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."
School bullies in Singapore are to face caning under new guidelines, but the education minister on Tuesday said it would be meted out only as a last resort with strict safeguards. Human rights groups regularly criticize Singapore for the use of corporal punishment, which remains part of the school and criminal justice systems, but authorities have defended it as a deterrent to crime and serious misconduct. Caning was discussed in the parliament after legislators asked how it would be used in relation to bullying in schools. The debate followed stricter guidelines on serious student misconduct, including bullying, unveiled by the Singaporean Ministry of
A MESSAGE: Japan’s participation in the Balikatan drills is a clear deterrence signal to China not to attack Taiwan while the US is busy in the Middle East, an analyst said The Japan Self-Defense Forces yesterday fired a Type 88 anti-ship missile during a joint maritime exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces, hitting a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship in waters facing the disputed South China Sea, in drills that underscore Tokyo’s rising willingness to project military power on China’s doorstep. The drill took place as Manila and Tokyo began talks on a potential defense equipment transfer, made possible by Japan’s decision to scrap restrictions on military exports. The discussions include the possible early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines, Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. Philippine Secretary of
‘GROSS NEGLIGENCE?’ Despite a spleen typically being significantly smaller than a liver, the surgeon said he believed Bryan’s spleen was ‘double the size of what is normal’ A Florida surgeon who is facing criminal charges after allegedly removing a patient’s liver instead of his spleen has said he is “forever traumatized” by that person’s death. In a deposition from November last year that was recently obtained by NBC, 44-year-old Thomas Shaknovsky described the death of 70-year-old William Bryan as an “incredibly unfortunate event that I regret deeply.” Bryan died after the botched surgery; and last month, a grand jury in Tallahassee indicted Shaknovsky on a charge of manslaughter. “I’m forever traumatized by it and hurt by it,” Shaknovsky added, also saying that wrong-site surgeries can happen “during
A South Korean judge who last week more than doubled former South Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee’s prison sentence was found dead yesterday, police said. Shin Jong-o was found unconscious at about 1am at the Seoul High Court building, an investigator at the Seocho District Police Station in Seoul said. Shin was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, he said. “There is no sign of foul play in the death,” the investigator added. Local media reported that Shin had left a suicide note, but the investigator said there was none. On Tuesday last week, Shin presided over 53-year-old Kim’s appeal trial, finding her guilty
RSS