EDITORIAL : THE TEHRAN TIMES, IRAN

Persian Press Review

Tehran Times Political Desk

This column features excerpts from editorials, commentaries, interviews, and news articles of the leading Iranian newspapers and websites.

Saturday’s headlines

SHARQ: Mohseni-Ejei compares his dismissal to Moslehi (Mohseni-Ejei was intelligence minister in Ahmadinejad’s first administration and Heidar Moslehi is current intelligence minister)

KAYHAN: IRGC chief Jafari says Israel and U.S. bases in region are within range of Iranian missiles

KHORASAN: Inter-Parliamentary Union okays Iran's proposal in banning foreign intervention in popular uprisings in region

HEMAYAT: Preventing crime is a public duty, judiciary official says

JAVAN: 2.6 million houses will be built within Mehr housing project in current year, housing minister says

QODS: Bahraini clerics give serious warning to Al Khalifa

TAFAHOM: The rise in production of crude steel in Iran breaks world record

TEHRAN-E EMROOZ: Decisive days in Yemen and Bahrain

HAMSHAHRI: Those around president should not behave in a way that causes disunity, Assembly of Experts chairman suggests to government officials

JAME JAM: Contradictory remarks about bread price

FARHIKHTEGAN: Dust storms hit the western and southwestern provinces

Leading articles

JAVAN in a news report quotes Mohammad Reza Bahonar, the secretary general of the Islamic Society of Engineers (ISE), as saying from time to time issues such as announcing the list of major economic corrupt people are raised and the list is exchanged between the heads of three branches of power and we “see no result”. He added fight against economic corruption has turned into a propaganda move and will not resolve any of the country’s problems. Bahonar added the waste of public property was controlled to an extent by implementation of the subsidy reform plan.

TEHRAN-E EMROOZ in a news story says walking and breathing is difficult in the streets of Ilam without mask and the city is buried under a thick blanket of dust. Iran’s Environmental Protection Organization believes that the solution to dust storms is drawing up plans to make the Iraqi farmers aware of the measures they can take to prevent dust storms from happening, although the organization does not exactly know the main sources of these dust storms. The writer also says dust storms in Ilam began in the Iranian calendar month of Day (which started December 22) and are likely to continue till the Iranian calendar month of Shahrivar (which starts August 23). The writer also says we cannot place any hope in the cooperation of the Iraqi and Syrian governments in this regard since a delegation of Iraqi officials that came to Iran last year announced that controlling dust storms is not on their countries’ agenda

EDITORIAL : THE JAKARTA POST, INDONESIA

The Week In Review: Big dream and grim reality

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono early this week promised the people the moon, unveiling a vision to expand the national economy from US$700 billion now to between $3,850-$4,500 billion by 2025, or the 12th largest in the world., with a per capita income of $13,000 to $16,000, as against $3,000 at present.

But the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of the Indonesian Economic Development in 2011-2025 he announced at a two-day national gathering of ministers, regional government and business leaders, which ended on Tuesday, seemed to be another example of Yudhoyono’s grandstanding.

Two days after the conference the President had to put the nation on the highest level of alert against terrorist bombs after the discovery Thursday of a bomb weighing 150 kilograms next to a gas pipeline near a Catholic church within the Gading Serpong residential complex in Tangerang, near Jakarta.

Earlier Thursday morning, security officials arrested 19 suspects related to the recent book bomb attacks, who led the police to the massive bombs, which was to be exploded during the Good Friday celebrations.

The economic master plan is long on seemingly grand designs on investment plans but acutely short on technical details on how the government and the private sector will go about delivering all the highly ambitious targets.

The master plan designates six regions as main economic corridors for which a total of $385 billion in new investment will be needed.

Sumatra will be developed as an agricultural and energy center, development in Kalimantan will focus on mining and energy and Sulawesi and North Maluku on agriculture and fishery, Bali and East and West Nusa Tenggara on tourism and national food crops, Papua and Maluku on natural and human resources and Java on industry and services.

But Sofjan Wanandi, chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association, represented the mood of most businesspeople when he said rather cynically that whatever the master plan was about, it was foremost for the government to rebuild public trust in its promise.

There have been too many plans which remain unimplemented due to bureaucratic inertia, regulatory bottlenecks and an acute lack of basic infrastructure.

Four days before the national gathering, the government and the chamber of commerce and industry hosted a two-day international conference and exhibition on infrastructure development.

But all the big talks about the big infrastructure projects worth tens of billions of dollars seemed to remain a dream because one fundamental issue — the arduous and punitively costly process of land acquisition — remains unresolved.

*****

The economic vision was unveiled against the backdrop of a series of grim realities which confronted the people in their daily lives over the last few days.

Only two days before the opening of the big national conference in Bogor near Jakarta, another suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque inside a Cirebon Police complex in West Java, injuring more than two dozen worshipers, mostly Police officers who were attending a Friday prayer service, last week.

The latest blast further lengthened the list of terrorist bombs in the country over the last 12 years, starting with the attacks on Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Syuhada mosque in Yogyakarta in 1999, the bombings of churches on New Year’s Eve in 2000, the bomb attacks in Bali in 2002, the hotel and embassy attacks in Jakarta in 2002 and 2004, more carnage in Bali in 2005, and two simultaneous major bomb blasts in two Jakarta hotels in 2009.

Two days after the suicide bomb in Cirebon, 14 farmers from Urutsewu district in Kebumen, Central Java, were wounded by gunfire during a confrontation with soldiers guarding an Army research and development office.

The conflict erupted after residents, who had long protested the Army’s use of the area for weapons and ballistics training, blocked troops from using the location last week and vandalized a nearby research facility with knives and makeshift weapons.

A few hours before the President opened the national gathering in Bogor, thousands of local people in West Sumbawa in the eastern part of the country, with the full support of the local administration, staged protests over the central government’s decision to acquire 7 percent of the giant Newmont copper and gold mine.

The demonstrations turned violent as protesters attempting to close down the Batu Hijau gold mining complex clashed with police guarding the entrance to the mine. They demanded the central government drop its plan to buy the shares and leave them to the West Sumbawa administration.

West Sumbawa Regent Zulkifli Muhadli insisted the protesters acted on their own initiative but logistical support from the local administration was quite obvious in the organization of the mass demonstrations.

The protests and the repeated threats from the West Sumbawa administration to close down the multi-billion dollar gold and copper mining complex will certainly hurt new investment in the country.

The bulk of the hundreds of billions of dollars to be invested during the 2011-2025 master plan period is designed to be allocated to regencies outside of Java where most of the country’s rich natural resources are located, but investors will likely be turned off if regional administration leaders are as misguided as those in West Sumbawa.

 

EDITORIAL : THE NEW STRAITS TIMES, MALAYSIA

Healthy live(r)s

                                       

 

WHEN the existence of the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) entered the human consciousness 30 years ago, it struck terror in the hearts, minds and imagination of everyone. This was because the main method of transmission for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, was sexual intercourse. And, unlike intravenous drug-taking (another risk factor), sex was something that affected most humans. Once the fear was somewhat understood, it revived the understanding of the importance of practising safe sex (sex with either a regular partner or protected sex). Since then, ignorance, awareness and apathy about AIDS have moved like the Mexican wave -- ebbing and flowing with the human consciousness.

In the last three decades, the world has also experienced several pandemics and near-pandemics, like the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), avian influenza A(H5N1), and swine influenza A(H1N1). And each time, we humans have been astonished by how quickly and effectively these viruses can sweep through communities and fell even the seemingly strongest among us. And, as if afflicted by amnesia, once the pandemic bells have stopped ringing, we return to a "normal" state of ignorant bliss; until we are awakened and "astonished" by the next pandemic.

That we are repeatedly astonished is the most astounding thing; especially when the preventive measures for these viruses are almost always the same. The concept of safe sex was not invented when AIDS was discovered; sexually-transmitted illnesses and diseases have, and always, remain a constant threat to human health. Good hygiene and sanitation -- the regular washing of hands, proper sneezing and coughing etiquette, and fastidious toilet hygiene -- can ward off a host of infections. Rather than for emergency contingency only, these health and cleanliness practices should be the default plan all the time.

If humans practised safe sex and good hygiene, the prevalence of hepatitis, the causing agent of chronic liver disease, would not be as great as it were today. Worldwide, chronic liver disease affects one in 12 people. In Malaysia, it is one in 20. Five per cent of all Malaysians (1.4 million people) suffer from chronic hepatitis B. Those that aren't severely affected by it pass it on to others. Many are unaware that their livers have been infected until it is too late. Yet, preventing it from happening in the first place is relatively easy; practise safe sex, don't share needles, wash your hands properly and often, go for regular health checks, and get vaccinated. But because liver disease is a slow progressive illness that can take half a lifetime before revealing itself, it is a disease that is less well-known than heart disease, whose effects are more dramatic. But it is there. And we should stop letting our apathy take us by surprise, again and again.

 

 

EDITORIAL : THE INDEPENDENT. ie, IRELAND

Rise up against the enemy within

OUR previous week's celebration of Ireland's 'Prague Spring' was, unfortunately, somewhat premature. The original 'Prague Spring' was, of course, also short -- but an army of Soviet tanks was needed to quash the 'velvet revolution' of the Czechs. In our case all it took was two further reports into our venal public and semi-State sector to leave us wondering why we worry so much about foreign enemies when our own elites collaborate so enthusiastically in the nation's destruction.

It is becoming increasingly clear that Ireland needs to experience some form of Easter Rising against the untrammelled arrogance of a caste of top civil service and semi-State oligarchs, whose greed and indolent inability to govern or regulate has turned them into the well-heeled enemies of the people. Some will criticise Peter Nyberg's failure to name these individuals, but ironically this actually provided us with yet another example of how our top mandarins have created a poisonous golden circle of unaccountable officials.

It surely says something about the quality of our democracy that, when it comes to a public sector that resembles the sort of pedigree dogs that are only fit to lie in the sun, just two scapegoats have paid any sort of price (and received huge pensions) for their boundless incompetence.

Sadly, when it comes to the need to burn a few secretaries general in the same pyre as those reviled bondholders, our new Government has already made a fatal error. The upper echelons of the civil service may be the administrative equivalent of a rotten borough, but in a final sting of the dying wasp, those who have been serially guilty of the vice of 'group thinking' have been allowed to make three critical appointments to the Taoiseach's office and to the new Ministry for Public Sector Reform from their own discredited ranks.

The decision stinks of the cunning old crocodile politics of 'chaps looking after chaps'. Mind you, it is only one of a whole host of stinks that besets our rotten State apparatus. In the aftermath of Colm McCarthy's report into our rogue semi-State companies, some innocents claimed these graveyards for the taxpayers' money, which has been looted beyond even the most avaricious dreams of venture capitalists by their workers, constitute some form of family silver. The bitter truth is that the familiar old roues of the ESB, the DAA, Bord na Mona and Coillte actually bear a closer resemblance to one of those 19th-Century encumbered estates.

It is now patently clear that, like the Bourbons, our top civil servants forget, and learn, nothing. Their governing principle of service to their own vested interests may have led us to the edge of the debtors' jail. However, the only response these bureaucratic fifth columnists come up with is the demand that their excessive salaries should be paid even if it bankrupts the country. And if that cash stream runs out, they expect Europe or the IMF to pay up. One is rightly entitled to ask where their vainglorious sense of entitlement actually ends.

Amidst all this venality one moment of hope arrived, courtesy of the pledge to hold a referendum to restore the powers of Oireachtas committees to inquire into corruption. Should it be passed, there are many bright people from Shane Ross to Stephen Donnelly and Luke 'Ming' Flanagan who could be given much work to do. Pat Rabbitte might even consider televising such investigations. Undoubtedly, our 'Sir Humphreys' would look at such a 'populist' act with some distaste. For the rest of us though, any trial, even if it is merely one by television, of the mandarin and semi-State class would be a distinct improvement.

EDITORIAL : THE NEW YORK TIMES, USA

A Real Choice on Medicare

We know it is not how most people want to spend their time, but Americans need to give a close reading to the Democrats’ and Republicans’ plans for Medicare reform. There are stark differences that will profoundly affect all of our lives — and clear political choices to come.
The Democratic approach is mostly imbedded in the broader health care reforms enacted last year. The Republicans’ approach — including a call to repeal reform and ultimately privatize Medicare — was fashioned by Representative Paul Ryan and adopted by the House.
Here are some of the most significant elements:

FOR BENEFICIARIES, OR THOSE WHO WILL SOON BE
During last year’s Congressional campaign, Republican leaders claimed to be Medicare’s stalwart defenders — conveniently ignoring their historical animosity toward the program. Older voters overlooked that history and flocked to the party in large numbers. Now the Republicans have embraced many of reform’s changes for Medicare — without, of course, advertising their flip-flop.
One of the biggest differences, under both parties’ plans, would be a large reduction of unjustified subsidies to private Medicare Advantage plans that serve 11 million of Medicare’s 46 million enrollees. Last year, those plans were paid 9 percent more per enrollee, on average, for coverage comparable to what traditional Medicare would provide. By eliminating most of the subsidies, the Democrats hope to save $136 billion over 10 years. The Republicans plan to cut only $10 billion less.
The Republicans have also embraced health care reform’s necessary plan to slow the growth rate of payments to health care providers, which was expected to save hundreds of billions over the next decade.
House Republicans would make another deep cut — definitely not in the Democrats’ plan — that would hit many current and future Medicare users hard. The reform law provides subsidies to help close a gap in prescription drug coverage, known as the doughnut hole, that poses a hardship for millions of patients who need lots of medicine and often cannot afford to pay for it. The Republicans would repeal that subsidy.
Perhaps most significant, the two parties have very different approaches to what they would do with their savings. The Democrats would use the savings to extend coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans, a goal we heartily endorse. The Republicans say only that they would use the money in some way to bolster the solvency of Medicare. That is not good enough.

MEDICARE IN THE FUTURE
The differences get even bigger over time. President Obama wants to retain Medicare as an entitlement in which the federal government pays for a defined set of medical services. The Ryan proposal would give those turning age 65 in 2022 “premium support” payments to help them buy private policies. There is little doubt that the Republican proposal would sharply reduce federal spending on Medicare by capping what the government would pay at very low levels. But it could cause great hardship by shifting a lot of the burden to beneficiaries. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that by 2022 new enrollees would have to pay at least $6,400 more out of pocket to buy coverage comparable to traditional Medicare.
Huge numbers of Medicare beneficiaries live on modest incomes and are already struggling to pay medical bills that Medicare does not fully cover. We should not force them into private health plans that would charge them a lot more or provide much skimpier benefits.

CONTROLLING REAL COSTS
The country cannot wrestle the deficit under control unless a way is found to slow the rise in medical costs — and Medicare’s demands on the federal budget. President Obama is clearly dedicated to reforming the health care system. Mr. Ryan relies mainly on the idea that costs will come down because of competition among private plans and more judicious use of health care by patients who are forced to pay more. His proposal is too sketchy to determine whether he would repeal or retain most of the reform law’s quality-improvement efforts, consumer protections and pilot projects to reduce costs.
What is clear is that House Republicans are determined to repeal reform’s strongest cost-control measure: an independent board that would monitor whether Medicare is on track to meet spending targets and, if not, propose further reductions that Congress would have to accept or replace with comparable savings.
Republicans charge that this would allow “unelected bureaucrats” to “ration” health care, and members of both parties object to relinquishing any power over federal spending. But Congress has shown it is far too susceptible to lobbying by insurers, hospitals, patients and other special interest groups. It makes sense to let experts drawn from diverse backgrounds set a course for Congress based on the best available evidence of what might work.
We were skeptical when the Republicans suddenly claimed to be Medicare’s great defenders. We are even more skeptical now that we have read their plan. We are also certain that repealing reform — the Republicans’ No. 1 goal — would do enormous damage to all Americans and make it even harder to wrestle down health care costs, the best way to deal with the country’s long-term fiscal crisis.

Quick Help for the Gulf

Published: April 23, 2011

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The agreement announced Thursday under which BP will make a $1 billion down payment on its obligation to restore the Gulf of Mexico to good health is such welcome news that it seems almost churlish to offer caveats. But caveats there are.

Related

• Times Topic: Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill (2010)

The agreement, negotiated by the federal government, five Gulf Coast states and BP, marks the first time a company has made early payments under the Oil Pollution Act, passed after the Exxon Valdez disaster. More important, it allows the complex work of restoration to begin quickly instead of awaiting the outcome of a long scientific and legal process.
But it does not relieve Congress of its responsibility to find other money to help the gulf. And it will not come close to achieving its promise unless the money is used well — which means using it to reflect science, not politics.
The $1 billion is a first installment on the money BP will owe under the Oil Pollution Act for natural resource damages. These damages will be determined by state and federal authorities, will not be fully tallied for several years and could amount to several billion dollars.
In the meantime, the $1 billion (and possibly further interim payments) will be used to restore the ecosystem, as nearly as possible, to the way it was — replenishing damaged beaches, repairing coastal marshes and wetlands, rebuilding oyster beds.
Each of the five states will get $100 million, as will the Interior Department and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The remaining $300 million will be spent on projects proposed by the states and selected by the federal agencies. With all these players, the trick will be to settle on an integrated approach guided by science that helps the gulf as a whole, and to resist local projects that help only the politicians.
This is not all BP is on the hook for. It remains responsible for billions in damages sustained by individuals and businesses: about $4 billion has been disbursed by a special $20 billion compensation fund. And it could be facing liabilities of $5 billion to $20 billion in civil and criminal penalties under the Clean Water Act.
A bill recently introduced in the Senate — and deserving of Congressional approval — would earmark 80 percent of these penalties to long-term gulf restoration. The money would address not just the damage from the spill but the vast historical injuries to the Louisiana coast caused by oil and gas drilling, misguided levee building along the Mississippi River, and agricultural runoff.
Long-term restoration is a goal we have backed ever since Hurricane Katrina. But it is enough for now just to get started.

Quick Help for the Gulf

The agreement, negotiated by the federal government, five Gulf Coast states and BP, marks the first time a company has made early payments under the Oil Pollution Act, passed after the Exxon Valdez disaster. More important, it allows the complex work of restoration to begin quickly instead of awaiting the outcome of a long scientific and legal process.

But it does not relieve Congress of its responsibility to find other money to help the gulf. And it will not come close to achieving its promise unless the money is used well — which means using it to reflect science, not politics.

The $1 billion is a first installment on the money BP will owe under the Oil Pollution Act for natural resource damages. These damages will be determined by state and federal authorities, will not be fully tallied for several years and could amount to several billion dollars.

In the meantime, the $1 billion (and possibly further interim payments) will be used to restore the ecosystem, as nearly as possible, to the way it was — replenishing damaged beaches, repairing coastal marshes and wetlands, rebuilding oyster beds.

Each of the five states will get $100 million, as will the Interior Department and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The remaining $300 million will be spent on projects proposed by the states and selected by the federal agencies. With all these players, the trick will be to settle on an integrated approach guided by science that helps the gulf as a whole, and to resist local projects that help only the politicians.

This is not all BP is on the hook for. It remains responsible for billions in damages sustained by individuals and businesses: about $4 billion has been disbursed by a special $20 billion compensation fund. And it could be facing liabilities of $5 billion to $20 billion in civil and criminal penalties under the Clean Water Act.

A bill recently introduced in the Senate — and deserving of Congressional approval — would earmark 80 percent of these penalties to long-term gulf restoration. The money would address not just the damage from the spill but the vast historical injuries to the Louisiana coast caused by oil and gas drilling, misguided levee building along the Mississippi River, and agricultural runoff.

Long-term restoration is a goal we have backed ever since Hurricane Katrina. But it is enough for now just to get started.

 

EDITORIAL : THE SUN, UK

                

 

Daybreak bosses back Chiles

DAYBREAK presenter Adrian Chiles will not be axed from the morning show, bosses have said.

ITV have denied suggestions that the gloomy 44-year-old, who presents the breakfast show with Christine Bleakley, will be given the shove.

A spokesman for the broadcaster said it was "committed" to Chiles and his 32-year-old co-host.

Chiefs defended Daybreak after audience research revealed it was one of the least popular shows on TV.

The BBC's, Audience Appreciation Index (AI), sees 20,000 viewers rate shows across all channels out of 100.

A score of 82 is said to be average and Daybreak had been seeing results in the low 60s for the past two weeks and has languished in the bottom five least appreciated shows.

Viewers had complained about the show's line-up, poached from BBC1's The One Show last year.

But ITV defended Daybreak, saying its viewers had been increasing since the start of the year reaching an average of 800,000.

He added: "We are delighted in the steady growth in audiences for Daybreak since the turn of the year with average audiences of 800,000. We are committed to an on-going dialogue with our audience.

"We've listened to feedback, constantly looked at the programme ourselves, making adjustments and invested in the editorial where necessary. We will continue to do so.

"We are fully committed to Adrian and Christine as the faces of Daybreak."

EDITORIAL : THE PEOPLE'S DAILY, CHINA

China-Africa media cooperation -- a joint force for truth

(1)

For more than 150 years, global information has flown in the opposite direction of wealth: The latter is normally from the poor to the rich while the former is evidently the other way round.

For decades, developing countries have fought what appeared to be a losing battle against Western dominance in global information flow. Thanks to the epochal rise of the developing world, a rebalancing is hopefully taking place.

That change is setting the stage for China and Africa to have their voices heard and tell the true stories happening in their parts of the world.

It was against this backdrop that Li Changchun, China's top publicity administrator, sat down at a seminar in Nairobi on Thursday with members of Chinese and African media communities to explore ways of boosting China-African journalistic exchanges.

Although they are geographically far apart, China and Africa have long learned about each other through Western media. However, Western reports did not always reflect the truth, said Li, who is a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Therefore, it is necessary for the two media communities to establish direct links, the senior Chinese official said.

(2)

WESTERN DOMINANCE AND BIASWestern media outlets have played a dominant role in global information flow and in setting news agendas, thus shaping public opinion on a wide variety of issues, according to a 2009 article published in Qiushi (Seeking Truth), a semimonthly journal of the CPC Central Committee.

Western media organizations, with their vast financial resources, have deployed reporters worldwide to collect information that fits within the framework of Western values, and then disseminated those stories to countries that could not afford to send their own news staff overseas, the journal said.

By monopolizing the global news market, Western media organizations had marginalized voices from the rest of the world. Western media groups produced more than 90 percent of international news stories, it said.

Using their dominant position, Western media outlets tended to project negative images of developing nations such as China and African countries.

Back in 2005, Rwandan President Paul Kagame slammed Western media for portraying Africa as a continent beset with bad governance, civil wars, and other ills while ignoring the positive developments in the region.

Referring to negative Western reports concerning Africa, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo once said some people would describe a glass partially filled with water as "half full" while others with ulterior motives would call it "half empty."

As a matter of fact, Western media organizations have long described Africa as the "dark continent" or the "failed continent," a vast land plagued by war, diseases and corruption.

Nicholas Kristof, a New York Times reporter, won a Pulitzer Prize for his in-depth reports about the crisis in Sudan's Darfur area.

In his writings, Kristof called Africa "the continent where nothing, or almost nothing, works."

Meanwhile, Western journalists rarely have positive views about China. They label China as "neo-colonialist" or an "energy-predator" because of its booming economic ties with Africa.

Yet many Africans do not see things that way. South African President Jacob Zuma said during a visit to China last August that describing China's engagement with Africa as "neo-colonialism" was untruthful.

Pierre Essama Essomba, president of the Media Council of Cameroon, said that past Western colonizers left "nothing good in our country." By contrast, he said, China has helped Cameroon build conference centers, schools, hospitals and highways in the past three decades.

Many people in China and Africa think that the moment has come for their countries to project their own images. And the only possible way to break the Western monopoly, they say, is through China-Africa media cooperation.

(3)

CALL FOR MORE CHINA-AFRICA MEDIA COOPERATIONLi, who is currently visiting Africa, laid out several proposals at the Nairobi seminar what the Chinese media should do to facilitate cooperation with their African counterparts.

The Chinese government, he said, has already incorporated China-Africa media cooperation into their overall relationship.

He said Chinese and African media should cover each other's social and economic developments and other issues in a comprehensive and truthful way. The media, Li said, should contribute to the countries' mutual understanding and friendship.

Li encouraged media organizations from China and Africa to build partnerships to push forward resource sharing, promote training, exchange broadcasting programs and increase technology transfer.

He noted that China has already provided training for 208 African reporters and media administrators since 2004.

China, Li said, intends to continue offering African media organizations technological support and training opportunities.

He also encouraged African media outlets to open newsrooms in China and provide live news coverage from China.

As a matter of fact, since the 1950s, the Chinese media organizations have conducted frequent exchanges with their African counterparts through seminars and workshops, and donated equipment such as computers and cameras to them.

At a summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2006, President Hu Jintao and leaders from 48 African nations pledged to encourage more media exchanges over the following decade.

Media cooperation between China and Africa has not only developed in traditional areas, but also is tapping potential in the field of new media.

During his visit in Kenya, Li inaugurated the Xinhua Mobile Newspaper, the first-ever mobile newspaper in sub-Saharan Africa. The joint venture with a local telecom company enables about 17 million Kenyan mobile subscribers to receive news from China's Xinhua News Agency via Multimedia Messaging Service.

(4)

MORE EFFORTS NEEDEDHowever, Chinese journalists have yet to catch up with their Western counterparts in Africa, even though they have made substantial progress, said Bob Wekesa, editorial director of Kenya Today.

Over the past decade, China and Africa have done much to expand their trade ties. China-Africa trade in 2000 stood at 10 billion U.S. dollars. The figure skyrocketed to 126.9 billion dollars in 2010, according to figures of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

Nonetheless, compared to surging trade links, press cooperation between China and Africa has been advancing at a slower pace, observers said.

Ridwan Laher, head of South Africa's African Institute, said China's rapidly growing economy and presence in Africa have increased his country's need for news about China.

Average African readers, because of the Western media's dominant position, usually get their news about China from Western news coverage. However, many Africans have started to realize that they are consuming too much Western news and too little from their own national media organizations or from China.

Kabareng Solomon, director of Botswana's Information Services Department, said Botswana has been relying on Western media for a long time. "We know it is not good to accept a one-sided perspective," she said.

Solomon said her country's Daily News and Botswana Press Agency have signed agreements with Xinhua in order to gain a different perspective about Africa, China and the rest of the world.

Maina Muiruri, vice editor-in-chief of the Kenyan newspaper The People Daily, said that compared with Western news agencies, Chinese media reports on Africa were more comprehensive, objective and accurate.

Meanwhile, he hoped Chinese media could provide more information about China's enterprises, especially those that have business ties with the African continent.

Lydia Shiloya, deputy head of Kenya News Agency, said China-Africa media cooperation could improve by hiring more locals.

"Chinese media in the future could have more local people work for them who better understand the local scenario and could better serve the grassroots in Africa," Shiloya said.

Building a permanent media exchange mechanism is also what both sides expect in the future.

Kwendo Opanga, executive editor of the Nairobi-based East African Standard Magazine, said China and Africa should expand and institutionalize journalistic exchange programs.

Opanga also said Africa expects to learn from China's media technological advances.

Li said Thursday that the traditional friendship between China and Africa has created favorable conditions for closer media cooperation in the future.

With joint efforts, it is hoped that China-Africa media cooperation can provide the missing pieces of the puzzle when it comes to presenting readers with the real picture. (Additional reporting by Tan Jingjing, Deng Yushan and Wei Jianhua)

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY YOMIURI, JAPAN

         

 

Quickly pass donations to disaster victims

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Huge amounts of money have been donated at home and abroad to survivors of the Great East Japan Earthquake.

The Japanese Red Cross Society and the Central Community Chest for Japan have collected about 170 billion yen combined, and municipal governments in disaster-stricken areas have directly received donations of more than 20 billion yen.

In the about 40 days since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the money donated has reached about the same amount as that given after the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake. The nuclear power plant crisis that has compounded the quake disaster has apparently stirred up feelings of sympathy in many people in Japan and overseas and convinced them to open their wallets.

This money, however, has yet to reach disaster victims.

Thousands of people are still living in temporary shelters without any belongings, having lost everything in the tsunami. They urgently need money just to get by. We hope the donated cash will reach them as soon as possible.

On April 8, the secretariat of the committee in charge of distributing donations, which has been established in the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, decided on distribution details of the first batch of donations. Families will receive 350,000 yen for each person who was killed in the disaster or remains missing, and owners of houses that were destroyed will receive 350,000 yen and people whose homes have been severely damaged will get 180,000 yen.

===

Distribution too slow

The donations will be distributed based of these criteria. Prefectural governments will add some money of their own before handing the cash to disaster victims through city, town and village governments.

The reality, however, is that some disaster-struck municipalities have only just started offering application procedures for receiving donations.

After the Great Hanshin Earthquake, the amount of the first distribution of donations was decided 12 days after the disaster, with people whose homes were destroyed receiving 100,000 yen in the initial payouts. Compared with this, decisions on donation distribution criteria and the payment process to victims of last month's quake and tsunami have been pointedly slow. Many people who generously made donations also probably feel frustrated by this situation.

The immense devastation wrought by the disaster has made it all but impossible for many disaster-hit municipalities to accurately assess the damage to individual households. Administrative functions of some city, town and village governments have been so badly eroded that they are unable to address the task of distributing donations.

To alleviate this situation, the central government, prefectural governments outside the disaster zone and other entities should send personnel to lend a hand with clerical work needed to pass donations to disaster survivors.

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Make payments uniform

We think a uniform provisional payment should be given to people with damaged homes, rather than wasting time worrying over whether a house should be categorized as "destroyed" or "partially damaged." A closer examination of the degree of damage can wait until the second round of donation distributions.

Cash will be very helpful to disaster victims. These initial payments should be made flexibly and swiftly.

Given the staggering death toll and number of people still unaccounted for, as well as the scale of property damage, much more money will need to be collected.

First of all, the initial batch of donations must be distributed without a hitch to people who desperately need it. This will be a springboard for the next round of support and financial aid. It also will be a message of acknowledgement from Japan to people around the world who have sent their goodwill to disaster victims.

Buy Tohoku products to help revive the region

The Yomiuri Shimbun

There is no doubt there are a lot of people who want to support the disaster-hit areas in some way.

But even without going there as some volunteers have done, there is one thing we can do as part of our daily lives: Buy products from disaster-hit areas.

Rice, vegetables and seafood--we see these on our tables every day. In addition, the disaster areas produce many brands of sake, sweets and crafts that enjoy nationwide recognition. Indeed, the Tohoku and northern Kanto regions boast many speciality products.

Buying these products can be considered a form of reconstruction support as it will reinvigorate local industries through consumption. We hope a "Buy Tohoku" movement will expand.

A month after the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake, some companies in the devastated areas have started rebuilding their businesses.

Seeking support for its efforts, a sake maker in Iwate Prefecture posted a video on the Internet, saying, "Please don't hold back, drink Tohoku sake." The video has attracted wide attention and has been viewed more than 500,000 times.

A long-established maker of sasa kamaboko (a bamboo leaf-shaped fish cake) in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, has resumed operations, encouraged by about 10,000 letters of support sent from people across the nation.

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Your purchases help create jobs

The revival of local businesses, which generate employment and income, will certainly be a source of encouragement and strength for the disaster-hit areas.

Consumption support campaigns are spreading throughout the nation. Department stores and supermarkets have held events for agricultural products from the disaster areas, and hotels and izakaya pubs have held Tohoku sake fairs.

A noticeable number of people have been visiting shops run by disaster-hit prefectures in major cities. Some company cafeterias have created dishes that include ingredients from Tohoku. It is important that these efforts are not just short-lived but last for a long time.

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Go enjoy region's sights

The Tohoku region is blessed with many great tourist spots, and making a trip there would be another way to support the region. Sendai Airport resumed some domestic flights on April 13, and the Tohoku Shinkansen bullet train line is expected to fully reopen later this month.

The three major annual summer festivals in the Tohoku region, including the Sendai Tanabata festival, are scheduled to be held as planned. We hope the tourism industry organizes a variety of tours to appeal to consumers.

While efforts to boost consumption are gathering steam, prices of agricultural products from disaster-hit areas have collapsed. This is likely because retailers and other sellers have avoided purchasing fruits and vegetables from the areas, claiming consumers would not buy them.

We are happy to see product fairs for local goods packed with people. But the amounts sold on these occasions are not so large. What producers from these areas truly want is for sales and prices to return to normal.

We urge consumers to behave calmly, not be swayed by rumors and carefully examine each product with their own eyes.

EDITORIAL : THE INDIAN EXPRESS, INDIA

                                

 

Bal Thackeray attacks Rane over 'contract' remarks

Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray today attacked Maharashtra Industries Minister Narayan Rane for accusing Shiv Sena of being a political party that was approached by 11 corporate houses with an offer of Rs 500 crore to scuttle the Jaitapur Nuclear Power project in Ratnagiri district.

"Were Rane counting the money when Sena was offered Rs 500 crore to oppose the Jaitapur (nuclear) power plant. People who know Rane won't find the allegations surprising. The same person had alleged that some Congress leaders had connection with Pakistani terrorists after 26/11 Mumbai attacks," Thackeray said in an editorial of the party mouthpiece Saamana.

Rane had also criticised senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel and refused to work under the then chief minister Ashok Chavan saying it was his "insult" to work under him, he said.

Thackeray also warned Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan against Rane saying "He (Rane) needs psychiatric treatment else he might one day also accuse Prithviraj Chavan of offering Rs 500 crore to Sonia Gandhi to become chief minister."

Defending his party's stand on Jaitapur issue, the senior Thackeray said that opposition to the nuclear power project was a "spontaneous" reaction and not "sponsored" by anyone as being alleged.

Shiv Sena is connected with the locals and no one would risk his life and face bullets in lieu of money, he added.

EDITORIAL : THE DAWN, PAKISTAN

OIC-AL inaction

THE rising death toll in Syria is perhaps not as shocking as the paralysis that has gripped the Arab League and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. Fridays in Syria have become days of bloodbath. Last Friday saw at least 75 people reportedly killed in protests across the country as security forces fired on demonstrators what an eyewitness called a rain of bullets. The scale and intensity of pro-democracy demonstrations have escalated, so have the people’s demands. If President Bashar al-Assad had yielded to their demands, which were quite modest in the beginning, the protests could perhaps have been managed. Now, because of the brutality with which the regime is crushing the uprising, the people no more want mere reform; they want a liquidation of the Baathist regime. The Assad family has been ruling Syria for more than four decades, and has never had any qualms about using force to crush dissent. In 1982, the president’s father, Hafez al-Assad, crushed a revolt in Hama in a way that shocked the world.
Today, the people of Bahrain, Libya, Syria and Yemen are up in arms against their unpopular regimes and paying with their blood. Yet it is shocking that the two forums that are supposed to represent the Arab and Islamic peoples — the AL and the OIC — have either not stirred or failed to adopt a uniform policy based on principles. In Libya, the AL called upon Nato to enforce a ‘no fly’ zone, but developed cold feet when Nato air strikes led to heavy civilian casualties. In Yemen, all that the AL has done is to call for a peaceful transition of power, but in Bahrain it looked the other way while the regime targeted the protesters. Its silence gave carte blanche to the Gulf Cooperation Council to act the way it wanted, and it goes without saying that the GCC’s six monarchies agreed to send a Saudi-led force to the island to suppress the people’s freedom movement. More regretfully, the GCC has sought to give a geopolitical colour to a domestic issue by enlisting the support of the European Union.

Throughout the current crisis that began with an act of self-immolation in Tunisia and quickly spread to other Arab countries, the OIC has maintained a contemptible silence. If it doesn’t have the military muscle to spring to action the way Nato has, the least the lame-duck organisation representing the over one billion Muslims of the world could have done was to make an appeal to the UN to come to the defence of the oppressed people.

Electoral reform

A LITTLE over three years into the democratically elected government’s tenure, murmurs continue about the suitability of the current system of governance in Pakistan. We should remember that the democratic process can produce meaningfully representative results only if the election process is free, fair and transparent. Any sort of electoral misconduct — which covers the spectrum from rigging to inefficiency — renders the process meaningless and produces results that do not necessarily reflect the people’s choices. A report released recently by the International Crisis Group, Reforming Pakistan’s Electoral Process, points out how electoral misconduct and rigging has undermined democratic development, the rule of law and political stability; it has weakened the political process, brought in unrepresentative governments and facilitated interventionists. Calling for major electoral reform, including the functioning of the Election Commission of Pakistan — which it accuses of historically colluding with the civil-military bureaucracy to manipulate polls — the ICG
points out that in addition to structural reform and technical proficiency, a political environment conducive to fair elections is necessary.
There is little doubt that the electoral process here needs reform at almost all levels. Some of the problems are relatively simple to tackle: for example, installing systematic training programmes for ECP staff and putting in more effort to analyse flaws in past elections. Then, as the report suggests, temporary election staff should be barred from officiating in their home districts and observers provided unfettered access to polling stations. Making the ECP entirely autonomous and giving it full financial independence appears trickier. However, it is vital that the political parties arrive at a consensus and demonstrate the will to institute across-the-board electoral reforms; this is in their own and their constituents’, interest. With general elections scheduled for 2013, political parties must recognise that they stand to lose most if the elections are flawed. They must recognise that undercutting the electoral process in order to undermine each other, as was the case
during the 1990s, only shrinks the space in which they operate. Several allegedly faulty by-elections have already taken place, which bodes ill
for the general elections. It is time that parliament took ownership of the electoral process.

A class act

THE curtain has fallen on a brilliant showbiz career. With the death of veteran actor Moin Akhtar in Karachi on Friday, a key chapter in Pakistan’s entertainment history has come to a close. Though it is common to remember the departed with superlatives, Moin Akhtar was no doubt an iconic performer, his razor-sharp wit and comedic genius having few parallels in the industry. Perhaps his versatility was the key to his success, as the late actor had a diverse portfolio, having worked in television, film as well as on stage. Active since the 1960s, it was in the ’80s that Moin Akhtar’s graph really shot up, with outstanding performances in TV skits as well as stage productions. His unbeatable combination with writer Anwar Maqsood produced some truly memorable moments, with the late actor hilariously mimicking the high and the mighty as well as characters from everyday life.

His popularity crossed socio-economic boundaries while it also bridged the generational divide. The actor also mimicked a host of different ethnicities without offending anyone. Possibly that is what set Moin Akhtar apart from other comic actors: his comedy was classy and he made people laugh without resorting to ribaldry.
In an atmosphere where there is so much bad news Moin Akhtar offered side-splitting respite from an all-enveloping negativity. His appearance on the screen or on stage was enough to put a smile on people’s faces. His intelligent, deadpan one-liners and witty mannerisms would have audiences in stitches, as he managed to say so much between the lines, aided by his impish gestures. His death is the nation’s loss and it is fair to say that Moin Akhtar will be an irreplaceable talent. It seems as if he left too soon, but he leaves behind countless admirers who will cherish his art. May he rest in peace.

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY STAR, BANGLADESH

               

 

Risks from illegal billboards

Rajuk failure is unpardonable

ILLEGAL hoardings and billboards atop buildings and on roads in the capital remain a clear danger to citizens. The danger rises now that the season of storms is upon us. The first manifestation of it came last Wednesday when a huge billboard collapsed at Mirpur Road during a storm. While storms are a regular climatic happening in Bangladesh, what should not be regular is a deliberate flouting of judicial pronouncements on such matters as a removal of unauthorized billboards. Despite a specific High Court order on Rajuk in April last year that all such hoardings and billboards be removed, hardly anything has been done to comply with the order. The chairman of Rajuk now informs us that a lack of manpower has prevented an implementation of the HC directive. That begs the question: how is it that in an entire year Rajuk has not had the capacity to remove the billboards? Besides, why has it not come forth with any explanations about its failure until now?

It is extremely unfortunate that despite specific judicial directives, Rajuk has not moved towards pulling down the illegal billboards. It should have been its responsibility, when the HC revoked a stay order on the removal of the billboards in April 2010, to take swift action against those behind the erection of the billboards. That it did not has not only demonstrated a huge degree of callousness on its part but also, and more importantly, meant a heightened level of danger to citizens. The point here is not just that there is a risk to people from billboards during a storm. It is also the dark possibility of these billboards falling on the roads and on passersby at any given moment. That said, there is the obvious wrong the firms whose billboards have been put up have committed by not taking such factors into consideration. Where the standard rule around the world is for such hoardings to be placed at points where people are not vulnerable, it is highly mystifying that in Bangladesh no such precautions are taken.

We demand that Rajuk get moving by removing the billboards immediately. We also ask that the firms behind the billboards be roped into the job. They must not escape their responsibility.

Unsettled hill people

They need roofs to live under

SINCE last week's violent clashes between the Bengali settlers and the indigenous people in Ramgarh some of the latter have become homeless as reports suggest. More than fifty eight families were affected. Many of these people are now reportedly starving and living in open due to loss of abodes and belongings.

The foremost task of the administration is to settle these affected people. Why must the processes of rehabilitation face delay because the district administration is yet to prepare the list of affected families? We understand the authorities received varying figures of victimization, casualty and demands for compensation from different local union parishads. The authorities must independently verify the status of the affected families and individuals without being influenced by any quarter.

After what happened in Khagrachari should be a sufficient eye-opener to come to grips with the land disputes as early as possible in order to remove the portents of conflicts between the plainland settlers and the indigenous population.

How well the minorities are treated is increasingly becoming a test of good governance. It is the responsibility of the government and the hill tracts administration to find a durable solution to this social friction rooted in disputes over land. Resolution of the problems is a necessary precondition to all round development in the resourceful CHT region.

The CHT Land Commission should immediately devise ways and means to settle the land disputes on mutually acceptable basis. Overall, an inclusive, transparent and fair minded policy should be adopted so that the indigenous communities' rights to landownership and pursuit of happiness are provided for.