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Russia set to ratify Kyoto Protocol
Cornered Bush attacks ‘Kerry doctrine’
Sharon vows to widen offensive
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G-24 nations demand greater voice in WB
Germany celebrates reunification
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Russia set to ratify Kyoto Protocol
It’s not enough, but it’s a start. Politicians and Environmentalists around the world cheered yesterday when, after a long period of vacillation, Russia finally moved to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, the international treaty on countering climate change.
The decision by President Vladimir Putin’s cabinet to approve ratification means that the landmark UN agreement, which aims at cutting the greenhouse gases causing global warming, and which was gravely weakened by George W. Bush’s decision to withdraw the USA from it in 2001, is at last likely to enter into legal force some time next year. It has been an agonising wait for anyone concerned with the climate change threat. The withdrawal of the USA, the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter, meant that, under the treaty’s terms, ratification by Russia, the next biggest, was essential for it not to fall by the wayside. For more than a year the Russians have hesitated, weighing up the political and economic pros and cons of ratification, with their every pronouncement on Kyoto examined by environmentalists with the same sort of minute scrutiny Kremlinologists used to apply to political reports in Pravda in the days of the Soviet Union. Yesterday, however, the Russians finally came off the fence when the Putin cabinet agreed on ratification, and sent their decision to the Duma, the Russian parliament, to be confirmed. As the Duma is largely controlled by Mr Putin’s United Russia party, it is thought very likely that this will happen, and that the Russians will ratify some time early in the New Year. This will pass the threshold for the treaty to enter into force — it needs to be ratified by 55 countries, representing at least 55 per cent of the industrialised world’s emissions of greenhouse gases in 1990, to do so — and 90 days later Kyoto will become a legal reality. — By arrangement with The Independent, London. |
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Cornered Bush attacks ‘Kerry doctrine’
Washington, October 3 But the Democrats quickly retorted, accusing that a “desperate” Bush was “lying” about Kerry’s statements. During the debate Mr Kerry, like Mr Bush, accepted the doctrine of pre-emption but said that he would seek a broad alliance before shooting from the hip, as he implied President Bush did in Iraq. Mr Bush, in a speech in Ohio yesterday, said: “When he laid out the Kerry doctrine, he said that America has to pass a ‘global test’ before we can use American troops to defend ourselves. Think about this: Senator Kerry’s approach to foreign policy would give foreign governments veto power over our national security decisions.” “I have a different view,” he said “When our country is in danger, the President’s job is not to take an international poll. I will continue to work every day with our friends and allies for the sake of freedom and peace. “But our national security decisions will be made in Oval Office, not in foreign capitals,” he said. Bush senior Adviser Karl Rove said that Kerry’s policy is based on “some obscure, difficult-to-pin-down impossible-for-him-to-name foreign power that has to approve of us before we either have a genuine coalition or whether we are justified in protecting America.” Kerry foreign policy adviser Richard Holbrooke was incensed over Bush’s use of the words “Kerry Doctrine.” Kerry spokesman Phil Sineer said Bush “is simply trying to change the topic away from the increasing violence in Iraq. It is astounding that he is making things up when he should be detailing a plan to stabilise the situation in Iraq.”
— PTI |
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Annan flays attacks in Assam
United Nations, October 3 ''The Secretary-General has learned with shock and dismay the news of bomb and gunfire attacks that took place yesterday in crowded public places in Nagaland and Assam, which have claimed the lives of a large number of people,'' a UN spokesman said.
— UNI |
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Deal on Siachen a lie, says Natwar
London, October 3 “It is pure speculation and it is a lie” Mr Natwar Singh said in reply to a question at an informal interaction with members of the Indian Journalists Union here last evening. His reply came when a correspondent sought his comment to Pakistani newspaper The News’ report that a “deal on Siachen is now in the making” with Gen Pervez Musharraf ‘s assurance that he will not occupy the Siachen heights if they are vacated by the Indian troops which is understood to have evoked a positive response from the Indian Prime Minister. The newspaper quoted reliable sources as saying that modalities for this would be worked out through the proper channels.
— PTI |
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Mahatma’s statue unveiled
Houston, October 3 Sculpted in India by renowned artist Ram Sutar, the six-feet tall bronze statue, a gift to the citizens here by the Indian government, was formally unveiled yesterday by the Houston Mayor Bill White and Indian Ambassador to the USA Ronen Sen at the International Sculpture Garden - Hermann Park, in downtown Houston.
— PTI |
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Sharon vows to widen offensive
Gaza, October 3 Defying one of the biggest and bloodiest raids in four years of conflict, militants fired another rocket into Israel today. Israel killed them with a missile as they tried to leave the launch site with a donkey cart. The Palestinian rocket caused no casualties in Israel. Prime Minister Sharon needs to show he can stop rocket strikes like one that killed two Israeli toddlers last Wednesday to counter rightists who say that evacuating troops and Jewish settlers from Gaza will encourage more attacks.
— Reuters |
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G-24 nations demand greater voice in WB
Washington, October 3 In a five-page communique issued yesterday, the G-24 countries demanded revision of quotas or shareholding by basing it on purchasing power parity and not on the basis of international currency value, which understates the global importance of developing countries. They also urged that the next World Bank President be chosen by a “transparent” selection process with a view to attracting the best candidates “regardless of nationality.” Finance Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Senator Conrad
Enill, was in the Chair and members included India’s Finance Minister P
Chidambram. The communique said the IMF should undertake a more pro-active role to enhance the effectiveness of major economies in order to address global imbalances and sustain high growth momentum. Multi-lateral institutions and the rest of the international community must provide prompt and substantial concessional assistance to the hurricane-hit Caribbean region. The IMF and the World Bank should also intensify their assistance to the Palestinian people, it said. The Doha Round of world trade talks should result promptly in improved market access for developing country exports, dismantling of tariff escalation schemes and elimination of tariff peaks and non-tariff barriers, the communique said. It should also result in an accelerated reduction of industrial and agricultural tariffs, phasing out of subsidies in agriculture, particularly removal of all export subsidies, expansion of agricultural tariff-rate quotas, as well as ensuring its transparent administration. The ministers noted that in the absence of appropriate crisis prevention mechanisms, developing countries must rely on excessive reserve accumulation as a form of insurance against crisis, in which the IMF should play a larger role.
— PTI |
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Germany celebrates reunification
Erfurt (Germany), October 3 The west has provided billion to rebuilt infrastructure and prop up living standards since the reunification on October 3, 1990, a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall. But a summer of protests — mainly in the east — against the slate of unprecedented unemployment benefit cuts has renewed debate about the inequities between the nation’s regions. With the economy mired in stagnation, many east Germans are bitter that the promises of prosperity have failed to materialise. President Horst Koehler tried to take the focus off that the debate, in a ceremony in the eastern city of Erfurt, in the state of Thuringia, but warned that the Germans would have to learn to live with welfare reforms. Protesters jeered Koehler in the east German city of Rostock last week, angry at comments he made in a magazine interview in mid-September in which he suggested that the standards of living in the east cannot realistically be brought up to those of the west.
— AP |
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With poll showing a convincing victory for John F. Kerry in the first presidential debate, President George W. Bush launched a fresh attack on his democratic rival saying the “Kerry Doctrine” would give foreign governments veto power over the US national security decisions.
Gaza, October 3
