internet cafes offering web access for just a few cents per minute. Only four high schools in Laos have computers. Many students have to wait months before even getting a go.
The students are brimming over with enthusiasm for their new-found window on the world. "I like to search for information, like CNN news or BBC," says one 16-year-old in Pakse. "I like to find out about new movies or about astronautics, like on the NASA website." The pupils huddle round and gasp with excitement as they home in on sites about the boy band Westlife, or about Manchester United - role models that their parents and grandparents, who grew up during the decades of war and isolation, would scarcely recognise. Global village If high schools are just starting to get to grips with the possibilities of the internet, rural Laos is even further behind.
About two hours drive north of Vientiane lies the village of Phon Kam. The village is a cluster of wooden, thatched houses on stilts, which lies several kilometres down a dirt track. The few vehicles that pass throw up clouds of red dust which hangs in the humid air. In the rainy season, the track becomes a squelching quagmire, which bakes hard into treacherous ridges and potholes in the intense heat that follows. It is the last place on earth you would expect to find the internet. But soon that is what Phon Kam is going to get. Phon Kam is one of five villages which are part of a pioneering project to link up remote villages with each other and the wider world. Like the school internet centres, the remote PC project was set up by the Jhai Foundation. The foundation was set up by a US war veteran, Lee Thorn, and Bounthanh Phommasathit, who fled her ancestral home during the intense bombardment of Laos during the Vietnam War. Jhai had been working with the villagers to dig wells and make handicrafts. But what the villagers were crying out for was access to the internet. Rugged PC Jhai enlisted some of the sharpest minds in Silicon Valley to devise a machine which could operate in harsh conditions and with no technical support. Instead of a hard drive with moving and delicate parts, the Jhai PC relies on flash memory chips to store data.
And the power supply? The solution is simple: pedal power. Because of its simplicity, the Jhai PC can be powered by a car battery charged with bicycle cranks. Each village PC is connected via wireless internet cards to a solar-powered hilltop relay station, which passes the signal on to the nearest town of Phon Hong, 30km away. The town is in turn connected to both the Lao telephone system and to the internet.
The equipment should be up and running in Phon Kam by early 2003 and the villagers are itching to get started. The network will enable them to make local telephone calls and even, for the first time, to have the pleasure of speaking regularly to their relatives abroad. "There will be a lot of benefits for us," says Vandone Chanthavong, who heads the Women's Union in Phon Kam. "We will be able to communicate between villages and also we can connect to people in other countries. "We can help our students get information and it will improve the economy of the village." High hopes The villagers now grow surpluses of rice and other crops, thanks in part to organic farming methods that Jhai helped introduce. But to make a profit, they need accurate and timely information about prices. So the computer network will help them to decide whether it is worth making the 60km round trip to the market in Phon Hong. "Many families are very poor," says Vandone. "When people are sick, often we don't have money to buy medicines, but if we have the internet, we can advertise our chickens for sale to other villages, and that way we can pay for the medicines." The women of the villages produce woven textiles, and they plan to use internet marketing to sell their wares to Germany and the US. Simple spreadsheets will help the villagers with budgeting and setting up new businesses. And when the work is done, the villagers hope to have some fun. "We've never used the internet before, so we don't know what's there," says Vandone's husband Khamphan. "But we would love to learn and explore." Who knows, before long the teenagers of Phon Kam may soon be surfing the net looking for Westlife and Manchester United, and making their own first leap across the digital divide. . BBC -- RERUN of Friday, 15 November, 2002, 17:48 GMT . World greets China's new leader
. Jiang is expected to retain enormous influence New Chinese Communist Party chief Hu Jintao
has been congratulated by the international community.
The United States said it looked forward to working closely with him and his team.
The Communist Party officially anointed its new generation of leaders at the 16th national Congress, but retiring Party chief Jiang Zemin looks set to retain far-reaching influence behind the scenes. White House spokesman Scott McClellan spoke of Washington's important relationship with China saying it will "continue to work closely with Chinese leaders on a variety of issues... including human rights, religious freedoms and economic ties".
As part of what he called "the continuing high-level dialogue between US and Chinese leaders," Mr McClellan said Vice President Dick Cheney would visit China next year. During his visit to Washington in May, in which he met President George W Bush, Mr Hu said that "trouble" over Taiwan, which China views as one of its provinces, could damage China-US relations.
Russia said that despite the leadership shuffle it did not expect any dramatic changes, saying Moscow and Beijing had a shared interest in going forward in a pragmatic and constructive manner. Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said the change of leadership in China would not alter relations between the two countries. "Bilateral exchanges have been expanding in various fields. The trend will not change under the Hu Jintao leadership," he said. Outgoing leader Mr Jiang is expected to retain much control. He has managed to get several supporters promoted to the Politburo standing committee - China's key decision-making body - which has been expanded to nine members. At least five of his allies have been appointed to the standing committee, and Mr Jiang has also been re-elected to head China's powerful military commission, the body which controls the country's armed forces. The new line-up was unveiled to reporters in Beijing's Great Hall of the People on Friday. "This is a meeting which has carried on the past and opened a new chapter for the future," Mr Hu said. Surprise move After weeks of speculation that the party was about to undergo a sweeping overhaul, the final outcome still held elements of surprise, says a BBC correspondent in Beijing, Francis Markus. While Mr Hu's appointment was expected, the line-up which finally emerged from behind the carved wooden screen of the Great Hall of the People had been expanded to nine members from the previous seven. Our correspondent says the increase reflects behind-the-scenes horse-trading, as key members of the out-going leadership shoe-horned in protégés and supporters. The new line-up was ranked by party seniority. But analysts expect the two most important figures - alongside Mr Hu - to be Zeng Qinghong and Wen Jiabao. Mr Zeng is Mr Jiang's closest adviser and henchman and is likely to lead the so-called Jiang faction. Mr Wen, a technocrat, is expected to take over the running of the economy. . BBC -- Tuesday, 19 November, 2002, 16:56 GMT . Airlines head for bigger losses
. Boeing hopes its new 777 will help boost business
The world's airlines are heading for heavier
losses than expected this year.
North American carriers would be worst hit. In September IATA estimated that its members would lose between $3bn and $7bn, but it has now narrowed that figure to between $5bn and $7bn. Problems within the US The group's chief economist Peter Morris told an industry conference that the latest data from its members had painted a more pessimistic picture. William Gaillard, IATA's director of communications, told BBC News Online that the bulk of the losses would be borne by US airlines.
"In the US it's slightly worse than what we thought previously, at the same time the situation in Asia-Pacific and Europe is better." He said that, domestically, US airlines would lose a further $8bn this year. And the US carriers were unlikely to make a profit before 2004 This week United Airlines said it was cutting a further 9,000 jobs to cut costs and try to stave off bankruptcy. Better shape Mr Gaillard said that European and Asian airlines had come out of the aviation crisis caused by a downturn in the industry and the effects of the September 11 terrorist attacks. He said that, since the threat of war with Iraq had receded, the industry looked in better shape. "But at the same time we're not really seeing any signs that the US market is picking up," he added. . BBC -- Wednesday, 20 November, 2002, 18:09 GMT . Anger mounts as German taxes rise
. Anger is mounting at the government's economic record
The German Cabinet has approved a cocktail of
spending cuts and tax rises, easing concerns in Brussels over state finances,
but risking a further slide in public approval ratings.
The Cabinet backed measures that will introduce a capital gains tax of 15% on profits from personal share and property investment, raise levies on heating oil, and cut a subsidy for Germans building their own homes.
The level of the budget deficit, set to touch 3.8% of Germany's economic output this year, has earned the country condemnation by the European Commission. Rules designed to protect the strength of the euro limit eurozone states to a budget deficit equivalent to 3.0% of economic output, and German Finance Minister Hans Eichel said that Wednesday's agreement could see the country again meet the guidelines. "If all is being implemented...then we will be below the 3% level next year, although it will not be an easy path," Mr Eichel said. Tax rises 'fatal' But the tax rises risk stoking unrest among voters over Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's administration which, since it was elected in September, has seen its popularity plunge.
A protest by builders against the homebuilding subsidy saw a convoy of more than 200 trucks loaded with building stones drive across Berlin, honking their horns at the Brandenburg Gate. Bild, Germany's top-selling newspaper, ran with the front-page headline: "Chancellor, we've had enough!" And Ludwig Georg Braun, president of Germany's chamber of industry and commerce, the DIHK, warned that the budget was a recipe for bankruptcies. "In a period of economic stagnation tax hikes are fatal," Mr Braun said. "[The tax rises] are going to drive medium-sized business into bankruptcy, and be poison for the labour market." 'Dreadful' economic environment The ZDH skilled workers' association, which represents craftsmen such as carpenters and plumbers, on Wednesday estimated that its sectors would shed 300,00 jobs this year, and 100,000-300,000 next year, as the economic slowdown continues. And further concerns over the health of German companies were raised by a report by news agency Reuters, which said that half of recent results reported by large German firms have come in below analysts' forecasts. Only six firms beat estimates. "Clearly it is a reflection of the [economic] environment in Germany, which is dreadful," Gareth Evans, European equities strategist at ING Barings in London, said. . BBC -- Wednesday, 20 November, 2002, 20:41 GMT . Argentines face price rises
. At least eight children have died of hunger The price of water, power and other basic
services in poverty-stricken Argentina is to rise by presidential decree, in an
attempt to secure new international loans.
The decree, by-passing legally required public hearings, would lift prices by about 10%.
The International Monetary Fund has asked for a 30% rise before it is prepared to refinance loans owed to it and other multilateral agencies. Bankruptcy threat The rises will be a blow for Argentines, some of whom are already starving to death because of the country's economic crisis. Think tank Fiel on Wednesday estimated that industrial output was 3.4% lower last month than in October 2001. And Argentine Finance Secretary Guillermo Nielsen warned that the country might go bankrupt without help from international lenders (IFIs). "If we don't get any help from the IFIs by February we will have a level of reserves where the economy is unmanageable, and by May we will have no reserves," Mr Nielsen told the World Economic Forum's Latin America Business Summit. Argentina was cautiously praised by the IMF on Tuesday for agreeing to regional government spending cuts and retaining bankruptcy laws, two other key demands. The IMF halted loans last December, forcing the government to default on much of its $141bn (£90bn) foreign debt, the largest government default in history. Starving to death Mr Lavagna, who is touring Europe next week in a bid to muster Western support, said the rises would not affect low income households. But a leading consumer rights group, Adecua, said it would challenge any presidential decree in the courts, which have usually overturned them. Protests against government and IMF economic policies are expected throughout the country on Wednesday, Argentina's national day. President Eduardo Duhalde on Tuesday launched a nationwide campaign to combat rising infant malnutrition. The front pages of the country's press have been dominated in recent days by the deaths of at least eight children who died from hunger in an impoverished northern province. Argentina, which is considered South America's bread basket, is the world's fifth-largest exporter of agricultural products. Corporates complain The government froze prices to slow inflation after January's devaluation, after which the peso lost 70% of its value against the dollar. Argentina's largely European-owned utility companies have claimed the price freeze is illegal and that it is costing them money. Foreign firms - like Spain's Telefonica and Endesa, Telecom Italia, France Telecom, Electricite de France and Britain's BG - claim the contracts they signed allowed them to raise rates if the currency was devalued. The government wants to refinance $15bn in loans due this and next year to the IMF, World Bank and Inter-American Bank. Argentina defaulted on a further $805m owed to the World Bank last week. . BBC -- Wednesday, 20 November, 2002, 14:35 GMT . France sees bigger budget shortfall
. France was issued with an "early warning" France has raised its budget deficit forecast
for 2002 to 2.8% of gross domestic product (GDP), one day after the European
Commission issued the country with an "early warning" over its existing
deficit.
The government of the eurozone's second biggest economy had previously forecast a 2.6% deficit this year. The Commission, which polices the European Union's Growth and Stability Pact, on Tuesday also warned Germany it faced sanctions because its budget deficit is likely exceed the agreed upper limit of 3% this year.
"We will do what is needed in 2003 so that there is no deterioration in the deficit voted by the National Assembly," Mr Lambert said. Commission no comment Mr Lambert also reaffirmed the government's growth forecast of 1% for this year. France's mini-budget showed a shortfall in the unemployment benefits and tax receipts which would each add 0.1 percentage point of gross domestic product to the total public deficit. The Commission recently forecasts that France's deficit would hit 2.7% this year and 2.9% in 2003, close to the 3% limit of the Stability Pact. It took into account the unemployment benefit deficit, but not the shortfall in tax income. "We will react once we have received the draft budget itself and the stability programme," a Commission spokesman said after the French announcement. The second upward revision of the 2002 forecast has fuelled fears France will breach the deficit ceiling next year. . BBC -- Wednesday, 20 November, 2002, 22:00 GMT . Hewlett-Packard touts merger
gains
. Carly Fiorina: "Our strategy is
working" Tech giant Hewlett-Packard has claimed it is
ahead of target in reaping benefits from the controversial merger with PC maker
Compaq.
Announcing underlying profits of $721m for the August to October period, the firm said its merger-related cost savings were running 30% ahead of target. The firm has axed 12,500 jobs, 25% more than had been planned for the first six months of the merger. "We're cutting cost, boosting productivity, delivering more for our customers and shareowners and investing in the future," said chairman and chief executive Carly Fiorina. "Our strategy is working and we're picking up momentum." The statement comes a week after former Compaq boss Michael Capellas, one of the driving forces behind the merger with H-P, resigned as president of the combined firm to head bankrupt telecoms giant | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
