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Zia clarifies his timing of declaration of independence

What Mujib Said

Jyoti Basu is dead

Dr.BR Ambedkar

Memories of Another day

Memories of Another day
While my Parents Pulin babu and Basanti Devi were living

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Full MOON Looks like a BURNT Chapati!Hunger SOS to a Billion!

Full MOON Looks like a BURNT Chapati!Hunger SOS to a Billion!

Indian Holocaust My Father`s Life and Time -Two Hundred Ten

Palash Biswas


http://indianholocaustmyfatherslifeandtime.blogspot.com/

Can the US stock market rally last?

15 Nov 2009, 1912 hrs IST, AGENCIES

Dow is trading above 10K for first time since Oct 2008, it is still 27% below its peak. Good news could be bad news for the bull. 'US not threatened by emerging China'



http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

India's

India's spin legends hail Tendulkar's genius

Kolkata/New Delhi, Nov 14 - India's spin bowling legends Saturday doffed their hats to little master Sachin Tendulkar, crowing over his discipline and work ethic which kept him fresh even after 20 years of international cricket and ahead of oth... More


http://www.indiainteracts.com/

Hunger SOS to a billion
- UN body issues first call for cash to people

Nov. 14: One billion hungry people, the largest such cluster in history, are depending on another one billion to donate small amounts of cash to find food.

The World Food Programme, facing a funding shortfall with donor governments hit by the financial crisis, has issued its first direct appeal to one billion individuals to stump up what they can to help others beat hunger.

Josette Sheeran, head of the UN food aid body, said the aim of the Internet appeal launched today was to get people in wealthy nations to give just 1 euro ($1.50 or Rs 69) a week, which would be enough to end hunger for another billion people in the developing world.

An official at the WFP's Delhi office said anyone, including Indians, could contribute. The website payment field does not have a rupee option but the amount can be entered in dollars, the equivalent of which will be deducted in the Indian currency from the credit card. A cross-border fee may apply, depending on the policy of the credit card company or bank.

The WFP, the world's largest food aid organisation, runs projects in 10 states in India and has spent around $1 billion in the country.

"We now have hunger galloping ahead — over a billion people now for the first time in history — and because of the financial pressure on governments we think it's really important now to call on the citizens of the world to help solve this problem directly," Sheeran said.

It is the first time the WFP, which is mainly funded by national governments, has launched such an appeal.

"We are cutting rations, but we would rather send a message to the citizens of the world to help us fill this food cup," said Sheeran, holding a red food cup taken from a WFP programme in Rwanda. "Because it's just not an acceptable choice to not stand with those hungry right now."

If even a fraction of the number of people targeted donates, it will provide a massive boost to the organisation's revenues, which are entirely funded by donations — unlike some other UN agencies that draw revenues from the world body's budget.

Speaking ahead of a World Food Summit that starts on Monday in Rome, Sheeran said the WFP was on track to raise only around half the $6.7 billion it had targeted for this year, with most of it coming from national governments.

While this year's forecast $3.7 billion in donations would be the WFP's second highest ever, it was still not enough to tackle the humanitarian crises around the globe, she said.

Sheeran said the WFP faced "a year of tough choices" as drought in the Horn of Africa, floods in the Philippines and conflict in northern Pakistan stretched its ability to cope with emergencies.

This came against a backdrop of tens of millions more people being forced into hunger by stubbornly high food prices in the developing world after the 2007-2008 food crisis.

"The problem at the moment is that the WFP probably has 10 or 12 acute emergencies on its hands, each one complex, each one with its own compelling situation and none that can really afford to be neglected," Sheeran said.

The WFP expects to feed around 100 million people this year in 72 different countries, providing an estimated 28 billion meals. Only 7 per cent of funds are spent on paying overheads, with the rest going to food aid, Sheeran said.

"We are saying to people... if they contribute, it will go to the intended purpose," said the former US trade official. "Of the 25 cents it costs to get a cup of food to a child, 93 per cent is for food and logistics."

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http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091115/jsp/frontpage/story_11743165.jsp
  1. Food security - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

     - 23 Oct
    Food security refers to the availability of food and one's access to it. A household is considered food secure when its occupants do not live in hunger or ...
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_security - Cached -
  2. Food Insecurity - Internet Resources

    Millions of people worldwide suffer from hunger and undernutrition . A major factor contributing to this international problem is food insecurity. ...
    www.faqs.org/nutrition/Erg-Foo/Food-Insecurity.html - Cached - Similar -

special coverage

Photo
Central Banks Cautious

Reuters tracks the policies of the world's top central banks as the debate over global economic recovery rages on.  Full Coverage 

Slideshow: The lighter side of recession



http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE5AE0W620091115

Photo

Farmers face "harvest from hell" 6:00 am ET

A late harvest has farmers all across the Midwest scrambling to bring in giant crops before the winter arrives, and uncertainty about the quality and quantity has put grain markets on the boil.  Full Article | Video 

 
Tourists walk beside Royal Caribbean's cruise ship "Enchantment of the Seas" after they arrive in Cozumel, Mexico May 27, 2009.  REUTERS/STR New
Smooth sailing?

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises have more than tripled since March, spurred by an upswing in the broader market and stabilizing ticket prices, but can its stock keep cruising?  Full Article 

Photo

Farmers face "harvest from hell" 6:00 am ET

A late harvest has farmers all across the Midwest scrambling to bring in giant crops before the winter arrives, and uncertainty about the quality and quantity has put grain markets on the boil.  Full Article | Video 


Archive for SUKANTA BHATTACHARYA

Hey Mohajibon

হে মহাজীবন

সুকান্ত ভট্টাচার্য 

হে মহাজীবন,আর এ কাব্য নয়

এবার কঠিন,কঠোর গদ্য আনো,

পদ-লালিত্য ঝংকার মুছে যাক

গদ্যের কড়া হাতুড়িতে আজ হানো।

প্রয়োজন নেই কবিতার স্নিগ্ধতা-

কবিতা তোমায় দিলাম আজকে ছুটি,

ক্ষুধার রাজ্যে পৃথিবী গদ্যময়;

পূণির্মা-চাঁদ যেন ঝলসানো রুটি।
http://hummingbird.wordpress.com/category/sukanta-bhattacharya/
সুকান্ত ভট্টাচার্যের কবিতা

–: সূচীপত্র :–
 
ছাড়পত্র
  অনুভব
  আগামী
  আগ্নেয়গিরি
  আঠারো বছর বয়স
  ইউরোপের উদ্দেশে
  একটি মোরগের কাহিনী
  খবর
  চট্টগ্রাম : ১৯৪৩
  চারাগাছ
  ছাড়পত্র
  ঠিকানা
  দেশলাই কাঠি
  প্রস্তুত
  প্রার্থী
  বোধন
  মধ্যবিত্ত '৪২
  মৃত্যুজয়ী গান
  রবীন্দ্রনাথের প্রতি
  রানার
  শত্রু এক
  সিগারেট
  সিঁড়ি
  সেপ্টেম্বর '৪৬
  হে মহাজীবন

ঘুম নেই
  ১৯৪১ সাল
  ১লা মে–র কবিতা '৪৬
  অদ্বৈধ
  অনন্যোপায়
  অবৈধ
  অভিবাদন
  অলক্ষে
  আমরা এসেছি
  উদ্বীক্ষণ
  কবিতার খসড়া
  কবে
  দিনবদলের পালা
 
  নিভৃত  -১
  নিভৃত  -২
  রৌদ্রের গান
  সব্যসাচী
  সূচনা

পূর্বাভাস
  অসহ্য দিন
  আমার মৃত্যুর পর
  আলো–অন্ধকার
  উদ্যোগ
  জাগবার দিন আজ
  নিবৃত্তির পূর্বে
  পূর্বাভাস
  প্রতিদ্বন্দ্বী
  বিভীষণের প্রতি
  মৃত পৃথিবী
  সুতরাং
  স্বতঃসিদ্ধ
  স্বপ্নপথ
  স্মারক
  হদিশ
  হে পৃথিবী

মিঠেকড়া
  অতি কিশোরের ছড়া
  আজব লড়াই
  জ্ঞানী
  পুরনো ধাঁধা
  ভেজাল
  মেয়েদের পদবী
  রেশন কার্ড
  সিপাহী বিদ্রোহ

অপ্রচলিত রচনা
  আজিকার দিন কেটে যায়
  সুচিকিৎসা
  সুহৃদবরেষু
http://www.kolkata-online.com/bangla/sukanta/

Full Moon looks like a BURNT Chapati, typical Indian Bread.It is written by Bengali Evolutionary Poet Sukanta Bhattacharya in the Context of Bengal Famine during World War Two just after the Recovery in America and Europe.Meanwhile,
Stimulus spending and other emergency measures have set the stage for global economic recovery, but nations must push ahead with free trade and investment to ensure growth, President Barack Obama and fellow Asia-Pacific leaders said Sunday.


Sukanta Bhattacharya  (August 15, 1926 – May 13, 1947) was one of the most honored poets of Bangla literature. He was called 'Young Nazrul' and 'Kishore Bidrohi Kobi'.Sukanta was born at his uncle's house in Kolkata. His ancestral home in the village Unshiya in Kotalipara, Gopalganj, Bengal (now part of Bangladesh). His father, Nibaran Bhattacharya, was in the book selling business in Kolkata.

He died of tuberculosis at Jadavpur (Kolkata) at a very young age of 21. He was a communist and was a worker of the party.His work is deeply marked and influenced by his communist experience. One of his shorter poems compares the moon with a burnt roti, a prosaicness born of hunger:

"Poetry, we do not need you anymore. A world devastated by hunger is too prosaic, The full moon now reminds us of toasted bread"

It is quite amusing that in modern context as Recovery from current recession in America and Europe strike the headlines, Famine , Food insecurity, Man Made Calamities, Global Warming, Climate Change and Pandemic Clouds loom large all over the Third world Sky including India despite the claims of Shining, Glittering, Resilience and growth rate, foreign capital Inflow and Investment spree! The NASA related Scientists are Planning to colonise the Moon amidst the reports of abundant Water Resources but the Earth is struck by Unprecedented DROUGHT. We may not indulge in War with China in near Future but the Water war is IMMINENT between India and China.We must realise the meaning of the Poem written by Sukanta right in forties. Provided you may get it, just see the reporting of the great famine by SOMNATH Hore or just go through the Short stories written by Manik Bandopaddhyaya. Tragedy is that the SCENARIO has not changed at all. We have been amid Food Riots in Bengal enveloped by Singur, Nandigram, lalgarh and Gorkhaland Insurrections. Entire Indo Bangla Border is Inflicted with Hunger, Job Loss, human Trafficking and Drug addiction.Death Processions never stop in tea gardens.Indian Peasants commit suicide anywhere anytime in any part of India. Victims of Development, the Aboriginal Indigenous Communities of central India have been selected for Ethnic Cleansing. Glaciers are melting and Hunger looms large in the Himalayas.

It is very hot in Kolkata.past November.The Metro has Turned a Boiling Biryani pot with Humidity and suffocation. Sabita was indisposed late in the Night. her stomach revolted and we had to get medical help. It has been quite Uneasy to travel in Local trains and stranded anywhere. Warm cloths have no use in Kolkata these days. last day , some parts of the Metro  got some showers but it enhanced Humidity unbearable.

I have been writing about the Grave Yards in Industrial belts all over. The Rural India face the unprecedented EXODUS and the MIGRATION makes the Greatest SLUM Dog world all over the Urban and suburban Geopolitics not only in India, but even in Americas and Europe, south east Asia.

I am told that my mother Basanti Debi and my Grand Mother Shanti Debi had visited West Bengal just after the Dhimri Block Peasant Uprising in 1958. I was an Infant and my father had been in Jail in east Pakistan where he participated in BHASHA Andolan. The ladies had to beg for sustenance in Kolkata while I was in their lap as an INFANT. i do not remember but any Mother and child inflicted with Poverty and Hunger reminds me that UNSEEN Scene afresh.We are Resettled Bengali refugees. My father started his life in India before the Partition as a Light man in a Picture Hall  in Dutt Pukur. My Grand Ma Shanti Debi and my Jethamoshai and Jethima landed in Sealdah station just after partition. Though Chhotokaka was working as a police man in East Bengal and my Chhotokaka served as a police man in Kolkata and faced the Direct action in 1946.According to my Jethamosahai, CHHOTOKAKA fired on Miscreants indulged in Riots on kokata street without waiting the Order of the Magistrate. Finally he left the Police service and Joined Army which he deserted very soon. My Father joined the family in Sealdah and then they got admission in Ranaghat Coopers camp. Later in Sixties, seventies and Eighties, I have been regular Visitor in refugee camps and witnessed the Self Destruction, Arson,  Genocides all over India and saw the Resultant hunger very close.

We also witnessed the Agrarian Crisis after the demise of Green revolution. I myself burnt Acres of sugar cane field just because we could not get the Labour Cost. Since we discontinues to harvest Paddy and wheat, we had to get Credit for Food Security. I saw the Western Uttar Pradesh , perhaps most Rich in Agrarian crisis and had been an Eye witness to Peasant uprising led by Mahendra Singh Tikait during Eighties until it was overlapped by the Babri Mosque Dispute and khalistan Insurgency as the Indian Peasants were DISILLUSIONED by Green Revolution and they had to be SUBVERTED thus. The Subversion continues.

In tribal belt, Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar, Maharashtra, Chhattishgarh, MP and Andhra, it was  always HUNGER looming large on landscape and Human scape. Though Personally I have Never Been Well to do or that successful in my career, but we Never faced FOOD Insecurity. But My family had Never Been so NUCLEUS and we had to SHARE the Plight of Our people, their Persecution, exodus, hunger and Unemployment!

Shukanta was born in Calcutta in 1926. By the time he grew up Second World War was going on and the heat of the war was also felt in the British ruled Bengal. It was a crucial time in the history of Bengal. The anti British movement was going on and also the economy of Bengal was in a very bad condition which resulted in a man made famine in 1943. Sukanto was born, observed and depicted the problems of society and suffering of people of that time. Sukanta during his school life became involved into leftist political movement. He was deeply influenced by Marxist thoughts and ideals.

In his poems he described the contemporary social problems such as famine, war, suffering of poor people especially farmers and day laborers. During the famine of 1943 he became a relief worker for the peasants who came to calcutta. He also worked with jute mill trade organizations. Sukanta died of tuberculosis when he was only twenty one years old. Within such a short span of time he wrote many poets and plays. Some of his works are Chhadpatra (1947), Purbabhas (1950), Mithekada (1951), Abhiyan (1953), Ghum Nei (1954), Hartal (1962), Gitiguchchha (1965).

"Chhadpatra," is a famous Sukanta Bhattacharya poem where the poet talks about an infant who has just taken birth and declaring his arrival through crying. The poet says that the baby has come to this world and now we have to make place for this baby. The poet says that some times the baby is crying, sometimes laughing and making noise but nobody understands it. The people are getting irritated but the poet understands his language. It is the hope of a new world, a new place. The people will die and this new born baby will take their place and in this way the cycle of human life will move forward. Here the poet is actually referring to the contemporary condition of his time war, piece, famine and instability in life. The poet did not lose his faith on human being. He hopes that the next generation will learn from the faults of their elders and try to make the world a better place. The new born baby is that sign of hope.

The State of Food Insecurity in the World
 

Economic crises - impacts and lessons learned

2009 has been a devastating year for the world's hungry, marking a significant worsening of an already disappointing trend in global food security since 1996. The global economic slowdown, following on the heels of the food crisis in 2006–08, has deprived an additional 100 million people of access to adequate food. There have been marked increases in hunger in all of the world's major regions, and more than one billion people are now estimated to be undernourished.

About the series

The State of Food Insecurity in the World raises awareness about global hunger issues, discusses underlying causes of hunger and malnutrition and monitors progress towards hunger reduction targets established at the 1996 World Food Summit and the Millennium Summit. The publication is targeted at a wide audience, including policy-makers, international organizations, academic institutions and the general public with a general interest in linkages between food security, human and economic development.

For more information, contact: David.Dawe@fao.org from FAO's Economic and Social Development Department


Key messages

  • Even before the food and economic crises, hunger was on the rise.

  • FAO estimates that 1.02 billion people are undernourished worldwide in 2009.

  • In trying to cope with the burden of consecutive food and economic crises, poor people reduce their dietary diversity and spending on essential items such as education and health care.

  • A healthy agriculture sector can provide an economic and employment buffer in times of crisis, especially in poorer countries.

  • Safety-net interventions should address the immediate impact on the vulnerable while also providing sustainable solutions to the underlying problems.

  • The fact that hunger was increasing even before the food and economic crises suggests that present solutions are insufficient and that a right-to-food approach has an important role to play in eradicating food insecurity.

 

 Video

 
  

FAO's David Dawe presents the new hunger report.

http://www.fao.org/publications/sofi/en/

UN food organisation chief holds hunger strike

AFP - ‎18 hours ago‎
... Jacques Diouf went on a 24-hour hunger strike on Saturday to put a spotlight on chronic malnutrition worldwide ahead of a UN summit on food security. ...

Muhyiddin in Rome for World Summit on Food Security

Malaysia Star - Choi Tuck - ‎3 hours ago‎
ROME: Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin flew in Sunday to attend the three-day World Summit on Food Security 2009 starting ...

FAO, IDB sign $1-billion agreement for poor countries

Xinhua - Wang Guanqun - ‎1 hour ago‎
Today, sustained investment in agriculture, especially smallholder agriculture, is acknowledged as the key to food security, the FAO said. ...

Apec pushes free trade, disaster aid

Business Mirror - Estrella Torres - ‎1 hour ago‎
... sustainable and reliable sources of nutritious, safe and affordable food as part of the comprehensive approach to global hunger and food security. ...

Can India Achieve Food Security?

Treehugger - Collin Dunn - ‎Nov 13, 2009‎
The World Summit on Food Security convenes next week in Rome, and the buzz leading up to it has focused on ...

WFP: 1 Billion Hungry People in World

Voice of America - ‎Nov 14, 2009‎
The huge amount of people facing food insecurity has prompted the UN organization to appeal to individuals for the first time. WFP launched the Billion for ...
Wfp: 1 Billion Hungry People In World Journal of Turkish Weekly

Pope to address food security summit

United Press International - ‎19 hours ago‎
14 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI is to call for global cooperation in addressing hunger when he speaks at the World Summit on Food Security in Rome, ...

Minister Oda to Attend World Summit on Food Security

Benzinga - ‎2 hours ago‎
15, 2009) - The Honourable Beverley J. Oda, Minister of International Cooperation, will participate in the World Summit on Food Security in Rome, ...

Nehruvian Model can solve financial crisis

Financial Express - ‎Nov 14, 2009‎
The continuing spate of farmers' suicides and apprehensions about food insecurity compels us to remember and act on the noble words of Pt Nehru ...
India's National Children's Day SOS Children's Villages Canada

Lula heads to Europe to talk food security, climate

Space Daily - ‎Nov 13, 2009‎
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrives in Europe Saturday to attend a UN food agency meeting in Rome and discuss climate change and military ...


Obama's In The Club Now -- APEC's 'Funny Shirt' Club, That Is

NPR - Mark Memmott - ‎1 hour ago‎
President Barack Obama, attending his first annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, was in Singapore yesterday for this year's funny photos. ...

Obama tells Myanmar to free Suu Kyi

Hindustan Times - ‎8 minutes ago‎
US President Barack Obama used a meeting on Sunday with the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to urge pariah state Myanmar to free ...

Obama no better than Bush, says Iranian parliament speaker

Reuters - Fredrik Dahl, Robin Pomeroy - ‎1 hour ago‎
TEHRAN (Reuters) - US steps to renew sanctions and seize a New York skyscraper linked to Iran show that President Barack Obama is no better than his ...

Climate change talks 'need Obama'

BBC News - ‎37 minutes ago‎
US President Barack Obama and other world leaders "need to" go to the environment summit in Copenhagen, cabinet minister Ed Miliband has said. ...

Obama's popularity in China to depend on his actions: Report

Zee News - ‎4 hours ago‎
Beijing: As Barack Obama embarks on his maiden state visit to China, the official media here has warned the US President that his popularity in the world's ...

Profile: US President Barack Obama

Xinhua - ‎19 minutes ago‎
15 (Xinhua) -- US President Barack Obama begins his first state visit to China on Sunday at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao. ...
Obama kowtows to China Daily News & Analysis

'PM visit reflects Obama's high priority to Indo-US ties'

Hindustan Times - ‎Nov 14, 2009‎
Economic ties are expected to form the cornerstone of the new framework that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama hope to create to take ...

Fort Hood tragedy exposes Obama's strategic shortcomings

Boston Herald - Jonah Goldberg - ‎1 hour ago‎
Let me say up front, I don't think President Obama is to blame for the Fort Hood shootings, and I don't think it's fair to say otherwise. ...

US jail 'may take Guantanamo men'

BBC News - ‎2 hours ago‎
The Obama administration is considering moving some Guantanamo detainees to a near-empty top security jail in north Illinois, unnamed US officials say. ...

Obama watch

Boston Herald - Edward Mason - ‎9 hours ago‎
President Obama is in Asia until Thursday for the Asia Pacific Economic Conference, as he hits Japan, China and South Korea. ...


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next

China's fear of a black president

Barack Obama is viewed with suspicion by Chinese leaders because he's a political rock star – and because he is black

Race is an insensitive issue in China. The sighting of someone who is not of the majority Han race does not stop conversation here, but sparks comments of all sorts – of surprise, wonder, bewilderment and defensiveness. Being cautious about what one says about colour or heritage in China is seen as silly and blinded.

That is not to say that talking about race in China is a dialogue suffused with respect. For example, during the late summer, Luo Jing, a resident of Shanghai of mixed-race descent (her father an African-American, her mother is Chinese) appeared on a television talent show that was seen across China. The farther Lou advanced in the contest, the louder the voices and vitriol became, especially against her mother for having slept with a black man and producing what many Chinese saw as an impure prodigy.

Only a precious few saw Lou as a contestant, instead of some sort of a specimen of an ill-fated union. Her singing voice and presence in front of the cameras were fine (although she ended up eventually losing the contest). It was her colour and ancestry that dominated the conversation online and in the streets here.

And now, Barack Obama is walking into this conversation.

Obama arrives to see a society that is increasingly self-confident about its identity and national power, and more open to debating issues. But while the rest of the world agonises over race and identity, the vast majority of Chinese know precisely who they are: they are Han, and the rest of the world is not. That world may be the source of some envy where hardware is concerned, but it is also populated with peoples who have a barbarian quality and an uncultured approach to life, according to many here.

Globalisation has shaken this simplicity somewhat – the idea of China being the centre of the world, with the rest of the globe populated by "outsiders". Yet globalisation has also tossed many Chinese back into a more strident tone of traditionalism, one that accentuates differences between nations, peoples and races instead of celebrating the sort of diversity that helped bring Obama to high office in the United States.

Many Chinese do not know what to make of Obama. That he is immediately identifiable here in China does not make his policies or views well known. Obama is as perplexing to many residents as he is popular, as many see him as a famous black person on par with Michael Jackson instead of, say, Thomas Jefferson.

Still, for more than a few Chinese, his triumph indicates a better system of selecting officials, whereby someone who is inexperienced and yet unique can rise to the top of government. For these folks, Obama is noteworthy for his sizeable talent as well as his skin colour.

Obama is a political rock star, his image emblazoned on T-shirts and bags for sale in the odd tourist shop and storefront. Those products made enough bureaucrats nervous that products bearing his face were removed from many stores, reflecting not race but the nervousness of certain cadres about his popularity relative to some Chinese officials.

And it is the Chinese government that will endeavour to dictate the discourse while Obama is here. At a press conference this past week, a foreign ministry spokesperson implored Obama to understand the Chinese position on Tibet because, in Beijing's view, the Communist party liberated Tibetans from serfdom. Obama "is a black president and understands the slavery abolition movement," the spokesperson intoned, and should therefore be sensible on such matters.

Chinese society appears to be convinced about the issue of race, and the government seems to have made up its mind on how Obama should act. It will be up to Obama to shake up that self-certainty and perhaps begin to change the contours of the conversation about race here.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/nov/13/china-race-obama


Copenhagen climate summit hopes fade as Obama backs postponement

• US supports delaying difficult decisions on emissions targets
• Copenhagen summit to concentrate on political deal

Barrack Obama speaks with Thailand prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva

Barack Obama speaks with Thailand prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. Photograph: Adek Berry/AFP/Getty Images

Barack Obama acknowledged today that time has run out to secure a binding climate deal at Copenhagen and began moving towards a two-stage process that would delay a legal pact until next year at the earliest.

During a hastily convened breakfast meeting in Singapore, the US president supported a Danish plan to salvage something from the moribund negotiations by aiming for a broad political agreement and postponing contentious decisions on emissions targets, financing and technology transfer.

While this falls short of hopes that Copenhagen would lock in place a new action plan for the world, it recognises the lack of progress in recent preparatory talks and the hold-ups of climate legislation in the US Senate. "There was a realistic assessment … by the leaders that it was unrealistic to expect a full internationally legally binding agreement to be negotiated between now and when Copenhagen starts in 22 days," said Michael Froman, deputy national security adviser for economic affairs.

The deferral plan was outlined to 19 leaders, including Obama and Chinese president Hu Jintao, who were in Singapore for a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

"Given the time factor and the situation of individual countries we must, in the coming weeks, focus on what is possible and not let ourselves be distracted by what is not possible," the Danish prime minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, told the leaders after flying in overnight for the unscheduled discussion. "The Copenhagen agreement should finally mandate continued legal negotiations and set a deadline for their conclusion."

Obama was said to have spoken in support of the proposal, cautioning the group not to let the "perfect be the enemy of the good", Froman said.

The proposal by Denmark, the host and chair of the climate talks, would set the stage for a political accord at Copenhagen next month and the setting of a new deadline for countries to agree on targets, levels of funding and verification of commitments.

This would give breathing space for the US Senate to pass carbon-capping legislation, allowing the Obama administration to bring a 2020 target and financing pledges to the table at a UN climate meeting in Mexico or Germany in mid-2010.

It was unclear if China, the world's biggest emitter, supported the delay, but other leaders said there was little choice.

"Leaders … were clear in their view that the current officials-led process is running into all sorts of difficulties, and therefore it is time for leaders, politically, to step in," the Australian prime minister, Kevin Rudd, told reporters after the meeting with Rasmussen. "It's going to be tough as all hell, but let me tell you I believe everyone is seeking, right now, to put their best foot forward, and that was reflected in what transpired around a small table of 20 world leaders this morning."

The extension of the process is not unexpected, given the flurry of downbeat statements by world leaders in recent weeks. It may avoid a total breakdown at Copenhagen, but the delay has frustrated those who feel time is running out to prevent calamitous levels of climate change.

"Heads of states must go beyond simply discussing the problems. They have to start solving them," said Diane McFadzien of the Worldwide Fund for Nature. She noted that the APEC leaders deleted emission reduction targets in their final declaration.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/15/obama-copenhagen-emissions-targets-climate-change

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TEHRAN (Reuters) - U.S. steps to renew sanctions and seize a New York skyscraper linked to Iran show that President Barack Obama is no better than his predecessor George W. Bush, Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani said on Sunday.

Larijani's statement, which was followed by chants of "Death to America" among MPs in the legislature, was the latest from Tehran voicing disappointment in the new U.S. administration's policies toward the Islamic Republic.

It came as Obama, during a visit to Asia on Sunday, said time was running out for diplomacy in a dispute over Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran says is for peaceful purposes but which the West suspects has military aims.

Since taking office in January, Obama has sought to reach out diplomatically to Iran, but the dispute over Tehran's atomic activities continues.

"After one year of giving speeches and baseless slogans, it is a disgrace to see the behavior and the attitudes of this president are not better than his predecessor's," Larijani told parliament, the official IRNA news agency said.

U.S. prosecutors filed a civil lawsuit on Thursday to seize control of a New York City skyscraper they say is owned by companies illegally funneling money to the Iranian government.

The suit seeks to revoke the Alavi Foundation and the Assa Corporation's ownership of a 36-storey building at 650 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The original lawsuit filed in December only sought Assa Corp's building share.

Prosecutors said both companies were sending money to Bank Melli, owned by the Iranian government. The U.S. Treasury has designated the bank as a weapons proliferator and banned U.S. citizens from dealing with it.

Also on Thursday, Obama renewed some long-standing U.S. financial sanctions against Iran. Obama notified Congress that, as expected, he was extending a set of existing U.S. measures against Tehran for another year, saying: "our relations with Iran have not yet returned to normal."

The sanctions that Obama renewed, which involve certain frozen Iranian assets, stem from a "national emergency" the U.S. government declared in November 1979 near the start of the Iran hostage crisis. Such sanctions have to be extended annually by the U.S. president to remain in effect.

Larijani said: "Extension of restrictions and sanctions against the Iranian nation for another year, and also blocking the accounts and assets of the Alavi Foundation in America, show how deep are the changes in the United States."

He also accused Washington of "childish actions" after Iran's disputed June election as well as "irrational proposals" on the nuclear issue. This showed that the "claimed changes by Obama were nothing but deceiving signals," Larijani said.

(Reporting by Reza Derakhshi; writing by Fredrik Dahl; editing by Robin Pomeroy)


Obama warns over imbalances; APEC shuns exchange rates

Sun Nov 15, 2009 11:16am IST
 
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By Patricia Zengerle and Yoo Choonsik

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Sunday the world economy was on a path to recovery but warned that failure to re-balance the global economic system would lead to further crises.

Obama was addressing Asia Pacific leaders in Singapore, where officials removed any reference to market-oriented exchange rates in a communique after disagreement between Washington and Beijing over the most sensitive topic between the two giants.

The statement from the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum endorsed stimulus measures to keep the global economy from sliding back into recession and urged a successful conclusion to the Doha Round of trade talks in 2010.

An earlier draft pledged APEC's 21 members to maintain "market-oriented exchange rates that reflect underlying economic fundamentals".

That statement had been agreed at a meeting of APEC finance ministers on Thursday, including China, although it made no reference to the Chinese yuan currency.

An APEC delegation official who declined to be identified said debate between China and the United States over exchange rates had held up the statement at the end of two days of talks.

That underscored strains likely to feature when Obama flies to China later on Sunday after Washington for the first time slapped duties on Chinese-made tyres.

Beijing fears that could set a precedent for more duties on Chinese goods that are gaining market share in the United States.  Continued...

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