With warm words but few solid promises from US President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has tough negotiating ahead to hammer out deals on boosting Africa's poor and tackling climate change in time for next month's summit of rich countries in Scotland.
Bush inched toward Blair's position on writing off impoverished nations' debt and praised his close ally Tuesday for pressing Africa's cause. He offered little to encourage Blair's hopes of mounting a concerted international fight against global warming.
The prime minister travels next week to Moscow, Berlin and Paris to continue his whirlwind campaign to bring leaders of the G-8 group of industrialized nations together on the two issues he has made the centerpiece of Britain's yearlong chairmanship of the club.
"I'm grateful for your vision, and I'm grateful for your leadership on this important subject," aid to Africa, Bush told Blair at a White House news conference. "We're making historic progress in helping the poorest countries in Africa gain a fresh start and to build a future of greater opportunity and prosperity."
The leaders said they were working together on a plan to eliminate poor countries' debt, and Blair said he was hopeful they'd have a deal in time for the July summit at the Scottish resort Gleneagles.
Bush appeared to move toward the British position on a detail that is important to the prime minister, that the money used to cancel debts must not come out of future aid.
The president said the proposal in the works, "by providing additional resources, will preserve the financial integrity of the World Bank and the African Development Bank," which distribute much of the aid.
Bush also promised US$674 million for famine relief in Africa, a commitment Blair described earlier as only a small step toward the US$25 billion he wants rich countries to pledge to add to aid annually in order to double it within three to five years.
The US promises so far may fall short of the huge effort Blair is calling for to help Africa get on its feet with a mix of trade, aid and debt relief.
"We're trying to create a framework in which we deal not just with one of the issues to do with Africa, but all of them together," he said.
"In a situation where literally thousands of children die from preventable diseases every day, it's our duty to act, and we will."
EU nations agreed recently to double aid to Africa, as Blair has urged. Bush said the US has tripled its aid to the continent, and the traditional measure of a country's aid effort -- percentage of gross national product, which shows the US among the most miserly of the rich nations -- was not the right way to measure America's commitment.
Blair echoed much of the language Bush has used in pushing his Millennium Challenge Account program for Africa, which ties aid to good governance.
"It is a two-way commitment," Blair said. "We require the African leadership also to be prepared to make the commitment on governance, against corruption, in favor of democracy, in favor of the rule of law ... What we're not going to do is waste our countries' money."
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
RSS