WEB North South Magazine.september.12

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BIafrica internet country code

Africa News Agency

10 Beaufort CourtAdmirals Way

Marsh WallLondon E14 9XLunited Kingdom

tel: + 44 20 7987 9588fax: + 44 20 7987 9923

Reporting African Affairs and Events to the World

www.africanewsagency.co.uk www.africanewsagency.net www.africanewsagency.info www.africanewsagency.org email: [email protected]

✦ newS & viewS to bridge the global divide

north✦south September 2012 1

contents

uK £ 300 | us $ 500 | Algeria da 250 | Argentina 15 P | Australia a $750 | Belgium € 660 | Canada c$ 600 | CFA Zone 2,000 | Brazil 8 r | China Yuan 30 | Denmark dKr 33 Finland € 740 | France € 450 | Germany € 500 | Ghana gh 200 | Indonesia r 29,700 | Japan ¥ 700 | Morocco dh 20 | Norway Kr 30 | Portugal € 400 | Russia r 140 | Syria s 200 Singapore s$ 690 | South Africa zar 7995 | Sweden sKr 33 | Switzerland sfr 750 | Spain € 450 | Thailand baht 150 | Tunisia td 2,500 | Ukraine 25 h | Zambia K 12,500

02 Editorial

03 Letters to the Editor

04 News and Briefs

13 Over the Top

✦ COvEr sTOry

16 The global media battlefield

19 the media and

government control

20 African media under siege

22 Can BBC and Al-Jazeera resist

competition in global coverage?

23 World media in transition

✦ fEaTurEs

24 Libya enters new territory

26 An uneasy triangle

26 London 2012 Games broke

records of all kinds

28 somali piracy being reined in

29 London bids farewell to olympics

29 syria: Annan’s mission impossible

31 olympic politics

31 Food price volatility

worries World Bank

33 Will Egypt’s new political order start a new page?

34 Environment

35 Innovations

36 Business Briefs

46 arts & Entertainment

48 Travel & Tourism

50 science News

52 Motoring

54 Book reviews

56 ICT

60 sports

62 Life & style

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23

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north✦southGroup publisher

The Lord Newall, DL

editor-in-Chief ali Bahaijoub

AfriCA editor Desmond Davies

World AffAirs & book revieW editor Guy arnold

business editor alan Brown

europe editor reiner Gatterman

AsiA editor franklin adesegha

trAvel & tourism editor Michael Barnard

Art & entertAinment editor saskia Willis

north AmeriCA editor Jem sturgess

middle eAst Correspendent

fay ferguson

stAff reporters robert Colville, sam standing

AssoCiAte editor Michael Knipe

AssoCiAte editor Kaye Whiteman

mArketinG & AdvertisinG roy finchett

GrAphiC desiGner stefan Dzhestanov

address: North-south Publications Head office, 10 Beaufort Court,

admirals Way, Marsh Wall, London E14 9XL, united Kingdom

Tel: 020 79879588 fax: 020 79879923

Email: [email protected] Website: www.northsouthmag.com

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rest of the World: £ 4500 annuallyBack issues including postage: £ 500

Copyright @ North-south Publications ✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

editorial✦ ✦

the significance of the mass media for any political system is based on their role to inform on events, promote an idea or policy and indulge in opinion formation and expression. the mass media owned by power-hungry proprietors help present content in a way that the publication or the network see fit to promote its own interest in political, ideological, economic, social or financial terms.

the media today determine and demonstrate the limits of legitimate public discussion in society on various issues by sometimes forcing the public to conform to particular political or commercial interests and beliefs. Control of the media has become a hot subject in democracies where power is concentrated in the hands of governements or commercial interests. the mass media have been further enhanced by social media and new technologies. Global social media revenue is forecast to reach $16.9 billion in 2012, up 43.1 per cent from 2011 revenue of $11.8 billion, according to Gartner, Inc.

As mass media have extremely important functions and role to play in democratic societies, they require public regulation to eventually help transform them into public services. If this is not the case, control of the media becomes indirectly linked to powerful people who use it as a means to a political end.

rupert Murdoch’s British, Autralian and American media empire is a case in point, as his attempt to make or break personalities or promote parties had profound impact on readers and viewers of his publications and networks. so much so that political leaders were scrambling to seek his favour and patronage.

Murdoch’s news of the World phone hacking scandal in Britain has brought to light the illegal ongoings behind the scenes and wilful abuses

of personal privacy.It points also to the scale of

the corrupting power that media proprietors can have on good governance and liberal democracy.

At various times the news of the Word asserted the private commercial and political interests of Murdoch the proprietor who used his strong influence in ways that flouted journalistic and editorial independence to disregard the crucial issues of bias and concentration of media ownership can be dangerous for society.

successive governments have taken the cowardly way of avoiding vexing powerful media owners with needed public interest regulations on quality, content, journalistic standards and editorial independence. Instead they have attempted to fix the problem with rules designed to promote diversity of ownership.

the public believes that the big media proprietors have too much power and that ownership is too concentrated in the hands of a few. the media giants are significant beneficiaries of the current political, economic and social structure around the world.

Media regulation is essential in order to limit the power and control in the hands of commercial and political operators. however, regulation should not mean muzzling journalists so that they cannot do their job in the interest of the general public.

It is argued that media democratisation requires specific forms of regulation beyond market regulation and private subsidies in order to limit the power and control in the hands of power-seekers so that the political and economic autonomy of the media and the interest of the general public at large are truly served.

In this new world of digitally delivered news, it is difficult to know where to draw a line but common sense should prevail.

ali Bahaijoub, Editor

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north✦south September 2012

lettersThe currency debatethe banking crisis that shook the world financial system in 2007 is still reverberating throughout the world and the euro is only having a temporary patchy period that can be solved by the European union in time for recovery for the European currency and the economy. We must not forget that currencies go up and down and it is now the turn of the euro to endure the global market turmoil. the American dollar and the Japanese yen were in similar situations before and so was the British pound. therefore, the euro will survive the current turbulence and Europe will continue to be the biggest open market in the world. Martina Milanovic | Warsaw, Poland.......................................................................................

I am not sure the European currency will survive the ongoing economic and financial upheaval if Greece withdraws from the eurozone and spain and Italy ask for a bailout. If this scenario takes place in the near future, the eurozone will encounter insurmountable difficulties to redress the situation. so far, Germany has played a crucial role in maintaining the relative stability of the eurozone but it all depends on how other European partners perform to avoid another crisis that could prove fatal for the future of the euro and even the European union. Olivia Doming | Brussels, Belgium.......................................................................................

What next for Egypt and syria?the syrian situation resembles that of Libya when the ousted Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi tried to defy the international community and the will of his people to cling to power for ever. he got what he deserved because he became blinded by his sycophants and the country’s wealth that allowed him to stay in power for 42 years. President Bashar al-Assad is heading for a similar fate and it will not take long before he is ousted and probably killed by one of the armed opposition that seeks his overthrow. We have to stress the fact that the opposition in Libya was supported by nAto air-raids and arms while syria’s is supported by a variety of interested parties in the West and in the Middle East. Karl fitscher | Berlin, Germany.......................................................................................

Egypt is a special case where the armed forces have played a major role in the politics of the country since the overthrow of the monarchy in 1952. Egypt has known only leaders from the army ever since and for the first time Egyptians have the right to elect their president instead of having one imposed on them by the military. President Morsi may be able to change that if he skillfully and carefully proceeds to water down the army’s hold on power. the next few months will be crucial for the country’s political future and stability. sergio Belini | Lisbon, Portugal

syria is in a terrible mess and I do not think President Bashar al-Assad’s regime will survive the uprising of his people who are desperate for change from autocracy to democracy. With all the logistical help his opponents are getting and the defections from the army and his government, it will be a miracle if he manages to stay in power for a few more weeks. George salman | Nicosia, Cyprus .......................................................................................

Kofi Annan, the former un secretary General and the special envoy for the world body and the Arab League, was the only hope for a peaceful settlement of the syrian crisis. now that he has stepped down from the task of mediating an acceptable way out of the impasse, there is no hope for a solution except a sectarian civil war that will be very damaging for syrian society, never mind President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. the syrian people deserve better and any peaceful settlement that would spare lives would be welcome from whatever quarter it comes from. Christina McGuire | Dublin, Ireland .......................................................................................

arafat’s alleged poisoningIt would be interesting to know the truth about the alleged poisoning of Yasser Arafat, the late President of the Palestinian Authority. the findings should undoubtedly make a riveting read. Xavier Miguel | Barcelona, spain.......................................................................................

au breaks with traditionI sincerely hope that the new south African chairman of the African union Commission will be able to put some order into this circus-like organisation that has lost its credibility and impartiality, especially when it became the exclusive domain of the former ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. If a woman is bold enough to take the bull by the horns then so be it. the Au needs a radical shake up in all shapes and forms and she may be the one to do just that. Be brave and get rid of the rot! sarah Dogbane | abuja, Nigeria.......................................................................................

If the new chairman of the African Commission does it right and conducts herself with integrity, efficiency and commitment, she will go down in history as the saviour of the African organisation that has become the joker in international affairs. Johan Milton | Nairobi, Kenya.......................................................................................

Letters to: [email protected]

For comments email: [email protected]

4 north ✦southSeptember 2012

&news brıefsMexico replaces world record 22.9m light bulbsthe Mexican government’s sustainable Light programme has entered the Guinness Book of records for having replaced 22.9 million incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent or “energy-saving” ones. In total, more than 5.5 million Mexican families already use energy-saving lamps that consume only 20 per cent of the energy and last 10 times longer than a traditional light bulb.

With the already replaced light bulbs, the saving is calculated to be 1,400 gigawatt hour (Gwh), in other words the energy that is consumed in a year in nayarit or Colima.

According to calculations by the Energy Ministry, the programme also has an impact on the budget at home, as a family can save up to 18 per cent of the electric bill. Less consumption of electricity also favours the environment, as an emission of about 700,000 tons of Co2 is being avoided with the light bulbs that have been replaced until now, the equivalent of more than 130,000 cars.

In its second stage, the programme hopes to replace other almost 23 millions of incandescent bulbs with energy-saving lamps. When the second stage ends, it is estimated that the saving will be of 2,800 Gwh per year, more than double the electricity consumption of the state of Campeche in 2011.

Pacific Coral Triangle ‘at risk of collapse’ the Coral triangle, a roughly triangular marine zone in the Indo-Pacific region that is considered to have the world’s richest concentration of marine biodiversity, is facing potential ecological collapse due to heavy pressure inflicted by human activities, according to a new report.

the warning appears in a collaborative study, reefs at risk revisited in the Coral triangle, produced by a consortium led by the World resources Institute, a global environmental think tank based in Washington DC, usA. the study serves as a status report on the wellbeing of coral reefs in or near the six countries comprising the triangle.

the study aimed to identify where reefs are most threatened and to

provide baseline data to help groups establish and prioritise specific management strategies, according to Kathleen reytar, a lead author of the study.

According to the report, 85 per cent of reefs in the Coral triangle are directly threatened by local human activities such as over-fishing, the use of poisons and dynamite in fishing, watershed-based pollution (fertilisers, pesticides and other runoff from the land), and coastal development.

When combined with developments related to global warming, the percentage of threatened reefs rises to more than 90 per cent, the report says. For the full report visit:

http://bit.ly/MVrzG9 ✦

A new survey shows that countries from emerging markets are making their mark on global patterns of innovation.

the dynamics of global innovation are changing as a result of the activities of emerging economies, according to the Global Innovation Index 2012.

Countries like China, India – and even Paraguay and sri Lanka – show that while innovative activity generally increases with income levels, good results can be achieved using their own innovation models.

the innovation report, which was released last month by the European Institute of Business Administration (InsEAD) in France, and the World

Intellectual Property organisation (WIPo) in Geneva, switzerland, evaluated 141 countries.

It highlighted strong performances in innovation by several emerging economies, including China, Ghana, India, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, namibia, Paraguay, senegal, swaziland, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

European countries and north American countries continue to dominate the top 12 places, although these also include singapore – which is top in south East Asia and oceania – and hong Kong (which is listed separately from China.

For a link to the Global Innovation Index 2012 visit: http://bit.ly/Ljt4Pc ✦

Emerging economies alter global innovation landscape

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✦ newS & viewS to bridge the global

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north ✦south September 2012

afghan refugees asked to leave Pakistanthe Pakistani government has asked the estimated 2.8 million of Afghan refugees in Pakistan to depart by the end of 2012, reports the un-affiliated International regional Information network. Pakistani officials recently agreed to extend Afghan refugees’ Proof of registration (Por) cards from July 2012 to December 2012. Approximately 1.8 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan have Por cards; another one million Afghans are thought to reside illegally in Pakistan. however, Pakistan has made it clear that Por cards will not be renewed or extended beyond that point. habidullah Khan, Pakistani Minister of states and Frontier regions, said: “the international community desires us to review this policy but we are clear on this point. the refugees have become a threat to law and order, security, demography, economy and local culture. Enough is enough.”

Greater use of new technologies, ranging from genomics to mobile phones, could radically improve the understanding and control of animal-borne diseases that cause 2.2 million deaths in humans every year, mostly in developing countries, according to a new report.

these include basic technologies such as rapid diagnostic kits that could be given to veterinary technicians and assistants to enable them to diagnose diseases quickly and report diagnoses via text message to a central database.

remote sensing, using satellite technology, could also be used to monitor changes in land use in order to predict the emergence of disease.

Poor communities with large

livestock populations in developing countries, particularly those in Ethiopia, India, nigeria and tanzania, bear the biggest burden of zoonotic diseases that are transmitted from livestock to humans.

these diseases cause 2.4 billion disease cases each year, according to a global study published last month that has mapped zoonoses hotspots.

the report was produced for the British Department for International Development by the International Livestock research Institute (ILrI), in Kenya, the Institute of Zoology (IoZ) in the united Kingdom, and hanoi Institute of Public health (hsPh) in hanoi.

It says that the treatment and control of zoonotic diseases, such

as rift Valley fever, tapeworms, anthrax, brucellosis and bovine tuberculosis, is hampered by under-reporting, especially in Africa, leading to such diseases becoming endemic on the continent.

In sub-saharan Africa, for example, 99.9 per cent of livestock losses do not appear in official disease reports.

Better diagnostics, the scaling up of reporting, the increased availability and affordability of vaccines, and measuring the current zoonoses problem and setting targets to reduce it, were all critical to diminishing the problem, said Delia Grace, a veterinary epidemiologist at the ILrI, and the study’s lead researcher. For the full report visit: http://bit.ly/PphApP ✦

New technologies ‘can help reduce animal-borne disease’

An artificial “brain” built by a 17-year-old whiz kid from Florida, usA, is able to accurately assess tissue samples for signs of breast cancer, providing more confidence

to a minimally invasive procedure. the cloud-based neural network took top prize in this year’s Google science Fair. “I taught the computer how to diagnose breast cancer,” said Brittany Wenger, the Lakewood ranch resident. she wanted to create a way for more doctors to use the minimally invasive procedure, called Fine needle Aspirate, in order to ease

the process of having lumps examined.

Breast cancer affects one in eight women worldwide, she noted, including members of her family.

Wenger started building these networks in the seventh grade after studying the future of technology for a school project.

For her Google science Fair project, she built a neural network with Java and then deployed it to the cloud. she ran 7.6 million trials on it and found it is 99.1 per cent sensitive to malignancy.

now that her network is built and shown to get smarter with experience, Wenger aims to deploy it in hospitals. she also wants to extend it to other types of cancer. ✦

17-year-old girl builds artificial ‘brain’ to detect breast cancer

Africa remains the continent most affected by hIV, according to unAIDs. In 2010, about 68 per cent of all people living with hIV resided

in sub-saharan Africa.the region also accounted for 70

per cent of all new hIV infections worldwide. ✦

70% of all HIv infections in sub-saharan africa


&news brıefsEurope to toughen cyber protectionMoves to firm up the European Commission’s cyber protection will come in the next weeks in response to a “war of attrition” in cyber space rather than any specific attack, a Commission spokesman has told EurActiv.

But Brussels will not point the finger at China – EurActiv has learned separately – following the recent disclosure of a serious attack against the Eu Council last June, which a Bloomberg investigation pinned to China, alleging links to the nascent superpower’s People’s Liberation Army.

“We were not informed of any targeted attack,” Antony Gravili, the spokesman for Maroš Šefčovič – the commissioner responsible for inter-institutional relations – told EurActiv in reference to the reported attack against the Council. “there is no such thing as a big single, one-off attack out of the blue, that catches us by surprise. We are not sitting around and then, wham! An incident happens,” Gravili said, adding: “the reality is that this is a war of attrition, it is an arms race.”

he said that the Commission was set to put its new Computer Emergency response team (CErt) programme onto a permanent footing in the next few weeks, after a year of trials.

A giant hole of fire in the middle of the Karakum Desert has been burning for over 40 years. the crater in Derweze, turkmenistan, was made by soviet geologists in 1971 who were drilling at the site and tapped into a cavern filled with natural gas. the ground underneath the rig collapsed and

left a hole with a diameter of 70 metres. the team was afraid the hole would release poisonous gases and decided to burn it off.

they hoped it would be put out after a few days but the hole has been burning ever since and is today known to locals as ‘the Door to hell’.

A golden glow generated by the flames can be seen for miles around the village of

Derweze and even attracts visitors.In April 2010, the president of

turkmenistan ordered that the hole should be closed but this is yet to happen.

the Karakum Desert covers most of the country and lies east of the Caspian sea. ✦

Giant hole in desert on fire for over 40 years

Human-animal diseases hotspotsthe International Livestock research Institute has published a list of geographical hotspots for human-animal diseases (zoonoses), such as tuberculosis and rift Valley fever. According to the study, 13 zoonoses are responsible for 2.4 billion cases of human illness and 2.2 million deaths every year. the countries with the highest zoonotic disease burdens are Ethiopia, India, nigeria and tanzania. ✦

Developing nations are unlikely to meet the united nations target to reduce child malnutrition by 2015, according to a study published in the Lancet, which stated that these nations had less than a five per cent chance of meeting the target of the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG).

the researchers examined trends in the weight and height of more than 7.7 million children in 141 countries between 1985 and 2011.

Professor Majid Ezzati, from the school of Public health at Imperial College, London, in the united Kingdom, explained: “our analysis shows that the developing world as a whole has made considerable

progress towards reducing child malnutrition, but there are still far too many children who don’t receive sufficient nutritious foods or who lose nutrients due to repeated sickness. severe challenges lie ahead.”

the MDG aims to end poverty and hunger by the year 2015, and one indicator of progress is the proportion of underweight children.

According to the researchers, more than 250 million children were mildly to severely underweight in 2011, with 17 countries – primarily in sub-saharan Africa and oceania – not showing any significant improvement For more information visit: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(12)60647-3 ✦

MDG unlikely to reduce child malnutrition by 2015

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rice gene holds clue to diabetes riskContrary to popular belief, a new study suggests that eating rice does not substantially raise blood sugar levels – thus increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes – although researchers warn that some varieties of rice may need to be avoided. the study was published last month in the journal rice by the International rice research Institute (IrrI) in the Philippines and Australia’s Commonwealth scientific and Industrial research organisation (CsIro).

It found that as many as three quarters of 235 rice varieties analysed had a low to medium glycaemic index (GI), and were therefore less likely to lead to diabetes.

GI measures the effect of carbohydrates on blood sugar levels. Low GI foods are more slowly absorbed, causing a gradual release of sugar in the body and a lower risk of diabetes. Doctors often advise diabetics to avoid rice, believing it is a high-GI food.

the findings could have important implications for Asia where rice is the staple food for 3.5 billion people, and diabetes is a growing public health concern, said Melissa Fitzgerald, who led the IrrI team.

the International Diabetes Federation estimates that by 2030, seven of the 10 countries with the highest number of diabetics will be in Asia, straining public health budgets. For the full report visit: http://bit.ly/nsCnhJ

us Deputy Defence secretary Ashton Carter last month warned Congress about the “devastating” effects of the looming defence sequestration, if it failed to prevent the cross-the-board automatic cuts before the end of the year. testifying before the house Armed services Committee, Carter explained some of the possible unintended effects of the $55 billion cuts in defence spending in 2013, if the looming automatic spending cuts is not reversed.

the spending cuts would force the Pentagon to “substantially modify and scale back the new defence strategy” made in last year as it prepared for the $487 billion budget cuts already scheduled for the next decade, Carter said.

sequestration refers to a mechanism instituted in last year’s Budget Control Act, which would

trigger an additional $500 billion in across-the-board defence spending cuts over the next decade, if Congress fails to identify alternative cuts by January 2013.

under the Budget Control Act, a bipartisan super-committee must find $1.2 trillion in budget cuts, or a sequestration of the same amount will be triggered, which will be evenly divided on cuts on spending on national security and social programs. since the super-committee has failed to reach a consensus, the automatic cuts are expected to take effect at the beginning of next year.

In that case, Carter said that sequestration would mean cutting four F-35 fighters, one P-8 aircraft, 12 stryker vehicles and 300 army medium and heavy tactical vehicles from the Pentagon procurement plan in 2013 alone. ✦

us Congress warned about ‘devastating’ defence cuts

scientists have found that a relatively high proportion of two remote Peruvian Amazon populations, who have had a high level of contact with vampire bats, display some protection against bat-transmitted rabies.

these individuals appear to have survived exposure to the rabies virus, even without a prior vaccination, according to scientists at the us

government’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who carried out the study in collaboration with the Peruvian Ministry of health.

the findings could open up the possibility of developing new treatments for the disease, which is usually fatal if it is not treated in time. ✦

amazon Peruvians show protection against bat rabies

the entire genome of the banana plant has been sequenced, offering insights into its genetic evolution that could lead to significant future genetic improvements, the researchers involved have said.

the study’s lead researcher, Angelique D’hont, from the French Agricultural research Centre for International Development

(CIrAD), told sciDev.net that the knowledge of the genome sequence could greatly facilitate research and breeding programmes in Africa and elsewhere.

According to D’hont, the research findings, which were published in nature on 11 July, will be of particular value to work on improving various banana attributes. ✦

Genome sequencing to boost african banana production


&news brıefs al-Qaeda in decline, says usthe deaths of osama bin Laden and other key figures have put al-Qaeda on “a path of decline”, according to the Country reports on terrorism 2011 issued by the us state Department last month. It hailed the killing of bin Laden, calling it an event that “highlighted a landmark year in the global effort to counter terrorism”.

the report said other high-profile deaths like that of Atiya Abdul rahman, al-Qaeda’s second-in-command after bin Laden’s death, put the network “on a path of decline that will be difficult to reverse”.

however, the group remained an “enduring and serious” threat to us national security due to its “resilience” and capability to conduct regional and transnational attacks, the report cautioned.

It regarded al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula as a “particularly serious threat,” saying the affiliate had taken control of territory in southern Yemen and was exploiting unrest in the poor country to advance plots against regional and Western interests.

uK immigration and asylum backlog over 276,000the united Kingdom’s (uK)parliament’s home Affairs select Committee has reprimanded the uK Border Agency (uKBA) for its backlog of 276,460 unresolved immigration and asylum cases as being “totally unacceptable”. Keith Vaz, chair of the home affairs committee, called upon senior officials at uKBA to return bonuses worth £3.5 million, which they received, despite the increasing backlog of cases.

“this backlog…will take years to clear. the agency seems to

have acquired its own Bermuda triangle. It’s easy to get in, but near impossible to keep track of anyone, let alone get them out,” Vaz said.

the backlog includes 150,000 people who were refused permission to stay in the uK, plus 101,500 asylum claimants who applied before 2007 but whom uKBA lost contact with and is trying to trace. the remainder of the backlog includes 21,000 asylum cases and 3,900 former foreign national prisoners living in the community and awaiting deportation. ✦

the us government, eager to avoid mistakes made in Iraq, has warned syrian opposition forces against completely disbanding President Bashar al-Assad’s security and government apparatus once he is killed or forced from power, the Washington Post reported last month. the newspaper said us officials, in increasingly detailed strategy sessions over recent weeks, had urged syrian rebels and opposition leaders to resist sectarian reprisals if al-Assad’s government fell.

“officials said they are endeavouring to help the rebels learn from us mistakes in Iraq, where the dissolution of the army and other institutions unleashed further turmoil,” the newspaper said.

the us government has generally

avoided public comparisons with Iraq, but urged sunni-dominated opposition forces to respect minority rights in a post-al-Assad syria.

the chaos and power vacuum in Iraq, which followed the removal of saddam hussein in 2003, is a major reason President Barack obama has all but ruled out direct military help for the rebels, the report said.

“You can’t have a complete dissolution of that ‘system’ because those institutions will be needed in a political transition,” a us official was quoted as saying. “What you need to prevent is the de-Baathification of the country,” the official said, referring to al-Assad’s ruling Arab nationalist movement. ✦

us warning to syrian rebels

us to bolster Gulf missile defence the us is setting up an An/tPY-2 X-radar station at the Al-ubeid air base in Qatar, according to unnamed us officials cited by the Wall street Journal. the officials said it would work with similar radar in turkey and Israel to track Iranian ballistic missiles. ✦

At least seven Ivorian soldiers were killed and dozens seriously injured last month after an unidentified armed group attacked a military base belonging to the national army in Abidjan. the group reportedly made away with arms and

ammunition from the armoury. Violence has continued to plague Cote d’Ivoire ever since the violent removal from office last year of former President Laurent Gbagbo who had refused to step down after a disputed presidential election in

2010. In July, a 300-strong armed mob attacked a camp for internally displaced persons in the country, which resulted in seven deaths. the previous month armed men killed seven un peacekeepers from niger near the border with Liberia. ✦

violence continues to rock Cote d’Ivoire

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yemen to reform security sector Yemeni President Abdrabuh Mansour hadi Mansour last month adopted decrees aimed at restructuring the country’s security sector. Yemen has been undergoing a democratic transition under Mansour, who came to power in an election in February. this followed the transition Agreement signed by warring factions in november 2011 on a transitional settlement in the wake of widespread protests similar to those seen across the Middle East and north Africa, and the resignation of former president Ali Abdullah saleh. the decrees will “create the necessary conditions and take the necessary steps to integrate the armed forces under unified, national and professional leadership in the context of the rule of law,” as set forth in the Agreement. An important element of the transition is the all-inclusive dialogue, scheduled to take place later this year, and whose outcome will feed into the constitution-making process that is to conclude in late 2013, enabling general elections to take place in February 2014.

Britain’s coalition government has entered new territory, Deputy Prime Minister nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, said last month when the party, the junior partner in the two-party administration, rebelled after its ally in power, the Conservatives, killed its plans to reform the house of Lords. Clegg said, however, that he would not bring down the government, formed in 2010, by withdrawing his party’s overall support.

stung by the humiliation of announcing the demise of a reform his party has championed for over a century, Clegg said his party would retaliate – by opposing boundary

changes to Britain’s constituencies that would have benefited the Conservatives in an election in 2015. By blocking boundary changes to the constituencies that elect lawmakers to the house of Commons, Clegg is potentially seriously damaging Cameron’s future electoral prospects as the changes were widely forecast to benefit his party.

the rebellion is a potentially serious blow to Prime Minister David Cameron who is trying to hold the coalition together at a time when public anger at the sickly state of the economy is high and the opposition Labour party is ahead in the polls. ✦

uK coalition government ‘enters new territory’

As the academic year came to a close in Cuba recently, 11,000 students received their degrees as doctors of medicine: 5,315 Cubans and 5,694 students from 59 other countries, the highest total in Cuban history. the graduates completed their studies free of charge in medical science universities recognised for their high level of science education.

Countries with the largest number of graduates are Bolivia, with more than 2,400; nicaragua, 429; Peru, 453; Ecuador, 308; Guatemala, 170; and Colombia, 175.

According to the Advanced Medical studies Department, the total of this

year’s graduates amounts to 32,171 health professionals, both Cuban and from other countries, including the careers of medicine, dentistry, psychology, nursing and health technology, which has 21 units.

In addition, Cuban professors are training 29,000-plus students in three careers – medicine, nursing and health technology – in eight countries: Venezuela, Bolivia, Angola, tanzania, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, the Gambia and timor Leste.

From January 1959 to 2010 close to 109,000 doctors have graduated from Cuban universities. ✦

Cuban universities turn out record 11,000 doctors

use of mercury in gold mining stirs controversy in Brazil scientists are challenging a decision to allow small-scale to continue to use mercury to separate gold from other minerals. ✦

thousands of Iraqi refugees returning from syria will face huge challenges reintegrating into a country with high rates of unemployment, dismal basic services and ongoing sectarian strife, according to humanitarian organisations.

“I think we will face a humanitarian

crisis regarding this issue,” said Yaseen Ahmed Abbas, the president of the Iraq red Crescent (IrC). “You should expect pressure on everything in Iraq by having such a large number of people in a short time. It’s not easy.”

More than 15,000 Iraqis have returned home after unprecedented

fighting in the syrian capital Damascus, according to Deputy Minister of Displacement and Migration salam Dawod Al Khafagy. the government evacuated 4,000 by air, he said; the rest crossed by land. tens of thousands of others have returned since the syrian conflict started in March 2011. ✦

returning Iraqi refugees from syria face huge challenges


&news brıefs New coins and medallions highlight uNEsCO’s workthe united nations Educational, scientific and Cultural organisation (unEsCo) is to launch a new collection of precious coins and medallions highlighting the agency’s activities and achievements. the collection will be launched in conjunction with one of the world’s leading precious metals refiners, PAMP s.A., which was chosen as a partner following an international selection process.

the new collection will build on the success of the World heritage coins and medallions minted in individual countries and featuring monuments and sites on the unEsCo World heritage List, such as Venice, saint Petersburg, Machu Picchu, Borobudur, Abu simbel and the Victoria Falls national Park/Mosi-oa-tunya.

the items will be minted in gold, silver, bronze and base metals, and will be presented in a web catalogue and made available through a distribution network in participating countries.

new, more effective vaccines are not having the expected impact in the drive to eliminate polio in Afghanistan and Pakistan because not enough children are being vaccinated, according to a study published in the Lancet.

sharp declines in vaccine uptake in these two countries have led to a rise in the number of new infections between 2006 and 2011, even though new vaccines introduced during this period of time have proven to be more effective against the main circulating strain of the virus.

In 2011, there were 198 cases in Pakistan and 80 cases in Afghanistan compared with 40 cases in Pakistan and 31 in Afghanistan in 2006.

Poliovirus exists in three strains, with wild type 1 being the most prevalent. It mainly affects children under five and causes paralysis in about one in 200 cases. In most parts of the world it has been eliminated by sustained vaccination programmes in the late 20th century.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are two of three countries – the other being nigeria – that have never managed to eliminate polio.

scientists from Imperial College London and World health organisation assessed the effect of immunisation campaigns in Afghanistan and Pakistan by analysing data collected by national surveillance programmes. they also assessed the effectiveness of the three varieties of polio vaccine against the predominant type 1 strain of the virus.

the study found that the monovalent vaccine was more effective than the trivalent vaccine against type 1 poliovirus. the bivalent vaccine was comparable in effectiveness to the monovalent vaccine. the difference between the bivalent and trivalent vaccines was not statistically significant.

For more information visit: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(12)60648-5 ✦

Polio vaccine problems in afghanistan and Pakistan

the us Department of state has increased its efforts to promote international cooperation in science and engineering by launching two new outreach initiatives.

one will seek to tap into u s - b a s e d s c i en t ific diasporas — scientists f r o m developing

countries and elsewhere who are currently working in the united states.

the second will support the engagement of us academics travelling abroad in local programmes set up by embassies in the countries that they visit.

the first project, known as ‘networks of Diasporas in Engineering and science’ (noDEs), “seeks to leverage existing collaborations while facilitating and supporting a variety of new

collaborations” between diasporas in the us.

the second initiative is called the ‘science, technology and Innovation Expert (stIE) Partnership’, and aims to boost the scientific and technological activities of us embassies.

Eight professional science organisations, in addition to the AAAs and nAs, have signed a memorandum of understanding pledging their support for the new programmes. ✦

us initiatives aim to tap into scientists’ skills

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Post-MDGs panel chosenA high-level Panel to advise on the global development agenda beyond 2015, the target date achieving the anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), has been established by un secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. It will hold its first meeting at the end of this month, in the margins of the annual high-level debate of the General Assembly. It is expected to submit its findings to the secretary-General in the first half of 2013, and those findings will inform his report to member states. the eight MDGs, agreed on by world leaders at a un summit in 2000, set specific targets on poverty alleviation, education, gender equality, child and maternal health, environmental stability, hIV/AIDs reduction, and a Global Partnership for Development.

According to a recent study, progress has been made in some areas, with three important targets on poverty, slums and water met three years ahead of 2015. It added that meeting the remaining targets, while challenging, was possible – but only if governments do not waiver from their commitments made over a decade ago.

Water shocks are already here, according to a recent meeting of ecologists, policymakers and water professionals at London’s Chatham house to contemplate the prospect. Asia, they heard, was the continent where problems were already most acute.

Pavel Kabat of Vienna’s Institute for Applied systems Analysis told IrIn: “We have been worried about water in other parts of the world - it’s still a very important issue in Africa - but we were forgetting that the because of the economic growth and the population growth, the surge in food demand will come in Asia. Already now the fresh water for agriculture is being consumed at very high

rates. Asia is the hotspot… and I would say that the first big issues will have to be faced by 2020 or 2030.”

seventy per cent of the global use of water is for agricultural purposes, and that is where the crisis is likely to show itself. “In India, 75 per cent of all irrigation water comes from groundwater,” says Kabat, “and we are kind of assuming that it will stay like this.”

But he pointed to Europe and the us, which have seen groundwater levels in some areas dropping by as much as five metres a year, and laws have had to be introduced to restrict the lifting of groundwater for agriculture. ✦

Global water shocks warning

Indian anti-corruption campaigner ‘to form political party’India’s anti-corruption icon Anna hazare last month indicated that he and his team members would form a political party before the next general election in 2014. “there is nothing wrong with forming a party, we need to provide an alternative to the people. We will travel across the country for the next two years,” the 75-year-old told a huge gathering of his supporters in new Delhi.

reacting to hazare’s speech, the leader of the ruling Congress Party, Ambika soni, said: “team Anna’s political intentions are out in the open. We were saying this from the first day that team Anna [was] inspired by politics. It’s good that their intentions are out in the open. It’s best they come out and be part of the same system they abuse always.” ✦

Ordnance survey targets arab worldresidents of Dubai could soon pick their way through the desert using ordnance survey’s distinctive pink-covered maps. the government’s geographical agency is establishing an international division to meet foreign demand for its services, particularly from oil-rich Arab nations. ✦

the European Commission, the executive body of the European union (Eu), has proposed a plan to deploy drones across the Mediterranean sea to catch illegal immigrants. the Mediterranean is a major transit point for undocumented immigration. Already 170 immigrants have died trying to reach southern European shores this year. the proposal states “sensors mounted on any platforms, including manned and unmanned aerial vehicles” would keep a close eye on any illegal immigration activity in the Mediterranean sea, according

to the European Commission. the proposal, known as Eurosur has not been brought to the European Parliament yet, however, many hope to put it into place by next year. the plan is just one part of a $410 million proposal to improve border security.

“Eurosur will help detect and fight criminal networks’ activities and be a crucial tool for saving migrants who put their lives at risk trying to reach Eu shores,” said Cecilia Malmström, the Eu’s commissioner for home affairs. ✦

Eu drones to curb illegal migration

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NORTH SOUTH BOOKS

WE

STE

RN

SAH

AR

A C

ON

FL

ICT

:H

istorical, regional and international dimensions

Ali B

ahaijoub Ali Bahaijoub

ALI BAHAIJOUB

A lecturer, writer and journalist, has written numerous studies and feature articles on Africa, Europe and the Middle East and commented on various international issues for the BBC, CNN and other international networks on Mediterranean and African affairs. He is currently editor of the global current affairs magazine “North-South” and Africa News Agency.

This book is an extension of Ali Bahaijoub’s Ph.D thesis successfully submitted in 1987 to the London School of Economics, University of London.

As a journalist and an interested academic in the subject, he identifies numerous distinct and interrelated historical and political patterns of change on the regional, continental and international levels each of which had a significant bearing on the evolution of events leading to the current state of the conflict.

Since its inception in 1975, the Western Sahara issue has not only threatened the stability of North-West Africa and, more so today than ever before, but proved almost fatal to the survival of the Organisation of African Unity.

The purpose of this book is to present and explain the various aspects of this problem and the roles played by the major participants. It also traces the vital and complex roots that impacted on concerned and interested parties in the conflict in the region and beyond detailing present and future trouble spots.

The book attempts to explain the established power balance in the Maghreb and the long-running differences between Morocco and Algeria and how these have been affected by the interests, in varying degrees, of former colonial powers and superpowers.

This is a vivid and detailed analysis of the Western Sahara issue as it starts the second decade of the twenty-first century, based on unpublished and published Spanish, French, British and Arabic sources including interviews with a number of participants in the events described.

The plight of refugees and the role of the Polisario in the Tindouf camps, in south-west Algeria, are also highlighted as well as the parties in favour of the status quo.

WESTERN SAHARA CONFLICT:

Historical, regional and international dimensions

www.darmarrakech.co.uk

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theover top!

artist builds Lego Olympic Park replica An artist has honoured the greatest show on earth’s arrival in London by creating a replica of the capital’s olympic Park – built entirely from Lego.

Lego fanatic Warren Elsmore and a colleague spent over 300

painstaking hours building the astonishing tribute to the official olympic complex using 250,000 bricks.

It features the olympic stadium where Jamaican athlete usain Bolt dashed to 100 metres gold in olympic record time of 9.63 seconds to retain his title.

the freelance Lego artist has also recreated Anish Kapoor’s striking orbit sculpture and the swooping roof of the Aquatics Centre. “My colleague and I built the olympic model over a three week period,” explained the 35-year-old. “For this display, I planned very little in advance and most of the model was free built - simply by looking at pictures of the site and building what I see. Every brick we use is a standard Lego element, with no painting, gluing or non-Lego parts. the artist was commissioned by Lego to create something memorable in honour of this summer’s olympic Games. ✦

A British family had a surprise when they returned from holiday to find a deadly scorpion inside their suitcase. hollie Jayes, 18, found the death stalker scorpion – the most poisonous scorpion in the world – crawling inside her mother’s luggage. theresa Jayes, 43, had emptied the suitcase after a trip to spain but did not notice the 10cm-long (4in) creepy crawly.

It was discovered when hollie asked to borrow the case. she said: “I opened it and saw what I thought was a spider. Me and mum then realised it was a scorpion. I called my dad and shouted down the phone that he needed to come home because there was a scorpion in the case. he didn’t believe me at all but I insisted.”

hollie’s mother, a saleswoman, said: “It’s scary to think I put my hand in that case 20 or 30 times while unpacking.” ✦

family discover 10cm scorpion in suitcase

Woman with world’s largest breasts ‘needs security’ to fend off admirers

the woman with the world’s largest natural breasts has told of how she employs

security to help defend herself against unwanted suitors who ‘chase’ her. Annie hawkins-turner, a 53-year-old from Atlanta, Georgia who has a bra size of 102ZZZ, said she is a ‘celebrity in other countries’ due to her Guinness World record-breaking breasts.

Although they attracted ridicule when hawkins-turner was a child, her breasts have since helped her develop a career as a self-described ‘fantasy model’. she has appeared

in ‘over 250’ self-directed fetish videos. ✦


Zimbabwean thief begs for life in jailA man convicted of housebreaking in Zimbabwe has asked the judge to jail him for life, according to state media report. Lovemore Manyika, 22, wrote a note, which was read out in a court in the Zimbabwean capital harare, saying: “Life in prison is better than life in the streets.” the herald newspaper reported that he was disappointed to be sentenced to only three years. Manyika was released from prison in April after a previous conviction, the paper said. he broke into two houses in central harare in July, stealing two mobile phones, a plasma tV and $1,800 (£1,150) in cash.

Moslemuddin sarkar had not been seen by his family since 1989 after failing to return home from his job as a dockworker in Bangladesh’s main Chittagong seaport.

sarkar, now 52, had in fact spent the majority of his exile in a Pakistani prison after attempting to enter the country without any travel documents. his family had long given up hope of ever seeing him again before receiving an anonymous call from an official that he was alive in a Pakistani jail.

“We waited for months, years, and finally thought he was no more,” explained his brother sekandar Ali said. “otherwise, why wouldn’t he inform us where he was?”

he was freed from jail in Karachi last month and was immediately deported back to Bangladesh where his brother was waiting at the airport. sarkar later returned to his home village of Bishnurampur in northern Bangladesh following an emotional reunion.

“I crossed the border to India in 1989 and went to Delhi after staying a few months in the Indian states of Assam and Meghalaya,” he explained. “Later, I got married in Delhi. But I got caught along the India-Pakistan border when I tried to enter Pakistan in 1997. I had no travel documents. I served 15 years in jail.” ✦

‘Dead’ man returns to village 23 years after going missing

A 12-year-old girl has steered an out-of-control truck to safety after her grandfather died suddenly at the wheel. Paul Parker, 63, was driving Miranda Bowman to her home in Burlington, new Jersey, in the us when he told her did not feel well. he asked her to speak to him to keep him awake. Moments later, Parker’s head hit the driver’s side window – he had died of a heart attack, but his foot was still on the pedal of the accelerator. the vehicle was speeding up and careering toward the side of Buckshutem road in Millville.

Miranda said she cried and tried unsuccessfully to call 911 on her mobile. there were no other cars coming in the opposite direction, but Miranda still had to try and stop the truck - from the passenger side. the car slowed down a bit but Miranda said the vehicle was still going too fast.

While the truck was still moving, Miranda popped out from under the steering wheel and jammed her foot on the brake. she then took control of the steering wheel and tried to work out where she could park it to make it stop. to stop the vehicle, she veered off the road and it ran into a few trees. Miranda managed to get out of the truck unscathed. A woman driving behind the out-of-control truck had called 911 while following it. Miranda told AP she fell to her knees and wept when the ordeal was over. ✦

Girl steers truck to safety after grandfather dies

Daredevils walk highline 250ft upFor some thrill-seekers, the discovery of what has been dubbed ‘the world’s biggest playground’ has been a revelation. Adrenaline junkies travel from far and wide to fine-tune their climbing, slacking and base-jumping skills at the Fisher towers playground in utah’s Moab desert in the us. the amazing outdoor park has something for adventurers of all abilities, with rocks raging in size in 11m (35ft) to the 245m (800ft) Echo and Cottontail towers, which take five days to climb. ✦

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us couple remarry after 50 years apartLena henderson and roland Davis, both 85 years of age, have loved and dreamt of each other for 50 years. the couple married as teenagers and had four children. they later divorced in 1964, but stayed in contact after moving on. After the divorce, the husband moved to Colorado and remarried.

the couple’s youngest daughter noted that even after he got remarried, he remained friendly with his ex-wife. so when the man’s second wife passed away, his ex-wife and another daughter began to worry about him living alone. they suggested he should move to new York to be closer to his family.

he did more than that. As he spoke to his ex-wife on the phone he reportedly asked: “Will you marry me again?” she accepted his offer. the couple say they are thankful to be able to get back together after all these years.

Early morning swimmers in Australia discovered a 30-tonne young adult mammal, which had been washed into the ocean pool in sydney by heavy seas. the 11 metre-long humpback whale ended up in the man-made swimming baths, which are filled with seawater.

“It does have some external injuries but there’s no way of knowing whether they were ante-

mortem or post-mortem,” said Wendy McFarlane from the organisation for the rescue and research of Cetaceans in Australia (orrCA).

McFarlane said one possible explanation for the otherwise seemingly healthy animal to die at sea could be that a ship had struck it. the beach was later closed to avoid the risk of sharks being attracted to the area by the rotting carcass. ✦

Dead whale found in australia swimming pool

Woman eats pebbles for ‘comfort’

Mother-of-two teresa Widener has been nibbling on pebbles and stones for the past 20 years claiming that

rocks are her ‘ultimate comfort food.’ And in that time, she has consumed more than 1,360kg (215 stone) – the average weight of humpback whale. since marrying her husband last year, Widener’s habit has taken a serious hit. “Jim makes me so happy I’ve started eating less,” said Widener.

the care worker, who keeps a stash of stones in a kitchen cupboard, enjoys selecting her snacks during romantic walks with her husband. Widener’s favourite rocks are soft and brittle but she often breaks down boulders with her special rock hammer at home in Bedford, Virginia in the us. ✦

Dozens of cooks joined forces in Mexico City to prepare what they claim is the world’s largest sandwich. some 55 sandwich-makers helped in the preparation of the 53-metre-long feast, which was part of the opening ceremony of the ninth annual torta Fair celebrated in the Venustiano Carrazanda borough.

A torta is a type of sandwich popular in Mexican cuisine, and can be stuffed with egg, sausage, ham, steak, or cheese. the 700kg torta was stuffed with 70 different fillings, including steak, chicken, seafood, turkey, fish and bacon. It took the cooks a little over four minutes to put together the sandwich. ✦

Mexican cooks serve up world’s largest sandwich

north✦southSeptember 201216

cover story

there is another global war going on that many people are not aware

of. this one is being fought through the media. the us government, for example, places great store by using strategic communication as an element of national power. Indeed, strategic communication play an important role when the us wants to galvanise local and international public opinion for military action, such as the one in Iraq in 2003.

not surprisingly, the Pentagon has at its disposal a massive array of information specialists to further the us government global agenda. Major-General Mari K. Eder, a communications expert with the Department of Defence, notes in her 2011 book, Leading the narrative: “no other nation has the technological capability of the united states, no other department in the federal government is as capable of planning as the Department of Defence. no other organisation has as much capacity for public information, particularly in the number of public affairs units and the quality of public professionals.”

the American government’s communication apparatus is capable of delivering information to the media with lightning speed. For instance, the White house Communications office has the ability to reach the major us and global media outlets with the touch of a button.

Why is America investing so much in public communications? John simpson, the veteran BBC reporter, explained in his 2010 book, unreliable sources: “By the end of the 20th century Americans were starting to become aware that their world dominance was fading, and they talked loudly, just as the British had once done, to convince themselves and others that this wasnt happening.”

It was members of the Department of Defence’s public affairs unit that were deployed by the administration of President George W. Bush before the invasion of Iraq in 2003. they were supposed to put the case for us action, and they must have done it very well because very few American journalists questioned the so-called evidence presented for the invasion. the few who did were accused of being unpatriotic by the government and ordinary Americans who believed the Bush administration’s story. some journalists who questioned the Bush policy even lost their jobs. But as it eventually turned out, there was no basis for the us invasion of Iraq.

Crucially, parties in a conflict plan their next move based on what the media will cover. It means the facts do not crop up innocently waiting for journalists to come and report them. the reporting and its effect on public opinion are always already built into the facts as they occur.

For instance just before the first

Gulf War in 1991, the us Congress heard from a young Kuwaiti woman who said she had been working as a nurse in the main hospital in Kuwait City where Iraqi occupying soldiers were said to be switching off incubators, leaving premature babies to die. President George h. Bush then referred this in several speeches justifying an attack on Iraq. the nurse turned out to be the teenage daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to Washington. she had not been in Kuwait for years. nurses who were there said after the war that the reports were false.

During this war journalists were free to move around, covering the action. this was when Cnn came into its own through its reporting from Baghdad. But by the second Gulf War, the us armed forces made sure that the activities of journalists were restricted. they were embedded with us forces whose public relations officers more or less controlled the flow of information about the conflict.

simpson noted in his book that journalists covering the conflict were based at us Central Command in Qatar, nearly 400 miles away from Basra. “Much of the reporting of the Iraq war wasone-sided, though some British journalists and cameramen where in Baghdad: a dangerous place to be, directly the American troops entered town,” he wrote.

The global media battlefieldThe actions and statements of powerful governments are part of a media strategy, which cannot be separated from the business of managing their country’s foreign affairs. These governments use information as a powerful tool to advance a national agenda globally. These actions are part of the worldwide fight for control of the information battlefield. Desmond Davies looks at how this is being played out



The Pentagon: a hotbed of information specialists

the control of war news by official sources has led to accusation of the media being used for propaganda purposes by governments. But for war correspondents today, the highly technological nature of war does not present the chance for a close-up of the battlefield. Journalists, therefore, will have to depend on military spokespersons who would have sanitised the information before it is relayed to journalists. the most contentious of this is the doctoring of figures relating to civilian casualties or collateral damage. It creates moral problems for journalists who have to deal with conflicting figures issued by opposing sides. For example, the issue of the number of civilian deaths in Iraq has been highly contentious. truth becomes the first casualty in war.

unlike the us, Britain applies more subtlety to how it uses the media to project its agenda globally. What many people do not realise is that the BBC World service is funded directly by the uK’s Foreign and

Commonwealth office (FCo). When the current coalition government came to power in 2010, it decided to make huge budgetary cuts to balance the books.

But when it came to the BBC there was such a hue and cry that the government backtracked more so in the wake of the Arab spring. so over three years, the BBC will get direct funding from the FCo of £253 million, £242 million and £238 million. these figures increased funding of the World service to just over 14.5 per cent of the FCos budget. After this period World service funding will come from the licence fee that viewers pay annually and which brings in the BBC billions of pounds.

the Arabic service received special consideration. Foreign secretary William hague, announcing the arrangement in parliament in June last year, explained that this support was the government’s response to events in the Middle East and north Africa he added: “It is right that we should look at ways in which we

can assist the BBC Arabic service to continue their valuable work in the region.”

African governments and institutions, on the other hand, have not fully grasped the importance of using communication to further their goals. the result is that African societies end up with rampant and dangerous rumour mills. these rumour mills have been responsible for causing unrest in many countries by the sheer speed with which false information travels.

this tendency among those in authority in Africa to keep things that ought to be made public secret and confidential encourages people to spread rumours about the reasons for particular decisions or the actions of their leaders. such rumours are evidence of the extent to which state officials in Africa continue to direct public affairs in an autocratic and bureaucratic manner that ultimately leads to underdevelopment rather than development.

African institutions, such as the


African union (Au), fail woefully to tell their stories. take, for example, last year’s uprising in Libya. In the run-up to direct Western military support for the rebels, the Au’s Peace and security Council (PsC) met several times to discuss the issue. But the world did not hear the PsC’s argument, which said that regime change in Libya without dealing with the matter of that country’s weapons stockpile could lead to turmoil in the region. true to the PsC’s predictions, the tuaregs who had been backing Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s regime fled Libya with a huge amount of weapons that they eventually used to overrun the northern half of Mali.

to add insult to injury, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has taken the opportunity to strengthen its control in the region. the us government, in a knee-jerk reaction, put aside $40 million to buy back the weapons. But it was too late. now it has been left to the Au and the regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African states (ECoWAs), to pick up the pieces.

the Au’s voice was lost in the clamour for Western intervention in Libya. so, who gets represented in the media? this question is at the centre of news access. Journalists, in their training process, have always been urged to give all sides of the story. But is this practical? In the main, the mainstream media tend to be cautious in offering access because of the nature of news selection. In newsrooms around the world there is a hierarchy of news that dictates who gets coverage and who does not. Less influential groups, unlike governments and major institutions, cannot afford the sort of publicity machinery that is at the disposal of these institutions and which can greatly influence news selection and get journalists to cover events.

In order to gain news access, non-governmental organisations use one of the news selection factors: power

and fame of individuals involved in events. thus, summits of the G8 industrialised nations have been a focal point for voiceless groups, such as those fighting for cancellation of Africa’s debt. the mainstream non-governmental organisations that represent the silent voices in the global community also use this platform to press their case. the major British charities, such as oxfam, have come to realise the value of using such highly visible news events to gain news access. Major media events, therefore, are viewed as an opportunity for voiceless groups to get their viewpoints to the wider public. In this period of apparent donor fatigue, aid agencies are wise to the ways of the media and they organise events that would guarantee news access.

Media power is immense. the media has the power to set an agenda and the power to destroy one. the media has the power to influence and change the political, economic and social fabrics of society.

the independence of the media in a democracy is of great importance. But the problem facing journalists is how to define what independence really means. Can the media be totally independent if they report news without being penalised by governments for this? Can the media be totally independent if they are under the influence of powerful interest groups? Indeed, no media could be completely independent, even in a democracy.

What governments can do in a democratic or non-democratic society to control the flow of information is to refuse to provide information. this then brings us to the issue of leaks, which are a major source of concern for governments in democratic countries. Journalists pay great attention to this source of information, whereby public officials pass on information that is otherwise secret for use in the public domain.

But there is a problem here because these sources invariably use such leaks to shape news coverage that would advance their own interests and causes.

Countries today are large and impersonal forms of socio-political organisation. Primary knowledge about a country and fellow citizens comes not from personal communications but from many agencies, such as the media, which make possible the participation of vast numbers of people in national life.

In today’s highly differentiated world, it is through the media that people interact with each other, beyond their immediate environment. A people’s sense of belonging, of being part of wider community, a culture, a nation and a single human race, is increasingly being done through the media. the media surely have a major role to play in the development of nation-states and national identities, aspects that are crucial to the advancement of a country. they play a crucial part in furthering the interest of governments that have the wherewithal to deploy a huge array of communications professionals and money in the battle for global dominance of the information.

Major-General Eder explained: “But the information domain is also a battle for the right of occupancy, the supremacy of occupancy, and the right for the hearts and minds of the populace who live, work and belong there as well as those who would.” she went to note how al-Qaeda contrived to use the internet to occupy that battle space, issuing statements and assertions of fact that largely have gone unchallenged.

Joseph nye, in his book Bush’s War on terrorism after the 2006 Elections, summed up the phenomenon of the 21st century: “In the information age, success is not merely the result of whose army wins, but whose story wins.” ✦



Goverment control of television is essential to political power

the British politician, Enoch Powell, once said that 95 per cent

of all information is available if you know where to look but governments, while extolling freedoms, will go to great lengths to hide their actions from public scrutiny. the phenomenon of freedom is constantly aired in the West but as George orwell cynically but accurately analysed it, freedom is undesirable while intellectual honesty is a form of anti-social selfishness. Despite paying lip service to freedom, too often governments are less concerned with truth than their own survival and secrecy has become a weapon in this battle. A final quote worth considering belongs to Louis namier, the historian, who said at every stage in social development freedom has to be re-conquered.

on 12 July 2011, David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, announced a two-part inquiry into the role of the press and police in the phone hacking scandal and Lord Justice Leveson was appointed as chairman of the inquiry. the Commission now sitting is concerned with the phone tapping activities of news International and a wider range of press personnel and the uses, often malign, to which information gathered illegally in this way is subsequently put.

us President truman had a notice on his desk that proclaimed: the Buck stops here. should not this principle be applied to rupert Murdoch and should he not take responsibility and where necessary blame for what was done by his underlings and used by his newspapers? Phone tapping in any case has a long history. Prime Minister Attlee allowed phone tapping without any qualms and phone tapping activities by the press were known and accepted long before the present scandal broke. In this

case it was the scale of phone tapping that forced the issue into the public’s attention and the government, ever alert to the freedom of the British people, ordered a Commission of inquiry, hence Leveson.

the British have perfected the use of the royal Commission or inquiry when a problem threatens the stability of the government. set up an inquiry to show that the system is fair and open and that anybody who wishes may give evidence; extend its operation over a sufficient period of time that the public loses interests in its findings; bring out the report when, hopefully, its impact will be dulled by other developments or scandals and, to use a popular phrase move on.

the Falklands War of 1982 roused sufficient opposition and demands for explanations about why the war had taken place at all and other questions such as the sinking of the Belgramo that the thatcher government felt compelled to set up a Commission of Inquiry. the British practice of ordering a public review and report of a burning issue is exemplary. By doing so the government shows it is open, fair and d e m o c r a t i c and that everyone has a right to a say. Lord Franks, one of the greatest of the great and good was appointed to apportion blame, if at all, for the Falklands War. Lord Franks, a doyen of the

establishment, was selected to head the inquiry, which he did at great length.

Commenting on his eventual report, the journalist hugo Young wrote: “thus the report finds defective machinery but no defective men or women. It soothes and reassures, by performing the ultimate trick of appearing to be so candid. It offers the grace of exoneration without the stain of cover-up. In fact it was a masterly example of whitewash whose prime purpose is to get the government of the day off the hook where its own incompetence had brought it. the report extols the trappings of freedom while smothering the reality.”

When information technology largely fell under three headings the press, the radio and television it was possible to ask whether we could believe what we read or heard or saw. Governments saw, correctly, that control of television was essential to political control and in the 1980s, for example, there was an ongoing battle between the thatcher government and the media.

The media and government controlAll too often, when governments insist upon national security as a reason for secrecy, what they really want is to be in charge of a situation which affects their ability to hold on to power, writes Guy arnold


african media under siege Until African leaders begin to embrace press freedom, censorship and harassment will continue to plague the continent for years to come, writes franklin adesegha

In any democratic society, the media has a role of making

the government accountable to the people. It bridges the gap by providing information on policy issues such as the economy, education, social, defence, foreign and home affairs. the availability of public information affords the people the opportunity to understand the direction of the government, its role and impact on the their daily lives. however, in most African and developing nations today, the government in power controls the mass media. newspapers, radio and television stations are predominantly government-owned or censored. As a result, an atmosphere of apathy exists among journalists expressing their views through pro-government avenues, which in turn generates a lack of sincerity about how people feel on government policies or issues affecting their daily lives.

history has shown that during the presidency of the late Ghanaian leader Dr. Kwame nkrumah, most journalists and individuals opposed to his policies were sentenced to life imprisonment or exterminated. Prominent among them was Dr. J. B. Danquah who was jailed on numerous occasions for expressing opposing views through the media.

It is understood he later died through lethal injection. It is also believed that tom Mboya of Kenya and Diallo telli of the republic of Guinea, former secretary General of the then organisation of African unity (oAu) now African union, (Au) were both killed for similar reasons. In Liberia, the pattern was the same - tuan Wreh and Albert Porte were victimised for expressing views contrary to the tubman administration.

so why are African leaders unable to deal with political opposition and the media? one would think that by encouraging press freedom, these leaders would be able to get a feedback, which would enable them to meet the demands of the electorate and make them better leaders. today, media control in Africa has continued unabated. In Gabon, the state-run media regulator recently suspended two private newspapers for six months over criticism of top officials. the country’s national Communications Council accused weeklies Ezombolo and La une of disrespecting public institutions and the personalities that embody them. La une was suspended over a series of columns critical of President Ali Bongo’s diplomacy in a failed attempt to

secure the re-election of his brother-in-law Jean Ping as the African union Commission Chairman. Ping lost to nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in a July runoff election, ending a bitter contest between south Africa and Gabon for the leadership of the African union.

In Mozambique, a journalist who wrote about a disagreement between a private school and the family of a disabled student was convicted of libel. Falume Chabane was sentenced to a 16-month suspended prison term on 20 July and ordered to pay damages of 150,000 meticais ($5,430), according to news reports. A former editor of the online news journal o Autarca, (the Mayor), Chabane published a series of columns in the spring of 2011 that criticized the Beira International Primary school. the parents of Aisling Binda, a fourth-grader who is in a wheelchair, had complained that the school had not built a handicapped access ramp in compliance with a 2008 Mozambican childrens rights law. the school later expelled the student, citing academic performance and other reasons but the parents have said the expulsion was in retaliation for their complaint about the school’s lack of handicapped access. the

there are still denunciations when the media is seen to be too free of government bias but the technology has moved us into a startlingly more complex age and, as yet, it is too soon to see how governments will operate in order to control the new floods of information and comment, pro or anti-the politicians in the age of Facebook and twitter and the vast amount of information, true or false,

that the web now makes available. unsurprisingly, security has

become the latest weapon of government control. the 9/11 attacks upon the united states led to the declaration of a war on terror, which was followed by the state taking draconian powers in the name of security. When governments are obliged under freedom of information laws to reveal activities

they would prefer to keep secret, they can now advance national security as an excuse for ignoring freedom of information. All too often, however, when governments insist upon national security as a reason for secrecy, what they really want is to retain control over a situation which affects their ability to hold onto power. ✦



lawyer for the primary school, António Jorge ucocho, filed a complaint accusing Chabane, who is also a reporter for tVM, of defaming both the school and himself and for abusing freedom of the press. the stories had included daily updates on the number of days that Binda had missed school.

In south Africa, a criminal investigation has begun against three newspaper journalists who reported details on a multi-billion-dollar arms scandal. recently, the south African Police service interrogated nic Dawes, editor-in-chief of the weekly Mail & Guardian, along with sam sole and stefaans Brümmer, investigative reporters with the same paper. the journalists were questioned over their possession of information from a sealed 2004 police deposition of then-private businessman Mac Maharaj in connection with an official probe into corruption allegations surrounding a $5 billion international arms deal.

Maharaj is now a spokesman of President Jacob Zuma. several top officials were convicted in recent years of receiving payouts from European arms manufacturers in a 1999 government deal for fighter jets and naval patrol boats. In november last year, the Mail & Guardian tried to report on the contents of the deposition and sought comment from Maharaj. the official immediately threatened legal action, which prompted the paper to censor large portions of the story. But Maharajs lawyers went ahead and lodged the complaint anyway.

In Mali, veteran journalist saouti Labass haïdara was brutally attacked in retaliation for an article in L’Indépendant that criticised the government. the attack on haïdara came just two months after state security agents pretending to be printers entered the publisher’s office and took him to the agencys headquarters. security agents interrogated him about an article

describing a political leaflet that was critical of coup leader Capt. Amadou sanogo. since the country’s 22 March coup, journalists have been subjected to increasing instances of harassment and assault.

Elsewhere in Africa, including Ethiopia and somalia, reports of press censorship and harassment continue to come to the fore in spite of condemnations and appeals for restraint by organisations such as the Committee to Project Journalists (CPJ) and reporters Without Borders. Acts of media censorship and intimidation are designed to silence criticism of public officials. With journalists working in extremely insecure conditions, authorities must act and to take urgent steps to ensure the safety of all journalists.

A free press promotes a healthy and democratic society and until African leaders begin to embrace press freedom, censorship and harassment will continue to plague the continent for years to come. ✦

Committee to Protect Journalists


In most developing nations, the media is still controlled and

manipulated by the state while some developed nations can influence and control their media through powerful multinational corporations that have enormous influence on mainstream media, leading to outlets being influenced by various corporate interests.

the ability for citizens or independent journalists to make informed decisions is crucial for a free and functioning democracy but it is increasingly threatened by concentration in ownership of media publications or networks. the idea of corporate media may not be a bad thing for a functioning democracy, as it can foster healthy competition and provide a check against governments and shady dealings that are not in the best interest of the public at large. however, concern is often raised when there is a vast concentration of ownership in the hands of one man or one company because of the risk of increased economic and political influence that can be exercised and ultimately leading to unaccountability.

In the Arab world, high-speed social networking technology has disrupted the traditional rhythms of autocracy and led the masses to embrace liberal democratic principles they have aspired to for years. Digital technology has propelled mass political action in the Arab world, but

has left in its wake a political vacuum, with democratic processes struggling to catch up.

Launched in London in 1978, Asharq Al-Awsat is the world’s premier pan-Arab daily newspaper, printed simultaneously on four continents in 14 cities. It was the first Arabic daily to execute satellite transmission for simultaneous printing in a number of major cities worldwide, and is currently the only newspaper to own the Arabic copyright of internationally syndicated articles by the Washington Post, usA today and Global Viewpoint by the Los Angeles times. the London-based Financial times and others later emulated the technology pioneered by Asharq Al-Awsat.

then it was followed by the saudi-owned and globally satellite transmitted MBC television (Middle East Broadcasting Corporation), which revolutionised free-to-air, pan-Arab news and entertainment when it was launched in London, united Kingdom in september 1991. It was the first-ever, independent Arabic satellite tV station and a market leader, delivering news and quality family entertainment programming to more than 130 million Arabic-speaking people around the world. But since moving its headquarters to Dubai Media City, it has lost some of its appeal because of an ever-changing and competitive world of broadcasting in the Middle East and

north Africa. It has since launched two brand new free-to-air channels, offering 24-hour news and entertainment to the Arab world. ‘2’ is an entertainment movie channel, and Al Arabiya, a 24hour news Channel.

however, the advent of Al-Jazeera tV in november 1996 changed the media landscape not only in the Arab world but also globally, despite it being funded by the state of Qatar. It has imposed itself on the international market as a leading player among global media through its 24-hour Arabic and English news channels. It is credited with helping the Arab uprising to open up political debates and break many taboos. It has enjoyed an unusual degree of independence in its professional coverage of world affairs and has swiftly picked up Arab viewers disenchanted with their own state-controlled media.

Media professionals doubtful of its prospects, certainly changed their minds during the coverage of the uprisings in tunisia and Egypt last year. Many of its staff were recruited from the BBC Arabic service, which had launched an Arabic tV channel a couple of years earlier but closed it down after censorship attempts by its partner, which controlled the relevant satellite. Al-Jazeera has become even more popular when Arab governments closed down its local bureaux, expelled its journalists or subjected them to increased harassment by local authorities.

In 2001, Al-Jazeera began to attract widespread attention in the West, as it was the only tV station with a permanent bureau and satellite link to Kabul during the Afghan war, and its exclusive footage was used by many Western tV channels. It also became famous for broadcasting videotape messages from al-Qaeda leader ousama Ben Laden and his disciples.

Al-Jazeera’s bureau in Kabul was bombed by the us during the Afghan war, as was its bureau in Baghdad during the us-led invasion of Iraq. It was later reported that American

Can BBC and al-Jazeera resist competition in global coverage?



President George W. Bush had planned to bomb al-Jazeera’s headquarters in Qatar too, but had been discouraged from doing so by his advisers.

hundreds of millions of dollars have been injected into al-Jazeera by the Emir of Qatar to turn it into a powerhouse to be reckoned with. It has also helped put Qatar on the map, politically and diplomatically, yet it is an oil-rich country with no more than 400,000 inhabitants.

Al-Jazeera may not be free to report

critically on Qatar or diverge far from Qatari foreign policy, but the investment in it has proved to be successful when other investments in global media has failed dismally like the us al-hurra which has almost no following despite costing hundreds of millions of dollars.

Al-Jazeera today competes on the global front with the Arabic and English tV channels of the BBC while Cnn, which was the number one global channel during the first

Gulf War, changed ownership and became a thing of the past due to the partial content of its coverage which strongly reflects American foreign policy interests.

the question is whether the dominant BBC and Al-Jazeera networks are able to fend off the intense competition in global media coverage or new players are preparing to emerge in the future with the advent of new technologies? ✦ ali Bahaijoub

It is only natural for states and corporations to seek to serve their

best interests through the mass media. But it becomes unacceptable for the media to become mere tools of governments or states and ignore the wider interest of the people they are supposed to ultimate serve and interact with.

the media was described as the fourth estate or power because the profession’s founding fathers established strict rules and values that became the journalist’s manifesto. the power of the media lies in representing the public interest before the three other estates or powers. the media simply have no power without the people and the people rely on them to speak the truth, question the authorities, investigate malpratices and resist becoming an unaccountable platform of power. Above all, the media should not compete in the service of interests that contradict honest and credible representation of the masses. It is a fact that commercial entreprises highly connected to centres of power and influence have recently been put before professional ethics and values in pursuit of financial gains. hence, the media have lost their spiritual and professional link with the masses in favour of immediate material gains.

the global media system is best understood as one that advances

corporate and commercial interests and values, and denigrates or ignores that which cannot be incorporated into its mission.

It is, therefore, of paramount importance that the media should adhere to a well-established code of conduct that does not vary in accordance with political whims or commercial interests. the media’s mission should remain their strong opposition to oppression, injustice, malpractices, bad governance, unfairness and corruption.

For too long, the West has dominated the economic, political and media life of the world. Yet, the last decade has seen a shift in the economic centres of influence from the West to the East. the communication and information technological revolution has provided unprecedented global plurality and the Western media are no longer the only point of reference. the internet allows people who would otherwise never meet or never make their voices heard to reach a potentially unlimited audience worldwide.

By the end of the 1990s a major turning point was reached in the media landscape. Whereas media systems had been primarily national before the 1990s, a global commercial media market has emerged full force by the dawn of the 21st century and it is called new media. It brings together professionals to highlight

innovative tools and discuss how the new ‘networked world’ has transformed their workload. social media also equips them with the skills to improve and advocate change around the world.

An increasing number of consumers are using smartphones and tablets to research, compare options, seek advice and make purchases.

the future of the media looks rather unpredictable partly because of the ongoing advances in new technologies that have transformed people’s perception, way of life and perspectives. ✦ ali Bahaijoub

World media in transition


featuresLibya enters new territoryFor the first time in more than 40 years of authoritarian rule, Libyans now have a democratically elected assembly and interim president to run their affairs, writes ali Bahaijoub

Libya’s interim national transitional Council (ntC)

handed over power to a newly elected assembly last month, almost a year after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi, marking another step towards democracy. “I hand over the constitutional prerogatives to the General national Congress, which from now on is the legitimate representative of the Libyan people,” ntC chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil said at a ceremony in the capital tripoli.

the date of the handover is symbolic corresponding to 20 ramadan, the Muslim fasting month, in the Islamic calendar. Last year, 20 ramadan was 20 August when rebels overran tripoli, forcing Gaddafi to flee.

Abdeljalil passed the reins of power to Mohammed Ali salim, the oldest member of the 200-seat legislative assembly elected on 7 July.

the ntC, which was formed during last year’s revolt, has now been dissolved.

the General national Congress (GnC), the outcome of last month’s ballot, will be tasked with choosing a new interim government to take over from the ntC, and will steer the country until fresh elections can be held, based on a new constitution, to be drafted by a constituent authority of 60 members.

In a last minute move the outgoing ntC declared this panel will be elected directly by the people. Assembly members, however, have said that the assembly has the right to reverse the move.

the Assembly held its first

meeting straight after the transition to choose Mohamed El-Megarif as interim president. he was a former opposition leader who lived as a fugitive overseas for many years under Gaddafi’s rule. El-Megarif won 113 votes to defeat another opposition leader and human rights lawyer, Ali Zidan, who won 85 votes. Both men had been diplomats who defected and fought Gaddafi’s regime while living in exile since the 1980s.

El-Megarif, who wrote a series of books on Gaddafi’s repressive policies, lived as a wanted fugitive for years as leader of the country’s oldest armed opposition movement, the national Front for the salvation of Libya. the movement made several attempts to end Gaddafi’s 42-year rule, sometimes by plotting assassination attacks including a well-known and daring 1984 raid on Bab al-Aziziyah, the late dictator’s fortified compound in tripoli.

the regime cracked down on the group, executing and arresting many of its members. Many fled abroad where they worked as political activists. El-Megarif’s movement organised the first Libyan opposition conference in London in 2005 and called for the overthrow of Gaddafi’s regime at a time when other groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, accepted Gaddafi.

upon his return to Libya after last year’s armed revolution, he formed a new party, the national Front, which sees Islam as a broad guideline to the state’s affairs, but does not mention the implementation of sharia law.

El-Megarif will hold the office until a new constitution is in place sometime next year. he replaces Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, head of the outgoing transitional council after it was disbanded when power was handed to the new assembly.

the Assembly will choose a prime minister within 30 days, then decide on a mechanism to select a 60-member panel tasked with writing a constitution.

At the hand-over ceremony, Jalil acknowledged the ntC’s failures in restoring security in the country, but said that the ntC governed in “exceptional times”.

Meanwhile, fighting continued in some parts of Libya and militia groups still hold a lot of power. however, crowds in tripoli’s Martyrs square held candles symbolising reconciliation and celebration of the first peaceful transition of power in Libya’s modern history.

the national Forces Alliance (nFA), a liberal coalition led by wartime rebel Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril won 39 of the 80 party seats in the congress, while its Islamist rivals, the Justice and Construction Party (JCP) the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood won 17. however the remaining 120 seats are in the hands of independent candidates whose allegiances are hard to pin down.

In the battle to hold sway over the assembly, where key decisions will require a two-thirds majority, Jibril’s nFA and the JCP are scrambling to form alliances with independents and smaller parties.



Mohamed el-Megarif (centre): from an exile to interim President

the complete tally, however, does not paint a clear picture about who will dominate the incoming congress, where the majority of seats 120 of 200 were reserved for individual candidates. the two leading parties are courting independents and smaller entities in a bid to form a dominant bloc within the congress, where major decisions and legislation require a two-thirds majority to pass. some independents, distrustful of both sides, have even spoken of forming their own coalition. Prior to this year’s polls, the last national vote was held in 1965, when no political parties were allowed.

Alistair Burt, British Minister at the Foreign and Commonwealth office, said: “today is another landmark in the transition from brutal dictatorship to political representation in Libya. As a Minister and a Parliamentarian, I am proud of the role the uK has played in supporting the Libyan people in their struggle to have their democratic voice heard. We look forward to the new Congress rapidly electing its Leader, and thereafter appointing a new Prime Minister and government who will help realise the Libyan peoples ambitions for a peaceful, prosperous and democratic country.”

After congratulating the Libyan people on the sitting of the democratically elected General national Congress, the us secretary of state, hillary Clinton, noted: Less than one year after an entrenched, brutal dictatorship, the Libyan people are writing a new chapter in their history. this parliament has important work ahead as it faces the

challenges of building democratic institutions and ensuring the drafting of a new constitution through a transparent process, protecting the universal rights of all Libyans, promoting accountable and honest government, and establishing security throughout the country.

Getting a grip on security is an often-anarchic post-Gaddafi Libya will be the priority for the countrys new rulers, Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abu shagour told reuters.

the run-up to the transition had been overshadowed by several violent incidents in the past weeks that had shown the country’s precarious stability.

Former Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi came to power in 1969 and ruled autocratically for more than four decades, until he was toppled and killed last year.

the interim authorities that took over after Gaddafi’s overthrow successfully led Libya to the elections. If liberals do manage to hold sway over the assembly, Libya, unlike neighbouring tunisia and Egypt whose strongmen were also toppled in last year’s Arab spring, will buck the trend of electoral success for Islamist movements.

the nFA coalition brings together some 60 parties and independent

figures, led by technocrats who lived abroad and advocate a moderate Islam, economic liberalisation and openness to the West. nFA leader Jibril, who played a key role drumming up international support for the 2011 revolution that toppled Gaddafi’s regime, has called for all parties to join a national unity dialogue in a bid to form an even broader coalition.

But the interim government has struggled to impose its authority on a myriad of armed groups who refuse to lay down their weapons.

Last month, security forces killed three armed men suspected of being behind seven failed bomb plots. that same day, the International Committee of the red Cross suspended its work in Benghazi and the port city of Misrata after one of its compounds was attacked with grenades and rockets. this followed the kidnapping of seven Iranian aid workers by armed men in Benghazi on 31 July. however, there is increased optimism that the problems could be overcome.

It now remains unclear who will dominate the Congress and how the new authority will tackle the precarious security concerns and the anenviable task of facinf up to social and economic development of a war-devastated country. ✦


US President Obama, Australian PM Julia Gillard, Chinese President Hu: will they find common ground on defence?

an uneasy triangleWhen Barack obama became

President of the us expectations were high that he would pursue a softer more liberal foreign policy than his predecessor, that the us bullying unilateralist image was a thing of the past. Accepting that it is an American election year in fact obama has been hardening his rhetoric as he demonstrates to his electorate that America’s international stands are firm. his latest message was directed at Iran: much stronger sanctions and if necessary the us would not rule out the use of force. the general perception of the us is that its power is waning, that it does not wish to be the world’s peacemaker, it stood back from leading any intervention in Libya, and that it will concentrate its military power in the Pacific - in other words deployed as part of a ring fence round China, though this is denied. ring fencing China must inevitably involve Australia, which faces a growing dilemma. the us is its closest ally, China its biggest trading partner and it does not wish to offend either of them. In other words Australia does not want to risk China’s displeasure by any action that supports a us military build-up in the Pacific-Asia region.

In 2011, having announced a new policy of concentrating its military power in the Pacific, obama announced a new agreement with

Australia that 2,500 marines could train annually in the Darwin region of Australia. this announcement was resented by China, which did not believe obama’s denial that it had anything to do with ring fencing China. More recently, however, the us Centre for strategic and International studies suggested the relocation of a carrier and its support fleet to hMAs stirling, an Australian naval base south of Perth as part of America’s new strategic focus on Asia and the Pacific. the Australian Minister of Defence, stephen smith, responded to the Centre’s proposal (probably made with the full agreement of the Pentagon) that Australia would not host a us carrier group that would include destroyers, submarines and fighter jets.

the Americans, typically, like to extend their military outposts by stages Marines to Darwin followed by a formidable naval force the next year. hugh White, head of the Australian

national university strategic and Defence studies Centre, said: “the united states has announced its plan to shift the bulk of its naval fleet to the Pacific by 2020 [and] has been forging ties with countries in the region.”

At present the us has one carrier strike group based on the Japanese port of Yokosuka. It would cost $1 billion to upgrade the hMAs sterling naval base for a nuclear carrier that would be the flagship of a strike group.

undoubtedly, despite the immediate Australian response to these us proposals, the Americans no doubt will pile the pressure upon Australia to change its mind.

China condemns such us plans as a return to Cold War thinking. the more the us follows this policy of ring fencing China, the more suspicious and antagonistic will the relationship between the two powers become. At this point in time it is the us that is taking the initiative. ✦ Guy arnold

London 2012 Games broke records of all kindsEvery four years, athletes of

countries from the four corners of the world meet to discover who can run faster, jump higher, be stronger and race to the limits of human endurance and surpass those of other nations in a wide range of athletic and sporting activities. this has been the traditional motto of the olympic movement.

At the 2012 olympic Games in

London last month, the eyes of the world were focused on the pinnacle of human physical achievement which turned to be a success story for some and a rollercoaster of emotions and disappointment for others. there were tears of joy, frustration and disappointment but above all, the olympic spirit prevailed and the power of sport in forging and fostering

international relationships and dialogue between 205 participating nations was the ultimate winner.

Medals were won, records were broken, achievements were celebrated and the public in Britain and worldwide was the paramount winner as athletes excelled in their sporting disciplines and some countries outperformed others in good spirit and fair-play.



RIGHT ALIGN

the Games acted as a global village where different nationalities, races and faiths were gathered with the aim to perform in front of an enthusiastic local crowd and a record international television audience.

Competition was lauded as a driving force that would ensure a general rise in standards, even among those who aspire to the highest levels of achievement. the Games served also as a platform for camaraderie, cooperation and understanding, both at a national and international level.In team sports, cooperation among team members and their coaches was essential to achieve the ultimate accolade. Most importantly, countries put aside their political differences and embraced a common commitment to a system of values and principles from which all participants benefited if not in kind in spirit.

Elite athletes were racking up medals but not everyone was in it for the medal as some exemplified the true olympic spirit of taking part as an amateur athlete. Most of participating athletes in the London 2012 Games came from countries without the lavish training facilities, the sporting infrastructure or the programmes and planning of the track and swimming schedules. they were from developing nations with limited budgets for sport or adequate sporting facilities. some simply had none. “I have no technique, I only rely on (physical) power,” admitted rower hamadou Djibo Issaka of niger after fighting his way over the finishing line of the men’s single sculls at Eton Dorney and managed 8:39.66, leaving him miles behind the next worst competitor J Fraser-Mackenzie on 7:19.85.

Issaka had some 25,000 fans on their feet, cheering him on. the 35-

year-old only started rowing three months before the Games, practising in an old fishing boat with no proper gears or coaching. then there was the 16-year-old debutant judoka, Wojdan shaherkani, the first saudi woman ever to compete in the olympics who lasted just one minute and 22 seconds. her compatriot sarah Attar competed in the 800m and the crowd gave her a full stadium ovation after completing the 800m over 43 seconds behind the heat’s winner. “It’s an incredible experience,” she said afterwards and it certainly was a first for saudi women.

on the other hand, a Japanese olympian proved that age does not matter when it comes to sporting success. hiroshi hoketsu was the oldest competitor taking part in the London Games, aged 71. he competed for Japan in the Equestrian events for the fourth olympic Games stretching half a century. he partnered with 15-year-old mare Whisper in quest for glory and he may not be able to compete with her in future. When hiroshi hoketsu first went to the olympics in 1964, he was 23 and the Games were in his native tokyo. he hopes to compete in rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2016 and will then be the oldest competitor ever.

one of the triumphs of the London Games has been the work of the thousands of volunteers who have freely given their time and energy. the organising committee mobilised a workforce of over 7,000 employed staff alongside 70,000 volunteers and 100,000 contractors. this is a staggering figure by any measure to help achieve success for the global sporting event. For the olympic legacy to last and have a tangible impact on the world of sport, sporting authorities worldwide should start investing

in infrastructure, potential medal winners and preparing them for the next olympic Games in rio. only state intervention can counter the massive advantages the most privileged have. they should also consider the health benefits in sporting activities to build the brains and bodies of the next generation and have a healthier and fitter population.

London 2012 was a feast for all concerned and should serve as a reminder that human beings where ever they are or come from, aspire to the same achievements and want the same thing. ✦ ali Bahaijoub

In the 1940s, many people received a lot of their news from Pathé Newsreels at the cinema but radio was the only means by which millions followed the Olympic Games. In 1948, many people were still listening to the news on utility sets. The transistor radio was not invented until 1947 and was not in common use until the 1950s, so people would have listened on big valve radios that were not portable. This meant people would have crowded around one to listen together.

The following data compares the last Olympic Games staged in London in 1948 with those of 2012:

London Olympics 1948: 60 hours broadcast • £750,000 ($1.1 million) to •stage the Games Less than one TV per household •9 inches the average TV screen size •14,500 TVs sold a year •

London Olympics 2012: 5,000 hours broadcast •2,500 hours across all channels• £11 billion ($17.5 billion) •to stage the Games 3 TVs per household •40 inches the average TV screen size •10 million TVs sold a year•

BBC Sport Online created a web page for every athlete, country, sport and venue. There were a record 34.7 million unique browsersinfirstweekofGames(24.5million in the UK, 10.5 million overseas) and 29 million requests to watch video ontheBBCwebsiteinthefirstweek.


Somali pirates are on the run

things are indeed looking up for the ships that have had to navigate

pirate-infested waters off the coast of somalia for many years. In the latest global piracy report released recently by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) it was revealed that the activities of somali pirates had been greatly curtailed. But the IMB warned that while attacks were falling off somalia they were increasing in the Gulf of Guinea.

the fall in the overall number is primarily due to the massive decline in the incidents of somali piracy activity, dropping from 163 in the first six months of 2011 to just 69 in 2012. somali pirates also hijacked fewer vessels, down from 21 to 13. nonetheless, somali piracy continues to remain a serious threat, the IMB warned.

somali pirate attacks cover a vast area, from the southern red sea, Gulf of Aden, and Gulf of oman to the Arabian sea and somali Basin, threatening all shipping routes in the north west Indian ocean, said Pottengal Mukundan, Director of IMB, which has been monitoring world piracy since 1991.

the report, in part, has attributed the noticeable decline in somali piracy to the pre-emptive and disruptive counter piracy tactics employed by the international navies. this includes the disruption of mother vessels and Pirate Action Groups. the naval actions play an essential role in frustrating the pirates. there is no alternative to their continued presence, said Mukundan.

the effective deployment of Best Management Practices, ship hardening and, in particular, the increased use of Privately Contracted Armed security Personnel (PCAsP), has also contributed to the falling numbers.

As of 30 June 2012, somali pirates were still holding 11 vessels and 218

crew, 44 of whom were being held ashore in unknown locations and conditions.

overall, 177 incidents were reported to the IMB Piracy reporting Centre (PrC) in the first six months of 2012, compared to 266 incidents for the corresponding period in 2011. the report showed that 20 vessels were hijacked worldwide, with a total number of 334 members of the crew taken hostage. there were a further 80 vessels boarded, 25 vessels fired upon and 52 reported attempted attacks. At least four members of the crew were killed.

Apart from the pre-emptive action of international navies, the role of troops of the African union Mission in somalia (AMIsoM) has had a deleterious effect on the activities of somali pirates. While AMIsoM has been pushing al-shabaab fighters from Mogadishu and other parts of somalia, it has been difficult for the pirates to launch their attacks from somali territory. thus their operational base has been gradually eroded.

Indeed, things are also looking up for hard-pressed somalis who have had to put up with violent conflict for more than 20 years in a failed state. the success of Kenyan and AMIsoM troops against al-shabaab ensured that the un Political office for somalia (unPos), which was located in nairobi, finally moved to Mogadishu in January after an absence of 17 years.

the significance of this was not lost on Augustine Mahiga, the head of unPos.

“Without the incredible efforts and sacrifice of the troops from somalia and other African countries, we would not be here today,” said Mahiga in January. he pledged to somalis that the unPos move to somalia would herald the beginning of a new era of cooperation and political engagement

as the transitional period draws to a close.

While AMIsoM has done incredibly well in weakening and restricting al-shabaab, the challenge remains with how to transcend political dysfunction in order to consolidate peace and stability. the mandate of somalia’s transitional Federal Government (tFG) was scheduled to come to an end on 20 August, as somalis hoped that this would usher in a more legitimate, inclusive and acceptable government in the country.

For many, the overwhelming approval in July of a Provisional Constitution by a representative body convened for that purpose was a strong sign that the country’s long transition to stable governance would not be easily derailed. the Provisional Constitution was a key part of the process. It is expected to provide a legal framework governing the workings of the new somali Federal Institutions after 20 August.

until last year, most of Mogadishu, was, for several years, riven by a fluid frontline dividing the two sides’ fighters belonging to al-shabaab and troops belonging to the somalia government, with the latter supported by AMIsoM. In August last year al-shabaab was forced to withdraw from the capital, thus paving the way for the momentous changes that are taking place in the country and off its coast. ✦

somali piracy being reined inThe number of pirate attacks along the coast of Somalia fell sharply in the first half of 2012, reports Desmond Davies



London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony

Fears about security were allayed as the British government called

in thousands of extra troops to help screen visitors. A furore over empty seats at several olympic venues blew over, especially once the track and field showcase kicked off and drew capacity crowds for virtually every session. Even the weather improved as the Games wore on. Bright sunshine graced the closing weekend of a festival that has helped to lift spirits in Britain.

the closing ceremony on 12 August featured a spectacular musical performance by some of the biggest names of British pop music and the official handover to the next host city, rio de Janeiro. Pop sensations including the spice Girls, take that, Jessi J. and George Michael performed at the closing ceremony. Games chief Lord Coe said: “When our time came - Britain, we did it right.”

the President of the International olympic Committee Jacques rogge who declared the Games of the 30th olympiad closed just before midnight, said: “We will never forget the smiles, the kindness and the support of the wonderful volunteers, the much-needed heroes of these Games. You, the spectators and the

public, provided the soundtrack for these Games”.

“Your enthusiastic cheers energised its competitors and brought a festive spirit to every olympic venue,” he added. At the close of the ceremony, watched in the stadium by the 10,000 athletes ,thousands of volunteers and 80,000 spectators, the flame was extinguished in dramatic fashion.

Each nation will receive one of the cauldron’s 204 petals. London airports handled the departure of about 200,000 people a day as visitors began to leave. some 120,000 departed from heathrow each day; a further 70,000 flew from Gatwick. Private security firm G4s donated $4m to the British armed forces after troops had to stand in for its absent staff during the olympics.

the Games ended with the us topping the final medal table with 46 golds, followed by China with 38 golds. Great Britain (GB) came third with 29 golds - their best tally since 1908. In all, 44 world records were set and 117 olympic records broken. Among those to have set new world records included Kenyan David rudisha in the men’s 800m’ the American women 400m relay team and the Jamaican sprint relay team,

which included the 100m and 200m gold medallist usain Bolt. us

swimmer Michael Phelps became the most decorated olympian in history with 22 medals, 18 of which in gold while cyclist sir Chris hoy’s two gold medals meant he became the most successful British olympian of all time with six gold medals.

While the 2012 olympic Games broke attendance records with over seven million spectators at events and a record global television audience, Brazalian funs spoke of their hopes of following in London’s footsteps at rio de Janiero in 2016.

Paralympics will start on 29 August and finish on 9 september and ticket sales are heading for another spectators’ record. ✦

London bids farewell to Olympics Despite concerns about the creaky transport system and a shortfall of private security guards, the London 2012 Olympics passed by fairly trouble-free, writes franklin adesegha who reflects on the outcome of the Games.

syria: annan’s mission impossible It is surprising that the UN-Arab League envoy on the Syrian crisis held out for so long in the face of intransigence on both sides, writes franklin adesegha

since his appointment in February to find a solution to

the violent conflict syrian, former un secretary-General Kofi Annan was in charge of a crisis that the protagonists did not want to be resolved peacefully. he put forward

a six-point peace plan to help end the syrian crisis. Among other things, the plan called for an end to violence, access for humanitarian agencies to provide relief to those in need, the release of detainees, the start of inclusive political dialogue, and

unrestricted access to the country for the international media.

Despite initial signs of acceptance of the plan, there has been little in the way of the plans implementation by the parties to the conflict. For a few days in April a ceasefire led to a


Comparing Syria notes? Brahimi (left) and Annan

significant decrease in the violence, but it did not last. A 300-strong un observer mission was slow to deploy and too small for a country the size of syria. the reality with the un is that its effectiveness is always dependent on the consensus of its key members. With syria, the international community remains deeply divided. russia and China fear Western intervention. the us and Eu powers do not want to get sucked in. Middle Eastern regional powers are increasingly fighting a turf war in syria. It is these divisions that allowed the Assad regime to manipulate Annan’s mission, play for time and toy with the un observers. Analysts say if the un had been serious, there would have been between 3,000 and 5,000 observers backed up by a large team of expert mediators.

Annan’s mission did engineer limited access for journalists in syria and helped syrian opposition groups to become more credible. But many in the syrian opposition were at best lukewarm towards his mandate as they still chased the elusive foreign intervention that they saw as the only way to topple Assad.

the syrian conflict, which began in March 2011, has already claimed up to 20,000 lives, according to syrian activists. Almost three million people are in need of

assistance as the country’s civil war has devastated food production. of this number, around 1.5 million people need urgent and immediate food assistance over the next three to six months, especially in areas that have seen the greatest conflict and population displacement, said a report by the Food and Agriculture organisation (FAo) and the World Food Programme (WFP). the crisis has resulted in a loss of 1.8 billion euros this year in the syrian agricultural sector.

While the economic implications of these losses are quite grave, the humanitarian implications are far more pressing, said WFP representative in syria Muhannad hadi. the effects of these major losses are first, and most viciously, felt by the poorest in the country, he said.

the international community has tried to manage this conflict, not resolve it - underestimating its seriousness for regional peace and security. Worse, some actively stoked the tensions, even as they feigned support for Annan’s mission. russia and Iran have armed and financed the Assad regime. saudi Arabia and Qatar have stated that they would finance the armed opposition. Annan desperately attempted to galvanise international consensus and even managed to get the russians and the Chinese to agree a transition plan for syria but incredibly he was

left alone to do the follow-up.What the syrian crisis shows is

the increasing ineffectiveness of the united nations in resolving international conflicts. It also reveals an increasing polarisation between russia and China and the rest of the security Council, notably America almost along Cold War lines. unless a solution to the syrian conflict can be found quickly a wider regional war may result involving turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iran and Israel. America and Israel are discussing the military option. Again the un security Council is hardly involved and its increasing irrelevance and inability to act in many cases may have grave consequences for world peace. Annan’s resignation will have little impact on a regime now solely concerned with smashing the armed uprising by all means possible. there is even little hope that his envisaged successor, veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi, will succeed where Annan has failed. Brahimi, 78, has held a series of high-profile diplomatic posts. As a senior Arab League official between 1984-1991, he brokered an end to the Lebanese civil war, going on to serve as Algerian foreign minister between 1991-1993. Later, he was twice appointed as the un’s top envoy for Afghanistan, in 1996-1998 and in 2001-2004. he has held similar roles for haiti and south Africa.

Will he stick Annan’s six-point plan or bring a fresh one to the table? For now, the bloodshed and destruction in syria will escalate and the various sides and their external backers will slug it out. the danger is that, only when there is not much left to fight over, will the remaining combatants finally sit down and talk. When they do so, many will look back and wonder at the human and physical cost of not having supported the Annan mission.✦



Putin and Cameron talking about world affairs at the London Olympic Games

the London olympics provided the venue for political meetings

as well as the opportunities for tit-for-tat exchanges between rivals. these days China and the us are all too ready to find fault with each other’s activities. thus, China reacted angrily to a us accusation that its 16-year old swimming prodigy Ye shiwen could only have achieved her record-breaking performance by using drugs. none had been detected. It was, however, part of the less than sporting attitude that prevails between the two top-runners in the gold-seeking tally.

In the meantime, the Chinese upset Kazakhstan by claiming that its female weightlifter Zulfiya Chinshanlo was really Chinese and that she was only on loan to Kazakhstan. In the early days of the olympics before Britain had earned its first gold medal, France’s President Francois hollande and Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron sat side by side watching an event but more interested in the gentle exchange of barbed comments France was then ahead in the struggle for medals when the President thanked the Prime Minister for rolling out the red

carpet for French athletes, a reference to Camerons earlier offer to roll out the red carpet for French tax exiles. their exchanges were all in the spirit of the entente cordiale.

Meanwhile, the big powers could take a rest from the catastrophic bloodshed and destruction going on in syria, about which they seemed quite incapable of taking any meaningful action. Possibly the most important exchange occurred when the russian President, Vladimir Putin, visited Britain for the first time in seven years, ostensibly to watch the judo finals (won by russia).

Putin is a black belt judo enthusiast. the opportunity was no doubt embraced by Cameron to talk with Putin about the russian stand on syria and its persecution of political opponents or

demonstrators. Any such strictures would be limited since Britain has important trade objectives as far as russia is concerned. russia has a huge storehouse of natural resources and there has been a steady if unspectacular growth in British-russian relations. In 2011 British exports to russia soared by 39 per cent and russia with a population of 142 million and a rising standard of living represents an ideal market for British manufactures as well as supplying some aspects of technical know-how.

Everything would be so much easier if the syrian problem could be solved. unfortunately, syria splits the big powers into their classic Cold War groups, the united states, Britain and France on one side, russia and China on the other. ✦ Guy arnold

Olympic politics

food price volatility worries World BankThe Bretton Wood Institutions does not want short-term food-price spikes to have damaging long-term consequences for the world’s most poor and vulnerable

Given the exceptional drought in the us, current crop conditions

in other grain producing regions, and the resulting increase in international food prices, the World Bank last month expressed concern for the impacts of this volatility on the world’s poor, who are highly vulnerable to increases in food prices.

“When food prices rise sharply, families cope by pulling their kids out of school and eating cheaper, less nutritious food, which can have catastrophic life-long effects on the social, physical, and mental well being of millions of young people,” said World Bank President Jim Yong Kim. the World Bank and our partners are monitoring this

situation closely so we can help governments put policies in place to help people better cope.

“In the short-term, measures such as school feeding programs, conditional cash transfers, and food-for-work programs can help to ease pressure on the poor, continued Kim. In the medium- to long-term, the world needs strong and stable


policies and sustained investments in agriculture in poor countries. We cannot allow short-term food-price spikes to have damaging long-term consequences for the world’s most poor and vulnerable.”

thus far, crop projections do not indicate the potential for actual shortages in the major grains; however, stocks are low, and the harvests will continue to be dependent upon global weather, which leaves prices more vulnerable to higher volatility.

Food price volatility creates unpredictability in the market and poses fundamental food security risks for consumers and governments. Volatility also discourages needed investment in agriculture for development due to increased financial risks and uncertainty for producers and traders.

While the prices of many food staples have risen sharply, the Bank noted that the current conditions differed from the 2008 crisis. In 2008, while other grains increased in price, rice and wheat prices rose the most, although the price fell quite substantially in 2009 due to a notable supply response by farmers seeking to benefit from higher prices.

In 2012, prices have risen across all the non-rice grains - wheat, corn and soybeans. Wheat prices are up over 50 per cent since mid-June; the price for corn has risen more than 45 per cent since mid-June; and soybeans are up almost 30 per cent since the beginning of June and up

almost 60 per cent since the end of last year.

As recently as early June, analysts had expected price declines after the new harvests, not spikes. there had been early planting of corn and some soybeans in the us, and the disastrous drought was unpredictable at that stage. Price increases will affect not only bread and processed food, but also animal feed and ultimately the price of the meat.

In 2008, the price of rice more than tripled, which had a huge negative impact on the poor, especially in Asia. Although current rice prices remain at elevated levels, existing rice stocks are relatively comfortable. In addition, current prices of crude oil, fertilisers and international freight are at lower levels than in 2008, which will both ease the costs of importing food, and also the sowing and growing of next seasons crop.

the impact of the American drought on global markets has been made worse by the fact that other countries are also suffering from weather-related production problems. Almost continuous rain is causing problems for the wheat crop in many European countries, whereas the wheat crops in russia, ukraine and Kazakhstan have been hit hard by a lack of rain. In India, monsoon rainfall is about 20 per cent below the long-term annual average. July was the critical planting month and there may be major negative implications if rains do not pick up.

should the current situation escalate, the World Bank said it was ready to assist member countries through measures such as increased agriculture and agriculture-related investment, policy advice, fast track financing, the multi-donor Global Agriculture and Food security Programme, and risk management products.

the Bank is also co-ordinating with un agencies through the high-Level task Force on the Global Food security Crisis and with non-governmental organisations, as well as supporting the Partnership for Agricultural Market Information system (AMIs) to improve food market transparency and to help governments make informed responses to global food price spikes.

the Bank has long cautioned that the world should expect to see volatile, higher than average grain prices until at least 2015. In the poorest countries, where people spend up to two-thirds of their daily income on food, rising prices are a threat to global growth and social stability. however, higher prices can bring desperately needed income to poor farmers, enabling them to invest, increase their production and thereby become part of the global food security solution.

there are nearly one billion hungry people worldwide. More than 60 per cent of the worlds hungry are women. Malnutrition contributes to infant, child and maternal illness; decreased learning capacity; lower productivity and higher mortality. one-third of all child deaths globally are attributed to under-nutrition, and up to 80 per cent of our brain architecture develops during the first 1,000 days of life, making access to nutritious food critical, particularly for young children. ✦

source: World Bank



Changing of the guards: President Morsi swears in new defence chief

President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt forced the retirement last month

of his powerful Defence Minister, Field Marshal Mohammed hussein tantawi, and the Chief of staff, General sami Annan, and other senior generals, moving swiftly and aggressively to reclaim political power that the military had seized since the fall of hosni Mubarak last year and putting an end to the power struggle between the democratically elected presidency and the ever-powerful military that had marred the success of the uprising in his country. President Morsi said that his move to order the retirement of two of the country’s top generals was for “the benefit of this nation and its people”. he also annulled the constitutional declaration, issued by the military before he took office on 30 June that watered down the authority of his office, giving him broad legislative and executive powers. Morsi won the country’s first free presidential election and the supreme Council of the Armed Forces (sCAF) formally handed over power on 30 June. Before Morsi’s inauguration as president, the army chiefs granted themselves sweeping powers, as the interim constitutional declaration of 17 June gave them complete legislative power until a new parliament was elected and gave them a strong voice in the constitution-drafting process. the decree not only stripped the president of any authority over the military, but made the military free from civilian oversight, and provided the sCAF with control of military affairs, legislative powers and budgetary controls as well as the right to oversee the process of drawing up a new permanent constitution, which has yet to be drafted.

the sCAF took over the reins of power last year, after the revolution that ended hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule.

the army move was initially welcomed by many of the anti-government protesters, but its presence became increasingly unpopular as critics accused its leaders of wanting to hold on to power and protect their wide ranging economic interests. Army leaders also benefited from the old regime and were anxious to preserve their status and avoid being caught in the eye of the storm.

Meanwhile, the army has so far shown no sign of challenging the surprise replacement of Field Marshal tantawi and it is not clear how the supreme Constitutional Court will react to President Morsi’s move to nullify the decree. But his appointment of the reformist Judge Ahmed Mekky, member of the constituent assembly who campaigned tirelessly for judicial independence and spoke out frequently against voting fraud during Mubarak’s rule, as his vice president may have some bearing on how the highest court in the land would react in future.

After appointing General Abdel Fatah El sissy Minister of Defence and General Commander of the armed forces (he was a member of the sCAF and former head of military intelligence), and General sadky sobhy as the chief of staff of the armed forces, the president praised the armed forces, saying they would now focus “on the holy mission of protecting the nation”.

A presidential spokesman said Field Marshal tantawi and General Annan had been appointed as presidential advisers and were given Egypt’s highest state honour, the Grand Collar of the nile. But it was not clear how far the generals, members of the sCAF, actually consented to a move that re-organised the country’s political forces and gave Morsi more powers while a new constitution is still to be drafted.

however, the dismissal of senior top brass is seen by Egyptians as a decisive move in a struggle for real power between the country’s newly elected politicians and the generals who have exercised power for many years and were clinging to it for longer than necessary bearing in mind the turmoil their actions have created in the volatile political situation that the country was experiencing after President Mubarak was ousted following last year’s mass protests. Morsi’s generally welcomed manoeuvre was partly triggered by an attack in northern sinai that saw 16 Egyptian soldiers killed and deeply embarrassed the generals and weakened their political clout. the president acted swiftly and efficiently to cement a major shift in power that began with his election in the face of intense opposition from the military top brass. the clash between the president and the military was expected but the shift of power was so fast that it has taken everyone by surprise. While the military reshuffle marked at least a symbolic end to the armed forces’ dominant role in Egyptian politics, President Morsi’s huge challenge will be the process of constitutional reform, the political, economic and social development ahead and the restoration of confidence in the future and the sought-after security and stability throughout the country after months of uncertainty.

More important, will President Morsi be able to deliver now that his hands are no longer tied by the military? ✦ ali Bahaijoub

Will Egypt’s new political order start a new page?



environmentEu rapeseed biodiesel claims ‘unfounded’German researchers have unveiled evidence suggesting that European union claims that locally-produced rapeseed biodiesel cut back at least 38 per cent of greenhouse gases (GhG) compared with fossil fuels, are unfounded.

two experts at Jena’s schiller university in eastern Germany used the same calculation system as that applied by the European Commission, but found that in eight out of 12 scenarios rapeseed biodiesel failed to meet the 35 per cent GhG savings level or threshold stipulated by the 2009 renewable energy directive, and normally fell below 30 per cent.

the findings by academics Gernot Pehnelt and Christoph Vietze come as the rapeseed harvest is in full swing in producing countries, such as France and Germany – and prices for the feedstock are increasing.

they also coincide with new proposals to cut carbon emissions from new cars to 95 grams per kilometre – partly by relying more extensively on blending biofuels with conventional petrol and diesel. Civil and military aviation is also stepping up the experimental use of biofuels in jet engines.

A spokeswoman for the Commission declined to comment specifically on the report, but said: “Different studies can come to different results, depending on the assumptions used.”

Projects from Australia, Bangladesh, Colombia, India, and Kenya that inspired and galvanised environmental action have won this year’s World Environment Day Challenge, the united nations has announced. the un Environment Programme (unEP) challenged people from all over the world to pledge an environmental activity for the chance to win a Kia Motors fuel-efficient car in connection with the World Environment Day, which observed on 5 June.

Among the winners was Fundacion Ecoprogreso, a group in Colombia that works to protect a mangrove lagoon surrounding the city of Cartagena. the group organised activities for the Day to raise awareness of the importance of the mangrove ecosystem for the local green economy.

In nairobi, Kenya, the Maji Mazuri Centre International runs

an initiative called Green heroes, which enables the youth to organise and improve waste management in the Mathare settelement. on Australia’s sunshine Coast, the World Environment Day Festival is held annually to raise awareness of environmental issues. Bangladeshi non-profit organisation, shidhulai swanirvar sangstha, celebrated the Day through a solar-powered boat rally.

hand in hand India, a development organisation in the southern city of Chennai, brought together over 500 volunteers to create a colourful 10,000 square foot rangoli carpet depicting 10 environmental themes. rangoli is a hand-drawn Indian art, which adorns the courtyards of many houses. observance of World Environment Day began in 1972 as a way to raise awareness of the environment and encourage political attention and action. ✦

five countries win 2012 World Environmental Day Challenge

Biomass-based energy – the oldest source of consumer energy known to mankind – has great potential in helping efforts to tackle climate change as well as meeting growing global demand for electricity and heat in a secure and sustainable way. A new technology roadmap, released recently by the International Energy Agency at the World Bioenergy 2012 conference in Jönköping, sweden,

projects that world bioenergy supply for the production of heat and electricity could double by 2050. For this to be achieved, around 100 exajoules (five to seven billion dry tonnes) of biomass per year will be needed by 2050.

For more information visit:www.iea.org/newsroomandevents/

news/2012/may/name,27319,en.html ✦

The power of biomass-based energy

the global community is becoming increasingly concerned about the high dependence of the global food sector on fossil fuels. Energy from fossil fuels has increased farm mechanization, boosted fertiliser production and improved food processing and transportation.

however, high and fluctuating prices of fossil fuels and doubts regarding their future availability mean that agri-food systems need to shift to an “energy-smart” model, according to a recent FAo report Energy-smart Food for People and Climate. ✦

faO promotes ‘Energy-smart’ approach to farming

ınnovatıons


Battery life gets boost with Pepto-Bismol ingredientInterest in rechargeable iron-air batteries peaked during the 1970s energy crisis. But the batteries never took off due to their low efficiency and short life spans.

sri narayan, a chemist at the university of southern California, in the us, appears to have hit on a formula that makes the batteries 10 times more efficient, a key step for their viability in the 21st century.

Iron-air batteries use chemical energy generated by the oxidation of iron plates that are exposed to oxygen in the air. this is a process similar to rusting.

the problem was a competing chemical reaction of hydrogen inside the battery that sucked away about 50 per cent of the battery’s energy, making it too inefficient for practical applications.

narayan and colleagues added a bit of bismuth sulphide, part of the active ingredient in Pepto-Bismol, to the battery’s electrode. this shut down the wasteful hydrogen generation, reducing energy loss to just four per cent.

Ikea prints 211 million copies of its product catalogue annually. that is more than 20 times the population of sweden, the home of the build-it-yourself furniture empire.

Ikea is now moving into augmented reality. “A lot of digital

stuff becomes very interesting when you mash it up with the tangible items of the real world,” said Andreas Dahlqvist, Global Deputy Chief Creative officer of McCann, the creative agency behind the reality catalogue. ✦

When soldiers are wounded on the battlefield, commanders have to weigh whether it’s worth it to risk more lives by sending in a rescue chopper. one way to save lives by reducing secondary casualties could be to send in a robot with rotor blades instead.

the army lists best candidates for the airframe including current unmanned aircraft such as the Kaman K-Max and copters such as the sikorsky Blackhawk, which can be modified for remote control. the

K-Max looks particularly promising since it is already flying re-supply missions in Afghanistan.

Innovation analysts say perhaps the biggest obstacle to the use of robotic helicopters for medical evacuations is trust. one potential solution under development by Israeli based urban Aeronautics is to remotely pipe in the voice of a medic to help soothe a panicked patient. the company is behind the AirMule, a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft that’s also on the Army’s solicitation list.

If such a helicopter is put in place on the battlefield — winning planning proposals will receive two years and up to $1 million to develop a working prototype — the same robots could also be put to work in civilian environments. ✦

Military chiefs ponder robotic helicopters for rescue missions

A man in Australia has built a working prototype of a hoverbike which theoretically can fly at 173 MPh and at a height of 3,000 metres. Chris Malloy constructed the

ludicrous/amazing machine out of a motorcycle. sadly he hasn’t actually managed to take the hover bike out for a real cruise yet, because - frankly - it probably isn’t safe enough.

“We do not know 100% what might happen during testing,” he said. “the straps are there to cover the unknown.” But now he’s asking for donations via his website, and says it could go into production within 12 months if everything goes to plan. so far he’s gathered Aus $76,000, although he needs Aus $1.1m to make the bike of his dreams. ✦

Man builds hover bike

Ikea’s catalogue let you peek inside furniture

north✦southsEPtEMBEr 201236

brıefsbusıness

the European union sovereign debt crisis has continued to impact the economic outlook, resulting in smaller deals being executed as opposed to larger strategic moves. the latest quarterly report on M&A transactions in the united Kingdom (uK) financial services produced by IMAs, the corporate finance adviser in conjunction with theCityuK and uK trade & investment, shows that whilst transaction volumes have remained stable, the value of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions has dropped by 44 per cent in the second quarter of 2012. the volume of M&A transactions has, however, remained stable in the second quarter of 2012 at approximately 25 deals in each quarter period since Q4 2011.

Foreign owned companies continue

to see the united Kingdom (uK) as an attractive option and have been active acquirers of uK based financial services businesses - representing one third of all deals done in the first half of 2012. this activity has been driven both by those businesses looking to expand their existing uK footprints and by new entrants into the uK market. Whilst us-owned firms have remained by far the most active acquirer of uK financial services businesses, other acquisitions have come from firms domiciled in Australia, hong Kong and Japan. this is in contrast to some Eu-based companies, which have chosen to reduce their international exposure, in part reflecting the need of some organisations to boost their capital bases ahead of the introduction of Basel III. ✦

M&a volumes in financial services remain stable whilst values drop 44%

fund sales double during 2012retail fund sales figures ballooned to over £8 billion for the six months ending in June – almost double the levels recorded for the second half of last year, statistics from the Investment Management Association show. released data shows net retail sales were £8.1 billion between January and June this year, up from £4.4 billion between July and December 2011. however, this was below the £13.7 billion of sales for the first six months of last year.

“the first half of the year for financial services is the busiest part of the year.”

Funds under management also dropped year on year, sliding from £604 billion to settle at £598 billion, with fixed income remaining the best selling asset class. ✦


north✦south sEPtEMBEr 2012 37

Eu shadow economy put at €2trnthe European Commission last month put in place a new blueprint to counter the shadow economy of the European union, which is put at €2 trillion, representing one fifth of GDP on average across Eu member states. the plan is to improve pan-European information exchange, compliance and tackle tax evasion and fraud.

the communication – published by tax Commissioner Algirdas Šemeta – heralded proposals to be published in the next few weeks for new criminal law measures designed to create common minimum rules and sanctions for certain tax offences “to protect the Eu's financial interests against fraud”.

Given the nature of tax evasion and fraud, it is difficult for agencies to put a precise figure on them. the VAt early warning system for fraud – Eurofisc – will be beefed up to cover direct taxes, according to the plan.

the use of offshore tax havens by high-net worth individuals and companies also came under the spotlight in the blueprint. the Commission said that before 2012 it would have in place a strategy to tackle aggressive tax planning in the Eu and to examine ways to improve access to information on money flows through offshore bank accounts.

the entire concept of universal banking could be thrown out as a result of public pressure for transparency and clarity in the sector, KPMG warns in a report.

Investors must also learn to cope with the new environment, the auditor said in a report. It argued banks are unlikely to regain the level of profits seen before the crisis – in part due to regulatory pressures piling costs on the sector.

the only way to restore public trust in banking is to improve transparency, said KPMG’s Bill Michael. “the information provided on remuneration is opaque and inconsistent, making it almost impossible to determine complete remuneration packages,” he said. “Banks must encourage greater

transparency in accounting and reporting practices to help restore public and investor confidence.”

But he warned that “big global banks are incredibly complex and opaque – the need and demand for greater transparency will intensify pressure on the sustainability of the universal banking model”.

the report also focused on the intense pressure on eurozone banks, predicting increased regulatory involvement as impairments could increase in the poor economic climate.

tougher capital requirements also mean KPMG does not expect a recovery in dividends in the foreseeable future, meaning investors may have to lower their expectations permanently. ✦

finance shake-up threaten universal banking, warns KPMG

the eurozone is likely to collapse within two years if countries in the bloc do not take significant measures to increase fiscal, monetary and political union, an influential think-tank warned.

Dawn holland, of the national Institute of Economic and social research (nIEsr), said that the current situation could not carry on indefinitely, and that without significant reform the European Monetary union (EMu) would be likely to break apart soon.

the research, released in the newest issue of nIEsr’s quarterly journal, argues that eurozone countries must create a banking union, move toward centralised fiscal control, and somehow effect real wage cuts in weaker nations, or risk catastrophic fallout.

Greece would face a 50 per cent devaluation and gigantic rises in prices, combined with emigration

and potential banking collapse if it left the union, according to holland.

she says that these factors mean that it is unlikely that Greece will leave voluntarily.

But she suggests a so-called Grexit may become inevitable if the Mediterranean nation continues to breach troika targets.

holland’s research was published alongside gloomy economic forecasts for the united Kingdom and the world as a whole. nIEsr predicted a 0.5 per cent decline for the uK in 2012, followed by a slight recovery in 2013, with 1.3 per cent growth, mainly driven by building up inventories.

the world was expected to grow 3.3 per cent this year, with the figure increasing to 3.7 per cent in 2013 as some of the aggressive headwinds die down. ✦

Eurozone must adapt or it will fall apart, warns top think-tank

President Morsi vows to protect saudi investmentsEgyptian President Mohamad Morsi has pledged that he would remove all obstacles facing saudi investors in his country. he also reassured saudis about their investments worth $ 27 billion in Egypt, saying they would be protected. ✦


foreign land holdings in us up 6.7%Foreign holdings in American forests and farmland increased by 6.7 per cent in the last 10 months of 2010, the Department of Agriculture has reported.

It revealed that investors from Canada and the netherlands had almost half of all foreign forest and farmland holdings in the us. Canadian holdings were mostly in timber companies.

In Maine, roughly 16 per cent of privately owned land has foreign owners or leasers, almost twice that of any other state.

the usDA reported Maine's foreign holdings grew by about 232,000 acres in 2010.

In the us, around 24.2 million acres of privately held farm and forest land is owned or leased by companies with foreign investors, up more than 65 per cent since 2004.

According to a recent government study, the Dutch were overall the third-largest foreign investor in all us businesses.

Dutch trade and investment in the us has created roughly 625,000 jobs there.

asset managers say new euro rules threat to businessrules governing alternative investment firms will shut the door on overseas fund managers operating in London and make Europe less competitive, a study of united Kingdom (uK) asset managers has found.

the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) will be implemented by European policymakers next July to regulate private equity, hedge fund and real estate managers. But 72 per cent of

uK fund managers say it is a threat to business and will lead to “Fortress Europe”, with more protection and less competition.

the survey, from consultants Deloitte, found a further 68 per cent believe the directive will reduce Europe’s competitiveness

Deloitte partner stuart opp said the directive was “controversial”. “For many respondents it will add cost for marginal benefit,” he said. ✦

the world's wealthiest individuals have stashed away $21-trillion worth of assets in offshore tax havens, equivalent to the combined GDPs of the united states and Japan, according to a tax-transparency report.

the report commissioned by campaign group tax Justice network drew data from a wide range of sources including the Bank of International settlements and the International Monetary Fund.

report author James henry, former chief economist at consultancy McKinsey, said that the headline figure was conservative, adding that up to $32 trillion may have found its way into havens such as the Cayman Islands and switzerland.

According to henry, these assets

are "protected by a highly paid, industrious bevy of professional enablers in the private banking, legal, accounting and investment industries taking advantage of the increasingly borderless, frictionless global economy".

the report found that the top 10 private banks managed more than $6 trillion in 2010, up from $2.3 trillion five years earlier.

tax expert and British government adviser John Whiting said he was doubtful of the figure."there clearly are some significant amounts hidden away, but if it really is that size what is being done with it all?" he asked.

the tax Justice network campaigns for tax transparency and against tax havens. ✦

World's richest hide at least $21 trillion in tax havens

Private equity funds hit recordPrivate equity firms managed over $3 trillion of funds for the first time at the end of last year, according to research released by Preqin.

this reflects a nine per cent rise in assets by December compared to a year earlier, and comes after the bumper period in 2004-2007 when mega buyout funds drove an 136 per cent explosion in funds managed. ✦

Civil aerospace is among the sectors targeted in an “unsettling” increase in cyber crime, according to a senior expert at the British aerospace company BAE systems subsidiary Detica. tom Burton, head of defence cyber security at the company, said during the 2012 Farnborough

Airshow: “Aerospace is one of the sectors that has been effectively targeted in the last six months.” Detica, which provides cyber-security services to international aerospace clients, has evidence of an organised and co-ordinated campaign relating to carbon trading legislation ✦

Industry reacts to 'unsettling' rise in cyber attacks



Barclays sorry for Libor as profits top £4bnBarclays said it was confident it will repair the damage caused by an interest rate rigging scandal that has rocked it and the banking industry after beating expectations with an underlying pre-tax profit of £4.2 billion ($6.5bn) for the six months to the end of June, above an average forecast of £3.8bn.

the bank is searching for a new chief executive and chairman after they quit in the wake of a record £290 million ($500m) fine for rigging the Libor interest rate benchmark, sparking fierce criticism about its culture and risk-taking.

Barclays' investment bank fared better than most rivals in a tough second quarter, with income of £3 billion up five per cent from a year ago and down 12 per cent.

China could retaliate over a European anti-dumping complaint filed against Chinese solar companies, officials from a Chinese industry body said last month in a protracted row over cheaper Chinese solar modules.

Western solar companies have been at odds with their Chinese counterparts for years, alleging they receive lavish credit lines to offer modules at cheaper prices, while European players struggle to refinance. Jobs and profits would be lost if the European Commission ruled in favour of a complaint made by European solar firms, led by Germany's solarWorld, sun Guangbin, secretary General of the China Chamber of Commerce for the Import & Export of Machinery and

Electronic Products, said."Many people in Europe will

lose their jobs as upstream and downstream firms will suffer," sun said, adding that China's imports of solar equipment and related services helped support 300,000 jobs across Europe.

the European Commission has until the middle of this month to decide if it will start an investigation once a complaint has been filed, then has nine months to decide on provisional duties. It must conclude its investigation within 15 months.

China's solar firms recently warned of a trade war and called on the government to respond with all means to an anti-dumping complaint filed by European competitors. ✦

China plans retaliation over Eu anti-dumping complaint

International regulators proposed new capital requirements to see banks hold capital against exposures to central counterparties (CCPs) on derivatives trades for the first time.

trade exposures will receive a nominal risk-weight of two per cent from 1 January 2013, the Basel

Committee said in interim rules published last month. this will add to pressures on banks already pushing hard to raise capital levels to meet Basel III requirements. But the Basel Committee insists these latest additions are modest compared with the other requirements banks face. ✦

New capital requirements on derivatives trades from 2013 GCC spending on

food imports to reach $49 billion by 2020GCC countries’ aggregate spending on food imports is projected to reach $49 billion by 2020, the Economist Intelligence unit said. ✦

smartphones record $5.9bn samsung profitsamsung Electronics, the world's top technology firm by revenue, reported a record operating profit of $5.9 billion (£3.7bn) for the June quarter, as rampant Galaxy s handset sales helped stretch its lead over Apple.

september quarter mobile profits are expected to forge further ahead as the latest Galaxy model enjoys a sales boom before the next iPhone launch, widely expected in october, driving samsung's profit to a record of nearly eight trillion won (£4.5bn). the mobile business brings in around 60 per cent of samsung's earnings. ✦

the latest report by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor has focused on the emerging prospects for youth savings. In examining the role of finance in the lives of low-income youth in developing countries, the report pointed out that while the economic potential represented by the world’s 1.2 billion population of young people was attracting the attention of policy makers, providers, donors and nGos, there were relatively few existing well-documented cases on providing youth savings services in a profitable manner through the private sector.

the paper analysed the opportunities, challenges, and practical considerations of offering savings services to youth from the perspectives of policy makers and financial service providers. Being is the first CGAP publication on the topic of youth savings the paper presented the latest perspectives on the importance of savings for youth and brings together many disparate areas of research from different countries.

to read the Focus note, go to: http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.58808/Fn82.pdf ✦

report highlights potential 1.2bn young savers


Caribbean countries urged to cut business red tapethe Association of Caribbean states last month encouraged its members to adopt a un programme that would help them streamline trade and increase transparency in business procedures. the eregulations programme, produced by the un Conference on trade and Development (unCtAD), provides step-by-step information on how to carry out government administrative procedures. For example, for entrepreneurs it simplifies business procedures such as registering companies, obtaining visas and licenses, and importing and exporting.

the programme has already yielded the positive results for six of the 25-member ACs that have already adopted it: Costa rica, El salvador, Guatemala, honduras, nicaragua and Panama. For instance, in nicaragua, the number of steps companies had to go through to obtain sanitary and security certificates was cut from 39 to four, and the number of days needed to carry out the procedure was reduced, from 12 to 49 days to two to seven days.

to date, the eregulations system has been introduced in 20 countries and four cities around the world while 22 other countries have officially requested its implementation.

Countries must take immediate action to promote sustainable diets and food biodiversity to improve the health of their citizens, the Food and Agriculture organisation said in a new book jointly published with Bioversity International.

“regardless of the many successes of agriculture in the last three decades, it is clear that food systems and diets are not sustainable,” said the FAo’s Barbara Burlingame, in the preface to the book.

“While over 900 million people in the world suffer from hunger, even more – about 1.5 billion – are overweight or obese, and an estimated two billion suffer from micronutrient malnutrition including vitamin A, iron, or

iodine deficiency,” she added, highlighting the link between poor diets and non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

the Director-General of Bioversity International, Emile Frison, said societies move beyond major staple crops, and look at underused plant and animal species that could be rich in nutrients and help achieve a sustainable diet. the over-reliance on certain crops has had a significant role in shrinking plant and animal genetic diversity, the book argues, noting that out of 47,677 species assessed by the International union for the Conservation of nature, 17,291 are currently threatened with extinction. ✦

Countries called upon to promote diets and food biodiversity

the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market is still in the doldrums, yet the united Kingdom (uK) and other established venues are not currently missing out on a swathe of lucrative deals at the expense of newer markets, according to research from Ernst & Young (E&Y) and the Cass Business school.

M&A activity in developing markets has remained steady as a percentage of the world’s deals since 2009, accounting for around 40 per cent of global transactions, said E&Y.

And while deal volumes worldwide are up 10 per cent in the second quarter compared to last year, much of the increase comes from large transactions in north America. the uK remains the third most attractive place to do a deal, behind the us and singapore.

Asian countries make up half of the researchers’ top ten most mature markets.

over the longer term, E&Y has picked out several nations that are becoming more attractive as venues for deals, based on infrastructure, regulatory environment, socio-economics and technological capability.

the united Arab Emirates has climbed up the rankings in the past 12 months to take 20th spot in E&Y’s global table, while Poland has shot up to 30th, romania has risen 13 places to 36th and thailand, the Czech republic and Malaysia were also singled out as rapid growth markets. But in an indication of what E&Y describes as a “two-speed world”, Portugal has slumped eight positions to 39th, while Greece has fallen 12 spots to 53rd in the world in the last year. ✦

uK still in top 3 for M&a despite European crisis

China prepares vast stimulusChina has ditched its reform strategy and is preparing a vast stimulus package as the country’s soft-landing turns uncomfortably hard, with recession warnings flashing across East Asia. ✦



Workers spend 650 hours a year on emailsProductivity is falling because workers are spending 650 hours annually emailing each other, according to a study by management consultant McKinsey. It finds that 28 per cent of office workers’ workweek is spent reading and answering email. the study is based on us companies but undoubtedly applies equally to firms in Britain. the McKinsey research suggests that only 39 per cent of the average work week is actually spent on role-specific tasks. the consultancy’s big idea is to make much more use of specially tailored internal social media and technologies to reduce the time spent emailing, communicating and researching and would boost productivity by 20-25 per cent, equivalent to $900m-$1.3 trillion across consumer goods, retail financial services, advanced manufacturing, and professional services alone.

Eurozone and BrICs suffer in worldwide manufacturing diveEurozone manufacturing plummeted in July, down to a 37-month low, based on poor results in all key countries except Ireland, said Markit in its prominent business survey (PMI).

Eurozone manufacturing PMI hit 44 – a score of 50 indicates no change – as even Germany and Austria were hit by the unresolved troubles in the currency union. Austria hit a three-year low at 47.4, while Germany, collapsed to 43.0, indicating that the area’s manufacturing powerhouse actually declined quicker than the eurozone as a whole. Greece and spain, though

seeing slight reductions in the pace of their decline, and reaching short-term highs, were nevertheless stuck at the bottom of the euro area, both seeing scores close to 42 that show yet further industrial contraction.

July also heralded poor manufacturing sector conditions for the BrICs, according to business survey data (PMI) released by hsBC and Markit. China and Brazil both shrunk, albeit at marginally slower rates than before, whereas India saw a big dip in its growth, and russia grew slightly quicker, but somewhat below trend. ✦

Embattled bank hsBC apologised for its failure to control money laundering as it admitted that a $2 billion (£1.3bn) provision set aside to pay for a string of regulatory fiascos could shoot up in future.

the bank was criticised by the us senate for lax controls on payments between Mexico and the us and said a $700 million provision to pay us regulators and $1.3 billion for uK claims on mis-sold insurance policies was an educated guess.

the bank reported a pre-tax profit of $12.7 billion for the six months to the end of June, up 11 per cent on the year and above an average analyst forecast of $12.5 billion, according to a poll by the company. there was a strong performance in hong Kong.

hsBC’s investment bank’s profit rose five per cent on the year to $5 billion, faring better than rivals in a tough market where activity has been hit by the Eurozone crisis.

overall, it said it had put aside $1.06 billion for PPI claims, $240 million for interest rate swap claims and $700 million for money laundering fines. Europe’s biggest bank saved $800 million on cuts in the first half of this year, bringing the bank’s total annualised cost savings to a huge $2.7 billion.

More than 14,000 staff have been let go since the end of last year, and plans have been announced to cut loose 19 business that are not pulling their weight. targets are being hit aggressively and ahead of time. As a result, hsBC saw underlying profit shoot up 22 per cent in hong Kong and 13 per cent in Asia. the two regions alone contributed 74 per cent of the bank’s total profits before tax over the past six months.

hsBC is one of several banks being investigated in a global interest rate rigging scandal that has rocked the banking sector.

the bank reported a pre-tax profit of $12.7bn for the six months to the end of June, up 11 per cent on the year and above an average analyst forecast of $12.5bn, according to a poll by the company.

hsBC faced further questions about its compliance procedures following allegations that British customers of its swiss private bank may have evaded at least £200m of tax. Whistleblower herve Falciani, a former hsBC worker, gave a list of the private bank’s customers to French tax authorities in 2009. As a result on 4 July property developer Michael shanly was fined £469,444 for tax evasion. ✦

HsBC penalty costs may rise to over $2bn

Euro doom threat to Britain’s economythe united Kingdom’s (uK) heavily indebted economy would contract 5.2 per cent in 2013 - more than Germany’s - in the immediate aftermath of a break-up of the euro, Fathom Financial Consulting has predicted. Meanwhile, ratings agency Moody’s has trimmed its growth forecasts for the uK due to the “rising challenges” faced by the coalition in reducing the country’s debts while the eurozone crisis rumbles on. Moody’s, which has the uK on a negative outlook for its triple-A rating, expects the economy to grow 0.4 per cent this year, and by 1.8 per cent in 2013, it said in a credit opinion. It expects the uK to eventually return to a trend growth rate of 2.5 per cent. ✦


record iron ore production in 2011the global production of iron ore achieved an all-time high last year, confirming signs of a recovery of the steel industry after the 2009 recession, according to a new report by the un Conference on trade and Development in cooperation with the sweden-based raw Materials Group. It said that the amount of iron ore produced globally in 2011 was 1.92 billion tons, representing a 4.7 per cent increase from 2010.

Among the major producers of this mineral, which is vital for steel production, are Brazil, China and Australia, according to the report, which added that while production increased in most regions, it declined in Europe and India. Developing countries, the report noted, accounted for almost half of the total exports of the iron ore, making it the tenth year in a row of increased exports.

the increase in crude steel production points to a recovery since the financial crisis in 2009, and the report attributed this growth mainly to China, where production started increasing in november 2008.

Kenya plans to develop new mass rapid transport systems to reduce traffic congestion in nairobi and other major cities and to improve its regional competitiveness.

the national urban transport Improvement Project, which was approved by the World Bank last month, will help to expand the capacity of uhuru highway, which bisects nairobi’s central business district, and to provide rapid bus transit and commuter rail systems.

the World Bank will invest

$300 million in the project, in addition to $113 million from the Kenyan government. A national Metropolitan transport Authority will be established to coordinate and regulate public transport. It will recommend policies on pricing and investments, financing equipment and related traffic management systems.

the project will also fund new rapid bus and rail transport systems to increase the volume and speed of passenger and freight services around the country’s urban areas. ✦

Mass rapid transport systems to aid Kenyan business

In the first seven months of 2012 some 437,568 Bangladeshis found overseas jobs, a rise of about 45 per cent over the same period last year, an official of the Bureau of Manpower Employment and training (BMEt) revealed last month. he said 62,713 people found overseas jobs in July this year, up nearly 25 per cent compared with the same month a year ago.

of the total overseas employment in the first seven months of this year, the BMEt official said more than two thirds of Bangladeshi workers found jobs in Middle Eastern countries, including the united Arab Emirates,

Bahrain and oman.the official said that huge demand

for mostly blue-collar jobs particularly from some Middle Eastern countries helped more Bangladeshi workers find overseas employment in January-July period of 2012.

he said overseas job market for Bangladeshi workers started to pick up gradually since the middle of 2011 after years of slump amid world economic recession, which squeezed fresh employment opportunities. overseas jobs for Bangladeshis fell by nearly 18 per cent to 390, 000 in 2010 compared to that in the same period a year ago. ✦

450,000 Bangladeshis land overseas jobs in 2012

rapid economic growth in south Africa must be accompanied by policies to boost job creation and training opportunities, particularly among youths, according to a report co-written by the African Development Bank, the organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Economic Commission for Africa and

the un Development Programme.In 2011, south Africa’s

unemployment rate still stood at 24.9 per cent, up from 22.9 per cent in 2008, on the eve of the recession. the same year, 42 per cent of south Africans under the age of 30 were unemployed, as compared with fewer than 17 per cent of adults over 30. the report also

‘Business development key to south africa’s job growth’

found that unemployed young people tended to be less skilled than in other emerging economies: almost 86 per cent did not have formal secondary or tertiary education, while two-thirds had never worked at all. the south African government plans to create five million jobs by 2020.the report recommended that the country further its efforts to reduce unemployment, focusing on policies that create jobs in the private sector while providing the right conditions for businesses of all sizes to grow and expand their work force. ✦



us warned over fiscal cliff as IMf says recovery will be slowthE us will continue to recover through this year and the next, at a mild pace but well ahead of Europe and the united Kingdom, according to an IMF report.

Growth will be two per cent this year, and two and a quarter per cent next year, says the international body. But the organisation warned that this relatively positive outlook came up against several risks, such as the “fiscal cliff”, the Euro crisis, and the growing national debt.

the fiscal cliff is a jump in taxes, combined with a number of spending cuts, together worth about four per cent of GDP, due to come into action automatically next year as discretionary plans lapse.

the IMF warns that this jump could have significant negative effects on recovery, but also stresses that some measures must be taken to rein in the deficit.

ING considers sale of uK, Canadian online banksDutch bank and insurer InG, which has been forced to sell assets in return for receiving state aid during the financial crisis, said it is considering the sale of its online banking businesses in the united Kingdom (uK) and Canada. ✦

Insurers warn on too big to fail plansregulators’ plans to designate big global insurers as too big to fail could have unintended consequences that risk “destabilising the financial system”, an industry body has claimed. the Geneva Association said they might prompt insurers to cut holdings of government bonds as well as bank debt and equity. ✦

European union antitrust regulators have charged Visa Europe, the European licensee of Visa Inc, over its cross-border credit card fees, saying they harm competition between banks and lead to higher consumer prices. the European Commission, which acts as competition regulator in the European union, said Visa Europe's consumer credit card fees in Europe breached Eu antitrust rules.

the charges, contained in a "statement of objections", also cover domestic credit card fees in eight Eu countries, including Italy and the netherlands.

"Visa's MIFs (multilateral interchange fees) harm competition between acquiring banks, inflate the cost of payment card acceptance for merchants and ultimately increase consumer prices," the Eu watchdog said in a statement.

Visa's credit and debit cards make up about 41 per cent of all payment cards issued in Europe, making it the largest card network in the region.

the company cut its debit card fees in December 2010 to settle a Commission antitrust probe into that part of its business, following a complaint by trade lobby group EuroCommerce. ✦

visa faces charges over cross-border fees

A leading Member of the European Parliament has strongly reacted after the us senate transport committee cleared a key vote on a measure that would ban American airlines from paying for their carbon emissions and participating in the Eu’s controversial cap-and-trade scheme.

"the united states spurn international efforts to mitigate climate change," said German socialist democratic MEP, Jo Leinen, slamming a us bill under which American airlines would not pay into the Eu Emission trading scheme (Ets). Leinen called the upcoming decision by the us Congress

‘arrogant’ and ‘ignorant’.the MEP argued that it would be

surprising for the us to accept air passenger duties and taxes in Europe, but not the costs from the Ets.

More than two-dozen countries including China, India, russia, and the us have opposed the Eu move, saying it violates international law.

But the Eu has said it will not back down on the plan, as the tax will help cut carbon emissions by 20 peer cent by 2020. the International Civil Aviation organisation has until next April to come up with an alternative before the Eu begins enforcing payment on emissions. ✦

European MP slams us carbon emissions bill

the tanzanian government raked in more than $300 million from the mining sector in 2009/10, up almost three times from the reported revenues for the previous year, according to the country’s second Extractive Industries transparency Initiative report.

the new royalty rate is up from three to four per cent on gross sales.

the report itself represented a step forward from the first

report published a year ago to include gas revenue for the first time. Also, 24 oil, gas and mining companies have now disclosed their payments, more than double as many as in the previous report.

Being Africa’s fourth largest gold producer, tanzania’s mining production accounted for 80 per cent of the report revenue, and in turn gold was 80 per cent of the mining production. ✦

Tanzania rakes in $300m from mining


Eu reduces fishing quotas European union member states that have repeatedly flouted Eu limits on how much fish they can catch will receive greatly reduced quotas for this year, as the bloc strives to ensure sustainable fishing, the European Commission announced last month

those who incur the biggest penalties ar e France, Portugal and spain. Quotas are normally reduced by a percentage of the amount a nation has over-fished.

Because France, Portugal and spain repeatedly over-fished the same species in the same area over the last three years, they will in addition see their quotas cut by 50 percent this year compared with their 2011 limit.

spain faced the largest penalty by volume. For this year, its allowable catch of horse mackerel along its northern coastline is reduced by 11,624 tonnes from 22,409.

Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki said over-fishing would not be tolerated.

"I intend to use deductions to help achieve the main goal of the common fisheries policy: long-term sustainability of Europe's fisheries," she said in a statement.

since 1983, the Eu has sought to manage fisheries by setting the total allowable catch of fish for areas of ocean.

the nigerian government has announced that major oil contamination in the ogoniland region in the country would be cleaned up. the decision came 12 months after the un Environment Programme (unEP) presented a scientific assessment of oil pollution in ogoniland to the government, underlining serious public health and environmental impacts.

the independent scientific assessment, carried out over a 14-month period, showed greater and deeper pollution than previously thought after an agency team examined more than 200 locations, surveyed 122 kilometres of pipeline rights of way, analysed 4,000 soil and water samples, reviewed more

than 5,000 medical records and engaged over 23,000 people at local community meetings.

the assessment emphasised the need for swift action to prevent the pollution footprint from spreading further and exacerbating the situation for the ogoni people, and had proposed an initial sum of $1 billion to cover the first five years of clean-up operations.

the assessment had also estimated that while some on-the-ground results could be immediate, a fully sustainable recovery of ogoniland could take 25 to 30 years and would require long-term financing. the hydrocarbon Pollution restoration Project will handle the cleaning operation. ✦

Nigeria to clean up oil-polluted region

the southern Common Market (Mercosur) last month formally welcomed Venezuela as a member of the largest trade bloc in south America. Meanwhile, Ecuador and Bolivia, two associated members, began a new round of accession negotiations.

Leaders attending the summit hailed the expansion of Mercosur, saying it will bring a historic opportunity to the region. A larger and more effective trade bloc would bring hope to the future, heads of states of Mercosur, which formerly groups Argentina, Brazil, uruguay and Paraguay, said in a joint declaration issued at the summit.

Given Venezuela has one of the world's largest proven oil reserves it has added energy might to the bloc, Brazilian President Dilma rousseff

said. on the whole, Mercosur would be the world's fifth largest economy only after the us, China, Japan and Germany

Venezuelan President hugo Chavez said that the expansion of the bloc brought the "greatest historic opportunity in 200 years" to the region. Venezuela's entry became effective while Paraguay is under suspension following last June’s controversial impeachment and removal of President Fernando Lugo by the opposition-controlled Congress.

the suspension allowed Venezuela's full entry into Mercosur, as Paraguay had been the only member blocking Caracas' accession since it first applied in 2006.

Paraguay's membership will not be resumed until its presidential elections scheduled in April 2013. ✦

venezuela joins south american trade bloc

Heat on for central banksthe us Federal reserve and European Central Bank face critical tests, amid heightened expectations that they are moving toward new actions to tackle fragility in the global economy. ✦

Criminal charges can be brought against those responsible for manipulating interbank lending rates, the united Kingdom’s fraud

squad confirmed last month, paving the way for prosecutions of individual bankers over the Libor-rigging scandal. ✦

Banks could face criminal charges over Libor fixing

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Low Indian monsoon rains threaten 2012 rice crop, warns faOGlobal rice paddy production for 2012 is expected to be lower than originally expected, owing to below normal monsoon rains in India, the Food and Agriculture organisation warned last month. It’s latest issue of the rice Market Monitor said that production was expected to total 724.5 million tonnes – a 7.8 million tonne downward revision compared to the original forecast in April. But global output should still slightly surpass the results achieved in 2011. “the downward revision was mainly the result of a 22 per cent lower-than-average monsoon rainfall in India through mid-July, which is likely to reduce output in the country this season,” the FAo said. Production forecasts were also reduced for Cambodia, the Democratic People’s republic of Korea, the republic of Korea, nepal and taiwan, Province of China, all of which may see a production drop in 2012. Also, unlike with maize and wheat, rice prices have remained “surprisingly stable” after gaining two per cent in May. “Amid abundant rice supplies and stocks, the likelihood of a strong price rebound in coming months is minimal, but the future direction of rice prices remains uncertain,” said the FAo.

the number of jobless in the 17 eurozone countries hit a new record in June. Figures released by Eurostat last month showed that unemployment in the euro area increased to 11.2 per cent in June, up from 11.1 per cent in May. roughly 17.8 million people were without jobs in June, up by 123,000 from May.

spain, which is at the forefront of Europe's debt crisis concerns, had the highest unemployment rate at 24.8 per cent. Greece's rate was not far behind at 22.5 per cent, though the latest figures available are for April. Many other eurozone countries, including France and Italy, also have double-digit unemployment rates.

unemployment in Italy rose in

June to its highest level in nearly 13 years to a seasonally-adjusted 10.8 per cent, according to the rome-based national statistics office, Istat.

Germany, Europe's biggest economy, continues to fare far better, and its unemployment rate, according to Eurostat, dropped to 5.4 per cent in June from the previous month's 5.5 per cent. however, recent figures released by Germany's Federal Labor Agency showed that Germany’s economy might also be hit as the unadjusted rate climbed from 6.6 per cent in June to 6.8 per cent

Portugal’s unemployment rate was 15.4 per cent, Ireland’s was 14.8 per cent and France’s was somewhat better at 10.1 per cent. ✦

Eurozone jobless hits record high

Improvements that make government payment programmes more efficient, safer and more transparent can cut related administrative costs by as much as 75 per cent, according to the World Bank. Millions of people in developing countries worldwide receive their salaries, benefits and pensions through government-to-person (G2P) payments. But in many cases, they are not being delivered in a cost-efficient way. “only 25 per cent of low-income countries process cash transfers and social benefits

electronically and this percentage is only slightly higher for public sector salaries and pensions,” said Gaiv tata, World Bank Director for Financial Inclusion Global Practice. “this means that many governments are stretching limited resources, and spending more than they should on paying benefits and salaries.”

the Bank has now released guidelines promoting best practices and establishing standards for developing and improving government payments programmes. ✦

Electronic payments ‘provide 75% government savings’

tunisia’s Prime Minister hamadi Jebali announced has said his government will implement the EItI, the global transparency standard. the country will thereby introduce transparency of the payments for its natural resources and become the first democracy emerging out of the Arab spring to do so. this means citizens in tunisia will be able to see how much money their government receives from oil, gas and

mining operations, joining citizens in 35 countries that already have their own EItI. the EItI is a global coalition of governments, companies, civil society groups, investors and international organisations. together, they have developed the EItI standard, which ensures that companies publish what they pay and governments disclose what they receive from natural resources. ✦

Tunisia commits to natural resource transparency


rock stars blame Google for enabling piracyseveral rock legends, including Elton John, robert Plant and Queen guitarist Brian May, sent a letter to the British Daily telegraph accusing Google of enabling pirates to steal their music. the letter, which was also sent to the British Prime Minister David Cameron, implored both the government and the private sector to do more to protect musicians’ intellectual property rights. the letter pointed the finger at search engines such as Google for being lax in blocking sites from search results that let users download copyrighted material for free, and said that the engines must “play their part in protecting consumers and creators from illegal sites.”

&artsentertaınment

the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao will open on 2 october with an exhibition of, Egon schiele from the Albertina Museum, Vienna, Austria. the exhibition will run until 6 January 2013.

Egon schiele is a sweeping vision of the creative universe of one of the

20th century’s most important artists through approximately one hundred drawings, gouaches, watercolors, and photographs on loan from the Albertina Museum, Vienna. this institution boasts one of the world’s largest collections of historical graphic work, including the most important compilation of works on paper by this great Austrian Expressionist.

this show offers a unique perspective on schiele’s stylistic evolution over the course of an intensely prolific decade, cut short by his untimely death at the age of 28, which underscores the decisive role that this artist’s graphic work played in shaping the history of art and consolidating his own international reputation. ✦

Egon schiele at Guggenheim Museum Bilbao 2 October

iPods improve lives of people with memory lossthe iPod has changed the music industry for good. It is having a profound impact on the lives of the elderly suffering from dementia. Experimentation with iPods and memory began when Dan Cohen, a social worker from Long Island, new York, usA, distributed 200 iPods to four local nursing homes in 2008. “I knew music was the number one activity in nursing homes, so I asked if we could see if there would be any added value if we personalised it,” Cohen told Mashable. ✦

Lovefilm has announced a tie-up with studio Miramax to bring a roster of blockbuster titles including Pulp Fiction and Bridget Jones’s Diary to its on-demand film streaming service. the Amazon-owned business needs to expand

its online catalogue in the wake of sky’s move into online movie streaming with the launch of its now tV service. Lovefilm’s addition of Miramax’s library of 700 films is the latest in a string of deals in the last year. ✦

Lovefilm adds Miramax films to catalogue

sky’s exclusive movie rights do not create a monopoly in the pay-tV market, the British government’s media watchdog ruled, in a major victory for the broadcaster.

Despite sky enjoying special deals

with major hollywood studios, the arrival of online streaming services netflix and Lovefilm into the market has loosened sky’s grip, the competition commission declared.

the regulator had previously

said sky’s subscriber base of more than 10 million homes gave it an advantage over rivals in bidding for the rights to first-run hollywood movies before it did a u-turn in May. ✦

sky dominance not a problem, says watchdog



Universal in talks to hive off Parlophoneuniversal Music is in talks to sell most of Parlophone, one of the crown jewels of EMI and home to Coldplay and Gorillaz, in an attempt to overcome the concerns of European union regulators reviewing its £1.2 billion bid for the British recorded music group.

BMG, the music publishing joint venture between Bertelsmann and the private equity group KKr, has met universal and expressed its interest in Parlophone, people familiar with the situation said.

Amazon Cloud Player has just been given a major content and feature update, the company announced, while unveiling new music licensing agreements with sony Music Entertainment, EMI Music, universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and 150 other partners. Cloud Player is a freemium platform that help users access their music

in the cloud. the free version lets customers all MP3 music purchased at Amazon, plus import up to 250 songs from their computer to Cloud Player. As for the Premium version, it allows customers to import and store up to 250,000 songs in Cloud Player for an annual fee of $24.99 – which makes it a direct competitor to Apple’s itunes Match. ✦

Amazon updates Cloud Player to compete with iTunes Match

Musicians and music industry executives often complain about the money they miss out on when

people download music for free. DJ shadow now has a new twist on that story: he launched a cooperation with Bittorrent that gets him some revenue every time someone downloads a free torrent of his tracks, as long as the downloader also installs the bundled software. Bittorrent will offer a bundle of three MP3s from DJ shadow’s upcoming album, hidden transmissions from the MPC Era (1992-1996) for download. the package will also include digital artwork, as well as some bundled software that will generate revenue for both the company and the artist. ✦

DJ Shadow becomes first artist to get paid by BitTorrent

Time Warner eyes higher feestime Warner will push for double-digit increases in the fees distributors pay for networks like tnt and tBs, it said as it unveiled results showing strong programming profits undermined by weakness at time Inc’s magazines. ✦singer Adele has made it into the

top 10 of the world’s highest-paid celebrities under the age of 30. the 24-year-old singer, who is pregnant with her first child, earned $35 million (£23 million) between May 2011 and May 2012 according to us business magazine Forbes. It put her at number six in its top 10, which was dominated by women singers, with taylor swift topping the charts with $57 million (£37 million).

Justin Bieber was the only male in the top five, which also included rihanna, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry. the list was compiled by taking into

account album, concert sales, film deals, endorsements and advertising deals.

the full list is as follows:1. Taylor swift - $57m (£37m)2. Justin Bieber - $55m (£35.6m)3. rihanna - $53m (£34.3m)4. Lady Gaga - $52m (£33.6m)5. Katy Perry - $45m (£29m)6. adele - $35m (£23m)7. Kristen stewart - $34.5m (£22.3m)8. Lil Wayne - $27m (£17.5m)9. Taylor Lautner - $26.5m (£17m)10. robert Pattinson - $26.5m (£17m)

adele joins top 10 of under-30 highest paid celebrities


travel&tourısm✦

Global passenger traffic is still showing a continued slowing of growth in the demand for air transport, according to the International Air transport Association (IAtA) pointing out that this is in line with weakness in business and consumer confidence.

Year-on-year, demand for air travel in June expanded by 6.2 per cent. Capacity grew by a much more cautious 4.5 per cent leaving load factors at 81 per cent. While this appears to be a healthy growth rate, the growth trend since early 2012 has seen a slowdown. this is illustrated by isolating the February through June trend, which shows two per cent annualised growth. that is a major slowdown from the eight per cent annualised growth rate experienced from mid-2011 through to January 2012.

“the uncertainty that we see in the global economic situation is being reflected in air transport’s performance. Although there are some pockets of solid performance, it is difficult to detect a strong trend—positive or negative—at the global level. Passenger markets have been growing more slowly since the beginning of the year and freight markets gains have been mostly very weak. the net effect is a demand limbo as consumers and businesses hedge

their spending while awaiting clarity on the European economic front,” said tony tyler, IAtA’s Director General and CEo.

When looked at over the second quarter of 2012, the trend in international air travel has been an annualised growth rate of just over two per cent.• European airlines experienced strong growth in June (7.3 per cent), well ahead of the May result (4.3 per cent). Given the continuing economic uncertainty centred on Europe, the strong June performance is more likely a result of volatility in weak market conditions. the previous few months had seen the growth trend flatten out, after a solid six per cent annualised growth rate from mid-2011 through the first quarter of 2012. Capacity was up 4.9 per cent and load factors stood at 82.5 per cent.• North American airlines saw 1.6 per cent growth in demand while capacity was cut by 0.3 per cent compared to the previous June. this pushed the load factor to 86.9 per cent, which was the highest among the regions. Compared to May there was basically no growth with the region’s airlines reporting a 0.1 per cent decline in demand.• Asia-Pacific carriers reported a six per cent growth in demand which

was more than double the 2.9 per cent expansion in capacity for June, when compared to the same month in 2011. the load factor for the region’s carriers stood at 79.5 per cent. Month-to-month, the demand in the region was basically flat at -0.1 per cent. the growth trend for the region is similar to that of the overall market. From mid-2011 to the start of 2012, Asia-Pacific carriers experienced a 9.5 per cent annualised growth in demand. that has slowed to two per cent for the February to June period.• Middle East carriers were the strongest performers with demand growth of 18.2 per cent outstripping a capacity expansion of 13.4 per cent. Load factors stood at 78.6 per cent. In contrast to the overall market, the growth trend in this region has been robust throughout 2012, gaining a further 1.9% in June compared to May.• Latin American airlines also performed well in June, recording an 11.2 per cent gain in demand compared to the previous year. Demand growth slightly outpaced a capacity expansion of 10.7%, but load factors were among the weakest at 77.4 per cent.• African carriers showed growth of 10.1 per cent, slightly behind a capacity expansion of 10.6 per cent. At 65 per cent, the region’s load factor was the weakest. ✦

slow passenger growth continues



space odyssey could be yours for just $93,600the unforgettable trip 100km (62 miles) into space takes just one hour on a Lynx spacecraft but the $93,600 price includes training and three nights’ accommodation on the Caribbean island of Curaçao.

the ‘dream come true’ experience is on offer from British website EmporiumofWonders.com but so far only 100 tickets have been released.

the online store also offers transatlantic trips in luxury submarines for $90.48million and tables made from World War II aircraft for $37,440.

Earlier, Virgin boss sir richard Branson confirmed he and his son sam, 26, and daughter holly, 30, will be among the first passengers to be flown into space on the Virgin Galactic spaceship-two (ss2) aircraft next year. “Going into space is a hard business – it keeps my mind buzzing,” he said at the Farnborough Air show in England.

Ancillary revenue reported by airlines grew to €18.23 billion in 2011. this represents ancillary revenue growth of 66 per cent in two years from the 2009 result of €10.95 billion.

Analysis from IdeaWorksCompany, a consulting organisation, and Amadeus, a company that provides technology and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry, reveals that united, Delta, American and Qantas are top ancillary revenue carriers for 2011 and 2010.

once largely limited to low fare airlines, ancillary revenue is now a priority for many airlines worldwide, and the review announced today shows how far the industry’s approach to ancillary revenue has

developed in recent years.several carriers earned over 20

per cent of total revenues from these add-on charges in 2011, and several earned over €30 per passenger. Budget airlines dominate the table that ranks airlines by the proportion of their total income derived from ancillary sources.

however, despite the fact that the American airline southwest does charge for luggage, it clocked a whopping $950 million, ahead of easyJet on $890 million and ryanair on $886 million.

IdeaWorksCompany researched the financial filings made by 108 airlines all over the world, 50 of which disclosed ancillary revenue activity. ✦

airlines earned €18.23bn in ancillary revenues in 2011

Qatar Airways remains the best airline in the world, according to skytrax, a company specialising in airline and airport research, which publishes annual rankings. Eastern carriers dominated its top 10 airlines, with three from the Middle East, six from Asia and one from turkey.

skytrax says it polled over 18 million airline customers from over 100 countries and the triumphant

Qatari flag-carrier, which was only founded in 1993, has risen from fourth in 2009 and third in 2010 to top the rankings for two years now.

It did not win any other worldwide category, but was rewarded for a strong performance across the board. the category-winners included singapore Airlines (Best Economy Class), Cathay Pacific (Best Business Class), Etihad (Best First Class) and AirAsia (Best Low-Cost Airline).

skytrak World Airline Awards: (1) Qatar Airways (2) Asiana Airlines (3) singapore Airlines (4) Cathay Pacific Airways (5) AnA All nippon Airways (6) Etihad Airways (7) turkish Airlines (8) Emirates( 9) thai Airways (10) Malaysia Airlines. ✦

Qatar airways ranked world best

European plane manufacturer Airbus delayed the introduction of its newest passenger jet, the carbon-composite A350, as parent

EADs unveiled better-than-expected second-quarter earnings lifted by resilient demand for its existing range of jetliners. ✦

Dreamliner engine issue investigatedBoeing and us safety officials are probing an “engine issue” on a 787 Dreamliner after a grass fire during a pre-flight test. ✦

airbus delays a350, EaDs lifts forecasts


science news✦

Weight training 'reduces diabetes risk'Weight training helps to prevent type 2 diabetes in men, research suggests. the scientists found regular weights reduced the risk by up to a third, in the study of more than 32,000 men published in the Archives of Internal Medicine journal.

It is already well known that regular exercise can prevent the disease.

But the report is considered important as weights provide an alternative to aerobic exercises such as running for people who are not so mobile.

researchers from harvard school of Public health in the us and the university of southern Denmark followed the men over an 18-year period, during which time nearly 2,300 developed the condition. they found 30 minutes of weights a day, five times a week could reduce the risk of diabetes by three per cent.

scientists have suggested that fainting could be all in the family. they claim that they have discovered that individuals could be genetically pre-disposed to swooning. Fainting, also called vasovagal syncope, is a brief loss of consciousness when your body reacts to certain triggers, such as emotional distress or the sight of blood. But for the first time researchers from the university of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, believe they have answered the hotly debated topic of what causes

someone to pass out in a study of twins. "the question of whether fainting is caused by genetic factors, environmental factors or a mixture of both has been the subject of debate," said study author Dr samuel Berkovic, also a member of the American Academy of neurology.

For the study, 51 sets of twins of the same gender between the ages of nine and 69 were given a telephone questionnaire.

At least one of the twins had a history of fainting. researchers also gathered information about any family history of fainting. of the 51 sets of twins, 57 per cent reported having typical fainting triggers. the research found that among twins where one fainted, those who were identical were nearly twice as likely to both faint compared to fraternal twins, from two different fertilised eggs. ✦

fainting could be in the genes, researchers

Chemotherapy can undermine itself by causing a rogue response in healthy cells, which could explain why people become resistant, a study suggests. the treatment loses effectiveness for a significant number of patients with secondary cancers.

Writing in nature Medicine, us experts said chemo causes wound-healing cells around tumours to make a protein that helps the cancer resist treatment.

A uK expert said the next step would be to find a way to block this effect.

Around 90 per cent of patients with solid cancers, such as breast, prostate, lung and colon that spread - metastatic disease - develop resistance to chemotherapy.

treatment is usually given at

Chemo 'undermines itself' through rogue response

intervals, so that the body is not overwhelmed by its toxicity. But that allows time for tumour cells to recover and develop resistance. ✦



Home HIv testhome hIV tests could become a reality in the us after regulators approved the use of an over-the-counter test. the oraQuick In-home hIV test is designed to allow individuals to collect an oral fluid sample by swabbing the upper and lower gums inside their mouths, then placing the sample in a developer vial to obtain test results in 20 to 40 minutes.

the us Centres for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1.2 million people in the us are living with hIV infection. About one in five do not know that they are infected and there are about 50 000 new hIV infections in that country every year. Many of these new infections are transmitted from people who do not realise that they are hIV positive.

In an unusual scientific experiment, couples who sprayed themselves with a compound containing the hormone oxytocin before they discussed contentious issues behaved more positively. the experiment also revealed that women were less emotionally aroused and men more aroused after using the spray. According to researchers, the women who took part in the tests were more friendly, less demanding and less anxious, while men were more aware of social cues, more positive, and more likely to engage. oxytocin is produced mainly in the hypothalamus region of the brain. It had been studied in women because it is released during labour to dilate the cervix, boost contractions and to trigger the release of milk in the breasts. In the new study, reported in the journal social Cognitive and Affective

neuroscience, researchers looked at its effects on stress and the activity of the autonomic nervous system during disagreements between couples. this part of the nervous system automatically regulates organs of the body, and research has shown it is more active during conflict between couples, leading to increased heart rate and blood pressure.

Forty-seven couples aged 20 to 50 who were married or had been cohabiting for at least a year, took part in the study at the university of Zurich. Couples chose a topic to discuss about which they continually disagreed, and then self-administered five puffs of either the oxytocin or a placebo spray. Forty-five minutes later, each couple was left alone in a room and filmed while they talked about the subject that usually rubbed them up the wrong way. ✦

Doctors find nasal spray that can save marriage

British doctors are appealing for $780,000 to continue research that could pave the way for Britain’s first womb transplants. surgeons in London are at a ‘critical stage’ of their groundwork, which they claim could

help an estimated 14,000 women who are unable to have children. national health service (nhs) budget cuts and the recession threaten to derail the progress of the surgeons who have turned to the public for help by launching a charity, uterine transplantation uK. Consultant gynaecologist richard smith said research has so far cost $780,000, mostly funded by members of the team. Doctors aim within two years to be able to transplant a donor womb into a woman so she can have a child – or even two – before it is then removed. ✦

researchers appeal for $780,000 for first womb transplant

Brain activity linked to actions in dreamsA study with echoes of the movie Inception has shown how people who control their dreams engage specific parts of the brain.

the research provides a window into the sleep state and could be a first step towards "reading" dreams, scientists say. It involved scanning the brains of "lucid" dreamers, who are aware they are dreaming and can control their actions in dreams.

the learned skill offers an opportunity to investigate the brain activity involved in dreaming. "Dreaming is not just looking at a dream movie," said researcher Dr Martin Dresler, of the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich. "Brain regions representing specific body motions are activated." the findings, published in the journal Current Biology, show for the first time that neural activity in the brain's sensorimotor cortex can be related to body actions in dreams. ✦

Global shellfish populations are under increasing pressure brought about by ocean acidification. scientists from the British Antarctic survey say that oysters, mussels and

crabs are finding it more difficult to develop their shells, making them vulnerable to predators and an overall decline that could impact other parts of the ecosystem. ✦

Ocean acidification threatens global shellfish stocks


motoring✦

Hummer back from the deadAM General, the original owners of the hummer brand, will offer a kit car version of the original military-spec humvee but cannot build a finished vehicle for civilian use as that would contravene its agreement with General Motors, who bought the rights to sell complete vehicles to the public.

Buyers have to pay $59,000 (£38,000), for the kit and then find themselves an engine. AM General reckons the all-in cost of a finished vehicle would be around $75,000 (£48,000), but there will be a lot of work involved, as a gearbox will need to be found to go with the engine. With no proper doors, he will have to use a namby-pamby seat belt to stop himself being thrown out.

Citroen is claiming a first, by launching the C1 Connexion whose specification has been determined by the preferences of 24,000 configurations submitted on Citroen's Facebook page.

Members of the public were invited to visit a virtual 'factory floor' to choose what the model should look like and what

features it should have. the final design of C1 Connexion was created from the most popular configuration. Apparently even the name badge that features on the car was designed by a Citroën Facebook fan. the C1 Connexion, based on the 1.0 Vtr, is on sale now with 3 or 5 doors, priced at £9,495 and £9,845 respectively.

facebook fans 'create' Citroen special editionthe additional features on the C1 Connexion are:• 14-inch 'Rift' alloy wheels• Black metallic paint• Dark tinted rear windows• Connexion exterior and interior pack (red door mirrors, door handles and interior trim)

Citroen says the Connexion is £500 more than the Vtr version on which it is based, but has over £925 of additional equipment. ✦

Drivers in the united Kingdom (uK) have been urged to switch off their engines when idling for one minute, as leaving the engine running unnecessarily is actually an offence. According to the highway Code: "You Msut not leave a parked vehicle unattended with the engine running

or leave a vehicle engine running unnecessarily while that vehicle is stationery on a public road."

some London councils are now imposing £80 fines if drivers spend a long time unloading their vehicles with the engine running. According to the Energy savings trust, London drivers alone are wasting £60 million ($95m) per year by not switching off their engines when idling. Black cabs, also known as London taxis, account for about a quarter of vehicle soot emissions in central London, up to 15 per cent of which is caused by idling, according to transport for London figures. ✦

British drivers urged to switch off when idling



Buy a car, get another freerenault Laguna and Espace buyers in spain can now get an electric twizy thrown in for free. renault has been suffering from a very bad market for car sales. As a solution, renault offered customers buying any of its big models an electric twizy as well.

the deal applies to the slow-selling Laguna and Espace MPV both of which were axed from the uK model line-up in February this year in an effort to cut costs and boost company profits, reports Auto Express.

the offer equates to a €6,990 (£5,475) discount and suggests that dealers are having problems shifting the four-wheeled electric scooter. renault says the promotion will available to the uK – meaning sightings of the road tax-exempt twizy will continue to be few and far between on British roads. the twizy 45 (from its 45 km/h top speed) was not originally planned for the uK, but, recent confirmation that a new category of European licence – AM – for 16 year olds and over will apply in the uK, means it is worth considering.

Over 1,000 ferraris to participate in uK racing eventMore than 1,000 Ferraris will break the Guinness World record for the Largest Parade of Ferrari Cars on 15 september during Ferrari racing Days at silverstone Circuit in the united Kingdom (uK).

Ferrari previously set the record with 385 cars on the silverstone Circuit at the Ferrari racing Days in 2007, but this was later increased to 490. Even though over 600 cars had registered in the first month when the attempt was announced, Ferrari has always had the ambition to set a Guinness World record with 1,000 cars.

registrations remain open as Ferrari reckons that the recently extended silverstone Grand Prix circuit can accommodate more than 1000 cars on track. the Parade on 15 and16 september is the only motor racing event in the uK where Ferrari fans see the FXX and 599XX development cars on track plus a wide range of historic Ferrari F1 cars from the F1 client department, together with a schedule of races from the Ferrari Challenge trofeo Pirelli and the Ferrari Club Challenge. ✦

In Westminster in London where parking currently costs up to £4.40 per hour, sensors in the road are alerting drivers to unoccupied parking bays. that means less aimless driving around and potentially less congestion, as up to 30 per cent of urban traffic is made up of people trying to park, which

seems ironic – some traffic jams are apparently caused by people who are trying to stop driving.

the trial covers five streets – savile row, Jermyn street, sackville street, st John's Wood high street and Burlington Gardens – and will run until 15 october. the sensor will know exactly how long the car has been parked, so there is no point chancing a five-minute overstay.

Also, Westminster Council will be able to track the demand for spaces in specific areas, so drivers can expect even higher charges for particularly popular

app to tell motorists where parking is available

streets. the App is also regarded in some quarters as a hindrance to unscrupulous parking wardens who hand out fraudulent tickets. For example, if the sensor shows the car was correctly parked, it will be harder to fake an offence. ✦

✦book revıews✦ newS & viewS to bridge the global divide

54 September 2012 north✦south

p

the new Industrial revolution Peter Marsh

yale university Press 2012

price: £25.00

the author claims to describe the beginning of the fifth and first

truly global industrial revolution. there is a good deal to debate here for some people would argue that what is happening today is simply part of an ongoing process which was started by Britain in the 18th century. this, of course, brings us to China. the rapid emergence of China and India as centres for low-cost manufacturing has led some analysts to conclude that manufacturers in old economies - the us, the united Kingdom, Germany, and Japan- are being pushed out of a profitable future.

the author, however, insists that the world is at the beginning of the fifth industrial revolution, with the implication that there will be many new areas to be developed by the old advanced economies. We shall have to wait and see. he observes that the driving forces that influence what types of goods are made and who makes them are not well understood. he discusses the key

changes in what is happening in manufacturing today, including advances in technology, a greater focus on tailor-made goods aimed at specific individuals and industry users, participation of many more countries in world manufacturing, and the growing importance of sustainable forms of production.

As the publishers blurb tells us, the book is part primer for the general interest reader and part guide for those in the manufacturing industry. It explores 250 years in the history of manufacturing, and then examines the characteristics of the industrial revolution that is taking place now. the problem is the author falls between two objectives: is it a primer or is it something else. the writing is lucid and an easy read but is more a textbook for bright fifth formers who want to learn about industry over the years than anything more profound. his technique is to pick upon a typical industrial innovator and tell his story but this simply

adds to the concept of an ongoing process rather than filling out the claim that we are now entering the fifth industrial revolution. the most important theme to emerge is the fact that today more and more countries are in the process of industrialising and that the sensible entrepreneur will seek a niche and then occupy it.

the book provides an easy to read history of industrialisation since Adam smith’s time and pinpoints the contribution of particular people or groups. he tells us how Mao Zedong was especially keen on steel production as vital to a country’s economic strength but does not also tell us how Mao’s obsession with steel led to thousands of home grown backyard furnaces that were part of the Great Leap Forwards disaster. Peter Marsh is a journalist for the Financial times whose expertise is the manufacturing sector. the book is a light and useful trawl through the five industrial revolutions. ✦

Guy arnold



p

Power and Politics in the Persian gulf monarchies

Christopher Davidson (Editor)

Hurst 2011

price: £17.99

When the Wilson Government announced in 1968 that

Britain was going to eliminate its military bases and withdraw by 1971, the horrified sheiks and rulers of the Gulf states begged Britain to think again and even offered to pay the expenses of maintaining the bases in place.

the British presence meant stability in a notoriously volatile area. the British went and oil became the key to everything else. Forty years later, as Christopher Davidson begins his introduction: “In command of the worlds largest hydro-carbon reserves and occupying an increasingly central role in both Middle Eastern and global politics, the six monarchies comprising the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, oman, Qatar and the united Arab Emirates

(uAE) are now among the most heavily researched yet most commonly misunderstood actors in the international system.” the six contributors to this short book (160 pages of text) bring knowledge and considerable insights to their subjects. Economic development, ensuring that oil wealth is used to create alternative industries and commercial contacts is a key to understanding the changes taking place in the Gulf. there may be a lot of glitz - extraordinary skyscrapers and Five star plus hotels to attract the very rich- but there is also some shrewd political/economic thinking about survival in what increasingly appears to be a savage and greedy

world. With Iraq and Afghanistan in turmoil with little prospect of settling down to a more peaceable future, with syria destroying itself in one of the most brutal civil wars in generations, with Israel threatening to attack Iran and Iran persevering with uranium enrichment despite American threats, the GCC kingdoms sit on the edge of a volcano and their means of survival - oil wealth- is as much a temptation to powerful outsiders as it is cause for general rejoicing. If they can turn the GCC into a firmer form of alliance they may be able to survive the storms that are undoubtedly on the way. ✦

Guy arnold

POWER and POLITICS in the PERSIAN GULF MONARCHIES

()


informatıon & communıcatıon

technology✦✦✦

Google Wallet moves to the cloud Google Wallet has been hampered by a number of limitations since its launch, not the least of which is its limited device compatibility. Perhaps a bigger problem though, was its lack of support for most major credit and debit cards. today that finally changes with the latest version of Big G’s mobile payment system. this enables the use of any credit or debit card and takes from one device to the next. Early versions of the digital wallet used the phones secure local storage to protect your card details, now it is all in the cloud allowing you to synchronise your preferred payment method across multiple devices and keep track of both your online and in-store purchase’s through Google’s web Wallet.

Microsoft has unveiled outlook.com, a new email product from the company that will eventually be the home of the hundreds of millions of hotmail users. tnW has

extensively tested the product. It is believed that outlook.com is a well-designed webmail product that has the potential to reverse Microsoft’s lengthy slide in the product category to Google’s Gmail. In Microsoft’s view, the last major ‘disruption’ to email came with the introduction of Gmail and its 1 gigabyte of provided storage. In that time, free megabytes for mail cam in the dozens, making Gmail’s entry into the market a shakeup point. Gmail now offers over 10 gigabytes to its users. ✦

Microsoft launches Outlook.com

samsung will reportedly update a number of its flagship smartphones to the latest version of Android by the end of the year. According to samMobile, the Galaxy s III will be the company’s first handset to be updated to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, followed by the Galaxy s II and Galaxy note. the website notes,

however, if samsung suddenly decides not to update the Galaxy s II, owners will receive a “value pack” update. the Galaxy s III is expected to receive an update by the end of the third quarter of 2012, while the Galaxy s II and Galaxy note will receive an update sometime in the fourth quarter. ✦

Galaxy s III rumoured to receive Jelly Bean in Q3

samsung to refresh Galaxy note samsung was expected to introduce a refresh of its five-inch Galaxy note “phoblet” and an update of its 10-inch note tablet by the end of August. Despite its awkward size—too big for a phone, too small for a tablet—the 5.3-inch Galaxy note has garnered a following that is looking forward to the new model was revealed just before the opening of the IFA trade show last month. ✦

amazon instant video iPad app availableA day after upgrading its cloud music player, Amazon has delivered a native Amazon Instant Video app for iPad (not iPhone or iPod touch, yet) to the App store. It has access to streaming Prime Instant Video for subscribers, as well as downloaded or streamed video on-demand. other key features include access to the Watch-list / queue, and automatic access to any shows subscribed to with a season Pass the day after they air on tV. the free app is available in the itunes store. ✦

iPad accounts for 85% of tablet Web usageA new data suggest that Apple holds a whopping 85 per cent share of the market. however, the release of Google’s nexus 7 tablet and unveiling of Microsoft surface are set to bring a dose of serious competition. the indicator of Apple’s dominance comes from figures pulled together by Pingdom, using data from statcounter that analyses Web usage from tablet devices worldwide. Even allowing for data inaccuracies, the findings are very sorry reading for the Android-powered tablet collective. ✦



Facebook reports 80m bogus accounts Bogus Facebook accounts are on the rise, according to a report filed by the social network with the us securities and Exchange Commission (sEC). In a statement, Facebook reported that 8.7 per cent, or 83 million, of its 955 million accounts are either duplicates or “false”. that is a substantial increase over figures released by the company in March. then it estimated that from five to six per cent, or 42.25 million to 50.70 million, of 845 million monthly active accounts were bogus.

Google adds calculator to search resultsGoogle has added a calculator to its search results. When you type a formula into its search box, Google now will give the answer in a new calculator that it has brought to its results. once the calculator is displayed, you can tap numbers and scientific functions to send it a new equation.

the search box will also still work for that. Prior to this addition, Google allowed users to type any equation into its search tool. the search engine would then give the answer. however, this is the first time that Google has displayed an actual calculator that users can interact with. ✦

A German ban on the samsung Galaxy tab 7.7 was extended to include the entire European union (Eu). samsung, however, can continue to sell its Galaxy tab 10.1n tablet in the region, the

Dusseldorf higher regional Court said. Previously, the Galaxy tab 7.7 was only banned in Germany for violating an Apple design patent. the Court, however, ruled that the ban should include all European union (Eu) member states.

“samsung is disappointed with the court’s ruling. We will continue to take all available measures, including legal action, to protect our intellectual property rights and defend against Apple’s claims to ensure our products remain available to consumers throughout the European union,” a samsung spokeswoman said. ✦

German ban on Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 extended to EU

apple to switch all iOs devices to smaller dock connector Apple will replace its iconic 30-pin Dock connector with a smaller version across its entire ios line-up this autumn, according to rene ritchie of iMore.

this will include the 9.7-inch iPad, as well as the next iPhone. ritchie said that the same source of his information told him that the smaller connector would appear across the line-up.

this includes the currently available iPad, which will apparently be updated mid-season to accommodate the change. ✦

fBI files go digital after years of delayFederal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents have finally ditched paper files for a new computer system, an effort that took 12 years and cost more than $600 million. the system, called sentinel, includes elements resembling Web browsers, with tabs and movable windows, and forms that are filled out in a question-and-answer format similar to consumer tax software.

the FBI announced the completion of the system last month after testing to work out bugs. Portions of it were implemented in recent years, and the bureau recently took the final step of shutting down its old system, which relied heavily on paper. ✦

Peeking at the third beta of ios 6, CultofMac discovered that users no longer have to enter their password to download free apps, either new ones or programs they have grabbed in the past. this latest development

follows a new feature introduced in ios 6 beta 1, in which users no longer have to key in their password to download updates or previously-purchased items from Apple’s App store, CultofMac added ✦ .

iOS 6 not to ask for password to download free apps

Microsoft to launch Windows 8 in October

Microsoft’s newest operating system, Windows 8, will hit the shops on 26 october, nearly three years to the day after the launch of Windows 7. however, it is not clear whether the launch date is global or one reserved for the us market. ✦


iPhone 5 and iPad mini to launch this monthA surplus of Apple rumours is always expected ahead of the company’s earnings reports, and the faucet is wide open. Apple is planning to release a smaller version of its wildly popular iPad tablet shortly after the next-generation iPhone launches in the autumn, one industry watcher believes. Plugged-in KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who purportedly shed some light on “iPhone 5” specs recently, says that Apple’s next iPhone will launch this month followed closely by the release of the much-rumoured “iPad mini.”

informatıon & communıcatıon

technology✦✦✦

nokia has some new Windows Phone 8 handsets in the pipeline and is going to unveil them to the public in a matter of weeks. sources familiar with nokia’s plans tell WPDang and Bloomberg that the company plans to use

its new line of Windows Phone 8 handsets at nokia World, the two-day conference planned in helsinki this month. the unveiling will put nokia’s Windows Phone 8 portfolio weeks ahead of the expected debut of Apple’s next generation iPhone. ✦

Nokia to use Windows Phone 8 devices ahead of iPhone 5

A major spam botnet that inundated email inboxes around the world with emails promoting fake prescription drugs is gone. so says the security firm that helped kill it. “the Grum botnet has finally been knocked down. All the known command and control (CnC) servers are dead, leaving their zombies orphaned,” wrote Atif Mushtaq of FireEye Malware Intelligence Lab in California,

referring to computers enslaved by hackers for malicious use. the security firm worked with the spamhaus Project, computer experts and internet service providers around the world in the effort. the botnet has been around for about four years, and “has lately been responsible for about 15 to 17 per cent of all spam,” Vincent hanna of the spamhaus Project, told nBC news. ✦

Massive spam botnet Grum shut down

Hulu reveals advanced player

hulu has revamped its video player, ditching its older look for a more user-friendly interface. the clean new look integrates features like 10-second rewind, allowing users to easily cut back to moments earlier in video, and a more compact player that organises buttons such as pop-out and closed captions within one menu. the player will even automatically choose the best quality video for the available bandwidth with which to stream the content. the new features are reminiscent of netflix’s video player. ✦

New Microsoft Office by subscriptions the new Microsoft office will come in numerous online and offline versions, as well as the already semi-announced version for Windows rt tablets. In essence, Microsoft is taking an approach that’s somewhat similar to what Adobe is doing with its new Creative Cloud (though without making all of its tools available for just one subscription price). office 365, which is currently just a set of online tools, will become a subscription service that will allow users to “stream office 365 to any Windows 7 or Windows 8 Internet-connected computer.” At the same time, though, Microsoft will also continue to make office available as traditional desktop software with a perpetual licence. ✦

apple to change dock connector on iPhone 5

r e u t e r s confirmed a long-standing rumour that the new version of the Apple iPhone

would come with a 19-pin connector port instead of the standard 30-pin connector port that the company has used for years. two unnamed sources told reuters that Apple (AAPL) is shrinking the port to “make room for the earphone moving to the bottom” of the device, meaning current 30-pin accessories that are part of Apple’s iPod, iPhone and iPad ecosystem might be useless with Apple’s next iPhone. ✦



LG to develop 60-inch flexible OLED by 2017While regular consumers still wait for the first big screen oLED display to make it to big box stores, Korea’s Ministry of Knowledge Economy has chosen LG to lead the consortium charged with developing a 60-inch flexible oLED by 2017. Part of the Future Flagship Programme, its goal is to generate exports and create jobs by promoting next-generation technologies.

appsfire ranks the best iOs apps operating on the theory that there are better ways to find great ios apps than skimming the “top downloaded” lists on Apple’s App store,

Appsfire has published its first-ever alternative rankings that it says highlights the best quality apps, not just the ones with the highest download count. Appsfire is a social recommendation service for apps that introduced its App scores system in May.

the system uses an app’s star ratings from users, social media buzz as well as the developer’s overall reputation. the scoring system, which has been in the works for more than two years, is now published. ✦

Whether you are uploading videos of your young child dancing around the living room or of a controversial protest, you may want to keep the identities of the people in your videos under wraps. Youtube announced that it was introducing a facial blurring tool that will let anyone using the

site’s Web video editor obscure the identities of people in their shots.

the tool itself is fairly straightforward — users can go to the “Enhancements” tab in the video editor and apply the filter. the tool will not work on every face, Youtube said. “this is emerging technology, which means it sometimes has difficulty detecting faces depending on the angle, lighting, obstructions and video quality. It’s possible that certain faces or frames will not be blurred”. ✦

youTube offers facial blurring for videos

Microsoft job posting hints at next Xbox launchMicrosoft might be launching the next Xbox within the next year and a half. the software giant posted a job listing on its Web site seeking a marketing professional.

In that posting — now be taken down — the company said that “over the next 18 months, Microsoft will release new versions of all of our

most significant products including Windows (Client, server, Phone and Azure), office and Xbox, along with completely new offerings like Microsoft surface. rumours have been rife for years that Microsoft would launch its next Xbox, sometimes called the Xbox 720, in 2013 or 2014. ✦

traditional disc-based video games and game console sales slid 29% in June, continuing a decline for a seven straight month. us players

spent $700 million on game discs, consoles and peripherals in June, down from $989.5 million a year earlier, according to estimates released by nPD Group Inc. top titles for the month included “Lego Batman 2: DC super heroes” from Warner Bros.

Interactive and “tom Clancy’s Ghost recon: Future soldier,” an adventure shooter game from ubisoft Entertainment. sales of console hardware were most severely hit, down 45% to $201.3 million. sales of game software fell to $362.8 million, down 27% from $496.3 million last year. ✦

sales of disc-based video games and consoles fall 29%


sportsathletes’ rich list1. floyd Mayweather, boxingtotal Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $85 million salary/winnings: $85 million, Endorsements: $02. Manny Pacquiao, boxingtotal Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $62 million salary/winnings: $56 million, Endorsements: $6 million (Monster Energy, hennessy, nike, hewlett-Packard)3. Tiger Woods, golftotal Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $59.4 million salary/winnings: $4.4 millionEndorsements: $55 million (nike)4. LeBron James, basketballtotal Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $53 million salary/winnings: $13 million, Endorsements: $40 million (nike, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, state Farm and others)5. roger federer, tennistotal Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $52.7 million salary/winnings: $7.7mil, Endorsements: $45 million (nike, rolex, Wilson, Credit suisse)6. Kobe Bryant, basketballtotal Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $52.3 mil salary/winnings: $20.3 mil, Endorsements: $32 million7. Phil Mickelson, golftotal Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $47.8 million salary/winnings: $4.8 million, Endorsements: $43 million (Callaway, Barclay's, KPMG, Exxon, rolex, Amgen/Pfizer)8. David Beckham, footballtotal Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $46 million salary/winnings: $9 million, Endorsements: $37 million (Burger King, sainsbury's, samsung)9. Cristiano ronaldo, footballtotal Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $42.5 million salary/winnings: $20.5 millionEndorsements: $22 million (nike, Castrol, Konami and others)10. Peyton Manning, American footballtotal Earnings between June 2011 to June 2012: $42.4 million salary/winnings: $32.4 millionEndorsements: $10 million (reebok, sony, Wheaties, DirectV, Gatorade, Papa John's)

American boxer Floyd Mayweather tops the Forbes rich list of 100 highest paid athletes this year with $85 million, pushing out tiger Woods who was hailed by Forbes as the highest earning athlete from 2001-2011.

Mayweather got a huge payday amounting to a total of $85 million for his fights against Victor ortiz with $40 million and Miguel Cotto with $45 million. he also owns Mayweather Promotions, which he uses to promote his fights and

therefore substantially increase his earnings.

however, Mayweather, 35, was released from a Las Vegas jail last month after serving two months of a 90-day sentence for domestic violence. he is regarded as the best defensive boxer of his generation with a professional record of 43-0. he is planning a possible fight with Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines, his rival for the mythical title of the world's best pound-for-pound fighter. ✦

us boxer tops forbes rich list of 100 highest paid athletes

Fifa have refuted claims made by its former security boss and that they are investigating match-fixing allegations at the 2010 World Cup. Chris Eaton, a former head of security with Fifa, had told British tV Channel 4 the organisation was looking into a specific incident in the clash between nigeria and Greece.

A Fifa spokesperson, however, said: "We are not conducting any match fixing investigation for 2010 Fifa World Cup matches...In relation to match fixing, investigations can be launched by the security division in case there is a suspicion a match

or a competition could be fixed." Eaton alleged his former

employers were still investigating suspicious activity at the game. he said: "It's certainly an interesting circumstance and we know a lot about it. It's another manifestation and potentially a manifestation of an attempted fraud that could be perhaps replicated in the future so we have to be cautious about it."

While dismissing the claim, Fifa's spokesperson added they were closely monitoring and assisting ongoing investigations at member associations' level. ✦

fifa deny World Cup match-fixing allegations

seven Cameroonian athletes, comprising five boxers, a swimmer and a female footballer, have disappeared from the London 2012 olympics and are suspected of having left to stay in Europe for economic reasons. ✦

Cameroonian athletes go missing from Olympics



Playing song on carrot whistleWith a set of 22 carat gold coins worth £1,200 as the prize, hundreds of people are expected to enter a carrot-playing competition in what has been described as this year’s maddest alternative to the London olympics. Farmer and carrot grower simon Pearce (pictured) is among scores of growers backing the Great British Carrot Whistle olympics. “I thought it was a crackpot idea at first,” said Pearce, “but it really does work. All our staff found it hilarious.” Entrants must submit a video of themselves playing a gold-themed song on a carrot whistle.

Manchester united has brushed off market concerns by kicking off a $383 million (£243.8m) initial public offering (IPo) in the us last month. Just a week after reports said the football club had put the brakes on its float due to lukewarm investor interest, Manchester united said in a filing it hoped to sell 16.67 million Class A shares to help pay off its debts.

the shares, to be priced at between $16 and $20, will trade on the new York stock Exchange under the ticker MAnu. the IPo documents also include an option to sell off more shares depending on demand.

the amount to be raised is slightly

higher than some recent predictions, though down significantly from the club’s plans last year for a $1 billion IPo. It values the indebted club at up to $3.3 billion, owned mostly by the American Glazer family, who took control of the club in 2005 and filed to raise a nominal $100 million in new York last month.

the Glazers said they would take half the proceeds of the sale themselves as a “selling shareholder”. the Glazers’ Class B shares will have 10 times the voting power of average investors’ Class A shares.

A Manchester united supporters’ group has launched a blistering attack on the Glazer family, accusing them of exploiting their latest share plan to line their own pockets.

there were questions raised about the jittery equity markets that have scuppered a string of floats this year and would also put a stop to Manchester united’s venture.

there were also concerns that the Glazers’ control of two thirds of the voting rights following the float, coupled with the lack of dividend payments for

Manchester united launches us listing to cut debts

Blatter defends fifa over collapsed marketing company

Fifa president sepp Blatter (pictured) has defended his organisation’s lack of action over the collapsed marketing company IsL, saying he does not have the power to strip Joao havelange of his honorary presidency. havelange, former Fifa president, and his former

son-in-law, ricardo teixeira, were named in court documents as having received millions of pounds in bribes from IsL.

Asked to respond to claims that he knew about the backhanders, Blatter said: “Known what? that commission was paid? Back then such payments could even be deducted from tax as a business expense. today, that would be punishable under law.

“You can’t judge the past on the basis of today’s standards. otherwise it would end up with moral justice. I can’t have known about an offence that wasn’t even one. I don’t have the power to call him [havelange] to account,” Blatter argued. ✦

the foreseeable future, would discourage investors and fans from buying shares.

Manchester united club revenues this year are set to fall five per cent to £315 million ($470m) and it had debts of £423.3 million ($650m) at the end of March, which would be cut to £345.4 million ($500m) using the proceeds of the IPo.

sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester united manager, has strenuously denied suggestions he will make any financial gain from the controversial share plans of the Glazer family. Meanwhile, the club said it had signed a seven-year sponsorship deal with General Motors to have the Chevrolet brand on the club’s shirts starting in 2014. the deal is thought to be worth $600 million. ✦


life & style✦

food standardsthe un food standards body has agreed on a new set of regulations – including the maximum level of melamine in liquid milk formula for babies – to protect the health of consumers across the world. other measures adopted include new food safety standards on seafood, melons, dried figs and food labelling. the Co-dex Alimentarius Commission, sets international food safety and quality standards to promote safer and more nutritious food for consumers world-wide. Codex standards often serve as a basis for national legislation, and provide the food safety benchmarks for international food trade. recom-mendations include the wrapping of pre-cut melons to prevent harmful bacteria, a maximum of 10 µg per kilogram of carcinogenic aflatoxins in dried figs, and a maximum limit of 0.15 mg/kg for melamine, which can be lethal in high concentrations, in liquid infant milk.

Despite the bad press that traditional Chinese medicine sometimes receives, proponents believe it represents an untapped pharmacopeia and are using cutting edge biotechnology to prove it. Professor Karl Wah-Keung tsim, a neurobiologist who heads a research team in the Life science Division of the hong Kong special Administrative region university of science and technology, believes that, for all the challenges it may face, traditional Chinese medicine is potentially a pharmacological gold mine. “there are around 100 000

formulas going back 2000 years, drugs that can be used to treat a range of illnesses from depression and insomnia, to osteoporosis,” he says, pointing out that researchers have already found at least one gem in the form of artemisinin, which is known asqinghaosu in Mandarin.

traditional medicine, primarily the use of a combination of herbs prescribed in compounds, is hugely important in China, where it represents around 40 per cent of the Chinese pharmaceutical market, with annual sales of $ 21 billion. ✦

New drugs from ancient Chinese texts

scientists have found that people with bigger brains tend to have a larger circle of friends. researchers have found that social skills are determined by brain size and people who have a larger orbital prefrontal cortex - the part of the brain located just above the eyes - tend to have more friends. this is because keeping up with real-life friendships - as opposed to Facebook friends who we seldom or never meet face-to-face - requires more cognitive

skills so that we can understand what someone is thinking.

tests were conducted on 40 people as part of the research, which was funded by the British Academy Centenary research Project and the British Academy research Professorship. researchers took anatomical Mr images of participants' brains to measure the size of their prefrontal cortex, which is used for high-level thinking. ✦

Brainy people have more friends

us researchers say onions could save thousands of lives by

preventing blood clots linked to heart attacks and strokes. the vegetable, as well as apples and oranges, contains the natural compound rutin, which was found to fend off clots in thrombotic mice. It means clots in arteries and veins can be treated by a single agent, the researchers claim. human trials are planned, as rutin has been ruled safe by health officials. ✦

Onions fend off heart attacks, say researchers

stressed men prefer mother-figure women, says study stressed men gave significantly higher ratings to normal and overweight figures than non-stressed men. the range of women they saw as attractive was also shifted towards those who were heavier. For stressed men, the threshold point after which women became too big to be attractive was higher. Dr Viren swami, from the university of Westminster in London, and Martin tovee, from the university of newcastle, report their findings in the online journal Public Library of science onE. the scientists uncovered evidence of the psychological effect after testing 81 male university students. ✦



Technology hazardsthe top 10 dangers posed by poor use of medical devices have been released by the Emergency Care research Institute (ECrI). Alarm fatigue, whereby health-care workers become overwhelmed by the sheer number of alarms on medical devices, is top of the list.

Exposure to radiation from chemotherapy and radiotherapy is second, while errors giving medication by infusion pumps came third.

researchers took into account several factors when compiling the list, such as the likelihood of the hazard occurring and its harmfulness.

other health technology hazards included: cross-contamination from flexible endoscopes; enteral feeding misconnections; surgical fires; injuries from needles and other sharp objects; anaesthesia hazards and problems with home-use medical devices.

Quitting smoking enhances weight gain, researchers sayAfter kicking the habit, former smokers gained an average of 4.67kg in the year after they quit, British and French research reveals. Most the weight, 2.85kg, was put on in the first three months after giving up. thirteen per cent of quitters gained more that 10kg but 16 per cent lost weight, the report says. ✦

Doctors have discovered a child's risk of developing an allergic disease is doubled if a parent of the same sex has suffered from it, new research has claimed.

Professor hasan Arshad, a consultant in allergy and immunology at southampton General hospital, in the united Kingdom, found that allergies such as asthma and eczema were gender-related and not simply hereditary.

"We have known for decades that allergy runs in the family and many thought that maternal effect was greater than paternal effect due to a mothers' closeness to her child, but we have discovered the inheritance is from mother to daughter and father to son," Prof Arshad said.

his team assessed 1,456 patients recruited from birth 23 years ago and found the risk of asthma in boys was only increased if their fathers suffered from the condition while, if mothers had asthma, it doubled the risk in their daughters but not sons.

the research, published in the

Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology also showed maternal eczema led to a 50 per cent increased risk of eczema in girls, while paternal eczema did the same for boys.

"In the past, studies looking at the effect of parental allergy on children have not split their samples according to the sex of the child, having assumed the mother and father influence is identical in males and females," explained Prof Arshad, who is also chair of allergy and immunology at the university of southampton.

"now, with these groundbreaking findings, we should see a change in the way we assess a child's risk of disease, asking girls for the allergy history of their mother and boys for that of their father.

"this work also opens up novel areas for further research in the genetics of allergy as to why this sex dependent effect occurs and, if we can find the reason, we can try to find a way of preventing sex-specific disease," he added. ✦

allergies gender related, says study

high levels of iron may be one reason why eating red meat raises the risk of bowel cancer, according to a study by researchers in Birmingham, united Kingdom.

Iron may interact with a faulty gene in the gut to trigger cancer,

scientists said. red meat contains large amounts of iron and is also known to increase the likelihood of bowel cancer.

the discovery could lead to new cancer treatments that target iron in the bowel.

In studies of mice, researchers found that susceptibility to bowel cancer was strongly influenced both by iron and a gene called APC. When the APC gene was faulty, mice with a high iron intake were two to three times more likely to develop the disease.

Mice fed a low iron diet remained cancer free even if the gene was defective. But when the APC functioned normally, high iron levels did no harm. ✦

Iron 'may raise bowel cancer risk', study

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