| Daily Press Cuttings |  |
| Daily Press Cuttings | |
Friday 5th November 1999
The Independent: Zambia: Former President Kenneth Kaunda's son and political heir was assassinated yesterday in an attack which underlines the divisions throughout the country for all its 35 years of peace. Major Wezi Kaunda was shot several times at the front gate of his Lusaka house. He was a prominent member of his 75-year-old father's United National Independence Party. Moyce Kaukung'ombe, an opposition spokesman, said that he suspected that this was “a political incident”, rather than a random killing as suggested by the Zambian police.
Agence France Presse: (Thursday) Vatican/Debt: Pope John Paul II yesterday called on creditor nations to grant partial or total debt relief to the world's poorest nations next year to avert “catastrophic consequences”. “The Jubilee reminds us of the demands of the common good and of the fact that the world's resources are meant for everyone,” the Pope said during his weekly audience in Saint Peter's Square. “It is thus an appropriate time to give thought to reducing substantially, if not cancelling outright, the international debt which seriously threatens the future of many nations.”
Reimbursements with high interest force debtor nations to make political choices that leave entire populations in misery, said the Pope. “The question of international debt is not purely economic, but has a clear moral dimension, and calls for a new sense of solidarity with the poor in order to avoid catastrophic consequences. In cancelling or reducing this debt, the Jubilee can be the occasion for the international community to give a credible sign of a new way of understanding wealth in terms of the common good.” The Pope warned against “abusive speculation” and said solutions must be found that give better guarantees to those who lend and commit those who borrow, the story says, noting that the World Bank and the IMF plan to slash some $70 billion in nominal terms off the $214 billion debt burden of the world's 40 poorest nations.
The Guardian: Hedge Funds: Founding members of Long Term Capital Management are understood to be planning to launch a new hedge fund next month with between $300 million and $500 million in assets. The start of the new fund, to be called JWM after John Meriwether, comes less than 14 months after LTCM was rescued by a consortium of Wall Street banks.
FT: Indonesia: President Abdurrahman Wahid of Indonesia yesterday gave his agreement in principle to a referendum on independence for the province of Aceh, where hundreds of people have died this year in a war between separatist guerrillas and the Indonesian army. US/Africa: The US Senate has overwhelmingly approved legislation intended to provide new trade benefits to sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean and Central America, marking a big political victory for the White House. Shortly before the vote President Clinton said that it was critical for the US to re-engage Africa through enhanced trade links. UK/Arms: The UK government came under renewed criticism on its arms policy when ministers agreed not to press ahead with legislation in the next parliamentary session to help prevent another arms-to-Iraq scandal. The Queen's Speech on November 17th will not include legislation to replace the 1939 Import, Export and Customs Powers Act.
The Times: Kenya: One of Kenya's best-known and most beautiful indigenous forests, the Mount Kenya Forest Reserve, is in danger of being wiped out by illegal logging, marijuana cultivation, charcoal burning and agricultural encroachment in a process that could lead to environmental catastrophe. The warning has been issued by the Kenya Wildlife Service and was based on findings from low-level over-flights.
The Economist: Zambia: Article says that the privatisation of Zambia's three biggest copper mines, the biggest asset of this desperately poor country, is likely to go through. Anglo American will pay only $90 million for three mines in one of the richest copper deposits in the world. Last year Zambia turned down an offer worth nearly twice as much. If the deal goes through, it could stimulate new interest and new investment in Zambia, putting the country on track for debt relief. But ordinary Zambians must expect more pain in the short-term. Thousands of miners will lose their jobs in the approach to privatisation.
El Pais: Debt/Pope: Pope John Paul II called yesterday for “a survival ethic to condition the relations between debtor countries and their creditors, to avoid the debtor being devastated by the intolerable burden of debt.” This is not the first time that the Pope has implored the richest countries to cancel a substantial part of the total external debt owed by the poorest countries, but his intervention yesterday was a veiled warning. In front of a congregation of 12,000 in Saint Peter's Plaza, the Pope emphasised that the Jubilee, which will start on 24th December, was the right time for cancelling the debt of the impoverished nations. He said that debt repayments at exorbitant interest rates forced political choices which left entire populations in misery.
Reuters: US/Debt: Debt relief for the world's poorest nations inched forward yesterday as the US House Banking Committee authorised legislation on the issue which went beyond President Clinton's request. The legislation promises to wipe out debts owed to the US by up to 41 nations, provided the countries adopt poverty reduction measures. In September, President Clinton pledged 100 per cent debt relief for up to 40 countries at a cost of $1 billion. Lawmakers on Wednesday went beyond that, adding Nigeria to the list—a move which could add up to $90 million to the plan's cost. An amendment to the motion urged the president to push for a changed HIPC plan that would not subject poor countries to IMF economic policies to qualify for debt relief. However, the legislation has numerous hurdles before it becomes law. It requires approvals from other committees before being voted on by lawmakers and also needs appropriations approval. Oxfam spokesman Seth Amgott said “this was a strong bipartisan vote for debt relief.” David Bryden of Jubilee 2000 Coalition called the legislation “ a step in the right direction.”
FT: Vietnam: Floods in Vietnam killed at least 100 people yesterday and damaged hundreds of thousands of homes. Relief workers warned of grave food shortages. India: The Indian state of Orissa is looking for international aid to rebuild its shattered economy after the devastating cyclone. the state was negotiating a Rp20 billion (£277.5 million) loan with the World Bank. US President Clinton has offered $2.1 million in emergency food and shelter supplies. Ghana: FT Survey. Arms/UK: Amnesty International criticised the government for allowing arms exports to countries where it has “grave concerns” about human rights. These included Bahrain, Colombia, India, Kenya, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Turkey.
The Guardian: Arms/UK: The latest UK arms report shows that Britain is still arming repressive regimes. It shows that nearly £2 billion worth of weapons were exported last year, including 38 armoured combat vehicles to Indonesia, 18 Tornado aircraft, 100 air-to-ground missiles to Saudi Arabia, and over 400 air-launched missiles to the United Arab Emirates. Ghana: Focus on Ashanti goldfields, one of Africa's biggest mining firms and Ghana's biggest source of hard currency. A financial crisis has left the company vulnerable to a foreign take-over. The government has responded by trying to assert greater influence over a company which has steadfastly refused to play ball.
FT: France: The French finance minister, Dominique Strauss Kahn resigned last night over allegations of financial irregularities. French premier Lionel Jospin sought to fill the void with the quick promotion of Christian Sautter, 59, the budget minister, to handle the key finance ministry portfolio. Indonesia: The IMF is to resume loan payments to Indonesia after the new government published an audit report into the scandal surrounding Bank Bali. Environment: Letter from Andrew Simms of Christian Aid says that new ways of accounting for the huge environmental debt industrialised countries owe for global warming far outweigh those owed by poorer countries and are turning the balance of power between rich and poor upside down. They make a mockery of the painful process of trying to agree conventional debt relief to poor countries. The G7's carbon debts tot he global community are huge and growing. They call for a redefinition of what debt is, and who owes it.
The Guardian: India: Suzanne Goldberg in Paradip, Orissa, reports on the devastation caused by the super-cyclone. Hedge Funds: Addressing a meeting at the Confederation of British Industry conference in Birmingham, Sir Donald Tsang attacked hedge funds for their secrecy and massive levels of borrowing. He described them as “akin to an elephant in a pond” and called for a concerted and ongoing international effort “to bring offshore funds under control.” Trade/UK: Clare Short, the international development secretary, will attack western environmentalists and aid agencies today, accusing them of harming the interests of the world's poor by seeking to derail the next round of global trade talks. The comments will come in her speech to the Commonwealth Business Council in London today.
The Independent: Argentina/Spain: Baltasar Garzon, the Spanish judge who secured the arrest of General Augusto Pinochet, dealt a further blow to ex-dictators yesterday by issuing international arrest warrants against leaders of the former Argentine junta, accusing them of waging a “dirty war” against their own people.
The Times: India: Food riots and looting of lorries carrying relief supplies broke out in Orissa, where people have been without food or drinking water since the cyclone struck on Friday.
The Guardian: India: Article looks at the slow response of relief efforts in the cyclone-hit Indian state of Orissa. Airdrops have begun, and relief is beginning to reach the cyclone's victims. Aid agencies have said that the state authorities are woefully disorganised and plagued by infighting. Central America/ Jubilee 2000 (Saturday's paper): Jubilee 2000 has said that Honduras and Nicaragua are spending almost as much money on servicing their debts in the year after the hurricane as on emergency relief. “Honduras and Nicaragua are paying, out of their own domestic resources, about $324 million in debt service this year—almost $1 million a day,” said Jubilee 2000's director Ann Pettifor. Half of Britain's aid towards rebuilding the two countries was spent on debt relief. The Department for International Development said yesterday that it had earmarked £10 million of its donation for debt clearance. Brazil: One of the few landless peasants to achieve elected office in Brazil was shot dead at the weekend. Maria Dorcelina Fonador, mayor of Mundo Novo, near the Paraguayan border, was killed in front of her husband and daughter as she sat on her verandah. Since her election two years ago she had established a reputation for standing up to organised crime.
FT: Brazil: FT Survey. Environment: Article traces the alarming destruction of the Brazilian rainforest. Around 14 per cent of the rainforest has been lost in the past 25 years—an area the size of France. The most pessimistic analysts predict that the forest will be largely destroyed by the middle of the next century. Canada: Canada's federal government is headed towards an annual budget surplus of roughly C$30 billion (£12 billion ) within the next five years, Paul Martin, finance minister will reveal today. Pakistan: Feature article on Pakistan. For Pakistan's armed forces, ousting an unpopular prime minister was a relatively simple manoeuvre. Three weeks after the coup, it is almost impossible to find anyone who laments the forced departure of Nawar Sharif, now under the army's “protective custody”. Yet support for the military government is conditional at best.
The Times: Nigeria: Shell has shut down a large part of its Nigerian production after attacks on oil facilities in the Delta region. The oil company said that civil unrest had reduced output in the area from 900 000 barrels per day to 800-850 000 barrels per day. Liberia: Former Defence Minister Tom Woewiyu accuses President Taylor, who was swept to power in a landslide vote in 1997, of indulging in human sacrifice and cannibalism during the seven-year civil war.
The Independent: India: Thousands of people were feared dead and up to 1.5 million were left homeless after a cyclone swept across the east coast of India at the weekend. After an emergency cabinet meeting in Delhi, the Indian prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, declared a national emergency. The coastal state of Orissa bore the brunt of the storms and the state's chief minister, Girdhar Gamang, called the disaster the “storm of the century.” He forecast the death toll could exceed the 10,000 lives lost in 1971 when a cyclone of similar ferocity lashed the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh.
The Times: France: French finance minister Dominique Strauss Kahn is facing allegations that he was involved in a £60 000 insurance fraud. It has left him clinging to his post in the French cabinet by his fingertips.
IHT: India: More than two days after a cyclone of monstrous power churned across the Bay of Bengal into India's east coast, the state of Orissa remained largely cut off from the rest of the nation on Sunday, with only a few telephone lines back in operation and platoons of military rescuers unable to reach the areas of greatest devastation. Officials are predicting that the storms will have left thousands dead.
The Guardian: East Timor: The last Indonesian soldiers quietly left East Timor yesterday after 24 years of brutally repressive occupation. The resistance leader Xanana Gusmao, who spent seven years in an Indonesian jail, personally bade farewell to the departing commanders at Dili airport on Saturday morning. Most of the remaining forces, mainly marines and members of the elite strategic reserve command, left on a rusty troop-ship at 1 am yesterday. The troops left a trail of destruction in their wake. Many of the hundreds of thousands of people forced to flee their homes by the pro-Jakarta militias in the weeks after East Timor voted for independence have yet to return ; the militias are still holding many against their will in camps in West Timor.
New York Times (Friday): Nigeria/US: At a news conference with Nigerian President Olusegan Obasanjo, US President Clinton said "It is neither morally right nor economically sound to say that young democracies like Nigeria, as they overcome the painful legacy of dictatorship or misrule, must choose between making interest payments on their debt and investing in the health and education of their children."
Dow Jones (Friday): US/debt relief: US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers called for the US to make its domestic market more open to developing countries and to write off the debts owed to the US. "With a $9-trillion economy, we do not have anything to fear from reducing our protection against exports from Africa or exports from the Caribbean. I also want to see us do what's economically and financially right and write off debts from some of the poorest countries in the world that we will not collect anyway."
FT: Indonesia: (Saturday's paper): Indonesia's new government hopes to reschedule and cut its public sector external debt of about $80 billion, senior economics minister Kwik Kian Gie said yesterday. speaking after he was sworn in as minister for economy, finance and industry, Mr Kwik said: “Based on the amount of debt and interest due nest year we have to ask for further rescheduling and it has to go thorough the Paris Club. Last year Indonesia negotiated a rescheduling of its external debt payments, which suspended principal repayments until March 31 2000. After that, principal payments are set to increase from $5 billion to about $9 billion a year in 2001-2002. He said that the Paris Club may not be the ideal forum for negotiations, as debt reduction talks with it can take “six or seven years.” He suggested that he might invite all creditors to Indonesia to discuss the situation. Talks on lowering Indonesia's overall foreign debt level would test the new concept within international finance of “burden-sharing” between official and commercial creditors.
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