united-nations

North Korea Fires Artillery Near Maritime Border With South After Ship Ban

January 26, 2010

By Bomi Lim Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) — North Korea fired artillery off its west coast, near the maritime border with South Korea, two South Korean military officials said. There were no casualties. North Korea fired several shells around 9:05 a.m. local time that fell into waters north of the border, prompting three warnings from South Korea’s military, a Defense Ministry official said. He and an official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who both declined to be identified, couldn’t confirm a Yonhap News report that South Korea fired back. The incident came after North Korea banned ships from its western coast, indicating it may be preparing to fire missiles. The ban was imposed Jan. 25 and is set to last through March 29, South Korea’s Unification Ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong Joo said. South Korea called an emergency security meeting, according to a presidential official who declined to be identified. “Our government is carefully studying military movements in North Korea, its intentions, and how we should respond,” Lee told reporters in Seoul, without confirming the firing. The benchmark Kospi index was 0.1 percent lower at 1,635.68 as of 12:02 p.m. in Seoul, having earlier dropped as much as 1 percent. North Korea last fired missiles in October, the latest in a series of tests that included the May detonation of its second nuclear device. Kim Jong Il ’s regime pulled out of six-nation talks on its nuclear program in April and has said it won’t return to negotiations until the United Nations sanctions imposed for its nuclear tests were lifted. YTN Television yesterday said, citing an unidentified military source, that the no-navigation zone covers an area 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) south of the Northern Limit Line, a border demarcated by the UN after the 1950-53 Korean War. North Korea doesn’t recognize the border, at the center of a dispute that caused bloody naval skirmishes in 1999 and 2002. In November, the two countries exchanged fire after a North Korean vessel ventured into waters claimed by South Korea. South and North Korea remain divided by an armed border after their conflict ended in a cease-fire, which was never replaced by a peace treaty. North Korea said on Jan. 11 that talks on a peace treaty should begin this year. The six-nation nuclear talks also involve China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the U.S. To contact the reporter on this story: Bomi Lim in Seoul at blim30@bloomberg.net

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Video: Haitian Violence Hampers Earthquake Relief Efforts: Video

January 17, 2010

Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) — Bloomberg’s Chris Dolmetsch reports on the violence in Haiti hampering the assistance of earthquake victims as the U.S., the United Nations and aid groups work to deliver supplies to victims of the earthquake that ravaged the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation on Jan. 12. Bloomberg’s Bernard Lo also speaks. (Source: Bloomberg)

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Haiti Violence Hampering Earthquake Relief Effort, U.S. General Keen Says

January 17, 2010

By Justin Blum Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) — Violence in Haiti is hampering assistance to earthquake victims in the fifth day after the disaster struck the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation, said the U.S. Army general overseeing relief efforts. “There are increasing incidents of violence,” said Lieutenant General Ken Keen of the U.S. Southern Command , on “Fox News Sunday.” Haitian police opened fire on looters today, killing at least one as hundreds of rioters grabbed produce in a Port-au-Prince market, Agence France-Presse reported. The violent disturbances “impede our ability to support the government of Haiti and answer the challenges that this country faces,” Keen said on ABC’s “ This Week ” program. “It is a concern and we are going to have to address it,” Keen said on CNN. United Nations forces are providing security, Keen said on Fox. He said the Haitian police force was “devastated” by the earthquake and their presence is “limited.” Aid workers face a shortage of the food and medical supplies required to help Haitians trapped in the city after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake five days ago. Damage to ports and roads have slowed efforts to deliver supplies, according to U.S. officials. Keen told ABC that Haitians are “suffering a tragedy of epic proportions” and that it’s too early to determine how many have died. There are about 1,000 U.S. troops in Haiti and another 3,000 are in the region working off ships, Keen said. More troops are being sent to the region. The U.S is “working aggressively” to find ways to transport supplies to those in need, said Rajiv Shah , head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, on ABC. “The challenge is we’re talking about 3.5 million people in need,” Shah said. “We’re talking about a significant degradation of what was already relatively weak infrastructure. No port access. Roads are difficult to get around.” Rescue workers are still trying to save those who may be trapped under damaged buildings, he said. To contact the reporter on this story: Justin Blum in Washington at jblum4@bloomberg.net

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Hedi Annabi, Head of UN Mission in Haiti, Confirmed Killed in Earthquake

January 16, 2010

By Bill Varner Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) — Hedi Annabi of Tunisia, the head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti, was killed in the collapse of the mission’s headquarters during the earthquake that struck the capital Port-au-Prince on Jan. 12, the UN said. He was 66. The UN also confirmed the death of Luiz Carlos da Costa of Brazil, the deputy head of the mission, and acting police commissioner Doug Coates of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. “In every sense of the word, they gave their lives for peace,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement. “The United Nations was his life and he ranked amongst its most dedicated and committed sons,” Ban said of Annabi. “He was passionate about its mission and its people. He gave of himself fully — with energy, discipline and great bravery.” Annabi worked with the UN since 1981, most recently as assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping from 1997 until his appointment to the post in Haiti in 2007 by Ban. He led UN efforts from 1982 to 1991 to achieve political reconciliation in Cambodia and from 1993 to 1996 was head of the peacekeeping department’s Africa Division. Annabi was a top adviser to Tunisia’s prime minister before joining the UN. The UN said 40 members of the peacekeeping mission are confirmed dead and that another 188 are unaccounted for in the rubble of its buildings, which collapsed during the earthquake. To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Varner at the United Nations at wvarner@bloomberg.net

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Citigroup Searches for Eight People Believed Trapped in Haiti Headquarters

January 15, 2010

By Bradley Keoun Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) — Citigroup Inc., the U.S.-based bank whose Haitian headquarters was destroyed in this week’s earthquake, continued a search for as many as eight people believed to be trapped in the rubble. The company believes two employees and five or six security and cleaning staff may be found in the wreckage of the three- story building in the capital, Port-au-Prince, said Liliana Mejia , a spokeswoman for New York-based Citigroup. A Citigroup search team retains hope some of them may be found alive nearly four days after the disaster, she said. “We’re still working to get them out,” she said. “The situation is very bad.” Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit confirmed in a memo yesterday that some employees were killed in the disaster, without specifying the number. More than 44 people worked in the building, and most evacuated safely. Earlier this week, two people were rescued with minor injuries. As many as 50,000 died in the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck Port-au-Prince on Jan. 12, according to Haiti’s Red Cross. A third of the city’s buildings are destroyed, according the United Nations. Rubble and people in the roads are blocking transport, and hospitals, schools and government offices have collapsed, leaving relief groups without infrastructure to distribute aid. Citigroup, whose banking operations in the country were disabled by the collapse, was working to restore money-transfer services by coordinating with other lenders that have reopened, Mejia said. Gladys Coupet , Citigroup’s top executive in Haiti, suffered a broken leg in the building’s collapse. “The ability to send money is the priority,” Mejia said. Citigroup also has been using branches in the Dominican Republic and Mexico to provide banking services for humanitarian purposes. Rescuers Shortly after the earthquake hit, Citigroup sent rescuers to the country by helicopter, assembled from personnel based in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Mexico and the U.S., Mejia said. The team carried “medical equipment, humanitarian supplies and satellite phones,” Pandit said in yesterday’s memo. The team also is assisting local authorities in their rescue efforts, according to the company. Citigroup, which has banking business in more than 100 countries, has been in Haiti since 1971. The Haiti operations primarily cater to corporations with services including cash management and foreign exchange, according to the bank’s Web site. To contact the reporter on this story: Bradley Keoun in New York at bkeoun@bloomberg.net

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Carbon Permit Prices Tumble After Copenhagen Accord Misses `Modest’ Goals

December 21, 2009

By Mathew Carr and Ewa Krukowska Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) — European and United Nations carbon prices fell the most since February after the Copenhagen climate accord didn’t set targets that would boost demand for permits. European Union carbon-dioxide allowances for delivery in December 2010 declined as much as 8.7 percent to 12.40 euros on the European Climate Exchange in London. They traded down 5.7 percent at 1 p.m. on the first day of trading since the summit concluded Dec. 19. The agreed targets in the Copenhagen deal amount to a “bunch of negotiation ranges” that investors had already factored in, Trevor Sikorski , an emissions analysts for Barclays Capital, said in a phone interview after returning to London from the Danish capital. “It seems to be below even our modest expectations.” U.S. President Barack Obama said the climate-change accord he reached with China and most of the 193 attending nations on Dec. 18 was an “unprecedented” first step to slow global warming. Environmental groups such as Friends of the Earth called it a failure because it’s not a binding treaty and the targets fall short of what the United Nations climate adviser said is needed to prevent catastrophic climate change. Today’s decline for permits in the EU, which runs the world’s largest cap-and-trade system, extends last week’s drop of 6.8 percent. Allowances for delivery in December 2010 have fallen 22 percent this year as the lack of progress on climate talks and recession reduced demand. Second-Biggest Market The UN’s Certified Emission Reductions credits for delivery next year fell as much 7 percent, the most since Feb. 20, and traded at 11.10 euros as of 1:05 p.m. on London’s European Climate Exchange. The credits, which trade in the world’s second-biggest carbon market, are down 19 percent this year. The U.S. will probably cut its emissions by 14 percent to 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020, subject to approval in the Senate, according to an information note circulated by European Union officials in Copenhagen along with the accord. Today’s drop in carbon prices “is obviously linked to Copenhagen, but we’re surprised by that, because when it comes to the carbon market nothing has changed,” Jos Delbeke , deputy director general for environment at the European Commission in Brussels, said in an interview in Brussels. The EU said it will stick to its target of cutting emissions by 20 percent from 1990 levels, and is on track to meet the goal. The bloc had considered upping its target to 30 percent if countries like the U.S. and China pledged further cuts. ‘Dispirited’ by Outcome Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt of Sweden, speaking for the 27-nation bloc, said EU leaders decided to stay at 20 percent. That will help drive EU prices lower, Sikorski said. “It would be foolish to be anything other than dispirited by the outcome” of the Copenhagen meeting, the International Emissions Trading Association said today in an e-mailed statement. The climate talks were a “step backward” in terms of signals that will support carbon prices, Henry Derwent , president of the Geneva-based group, said in the statement. The talks did make some progress in setting a precedent for “highest level” political participation in climate talks, Derwent said. “Heads of state are engaged and negotiating,” he said. “The few biggest polluters are lining up as the key parties for future negotiations. Indeed, a precedent appears to have been set in terms of getting a political deal first and turning it into a global framework later.” Offset Credits The U.S. is considering a law that may boost demand for so- called offset credits from the UN starting around 2012. The credits, awarded to companies and investors from richer countries that pay for emission reductions in the developing world, can be used for compliance in the EU market. The two-week climate meeting, concluded a day behind schedule, failed to deliver most of improvements needed in the UN market, said Kim Carnahan , a UN emissions-trading researcher at the emissions trading association. Its members include Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Changes agreed to for the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism were “not decisive action to which the market can immediately react,” Carnahan said by e-mail. UN envoys put off action on proposals for so-called “standardized baselines,” which would have made it easier for projects that reduce emissions more than industry benchmarks to win credits, according to a text approved in Copenhagen. ‘Incredibly Frustrating’ Projects are now approved on a case-by-case basis and must show they need credits to be feasible. That approval process has produced a backlog, with 66 percent of 5,641 of the proposed projects that the UN received since 2003 waiting as of Dec. 4, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The proposal for industry baselines would have meant more credits, traders said. “I find it incredibly frustrating” that countries can spend days discussing potential technological solutions to climate change such as synthetic trees while they “punt critical issues like standardized baselines” to a technical working group for a year, Carnahan said. The UN carbon market has staffing shortages and needs more than six months to streamline approvals, Lex de Jonge , chairman of its regulatory board, said this month. “We are not going to come back on Jan. 1 and see a jump in the issuance,” Alessandro Vitelli , director of strategy and information at IDEAcarbon in London, said in an interview Dec. 19 in Copenhagen. An appeals process, better communication between the CDM board and project developers, as well as smoother registration and issuance procedures may help the program boost productivity next year, he said. For Related News and Information: Emissions-trading stories EMIT U.K. power-market stories TNI UK PWRMARKET . Today’s top energy, environment news ETOP , GREEN

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Obama-Backed Climate Accord Is Labeled a Failure by Environmental Groups

December 18, 2009

By Jim Efstathiou Jr. and Nicholas Johnston Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) — U.S. President Barack Obama called a climate change agreement with China and about 20 other nations an “unprecedented” move to slow global warming. Environmental groups called it a failure. The agreement is “a first step,” Obama said yesterday before departing Copenhagen, where he spent 14 hours in meetings and addressing 8,000 delegates from 193 nations. The accord still needs to be approved by all nations attending. Negotiators met in the Danish capital for two-weeks of United Nations talks on curbing global warming. Debate stumbled on aid to developing countries facing damage from climate change, pollution-reduction goals and how to verify individual country’s pledges to cut harmful emissions. Environmentalists said the agreement that includes the U.S. and China — the world’s two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases — falls well short of what’s needed to deal with global warming. “This is the United Nations and the nations here are not united on this secret backroom declaration,” Kate Horner, international director of the London-based environmental group Friends of the Earth said in statement. “Copenhagen has been an abject failure.” The proposal calls for voluntary steps to reduce greenhouse gases blamed for global warming and does not legally mandate the cuts. “It will not be legally binding, but what it will do is allow for each country to show to the world what they are doing,” Obama told reporters in Copenhagen. “There will be a sense on the part of each country that we’re in this together and we’ll know who is meeting and who’s not meeting the mutual obligations that have been set forth.” Pledges Rich countries will provide $100 billion a year by 2020 to help poor nations reduce their carbon emissions, according to the text. They will also pay out $30 billion from next year through 2012. “In terms of finance, it is vague, it is a big soup,” Pa Ousman Jarju , a Gambian delegate, said in an interview in Copenhagen. “It’s well below what is required.” The agreement was reached after President Barack Obama had last-minute talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao , Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh , Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and South African President, Jacob Zuma in Copenhagen today. “It’s going to be difficult to get developing countries to agree to this,” Brazilian envoy Sergio Serra said. The U.S. will cut CO2 emissions between 14 percent and 17 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels, while Japan will cut emissions 25 percent and Russia may reduce output as much as 25 percent, the agreement said. Nations should try to keep the global temperature increase before industrialization “below 2 degrees,” Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the agreement. Envoys from the U.S., Europe and China have backed the 2 degrees target. ‘Well Short’ “As President Obama said, its well short of what’s ultimately needed,” Elliot Diringer , vice president for international strategies at Arlington, Virginia-based Pew Center on Global Climate Change, said in a statement. “But it would provide a reasonable basis for negotiating a fair and effective climate treaty.” Without emissions curbs, temperatures would rise by 6 degrees Celsius, an increase that “would lead almost certainly to massive climatic change,” the International Energy Agency, an advisor to 28 oil-consuming nations, said in a report. A more-than-2-degree warming will bring more intense flooding and drought and a faster sea-level increase, according to the UN. “This declaration or outcome or whatever you want to call it, is not a legally binding document,” Indian Environment Minister Ramesh said in an interview. “It’s a political statement.” For 20 years, scientists working for the United Nations have provided guidance for global climate talks. The result is the Kyoto Protocol, a 1997 accord that limits greenhouse-gas emissions among 37 industrialized nations. Those targets are set to expire in 2012, leaving the world without binding goals if Copenhagen doesn’t renew them. “The objective of these negotiations of securing the future of the planet definitely wasn’t achieved,” Melinda Kimble , the U.S. chief negotiator for the Kyoto Protocol and senior vice president at the United Nations Foundation said in an interview in Copenhagen. “It’s a limited outcome.” To contact the reporters on this story: Nicholas Johnston in Copenhagen at njohnston6@bloomberg.net and Jim Efstathiou Jr . in Copenhagen at jefstathiou@bloomberg.net .

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Climate Envoys Consider Delaying Binding Accord Beyond 2010

December 18, 2009

By Alex Morales and Jeremy van Loon Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) — United Nations climate envoys may drop their plan to complete a binding global-warming agreement by the end of 2010, as two weeks of talks in Copenhagen overran their deadline with no framework to forge a treaty. A draft agreement to be signed in the Danish capital omitted a requirement that nations adopt “one or more legal instruments” to fight global warming during a UN meeting planned in Mexico City in November. The 2010 limit was in an earlier draft today. “The big obstacle is the gap between developed and developing countries: We’re playing ping-pong,” Haimoude Ould Ahmed, a senator from Mauritania, said in an interview in Copenhagen. “We’ll have to prolong the talks into the night and tomorrow morning. We’re worried. We had many hopes.” With a gulf remaining between China and the U.S., the biggest greenhouse-gas emitters, U.S. President Barack Obama scheduled a second meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao for 7 p.m., an hour after the planned close of the 193-nation summit. The draft, obtained by Bloomberg News, retains several elements from its earlier version. One calls for containing the average global temperature to within 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) compared with pre-industrial times. Another provision of the “Copenhagen Accord,” which lacks final approval, calls for the richest nations to provide climate aid to developing nations of $30 billion over the next three years and $100 billion annually by the end of 2020, a plan that has won endorsement by the U.S. 80 Percent Emissions Cut The proposal also seeks an 80 percent emissions-cut by rich countries by 2050 and stopped short of listing any goals for 2020. Delegates said the summit, scheduled to end at 6 p.m. today, won’t end until at least tomorrow. There was opposition by some of the 119 world leaders attending the conference to the draft text, because it isn’t one of two official United Nations negotiating texts that are the product of two years of talks. “The documents that were being worked on for two years were left there frozen, like the snow falling here in Copenhagen,” Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told reporters earlier today. “Now they’re trying to bring a document out of nothing. We can’t support or accept that which we don’t know.” Earlier today, U.S. President Barack Obama met privately with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao for almost an hour. Wen later failed to attend a meeting between Obama and other world leaders, adding to speculation the world’s two biggest emitters are far apart on an agreement to fight climate change. Bolivian President Evo Morales also said his country “can’t accept” the document. Chavez and Morales made their comments before the latest draft was published. Temperature Target The new draft changes wording about a temperature target, saying nations should strive to keep warming to “below 2 degrees.” Earlier the text said the rise in global temperatures “ought not to exceed 2 degrees.” Neither draft specified the units, though envoys from the U.S., Europe and China have backed a target of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit.) Accepting 2 degrees “is to finish with all the islands in the world,” Bolivia’s Morals said. Delegates put an “X” for the 2020 target, compared with 1990 levels in both the new and earlier drafts. “This cannot be the outcome of Copenhagen: they’re going to have to do a lot more work,” Cindy Baxter , a spokeswoman for the environmental campaign group Greenpeace said earlier today in an interview in the Danish capital. Envoys from 193 nations are trying to craft a declaration to conclude the talks, which are being attended by about 120 world leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama , who repeated U.S. emissions pledges and financial aid today. The draft text included provisions for a total of $30 billion in climate aid from rich to poor nations over three years, rising to $100 billion annually by 2020, a figure Obama said the U.S. supports. European delegates and UN Framework Convention on climate Change Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer last month said the Copenhagen summit, the culmination of two years of negotiations, wouldn’t produce a legally binding treaty to curb greenhouse gases, and that it should set a firm timeline to achieve one. To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in Copenhagen via amorales2@bloomberg.net ; Jeremy van Loon in Copenhagen via jvanloon@bloomberg.net

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Scientific Goals May Be Missed in Copenhagen Accord

December 17, 2009

By Jim Efstathiou Jr. Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) — World leaders taking control of stalled climate talks today in Copenhagen may find the measures acceptable to 193 nations fall short of what scientists demand to slow global warming. Developed nations such as the U.S. and Japan may agree by tomorrow to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by about half what United Nations scientists said are needed to keep the planet from overheating. That’s a view shared by representatives of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Merrill Lynch & Co. and the European Commission, which represents 27 European nations. “We’ll only have the minimum level of commitments coming out of Copenhagen,” Abyd Karmali , London-based global head of carbon emissions for BofA Merrill Lynch, said in an interview. “There’s a scaling back of expectations” on bigger measures. World leaders from China, the U.S., the European Union and India, the top polluters, are taking charge of the talks from envoys who have bickered over key provisions since Dec. 7. The talks are scheduled to finish tomorrow. By 2020, developed nations must cut emissions 25 percent to 40 percent from 1990 to “stand a chance” of keeping the global temperature within 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) of pre-industrial times, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said. While a 2-degree pledge is possible, nations don’t seem to be putting the targets in place. “Everybody has to show a higher level of ambition,” U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown told reporters yesterday. “We’re looking to every part of the world to look again at numbers and see how ambitious they can be.” 6-Degree Limit Without emissions curbs, temperatures would rise by 6 degrees Celsius, an increase that “would lead almost certainly to massive climatic change,” the International Energy Agency, an advisor to 28 oil-consuming nations, said in a report . A more-than-2-degree warming will bring more intense flooding and drought and a faster sea-level increase, according to the UN. For 20 years, scientists working for the United Nations have provided guidance for global climate talks. The only achievement with teeth is the Kyoto Protocol, a 1997 accord that limits greenhouse-gas emissions among 37 industrialized nations. Those targets are set to expire in 2012, leaving the world without binding goals if Copenhagen doesn’t renew them. “Whatever we are going to achieve here, I would think that there’s something better,” European Union Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said in an interview. “Already, science is telling us that climate change is accelerating and the impacts are more ominous than previously thought.” China, India Stance Developing nations such as China and India have called on the U.S. to reduce emissions 40 percent in the period. The European Union has offered 20 percent. U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to pledge a cut of around 17 percent from 2005, or about 4 percent from the base year others use. “There’s a realization that with the United States not being able to move past the 17 percent based on 2005, everyone is going to have to scale back in the short term,” Karmali said. The final accord may include the aggregate cut already pledged by rich nations, said Elliot Diringer , who oversees international strategies at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, in Arlington, Virginia. That amounts to about 18 percent over the three decades. That pledge will require steeper, costlier reductions later in order to meet the 2-degree Celsius target, he said. “It is very likely going to fall short of what the science suggests is needed but this is just another step on the path” to stronger measures, Diringer said. 18 Percent Solution Dimas said he expects an agreement on a 2-degree target, a commitment from rich nations to cut emissions by about 18 percent by 2020, commitments by developing nations to reduce the growth of their emissions and a pledge to revisit the targets in two to four years. The latest negotiating draft released today reflects the level of discord. Temperature limits of 1 degree, 1.5 degrees and 2 degrees all remain options. “Unfortunately there’s nothing to report,” Jairam Ramesh , India’s environment minister, said today in an interview. “It’s been a day of complete stalemate.” Connie Hedegaard , chairwoman of the meeting, stepped down today, allowing Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen to take over. The Danes said they would offer a new proposal for a Copenhagen agreement. Any accord is likely to come in the form of a consensus by the negotiating parties, something in between a legally binding treaty and a political agreement, said Ruben Kraiem , co-chair of the climate practice for attorneys Covington & Burling LLP in New York. “It’ll be a consensus political agreement,” Kraiem said in an interview in Copenhagen. “It’s not just a handshake and it’s also not a treaty. It’s a decision by a corporate body.” To contact the reporter on this story: Jim Efstathiou Jr . in Copenhagen at jefstathiou@bloomberg.net .

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Climate-Change Talks May Set Deadlines; China Says Accord Still Possible

December 17, 2009

By Jeremy van Loon and Alex Morales Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) — United Nations envoys in Copenhagen who have failed to complete a climate-change treaty say they may set deadlines to complete a binding agreement in 2010. China today said an accord can be reached that may translate into a final deal by the middle of next year. “We’re still pushing to get a timeline,” said Artur Runge-Metzger , chief climate negotiator for the European Commission, in an interview today. China and the U.S. are also committed to get a deal by the end of next year, delegates said. One day before the two-week talks are scheduled to end, envoys from 193 countries are trying to agree on a to-do list for next year after giving up on setting legal limits for individual countries to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. “The clock is ticking and we do not have the luxury of time,” said Su Wei , China’s lead negotiator. “We would strive for an earlier time schedule because this is really urgent.” China’s Su said an agreement can be reached in Copenhagen that China “hopes” could be translated into a final deal “by the middle of next year, if possible, or if not, then by the end of the year.” In the Danish capital, where snow fell yesterday as world leaders began to arrive to wrap up the global-warming talks, progress on the accord was slowed as the 119 leaders prepared to take charge of the negotiations. With disagreements remaining over financing for poor countries, measurement and verification of carbon emissions as well as CO2 targets for rich nations, the Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen, who is also president of UN climate talks, is putting together a new draft to unblock the talks. Mexico City A timeline would help negotiators tackle obstacles that are holding back progress. A series of meetings are planned through 2010, with a final session set for Mexico City a year from now. Meanwhile, China and the U.S. are still at loggerheads over verifying emissions reductions. The Obama administration wants any climate accord that emerges from talks in Copenhagen to have tools to verify that nations are abiding by promises to cut greenhouse-gas emissions. China and India don’t want their national commitments to become legally binding in an international treaty. To contact the reporter on this story: Jeremy van Loon in Copenhagen via jvanloon@bloomberg.net ; Alex Morales in Copenhagen via amorales2@bloomberg.net .

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Envoys Clash Over Climate Aid in Denmark Before Obama, Ahmadinejad Arrive

December 15, 2009

By Alex Morales and Jim Efstathiou Jr. Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) — United Nations negotiators failed to agree on financial aid the U.S., Japan and industrialized nations will give to the developing world to cope with climate change, according to a draft document. The blueprint, released today in Copenhagen, outlines three options for long-term climate aid from developed to developing countries, none of which includes any financial commitments. Developing countries say aid is crucial to a global warming agreement that 192 nations aim to agree on by Dec. 18 at the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen. “This is eyewash — it’s a paper tiger,” Quamrul Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi envoy who coordinates the group of Least Developed Countries on finance issues, said in an interview in Copenhagen. “There is nothing in terms of long- term finance.” The talks, which began two years ago, have repeatedly stalled amid clashes between rich and poor countries over emission-reduction targets in developed countries, commitment to be made by developing nations to lower their own greenhouse gases and aid to poorer states. The toughest issues at the talks in Copenhagen have been handed from country negotiators up to ministers, said Elliot Diringer , who oversees international strategies at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, in Arlington, Virginia. Those include whether the agreement should aim to keep the global temperature increase from pre-industrial times to within 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius, and climate aid, he said. More than 110 world leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao are due to arrive in Copenhagen Dec. 16 to 18 to help seal an agreement to rein in emissions of global warming gases. To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in Copenhagen via amorales2@bloomberg.net ; Jim Efstathiou Jr . in Copenhagen at jefstathiou@bloomberg.net .

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Blair Tells BBC He Would Have Supported Iraq War Without Nuclear Evidence

December 12, 2009

By Caroline Alexander Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) — Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair would have favored removing Saddam Hussein from power even with no evidence that the Iraqi leader had weapons of mass destruction, he said in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp. “I would still have thought it right to remove him,” Blair said when asked if he would have backed a war against Iraq knowing that Hussein didn’t have nuclear weapons. “Obviously, you would have had to use and deploy different arguments” to justify the war to lawmakers and the public, he told the BBC. The possibility that Hussein had nuclear weapons was only one factor behind his decision to support the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, Blair said. The “notion” that Hussein presented a threat to the region was “uppermost” in his mind, he said. Blair has justified the invasion on the grounds that Hussein was in breach of United Nations-backed demands that his country abandon its weapons of mass destruction program. The former British leader said he sympathized with people opposed to the war, adding “but for me, you know, in the end I had to take the decision” and “I can’t really think we’d be better with him and his two sons still in charge.” Blair, who is now Middle East envoy for the so-called Quartet of the United Nations, is due to give evidence early next year to a British inquiry into his government’s decision to go to war against Iraq. He denied religion played a role in it, saying his faith had only sustained him through a very “difficult time.” Britain sent 40,000 troops to Iraq, the second largest contingent behind the U.S., contributing to a loss of support for Blair that played into his decision to step down in 2007. British combat troops carried out their last patrol in Iraq on April 30 and have left the country, according to the Ministry of Defence. The conflict claimed the lives of 179 British service personnel . The interview will be broadcast tomorrow on BBC One’s Fern Britton Meets interview program at 10 a.m. local time. A transcript was e-mailed to Bloomberg News. To contact the reporter on this story: Caroline Alexander in London at calexander1@bloomberg.net

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Video: Lomborg Sees Repeat of `Failed Strategy’ at Copenhagen

December 11, 2009

Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) — Bjoern Lomborg, director of the Copenhagen Consensus Center and author of the best-selling book “The Skeptical Environmentalist,” talks about international climate change negotiations. Lomborg speaks with Bloomberg’s Ryan Chilcote in Copenhagen, where the United Nations talks are taking place. (Source: Bloomberg)

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Soros Seeks $100 Billion in IMF Funds for Green Plan

December 10, 2009

By Jeremy van Loon and Sandrine Rastello Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) — Billionaire George Soros asked the richest nations to use $100 billion of foreign-exchange reserves to finance emissions-reducing projects in poor countries. The reserves, from the International Monetary Fund, would go into a green fund to “jump start” investments in rain forests, agriculture and land use that would lower carbon- dioxide emissions, the financier said today at climate negotiations involving more than 190 nations in Copenhagen . Soros, who has already pledged to invest $1 billion he manages in clean-energy technology, said his proposal is a catalyst for industrialized countries negotiating how to finance carbon-cutting efforts in the Danish capital. “Developed countries’ governments are laboring under the misapprehension that funding has to come from the national budgets but that is not the case,” Soros, 79, said at a news briefing. “They have it already. It is lying idle in their reserves accounts and in the vaults” of the IMF. The plan Soros is proposing would be in addition to long- term funding being discussed by negotiators at the United Nations talks, he said. Poor nations are demanding 1 percent of global gross domestic product annually from richer countries to help them adapt to climate change as well as reduce their own emissions. Protecting forests and planting trees where forests have already been cut down requires money for supplies, monitoring and enforcement. Delegates in the UN-led talks are studying proposals for awarding project investors with tradable “carbon credits” — representing the emissions avoided — that they could sell to regulated polluters such as power plants. ‘Soros Knows’ “Soros knows the importance of long-term investment in terms of a transition to a low-carbon economy,” Jonathan Jacoby , a private-sector adviser at Oxfam, said ahead of today’s announcement. “Private investors are looking first for public capital for a down payment.” The money would be offered for 25 years to start projects in forestry, agriculture and land use, Soros said. “These are the areas that offer the greatest scope for reducing carbon emissions and could produce substantial returns from carbon markets,” he said. There will be objections to using money for financing that was meant for reserves, Soros said, without saying who may support his green-fund proposal. A drawback to the plan is that U.S. legislators must be convinced to make the reserves available, Soros said. Even without the U.S., there would be about $100 billion that other countries could free up for the fund. Because trees absorb carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas scientists blame for climate change, investments to save forests and use land in ways that avoid emissions has been backed by UN officials for more than a decade. ‘A Win-Win’ “This is a win-win opportunity for developed and developing countries to work together,” Soros said. Negotiators have been working for two years to find ways to pay poor countries about $10 billion annually to help them cope with climate change. After spending hundreds of billions bailing out banks this year and last, industrialized nations have so far failed to reach an agreement on financing to help developing countries manage global warming. The Washington-based IMF in August pumped the equivalent of $250 billion into its 186 members’ foreign reserves, acting on an April call from leaders of the Group of 20 nations to boost global liquidity. The money is denominated in what are called special drawing rights, the IMF unit of account based on the dollar, yen, pound and euro. It was artificially added to reserves and can be converted into hard currencies. Climate change “is really an existential problem for the world,” said Soros. “The fund should be invested in such a way that it could potentially provide a return.” To contact the reporters on this story: Jeremy van Loon in Copenhagen via jvanloon@bloomberg.net Sandrine Rastello in Washington at srastello@bloomberg.net

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Video: UN’s De Boer Targets Global Climate Treaty by June 2010

December 7, 2009

Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) — Yvo de Boer, head of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, talks with Bloomberg’s Ryan Chilcote in Copenhagen about the outlook for negotiations on an international agreement to control greenhouse-gas emissions. Talks among 192 nations about a climate change deal open today in the Danish capital. (Source: Bloomberg)

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Video: UN’s De Boer Targets Global Climate Treaty by June 2010

December 7, 2009

Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) — Yvo de Boer, head of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, talks with Bloomberg’s Ryan Chilcote in Copenhagen about the outlook for negotiations on an international agreement to control greenhouse-gas emissions. Talks among 192 nations about a climate change deal open today in the Danish capital. (Source: Bloomberg)

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De Boer Asks Obama for `Ambitious’ Copenhagen Goal on Eve of Climate Talks

December 6, 2009

By Kim Chipman Dec. 6 (Bloomberg) — U.S. President Barack Obama should come to climate talks in Denmark with “strong” goals for cutting greenhouse gases and helping poor countries deal with global warming, United Nations climate chief Yvo de Boer said. “I hope that as part of the negotiating process he comes with an ambitious American target” to cut greenhouse-gas pollution and “‘strong financial support to reach out to developing countries,” de Boer told reporters in Copenhagen today on the eve of the two-week negotiations. Obama, facing pressure to assure other countries that the U.S. is moving toward a low-emissions economy, will attend the meeting on Dec. 18 along with about 100 other heads of state. The U.S. president had planned to arrive in Copenhagen on Dec. 9 during the first week of negotiations. De Boer said the change in schedule is welcome. “I’m happy that he’s coming toward the end of the conference together with other heads of state and government,” said de Boer, head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. “It’s especially important for him to hear the concerns of small island developing nations, the countries that are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.” Obama expects a “meaningful” agreement in Copenhagen, where almost 200 countries are gathering in an attempt to hammer out terms for a new international treaty to control climate change, the U.S. administration said in a statement last week. To contact the reporter on this story: Kim Chipman in Copenhagen at KChipman@bloomberg.net

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De Boer Asks Obama for `Ambitious’ Copenhagen Goal on Eve of Climate Talks

December 6, 2009

By Kim Chipman Dec. 6 (Bloomberg) — U.S. President Barack Obama should come to climate talks in Denmark with “strong” goals for cutting greenhouse gases and helping poor countries deal with global warming, United Nations climate chief Yvo de Boer said. “I hope that as part of the negotiating process he comes with an ambitious American target” to cut greenhouse-gas pollution and “‘strong financial support to reach out to developing countries,” de Boer told reporters in Copenhagen today on the eve of the two-week negotiations. Obama, facing pressure to assure other countries that the U.S. is moving toward a low-emissions economy, will attend the meeting on Dec. 18 along with about 100 other heads of state. The U.S. president had planned to arrive in Copenhagen on Dec. 9 during the first week of negotiations. De Boer said the change in schedule is welcome. “I’m happy that he’s coming toward the end of the conference together with other heads of state and government,” said de Boer, head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. “It’s especially important for him to hear the concerns of small island developing nations, the countries that are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.” Obama expects a “meaningful” agreement in Copenhagen, where almost 200 countries are gathering in an attempt to hammer out terms for a new international treaty to control climate change, the U.S. administration said in a statement last week. To contact the reporter on this story: Kim Chipman in Copenhagen at KChipman@bloomberg.net

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Deep Blue Marine, Inc. Announces Hiring of Archaeologist

November 25, 2009

SALT LAKE CITY, UT–(Marketwire – November 25, 2009) – Deep Blue Marine, Inc. ( PINKSHEETS : DPBE ) is pleased to announce the hiring of Alejandro Selmi as their official company archaeologist. Mr. Selmi comes with high accolades, an impressive resume and years of experience. The importance of having a qualified underwater archaeologist cannot be underscored. The necessity of ensuring that artifact recovery is being done in compliance with government requests and United Nations guidelines is a responsibility that Deep Blue Marine takes very seriously. The sites that Deep Blue Marine are currently diving on, as well as those that will be undertaken in the near future, are an essential part of the host country’s history and all recovery must be done with the respect and dignity each site has earned.

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Price of 5-in-1 Vaccine for Children Falls 19% on Drugmakers’ Competition

November 17, 2009

By Simeon Bennett Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) — The United Nations will pay 19 percent less next year for a vaccine against five deadly childhood diseases than in 2009, allowing 6.3 million more children in the world’s 72 poorest nations to be inoculated. The U.N.’s children’s fund, Unicef, will pay an average $2.94 a shot for the five-in-one vaccine, starting in 2010, compared with $3.65 this year, the GAVI Alliance said in a statement today. Unicef is the main buyer of the shots for GAVI, an alliance of governments, U.N. agencies, vaccine makers and charities including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that funds health programs in impoverished countries. GAVI, formerly known as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, was set up in 2000 to reduce the price of vaccines for people in poor nations by seeking to increase demand for the shots and competition among vaccine makers, the alliance said in the e-mailed statement. Four companies now make the five-in-one shots — Novartis AG, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Panacea Biotec Ltd and Sanofi-Aventis SA’s Shantha Biotechnics – - compared with one in 2001, GAVI said. “The price drop has come later than we had hoped and it needs to fall further,” Julian Lob-Levyt , the alliance’s chief executive officer, said in the statement. “But this is a clear indication that our market-shaping efforts work.” GAVI expects the price to fall to $2.61 by 2011, Jeffrey Rowland, a spokesman for the alliance, said in a telephone interview. The shots, which account for 40 percent of GAVI’s expenditure, are given to children in their first year of life and protect against Haemophilus influenzae type B, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus and hepatitis B . GAVI has vaccinated 256 million children, averting 4 million deaths since 2000, it said. To contact the reporter on this story: Simeon Bennett in Singapore at sbennett9@bloomberg.net

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Obama Says Time Running Out for Iran to Accept UN-Backed Nuclear Terms

November 15, 2009

By Julianna Goldman and Edwin Chen Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama said time is running short for Iran to accept terms of a deal offered by international negotiators seeking to prevent the Islamic republic from building a nuclear weapon. “We are now running out of time,” Obama said today after meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Singapore. Medvedev said through a translator that Russia is “not satisfied” with the pace of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program and that “other options remain on the table” to move the process. The two leaders also expressed optimism that talks between their two governments can meet next month’s deadline for a new bilateral nuclear arms agreement. Iran has yet to respond to a United Nations brokered proposal designed to slow any efforts to make a nuclear weapon with its stockpile of low-enriched uranium. Under the plan, Iran would ship the material to other countries where it would be turned into fuel for a medical research reactor in Tehran. Obama said that while the U.S. and Russia continue to urge Iran to take the steps necessary to meet its international obligations, “we can’t count on them.” More Pressure He said UN nations should “begin to discuss” other ways to put pressure on Iran. Medvedev said that while he hopes Iran will agree to the terms, the negotiations aren’t open-ended. “I hope we understand that any process must be terminant,” he said. Medvedev has said previously that Russia would consider backing new sanctions against Iran if the Middle Eastern country doesn’t halt its nuclear program. Iran is under three sets of UN sanctions for defying Security Council demands for a suspension of enrichment. On the other major item on their agenda, Obama said the U.S. and Russian are making “excellent progress” in negotiating a new treaty on reducing nuclear arms. Obama said he is confident the two sides can finish work before the end of the year. The U.S. and Russian presidents have made signing the accord a priority as they try to repair ties that sank under Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush . Replacing START The current Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, known as START, expires on Dec. 5. The pact sets limits on the numbers of warheads and delivery vehicles the U.S. and Russia can maintain and sets up verification mechanisms. Medvedev and Obama have called for a reduction of nuclear arsenals to between 1,500 and 1,675 warheads and between 500 and 1,100 delivery systems. Michael McFaul , Obama’s deputy national security adviser for Russian and Eurasian affairs, said both sides expect the treaty to be signed by the deadline, though ratification by the U.S. Senate may take longer. In that case the two sides will negotiate a “bridge agreement” to continue under the terms of the existing treaty. To contact the reporters on this story: Julianna Goldman in Singapore at jgoldman6@bloomberg.net ; Edwin Chen in Singapore at echen32@bloomberg.net

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Dan Dorfman: If Only Goldfinger Had Just Waited

November 13, 2009

If only Goldfinger had just waited One of Edgar Allen Poe’s most famous stories was The Gold-Bug. Written in 1843, it dealt with a man, William Legrand, who was deemed to be mentally ill because he was obsessed with finding gold after being bitten by the gold bug. He was likened to somebody who was bitten by a tarantula spider and driven into delirium. Nowadays, Legrande would be viewed as anything but delirious, but rather hailed as a financial whiz, what with the price of the precious metal in recent days–thanks to a rapidly expanding army of gold bugs– climbing above $1,100 an ounce, a new all-time high. That’s about a three-fold increase from gold’s opening price of $281 on January 1, 2001, more than a 100% gain from its 2005 close of $517, and a 25% rise from last year’s close of $880.80. What seems clear is that the earlier contingency of gold bugs–those who for many decades, and then some, used to periodically predict the metal would hit $1,000, $3,000 or $5,000 an ounce–can no longer be viewed as absolute candidates for a hospital’s psycho ward. Or, as one gold trader put it, “the lunatic fringe now has credibility.” Apparently India agrees, having recently shelled out $6.7 billion to buy 200 metric tons of gold from the International Monetary Fund for. That’s more than 7,054 million ounces of gold. So far, India is the wiser of the two, with those ounces of gold now worth more than $7.37 billion. The key question, of course, is whether gold can continue to glitter after its big run in recent years. One dogged tracker of precious metals, who has made excellent calls on gold’s price moves, responds with a resounding yes. That’s Larry Edelson, who tracks precious metals for Weiss Research of Jupiter, Fla., and is currently in the far East. He issued his first major buy signal on gold in early 2000 when it was trading at about $260 an ounce. He then urged clients to fatten their gold holdings on October 2004 when the metal rose above $400 and made the same recommendation again in September 2005, when gold topped $450. So clearly, his gold thoughts merit a respectful hearing. Edelson figures gold’s hot streak is nowhere close to ending, but he does hoist some cautionary flags. In brief, he thinks we could see a temporary pullback to the $900 level, which he views as nothing more than normal profit taking and one of those periodic corrections in an ongoing gold bull market. A pullback would scare a lot of weak buyers out of the market, but then, he says, “I think you’ll see a rebound to the $1,500 level.” What’s more, he feels any meaningful selloff in gold should be looked upon as a buying opportunity. Describing gold as a “must own investment,”–which, he says, should represent a minimum 10% of an investor’s portfolio– Edelson expects gold within two years to climb to $2,300, which would reflect its inflation-adjusted 1980 high of $875 an ounce. Gold, highly volatile and definitely taboo for widows and orphans, is basically a currency-related play and negative events related to the U.S. dollar are essentially why Edelson is such an ongoing gold bull. Not only is the dollar on the decline, but it’s on the verge, he says, of losing its reserve status, a happening that’s already in the process, and which he sees occurring in 2012. You can’t be the world’s largest debtor nation and maintain the reserve status, he observes; the creditors are now in control, and such creditor nations as China, Russia, Japan and India all want to replace the greenback as the reserve status, as does the IMF and the United Nations. China, incidentally, is urging all of its citizens to buy gold. Pointing to gold as the purest investment, Edelson notes that while paper money can be printed or devalued at will, as is happening now ad infinitum, the same cannot be said for gold. It behooves everyone to realize that the dollar is in serious trouble, he says, and that if you keep your money in cash, the value of that cash will erode. The way he figures it, a severe lack of confidence in the dollar, plunging gold production (down more than 50% in South Africa over the past 10 years) and rising demand for the metal clearly point to higher gold prices. What about the Wall Street Journal’s recent declaration that gold is a lousy investment? “That’s got to be one of the dumbest comments I’ve ever heard,” Edelson says. His No. 1 gold play is Newmont Mining, the bluest of the blue chip gold miners. He also favors actual bullion purchases from leading bullion dealers, SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), an exchange-traded fund whose shares each represent one tenth of an ounce of pure gold. (Two bullion dealers mentioned to me in the past as worth looking at for actual purchases of the metal itself are Monex and Blanchard) Edelson also is gung-ho on a trio of gold mutual funds, each of which he thinks could double, triple or maybe even quadruple over the next couple of years. They are the Tocqueville Gold Fund (TGLDX), U.S. Global Investors Gold and Precious Metals Fund (USERX) and U.S. Global Investors World Precious Minerals Fund (UNWPX). My thought: Poor Goldfinger. He must be turning over in his grave. If he only he had waited instead of trying to make all the gold in Fort Knox radioactive. Write to Dan Dorfman at Dandordan@aol.com

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Clinton Says U.S. Wants `Civil,’ Diplomatic Ties With Iran, Urges Talks

November 9, 2009

By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. wants a “civil, diplomatic relationship” with Iran and has told the regime that possessing a nuclear weapon isn’t in the nation’s best interests, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said. President Barack Obama conveyed that message to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Hoseini Khamenei , Clinton said in an interview with PBS’s Charlie Rose to be broadcast today on Bloomberg Television. Iran’s secrecy over its nuclear program has given the U.S. “many reasons to worry,” Clinton said. In the same interview, she said U.S. policy on Afghanistan must focus on destroying al- Qaeda, not on “nation-building.” The U.S. suspects Iran is trying to make a nuclear bomb and is working with France, the U.K., Germany, Russia and China to persuade the regime to stop enriching uranium. The government in Tehran insists its nuclear program is peaceful and intended for civilian purposes such as electricity generation. The U.S. cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 1980 in response to the seizure of the embassy in Tehran, where 52 American diplomats were held hostage for 444 days. The Obama administration has made clear to Iran that it accepts its right to pursue civilian nuclear energy, and that “we are not going to be demonizing you,” Clinton said, according to a transcript issued before the show went to air on PBS late yesterday. UN Inspections Clinton, who spoke with Rose in Berlin during commemorations for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, urged Iran to cooperate with United Nations inspections of its nuclear program, saying it isn’t in the regime’s interest to “be subjected to very onerous sanctions.” “No one wants” to resort to military means to halt Iran’s nuclear program, Clinton said. “We’ve always said that every option is on the table. Our goal is to prevent or dissuade Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.” Obama “has really gone the extra mile to try to engage with the Iranians,” sending “private messages to the supreme leader,” she added. “If they cannot overcome their mistrust and their internal political dynamic, then we have to do what we think is in our best interests.” Asked about the weeks the Obama administration is taking to evaluate its policy in Afghanistan, Clinton said Obama and his national security team are seeking to gather all relevant information rather than rushing to conclusions, to avoid a repeat of “mid-course corrections” taken by the Bush administration in Iraq. “There was a lot of talk during the prior administration that came pretty close to nation-building, transforming Afghanistan,” she said. “Is that directly in our national security interests? Probably not. So we want to help, but we want to keep focused on what is clearly in our national security interests, to dismantle, disrupt and defeat al-Qaeda and its extremist allies.” To contact the reporter on this story: Indira Lakshmanan in Washington at ilakshmanan@bloomberg.net

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Japan Plans to Triple Afghan Aid to $1 Billion as Mission Ends, Ogata Says

November 8, 2009

By Sachiko Sakamaki and Takashi Hirokawa Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) — Japan’s top aid official said the government will likely triple its annual civilian support to Afghanistan to $1 billion as it ends a military refueling mission to the war-torn county. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama should focus assistance on agriculture and urban development, Sadako Ogata , president of the Japan International Cooperation Agency , said in an interview. His decision to stop providing naval refueling vessels in support of U.S.-led forces won’t harm American ties, she said. “I think the annual amount will be close to $1 billion,” Ogata, 82, said in a Nov. 6 interview at her office in Tokyo. “There are significant expectations for Japan’s civilian power.” Hatoyama is seeking to boost Japan’s contribution in the region while soothing any U.S. resentment for ending the Indian Ocean refueling mission. Japan has provided about $1.8 billion in Afghan reconstruction aid since 2002, with JICA playing the “central role” by building more than 500 schools, increasing rice production and boosting infrastructure, Ogata said. “We have so many ways to spend money,” she said. Ogata, who according to Japan’s Foreign Ministry has visited Afghanistan more than any other senior government official, said the Hatoyama administration is considering how to strengthen that nation’s police, whose salaries are 50 percent funded by Japan. Security Review Hatoyama is reviewing Japan’s security policy and seeking “equal” ties with the U.S. after his Democratic Party of Japan in August ousted the Liberal Democratic Party , which had governed for more than five decades. “Obama administration officials told me they want each nation to contribute by what it can do best and they value support for the Afghan people,” said Ogata, who visited Washington in March as special envoy for Hatoyama’s predecessor Taro Aso . “It’s only natural for a new government to review policy after one party ruled for 50 years.” Ogata was the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from 1991 to 2000. To contact the reporter on this story: Sachiko Sakamaki in Tokyo at Ssakamaki1@bloomberg.net ; Takashi Hirokawa in Tokyo at thirokawa@bloomberg.net

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Pakistan Bomb Kills 33 in Garrison City Rawalpindi; Taliban Bounty Offered

November 2, 2009

By Farhan Sharif and Khaleeq Ahmed Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) — At least 25 people were killed in an explosion close to the Shalimar Hotel in Pakistan’s garrison town of Rawalpindi as the government placed a $5 million bounty on Taliban militants it blames for the majority of such attacks. “The blast happened in front of a bank as a line of people came to collect salaries and pensions on the first working day of the month,” said Muneer Ahmed, a police officer at the scene, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) from the capital, Islamabad. Pro-Taliban insurgents stepped up suicide bombings and attacks after Pakistan’s army last month began its biggest offensive against extremists in the South Waziristan region bordering Afghanistan. Today’s bombing brings the combined death toll to more than 300 people. The blast broke windows in nearby buildings and destroyed cars. Television stations showed rescue workers ferrying the injured to ambulances as police and soldiers attempted to clear the area. The bomb, which detonated about half a kilometer from Pakistan’s army headquarters in Rawalpindi, was placed in a motorcycle, police Superintendent Ishtiaq Shah said. “It’s a very crowded area so the toll could rise,” Captain Rashid, a spokesman for the Edhi Ambulance Service, said by telephone from Islamabad. Pakistan’s government earlier today offered cash rewards for the capture of Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud and 18 of his fighters as the army intensifies efforts to clear militants from the tribal regions before winter sets in next month. Newspaper Advertisements The bounty was offered in advertisements placed on the front pages of The News and The Jang newspapers. Mehsud, leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban group that Pakistan blames for 80 percent of terrorist attacks on its soil, commanded an individual reward of 50 million rupees ($600,000). The authorities in May offered cash for information leading to the capture of 21 Taliban fighters in the northwestern Swat Valley. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton , visiting Pakistan last week, said al-Qaeda had a haven in the border region and Pakistan’s government should hunt down militant leaders. The army has been attacking a terrorist base at Sararogha in South Waziristan. Soldiers advanced after sealing off the town on three sides, the official Associated Press of Pakistan cited the army as saying in a statement yesterday. Troops have entered the town, the Nation newspaper said. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the world body had raised the security level to “phase four” in the North West Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, Agence France-Presse reported, citing a UN statement. To contact the reporters on this story: Farhan Sharif in Karachi at fsharif2@bloomberg.net ; Khaleeq Ahmed in Islamabad at kkhan8@bloomberg.net .

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Afghanistan’s Abdullah Withdraws From Presidential Run-Off Against Karzai

November 1, 2009

By Jay Shankar Nov. 1 (Bloomberg) — Abdullah Abdullah , former Afghan foreign minister, said he will withdraw from the Nov. 7 presidential run-off election against Hamid Karzai . “Afghan people deserve a better election,” Abdullah said in a televised address broadcast live by CNN. Addressing supporters in the capital, Kabul, he said a transparent election was not possible. Abdullah called on his supporters not to boycott the runoff, the Associated Press reported. A partial recount, backed by the United Nations , of the Aug. 20 vote found more than 1 million ballots, most of them for Karzai, were suspect, putting his tally below the more than 50 percent needed to win the first round triggering a run-off. Allegations of voting fraud have complicated President Barack Obama’s decision on whether to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan beyond the extra 21,000 he approved earlier this year. About 68,000 troops are in Afghanistan today, the administration’s current goal, according to Pentagon data. To contact the reporter on this story: Jay Shankar in Bangalore at jshankar1@bloomberg.net

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Afghan Taliban Kill Six United Nations Staff in Raid on Kabul Guesthouse

October 28, 2009

By Ed Johnson and James Rupert Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) — Six United Nations international workers were killed and nine wounded when insurgents attacked a guesthouse today in the Afghan capital, Kabul, where officials are preparing for next month’s presidential runoff election. Gunmen opened fire outside the main gate to the Bakhtar Guesthouse at about 6:30 a.m. local time and forced their way inside, killing UN workers as they “were running to escape,” UN spokesman Aleem Siddique said by telephone from Kabul. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack that left 10 people dead, saying it was intended to disrupt preparations for the vote, the Associated Press reported. Militants also fired a rocket, which failed to explode, into the grounds of the luxury Serena Hotel, forcing guests and employees to flee to the basement, the news agency said. Kabul has been on alert for a militant assault as Afghans prepare to vote on Nov. 7 to choose between incumbent President Hamid Karzai and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah . The capital has been hit several times in recent weeks, including a suicide bombing outside the Indian Embassy earlier this month that killed 17 people. The guesthouse is on a tree-lined street in Shahr-i-Nau, a central Kabul neighborhood where many government and international organizations have offices and residences. UN workers were injured, many with cuts and bruises suffered as they fled, Siddique said. “We’re trying to assure the safety of our staff, and we don’t know yet the identities of everyone who was killed,” he added. Machine Guns Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a telephone call that three militants with suicide vests, grenades and machine guns carried out the assault, AP reported. Three militants wearing explosive-packed vests were killed, Agence France-Presse reported, citing the Interior Ministry. Kabul is under a “very significant threat” from the Taliban, who are escalating attacks against the capital, said Rohan Gunaratna , head of the Singapore-based International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research. “One successful attack like this in Kabul sends a powerful message to the Afghan people and the international community that the Taliban will continue to fight and will not give up,” Gunaratna said by telephone. The assault came a day after eight U.S. soldiers were killed by roadside bombs in southern Afghanistan, making October the deadliest month for American forces in the eight-year conflict. President Barack Obama is reviewing his war strategy for Afghanistan and accusations of electoral fraud have complicated his decision on whether to grant the request of General Stanley McChrystal , the commander of U.S. and NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, to increase U.S. troop levels in the country. The runoff was triggered by a partial recount of the Aug. 20 vote that found more than 1 million ballots, most of them for Karzai, were suspect, putting his tally below the more than 50 percent needed to win in the first round. To contact the reporters on this story: Ed Johnson in Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net ; James Rupert in New Delhi at jrupert3@bloomberg.net .

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Afghan Police Say Five People Dead in Afghan Guesthouse Shooting, AP Says

October 27, 2009

By Ed Johnson Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) — Five people died in shooting at a guesthouse used by United Nations workers in the Afghan capital, Kabul, the Associated Press reported, citing police. Gunfire and explosions rocked the city early today and thick smoke rose above offices and residential buildings, according to the report. Kabul is on alert for a Taliban attack before next month’s runoff presidential election, AP said. Afghans are scheduled to vote Nov. 7, choosing between incumbent President Hamid Karzai and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah , after allegations of fraud triggered a partial recount of the Aug. 20 ballot. To contact the reporter on this story: Ed Johnson in Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net .

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China, India Gird for Global Climate-Treaty Talks by Forging Alternatives

October 22, 2009

By Gaurav Singh Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) — China and India’s joint plan to cut greenhouse-gas emissions provides the developing world with an alternative to the global climate treaty that wealthier nations want them to sign in Copenhagen this year, analysts said. Asia’s two biggest polluters from burning carbon-based fuels said they will collaborate on renewable power and energy- efficiency projects, in a memorandum of understanding yesterday in New Delhi. They rejected limits on their emissions proposed by industrialized nations under an international climate accord. “They’re trying to gain leverage going into Copenhagen and show the world they have other options if the global talks break down,” said Olav Roenningen , senior analyst at carbon-markets advisory firm Markedskraft in Arendal, Norway. The New Delhi accord shows how support may be eroding for a treaty that United Nations negotiators aim to conclude in Copenhagen in December. Developing nations led by China and India are devising similar regional agreements, citing a failure by wealthier countries including the U.S. to agree to reduce emissions by 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020 and share clean-energy technology with poorer countries. Speculation that countries won’t produce a treaty has built this month after Yvo De Boer , the top UN climate official, said on Oct. 13 that the Copenhagen summit may be “half-baked” unless rich nations agree to do more to trim gas emissions. “When India and China take the lead, the rest usually follow,” said Michael Mason , director of the conservation program at Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics. Still, their new accord may be seen “as a ploy to say we’re going to go ahead and start dealing bilaterally if we can’t come to a multilateral agreement.” More Regional Deals The accord was signed by Xie Zhenhua , vice minister at China’s National Development and Reform Commission, and Indian environment minister Jairam Ramesh in the Indian capital. “We may see even more regional deals like this during the next month before the UN climate talks start,” Roenningen said. India and neighboring countries may sign a regional environment treaty next year, Ramesh said in a separate speech at a meeting of officials from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, known as Saarc. “A regional environment treaty will be finalized, to be signed at the next Saarc summit at Thimpu in April 2010,” Ramesh said on Oct. 20. Thimpu is the capital of Bhutan . Saarc includes India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives and Bhutan. China is not a member. Ministers from more than 30 African nations agreed in May that measures to adapt to the effects of climate change on agriculture, water supply, forests and human health should be included in national and regional development plans. Chinese Pledge Chinese President Hu Jintao said last month his country will cut emissions in proportion to economic growth, without outlining specific goals or whether he would included it in a global agreement. China and India together account for about one-fourth of the emissions blamed for global warming that scientists say leads to rising sea levels, as well as disruptive weather patterns that cause more intense storms and droughts. The United Nations is aiming for a climate agreement to replace or extend the Kyoto Protocol, expiring in 2012. After climate talks in Bangkok this month, countries have another week in Barcelona in November before the Copenhagen summit. “India and China are most vulnerable to climate change,” Xie said yesterday. “Both countries are in the process of rapid industrialization and urbanization. I am confident China and India will make a positive contribution to Copenhagen.” Examining India The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol provisions are the most appropriate framework for addressing climate change, according to the copy of the agreement given to reporters in New Delhi. India will consider outside measurement and verification of its efforts to tackle climate change if they were supported by international finance and the transfer of technology from developed nations, Ramesh said in a statement on Oct. 20. “There is virtually no difference in Indian and Chinese negotiating positions,” Ramesh said. Ramesh suggested earlier this month that only a limited agreement would emerge in Copenhagen and that the conference should focus on rich countries financing and aiding poor nations affected by climate change. Trust between rich and developing nations had “broken down” at recent UN negotiations in Bangkok, he said. To contact the reporter on this story: Gaurav Singh in New Delhi at gsingh31@bloomberg.net

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Iran Says It’s Ready to Accept Deal for U.S., Russian Shipments of Uranium

October 21, 2009

By Jonathan Tirone Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) — Iran said it is ready to accept a deal under which Russia would supply it with enriched uranium for a research reactor, improving the prospects for broader talks aimed at allaying Western concerns that the Persian Gulf country seeks an atomic bomb. The United Nations nuclear agency circulated a compromise between Iran, the U.S., France and Russia on providing Iran with the fuel for the Tehran reactor during talks today in Vienna. Under the proposal, Iran may ship some or all of the 1,500 kilograms (3,307 pounds) of low-enriched uranium at its Natanz fuel-fabrication plant. It will be further enriched in Russia and converted into fuel for the reactor, which supplies medical isotopes to more than 200 hospitals in Iran. “We are masters of enrichment technology,” Iran’s International Atomic Energy Agency ambassador Aliasghar Soltanieh told reporters after the meeting. “We could produce the fuel for ourselves for this nuclear reactor but we have decided that we will receive the fuel from the potential suppliers willing to do so instead.” Diplomats are trying to strike a deal to supply Iran with the fuel, while assuaging Western concerns that the country is using atomic technology for military purposes. Iran maintains its nuclear program is lawful and designed for civilian purposes such as electricity generation. The U.S. praised mediation by IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei, saying that the draft agreement presented by by him “was a very positive step,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters in Washington today. Russian Role The countries have until Oct. 23 to inform the IAEA formally whether they accept the compromise, ElBaradei told reporters after the meeting ended around 1 p.m. in Vienna. Russia would be the “main party for the supply of fuel” under the proposal, Iran’s state-run Fars news agency cited Soltanieh as saying. This week’s three days of technical talks followed a meeting between Iran and the leading United Nations powers Oct. 1 to try to resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program. The Persian Gulf country is under three sets of UN sanctions for persisting with its atomic work. “Everyone is aware that the transaction using Iran’s low- enriched uranium to be manufactured into fuel is a very important confidence-building measure that can defuse the crisis that has been going on for years,” said Elbaradei, who retires next month from the agency he’s led for 12 years. “The spirit here was very constructive.” Tehran Reactor Iran said Oct. 19 it would begin work to increase the level of enrichment in its uranium program to produce fuel for the reactor unless other countries supplied it with the material. Iran currently produces low-enriched uranium, which it says is needed for power plants, while the U.S. and some allies say it is working to make highly enriched uranium for a bomb. Iran sent the IAEA a letter on June 2 expressing its desire to import enriched uranium for its Tehran research reactor, Soltanieh said. That original inquiry resulted in Russian and U.S. responses expressing willingness for a deal. The proposal “reflects a balanced approach to move forward,” ElBaradei said. “If we do get an affirmative action, then I hope we can have an agreement that can be sent to the board of governors.” “We have had very constructive discussions, intensive discussions,” Soltanieh said. “There have been proposals. We had thorough discussions on these issues. We have to thoroughly study this text and have further elaboration in capitals and will come back and reflect.” To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Tirone at jtirone@bloomberg.net

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Pakistan Bombing Kills 42 as Government Steps Up Campaign Against Taliban

October 9, 2009

By Khalid Qayum and Farhan Sharif Oct. 9 (Bloomberg) — A car bombing in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar today killed at least 42 people, as the government moved toward expanding its campaign against Taliban militants. The bombing at the Khyber Bazaar wounded at least 90, many of them seriously, Sher Gul, a spokesman for the Edhi Foundation ambulance service, said in a telephone interview. The toll may rise, he said. Vehicles including civilian buses were destroyed in the blast, Mian Iftikhar Hussain , information minister of the ethnic Pashtun North West Frontier Province, told reporters. “The attackers are the enemies of humanity,” Hussain said. “We won’t rest until we have eliminated them.” The bomber used about 50 kilograms (110 lbs) of explosives in today’s attack, Shafqat Malik, assistant inspector general of police, told reporters, without saying it was a suicide attack. Today’s was the deadliest of more than a dozen terrorist attacks this year in Peshawar, a city of 1.5 million near the Khyber pass border crossing with Afghanistan, where international forces are fighting a spreading insurgency. Pakistan blames the attacks on Taliban guerrillas based in the nearby tribal region that borders Afghanistan. Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said the attacks are to avenge the killing of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, who died in a U.S. drone attack in August. On June 9, militants killed at least 12 people, including two United Nations workers when they drove a truck bomb into Peshawar’s main luxury hotel, the Pearl Continental. A suicide bomb attack at the United Nations World Food Program headquarters in Islamabad on Oct. 5 killed 5 people. Expanded Campaign Malik said earlier today that the government will decide in a day or two about how soon to start a military operation against militants in South and North Waziristan tribal districts, the main Taliban strongholds along the border with Afghanistan. The people of these regions are demanding a campaign against militants, he said. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the Peshawar blast and ordered a probe. “Such activities cannot deter the government from its action against the extremists and action will continue till their complete elimination,” he said according to a statement released by his office in Islamabad. The new Taliban chief Hakeemullah Mehsud has reportedly threatened to carry out more terrorist attacks to in retaliation for Baitullah Mehsud’s killing. To contact the reporters on this story: Khalid Qayum in Islamabad at kqayum@bloomberg.net

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Pakistan Warned UN of Unsafe Office Before Fatal Bomb Attack, Envoy Says

October 8, 2009

By Bill Varner Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) — Pakistan told the United Nations that the Islamabad headquarters of the World Food Program wasn’t in an adequately secure site months before a suicide bomb attack killed five people there Oct. 5, the nation’s UN envoy said. “There is a question of lax security,” Abdullah Hussain Haroon, Pakistan’s envoy to the UN, said in an interview. “We have been telling them for a time that this place was not secure. This matter was taken up at the very highest levels of the UN.” Haroon said Pakistan’s government has urged the UN for the past two years to move its agencies to a proposed 16-acre site in what he called a “diplomatic enclave.” The WFP office, while in a residential area that is “not particularly accessible,” wasn’t adequately protected, given the recent history of bombings in Pakistan, he said. The attack was the deadliest against the UN since 17 workers were killed in a terrorist bombing of its Algiers headquarters on Dec. 11, 2007. A subsequent investigation and report said UN officials failed to respond to warnings of a potential attack by the senior security officer in the Algiers office. Like many UN offices in Islamabad, the WFP headquarters was in a rented villa on a two-lane, residential street. After last year’s truck bomb attack that killed 53 people at the Marriott Hotel, WFP barricaded its office against vehicle bombs by building a two-story-high earth-filled barrier near the street. ‘Ongoing Discussions’ “There have been ongoing discussions about the wider United Nations community in Pakistan moving to a different location,” WFP spokeswoman Bettina Luescher said in an e-mail. “So far, however, none of the options have been large enough to accommodate all WFP staff. We are actively continuing to explore every possible option.” The bombing of the WFP office was the third in 16 months against foreign institutions in the capital. The government had intelligence that Taliban militants were planning an attack “but not exactly about this incident,” Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Oct. 6. The UN Staff Union said in a statement released on Oct. 5 that the attack was “not without warning” and that the world body’s leadership “has not implemented all necessary safety and security arrangements to protect its staff.” The union asked for an investigation of the incident. The report on the Algiers bombing, following an independent investigation headed by former Algerian foreign minister Lakhdar Brahimi , said the UN needed a “change in culture” to deal with increasing global terrorist dangers. The UN is viewed by terrorists and their allies as “an instrument of powerful member states to advance agendas that serve their own interests rather than those of the global community of nations,” the report said, without specifying which member states and what interests were involved. To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Varner at the United Nations at wvarner@bloomberg.net

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Latex Allergy Linked to Adverse Reaction to Swine Flu Shot, Australia Says

October 8, 2009

By Jason Gale Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) — Health officials in Australia, where mass vaccination against swine flu began eight days ago, said a person with an allergy to latex developed a reaction to the shot. While the short-term reaction occurred at the time of vaccination, the cause hasn’t been determined, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners said in a statement on its Web site yesterday. The nation’s drug regulator is investigating the case, the doctors group said. The pandemic H1N1 2009 influenza vaccine and vial are latex-free, while 1-milliliter syringes in immunization packs contain the rubber material, according to the statement. Latex- free syringes are recommended for patients with a latex allergy , though there isn’t a proven association, the college said. Fewer than 1 in 100 people are allergic to latex, according to the American Latex Allergy Association . Symptoms include hives, sneezing, stomach cramps and shortness of breath. Results of trials on the pandemic flu vaccine so far suggest the shots are as safe as those manufactured each year to fight the seasonal virus, the World Health Organization said in a Sept. 24 briefing note . The Geneva-based agency is expecting side effects from the pandemic shot to be similar to those observed with seasonal influenza vaccines. Common side effects include local reactions at the injection site, such as soreness, swelling and redness, and possibly some systemic reactions, such as fever, headache and muscle or joint aches. “In almost all vaccine recipients, these symptoms are mild, self-limited and last one to two days,” WHO said in the note. “However, even very large clinical trials will not be able to identify possible rare events that can occur when pandemic vaccines are administered to many millions of people.” The United Nations health agency advises all countries administering pandemic vaccines to conduct intensive monitoring for safety and to report adverse events. To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Gale in Singapore at j.gale@bloomberg.net

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Seasonal Flu Shot May Boost Defenses Against H1N1 Virus, Researchers Say

October 7, 2009

By Carey Sargent Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) — Vaccine prepared for the 2008-2009 flu season may provide some protection against the pandemic H1N1 virus and help fend off the most severe forms of the disease, research published in the British Medical Journal found. Of the 179 unvaccinated people in the Mexican study, 29 percent became infected with pandemic H1N1 virus, compared with just 13 percent of vaccinated patients. None of the swine flu patients who received the shot died, compared with 30 percent of those who were unvaccinated, the researchers found. Vaccines prepared for the seasonal flu include an H1N1 strain. The shot may provide some protection against swine flu because people who have been previously exposed to a similar virus have a heightened antibody response, said researchers led by Jose Luis Valdespino at the Laboratorios de Biologicos y Reactivos de Mexico. The study was limited by the number of patients and more research is needed, they said. “The results are to be considered cautiously and in no way indicate that seasonal vaccine should replace vaccination against pandemic influenza A/H1N1 2009,” Valdespino said in the study. A study published in the journal Eurosurveillance in August looked at patients who tested positive for swine flu and their vaccination history and found no evidence of “significant protection” from the seasonal shot in any age group. Valdespino’s team studied 60 patients diagnosed with swine flu and 180 uninfected people. They found that those without the disease were significantly more likely to have been vaccinated. ‘Restricted Protection’ There may be some biases with the study because it was retrospective and involved only 240 people, said Menno de Jong, head of microbiology at the University of Amsterdam’s Academic Medical Center, who wrote an accompanying editorial on pandemic vaccination. “It suggests that if you were vaccinated, it might mitigate the disease” by boosting the immune response, de Jong said in a telephone interview. “It’s a restricted level of protection, though, and highlights the need for a specific vaccine against the novel H1N1 virus.” Companies including Novartis AG and Sanofi-Aventis SA have produced flu vaccine to specifically target the new H1N1 strain. H1N1 has infected at least 340,000 people and killed at least 4,100 globally as of Sept. 27, the World Health Organization said last week. The figures are based on laboratory-confirmed cases reported to the Geneva-based United Nations agency. The researchers received funding from the Mexican Ministry of Health. To contact the reporter on this story: Carey Sargent in Geneva at Csargent3@bloomberg.net

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Kim Tells Wen North Korea Is Willing to Return to Six-Party Nuclear Talks

October 5, 2009

By Seonjin Cha Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao his regime is prepared to return to six-party nuclear disarmament talks, the official Korean Central News Agency reported. Attending the talks depends on progress in North Korea’s dialogue with the U.S., KCNA cited Kim as telling Wen yesterday during a meeting in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. The “hostile relationship” between North Korea and the U.S. should be “converted into peaceful ties through the bilateral talks without fail,” KCNA said. “Our efforts to attain the goal of denuclearizing the peninsula remain unchanged.” North Korea pulled out of the talks, which also involve South Korea, the U.S., Japan and Russia, in April after the United Nations condemned the country for launching a missile over Japan. The U.S. said last month it is willing to engage North Korea directly to resume the nuclear talks. China hosts the six-party forum and Wen is in North Korea on a three-day visit amid heightened diplomatic efforts to convince Kim’s regime to return to the process. Kim’s government agreed in February 2007 to scrap its nuclear program in return for energy aid and normalized diplomatic ties with the U.S. and Japan. The disarmament talks stalled after North Korea refused to let inspectors remove samples from its Yongbyon nuclear reactor. The regime detonated a nuclear device in May, after its first such test in October 2006. The UN Security Council voted unanimously in June to adopt a U.S.-backed resolution punishing North Korea for its nuclear test. The measure seeks to curb loans and money transfers to North Korea and step up inspection of cargoes containing material that might contribute to the development of nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles. In a letter to the Security Council last month, the government in Pyongyang said it is “weaponizing” plutonium and has almost succeeded in highly enriching uranium, the second means for creating a nuclear device. To contact the reporter on this story: Seonjin Cha in Seoul at scha2@bloomberg.net

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Blast at World Food Program Office in Pakistani Capital Kills Three People

October 5, 2009

By Khalid Qayum and James Rupert Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) — A bomb exploded in the Pakistan headquarters of the United Nations’ World Food Program , police told reporters, killing at least two people and injuring several others. The midday blast in Islamabad killed a foreigner and a Pakistani woman, said Wasim Khawaja, a spokesman for the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences , a hospital in the capital. It was caused by a bomb that may have been placed in the basement, Islamabad police superintendent Tahir Alam told reporters. The explosion raised a column of smoke over the elite Islamabad neighborhood where President Asif Ali Zardari has his home only a few blocks away. “I was getting ready to go out and I saw a UN vehicle enter the gate” of the building, said Saadia Abbasi, a Pakistani lawyer and former senator who lives across the street. “About 45 seconds later, there was a terrible blast, and everything shook and smoke started pouring out” of the compound. “The UN staff have brought about four or five people out of there, bleeding and injured,” Abbasi said. Within an hour of the blast, at least four injured people had been taken to the PIMS hospital, Khawaja told reporters. To contact the reporter on this story: Khalid Qayum in Islamabad at kqayum@bloomberg.net ; James Rupert in New Delhi at 2024 or jrupert3@bloomberg.net .

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IAEA to Inspect Iranian Qom Nuclear Facility on Oct. 25, ElBaradei Says

October 4, 2009

By Ladane Nasseri Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) — Mohamed ElBaradei , head of the United Nations nuclear agency, said inspectors would visit Iran’s newly disclosed uranium processing plant near the holy city of Qom on Oct. 25. ElBaradei, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s director general, said Iran’s relations with the international community were at a “critical moment” as it was “shifting gear from confrontation to transparency and cooperation.” Iran’s new plant, disclosed in September, is its second built to enrich uranium and isolate isotopes of the metal to generate fuel used in a nuclear power reactor. In higher concentrations enriched uranium can be used to make a bomb. ElBaradei, whose comments were aired live on the state-run Press TV channel, was speaking during a two-day visit to the Iranian capital, where he met with the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi . Iran will also hold talks with the U.S., Russia and France in Vienna on Oct. 19 over a project to enrich fuel for its research reactor, ElBaradei said. To contact the reporter on this story: Ladane Nasseri in Beirut at lnasseri@bloomberg.net .

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Obama Says U.S. Won’t Accept Legitimacy of Israel’s West Bank Settlements

September 23, 2009

By Janine Zacharia Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama called Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegitimate a day after he praised Israel for showing restraint in their construction, a comment that had left Palestinians angry. “We continue to call on Palestinians to end incitement against Israel. And we continue to emphasize that America does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements,” Obama said in a speech today before the United Nations General Assembly. Obama brought Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas together for a meeting yesterday in New York aimed at restarting negotiations on the fundamental issues that divide them: the future of Jerusalem, the fate of Palestinian refugees and the borders of a future Palestinian state. Instead, the president had to settle for the more limited accomplishment of meeting with both leaders together for the first time and extracting an agreement to keep talking about possible negotiations. In today’s speech, Obama set out the U.S. position and signaled a willingness to keep up pressure on Israel while calling on Arab leaders and others to show more effort. “The United States does Israel no favors when we fail to couple an unwavering commitment to its security with an insistence that Israel respect the legitimate claims and rights of the Palestinians,” Obama said. “And nations within this body do the Palestinians no favors when they choose vitriolic attacks against Israel over constructive willingness to recognize Israel’s legitimacy and its right to exist in peace and security,” he added. Envoy Stymied Obama’s Middle East envoy, former U.S. Senator George Mitchell , has for months been trying to win an Israeli settlement freeze in the West Bank, the core territory of a future Palestinian state, as a way of prodding the Palestinians to take steps on security. The concession also would persuade Arab states to normalize ties with Israel, according to the American strategy. Still, Israel and the U.S. remain divided on the nature of a settlement halt. Israel has announced the construction of 455 new homes in the West Bank and says it will finish construction on 2,500 others. To contact the reporter on this story: Janine Zacharia in New York at jzacharia@bloomberg.net .

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Obama Calls for New Era of World Cooperation in UN General Assembly Speech

September 23, 2009

By Nicholas Johnston and Kate Andersen Brower Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama, in his first address to the United Nations General Assembly, sought to set a new tone for U.S. relations with other countries and called for a new era of cooperation. “I am well aware of the expectations that accompany my presidency around the world,” Obama said. “These expectations are not about me, rather they are rooted I believe in the discontent of the status quo.” He said while the U.S. is taking a new direction, other countries must give up their “almost reflexive anti- Americanism” that has served as an excuse for inaction on issues from terrorism to fighting poverty. Obama’s speech to the General Assembly today comes amid a series of meetings with world leaders, including Chinese President Hu Jintao yesterday, and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev today. To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Johnston in Washington at njohnston3@bloomberg.net

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Jason Fine Appointed Chairman of the Board and CEO of ECOLOGIX Resource Group

September 23, 2009

BEVERLY HILLS, CA–(Marketwire – September 23, 2009) – ECOLOGIX Resource Group ( OTCBB : EXRG ), a natural resource company focused on the timber industry and production of alternative energy solutions, announced today the appointment of Jason Fine as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of ECOLOGIX Resource Group. Jason Fine joins ECOLOGIX with approximately 15 years of executive management experience in business development, outsourcing and marketing. Most recently, Mr. Fine served as Senior Advisor to Ambassador Juan Avila, the Dominican Republic’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and as Chairman of the American Teleservices Association’s International Committee. The latest company he co-founded, for which he served as CEO and remains a board member of, the Contact Center Institute of the Americas (CCI), was recently allocated funding from the Government of the Dominican Repu

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Obama Displays Cold War Mindset That Impedes Relations, Russian Envoy Says

September 21, 2009

By Bill Varner Sept. 21 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama’s decision to scrap a missile-defense network in Eastern Europe revealed a Cold War mindset that impedes better relations, Russia’s envoy to the United Nations said today. Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said it was counterproductive to improved cooperation on nuclear issues for Defense Secretary Robert Gates and White House officials to say the decision wasn’t about Russia. They insisted new intelligence and technology drove the move to abandon a planned system in Poland and the Czech Republic. “It shows to us that the U.S. continues to be a rather difficult negotiating partner, a partner who is loaded in many wars by a Cold War mentality,” Churkin said in an interview in New York. “By doing that they are undermining the value of the decision in our eyes.” Obama said he hoped the decision would make Russian leaders more willing to work with the U.S. to deal with threats including the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea. The U.S. is pursuing diplomatic efforts to persuade both countries to abandon any nuclear development designed to create weaponry. Churkin said the U.S. rationale was an “indication to me that this new era of cooperation is not going to be easy because the U.S., while they try to move ahead, still has these weights hanging on their feet,” Churkin said. Obama said on Sept. 17 that he was scrapping the missile- system proposal, championed by his predecessor George W. Bush in the face of Russian opposition. Instead, Obama favors a more flexible system better able to protect against threats to the U.S. and its European allies, primarily from Iran. To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Varner at the United Nations at wvarner@bloomberg.net

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Libyan Goverment Approves $9.9 Billion Plan to Boost Crude Oil Production

September 13, 2009

By Alaa Shahine Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) — Libya approved a 12.1 billion-dinar ($9.86 billion) plan to develop and upgrade 24 oilfields as the holder of Africa’s largest crude reserves seeks to boost output. National Oil Corp. will work with state-owned companies and foreign firms operating in the North African country, “without the entrants of new parties,” to implement the plan, the Libyan government said in a statement posted on its Web site. The project will be funded through borrowing from local banks. Libya, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries , is seeking to raise crude production capacity to 3 million barrels a day by 2013, from 1.8 million now. The country has 5 billion barrels of oil untapped because they are difficult to develop or remote, accounting for 12 percent of its total oil reserves, according to the government. The plan includes raising output from the Jalo oilfield by 100,000 barrels a day, with an investment of 1.6 billion dinars, according to the statement. Another 1.3 billion dinars will be invested to boost production from the Nafoora oilfield by 130,000 barrels a day. Oil production from these fields declined after American companies withdrew from Libya in 1986 amid accusations that Muammar al-Qaddafi’s government was supporting terrorism, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Libya came under U.S. and United Nations sanctions in the 1980s and 1990s. The turnaround in its relations with the west came between 2002 and 2005 when Qaddafi abandoned a nuclear-arms development effort, pledged to destroy a chemical weapons stockpile and renounced terrorism. The move led to an easing of sanctions and improved ties with the U.S. and European nations, and Western investments to expand Libyan oil production. Libya pumped 1.53 million barrels a day in August, according to Bloomberg data. To contact the reporter on this story: Alaa Shahine in Cairo at asalha@bloomberg.net

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Iran Close to `Dangerous’ Breakthrough in Building Nuclear Bomb, U.S. Says

September 9, 2009

By Jonathan Tirone Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) — Iran’s atomic work is nearing a “dangerous and destabilizing” breakout point at which the Persian Gulf country may be able to build a bomb, the U.S. envoy to the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency said. “Iran is now either very near or in possession already of sufficient low-enriched uranium to produce one nuclear weapon, if the decision were made to further enrich it to weapons grade,” Ambassador Glyn Davies said today in a prepared statement to the IAEA’s 35-member board of governors, which is meeting for a third day in Vienna. This “moves Iran closer to a dangerous and destabilizing possible breakout capacity,” Davies added, in some of the strongest comments yet used by a U.S. official about the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program. He repeated President Barack Obama’s overtures to Iran for direct negotiations and said the administration in Washington is committed to a negotiated resolution to the international dispute over Iran’s work. Iran, holder of the world’s No. 2 oil and natural gas reserves, is under three sets of UN Security Council sanctions for refusing to halt uranium enrichment, a process to isolate an isotope needed to generate fuel for a nuclear power reactor or, in higher concentrations, to make a weapon. The government in Tehran says it wants to generate power and rejects Western allegations that it seeks to build an atomic bomb. ‘Weapons Option’ “We have serious concerns that Iran is deliberately attempting, at a minimum, to preserve a nuclear weapons option,” said Davies, in his first IAEA meeting since being appointed by Obama. IAEA inspectors reported last month that the Iran “has not suspended its enrichment-related activities or its work on heavy-water-related projects as required by the Security Council.” The agency said it can’t exclude the possibility that there is a military purpose to Iran’s nuclear program. “Against the background of the evidence available it is inexcusable that Iran continues to refuse any degree of transparency or cooperation in clarifying these outstanding issues,” France, Germany and the U.K. said in a joint statement today in Vienna. To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Tirone in Vienna at jtirone@bloomberg.net .

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U.S. Urges Rigorous Vetting of Afghan Vote as Fraud Claims Prompt Recount

September 8, 2009

By James Rupert Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. urged Afghan authorities to address mounting allegations of voting fraud in last month’s presidential election, which incumbent Hamid Karzai is set to win, to ensure the new government is legitimate. “The results of these elections need to be credible and need to reflect the will of the Afghan people,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters in Washington yesterday. “We need to have a rigorous vetting of all of these allegations of fraud.” Afghanistan’s UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission yesterday ordered a partial recount for polling stations that reported 100 percent turnout or where at least 95 percent of votes were cast for a single candidate. The Obama administration is counting on the election to produce a credible government that can support the joint battle against Taliban guerrillas. “A legitimate electoral process is vital to us and vital to any kind of partnership that we would have with the government going forward,” Kelly said. The recount order was issued hours before the nation’s election authority announced new results showing Karzai surpassing the required majority for victory. With 91.6 percent of polling stations tallied, the official count shows Karzai with 54.1 percent of the vote to 28.3 percent for his main rival, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah . The complaints commission said it found “clear and convincing evidence of fraud,” the first confirmation of allegations that independent election monitors say risk undermining the outcome of the vote and the next government. Stuffing Ballot Boxes Abdullah has released photos and videos that he says show Karzai’s backers stuffing ballot boxes in southern Afghanistan, where violence by Taliban guerrillas kept turnout low. Karzai’s campaign has denied any role in vote fraud. Campaign spokesman Wahid Omar could not immediately be reached following the recount order. The Independent Election Commission said on its Web site that its official vote tally is “subject to challenge in accordance with the law prior to final certification.” The contest between Karzai, an ethnic Pashtun from the south, and Abdullah, whose support is rooted among non-Pashtun northerners, risks reviving Afghanistan’s historically troublesome ethnic divide. Karzai faces a runoff against Abdullah if the final count shows he failed to win more than 50 percent of the vote. Recount Procedures The complaints commission ordered the election authority to recount ballots from any polling place where the turnout appeared to equal or exceed 100 percent. Recounts were also ordered for any polling place that received as many as 100 votes if any candidate got more than 95 percent of them. Initial inquiries, notably in Ghazni, Paktika and Kandahar provinces “found clear and convincing evidence of fraud in a number of polling stations in each province investigated,” the complaints commission said in the order, posted on its Web site. It said the condition of ballot papers and boxes, and polling officials’ documents, showed that many ballots were illegally cast or “were not legally counted.” The polling places where fraud was apparent had recorded votes “far in excess of what could be expected based on credible observer reports of low voter turnout,” the order said. Further Investigation The recount of suspect votes will take place with independent election observers, candidates’ agents and investigators of the complaints commission watching, the order said. It will permit further investigation of the ballots, which may then be excluded from the vote count, the commission said. The order was signed by the complaints commission’s chairman, Grant Kippen , a Canadian elections specialist appointed by the United Nations to help ensure a credible vote result. The chief UN official in Afghanistan, Special Representative Kai Eide , urged election authorities to exclude from the vote count “results from ballot boxes where there is evidence of irregularities.” To contact the reporter on this story: James Rupert in New Delhi at jrupert3@bloomberg.net

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Afghan Election Panel Cites Fraud, Orders Presidential Ballots Recounted

September 8, 2009

By James Rupert Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) — Afghanistan’s U.N.-backed Election Complaints Commission ordered a recount of some ballots in the Aug. 20 election, saying it had found “clear and convincing evidence of fraud” in the polls. The order came as results released by the country’s election authority showed President Hamid Karzai nearing the majority of votes required — 50 percent plus one vote — to be elected. Karzai’s backers in his political stronghold, the ethnic Pashtun south, stuffed ballot boxes in regions where violence by Taliban guerrillas had kept turnout low, say his rivals. The Election Complaints Commission ordered the election authority, called the Independent Election Commission, to recount ballots from any polling place where the turnout appeared to equal or exceed 100 percent. Recounts also were ordered for any polling place that received as many as 100 votes if any candidate got more than 95 percent of them. The order was signed by commission chairman Grant Kippen , a Canadian elections specialist appointed by the United Nations to help ensure a credible vote result. — Editor: Mark Williams . To contact the reporter on this story: James Rupert in New Delhi at jrupert3@bloomberg.net

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Pakistan Pursues Taliban in Tribal Area; 50,000 Civilians Flee Fighting

September 7, 2009

By Paul Tighe Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) — Pakistan is pursuing Taliban fighters in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan where 50,000 civilians have fled their homes to escape fighting in Waziristan, the military said. Relief camps are being set up for displaced people in Waziristan, military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told Radio Pakistan yesterday, according to the official Associated Press of Pakistan. The army turned its attention to Waziristan and the Khyber regions after Taliban militants were driven from the Swat Valley in the North West Frontier Province, Abbas said. The 10-week operation that began in April ended “organized resistance” in Swat, he said. Pakistan says the Taliban is in disarray following the Swat fighting and the death last month of Baitullah Mehsud, the group’s leader in South Waziristan, after a U.S. missile strike. More than 1 million people who fled their homes in Swat in recent months have returned to towns and villages, according to the United Nations. The operation in the Khyber Agency is aimed at protecting Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province, from militants who gathered recently in the region, Abbas said, adding that army units are also searching for arms and ammunition dumps. Khyber, to the west of Peshawar, is on the main land supply route through Pakistan into Afghanistan where NATO-led forces are fighting a resurgent Taliban, mainly in the country’s south. Targeting Militants The operation is targeting the Lashkar-e-Islam in Khyber, the Dawn newspaper reported . The group has links with the Pakistan Taliban it said. The army will remain in Swat until the local police have the capacity to take over security, Abbas said. Leaders of militants in Swat are mostly Pakistani nationals and only about 10 percent came from outside the country or from the tribal region, he said. The International Committee of the Red Cross says civilians in Swat are encountering difficult conditions on their return, including limited access to food, water, electricity and health services. Security in Mingora, the main city in Swat, has “deteriorated sharply” with recent suicide attacks and fighting, the ICRC said, adding that it is trying to regain access to the town, which had a population of 200,000 people before the fighting began in April. A suicide bomber killed 16 trainee policemen in an attack on Mingora’s police station on Aug. 30. The successful battle in Swat is helping preserve Pakistan’s integrity, President Asif Ali Zardari said on Sept. 6 in a message marking the nation’s Defense Day. “We will eliminate the militants and those who have challenged the foundations of the state,” Zardari said. The government has called on Taliban leaders to surrender after the death of Mehsud, who led the Tekrik-e-Taliban, a force of about 5,000 fighters formed in South Waziristan in 2007. To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Tighe in Sydney at ptighe@bloomberg.net .

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UN Calls for New Global Reserve Currency to Fix Broken `Confidence Game’

September 7, 2009

By Jonathan Tirone Sept. 7 (Bloomberg) — The dollar’s role in international trade should be reduced by establishing a new currency to protect emerging markets from the “confidence game” of financial speculation, the United Nations said. UN countries should agree on the creation of a global reserve bank to issue the currency and to monitor the national exchange rates of its members, the Geneva-based UN Conference on Trade and Development said today in a report. China, India, Brazil and Russia this year called for a replacement to the dollar as the main reserve currency after the financial crisis sparked by the collapse of the U.S. mortgage market led to the worst global recession since World War II. China, the world’s largest holder of dollar reserves, said a supranational currency such as the International Monetary Fund’s special drawing rights, or SDRs, may add stability. “There’s a much better chance of achieving a stable pattern of exchange rates in a multilaterally-agreed framework for exchange-rate management,” Heiner Flassbeck , co-author of the report and a UNCTAD director, said in an interview from Geneva. “An initiative equivalent to Bretton Woods or the European Monetary System is needed.” The 1944 Bretton Woods agreement created the modern global economic system and institutions including the IMF and World Bank. Enhanced SDRs While it would be desirable to strengthen SDRs, a unit of account based on a basket of currencies, it wouldn’t be enough to aid emerging markets most in need of liquidity, said Flassbeck, a former German deputy finance minister who worked in 1997-1998 with then U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers to contain the Asian financial crisis. Emerging-market countries are underrepresented at the IMF, hindering the effectiveness of enhanced SDR allocations, the UN said. An organization should be created to manage real exchange rates between countries measured by purchasing power and adjusted to inflation differentials and development levels, it said. “The most important lesson of the global crisis is that financial markets don’t get prices right,” Flassbeck said. “Governments are being tempted by the resulting confidence game catering to financial-market participants who have shown they’re inept at assessing risk.” The 45-year-old UN group, run by former World Trade Organization chief Supachai Panitchpakdi , “promotes integration of developing countries in the world economy,” according to its Web site. Emerging-market nations should consider restricting capital mobility until a new system is in place, the group said. The world body began issuing warnings in 2006 about financial imbalances leading to a global recession. The UN Trade and Development report is being held for release via print media until 6 p.m. London time. To contact the reporters on this story: Jonathan Tirone in Vienna at jtirone@bloomberg.net

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UN Calls for New Global Reserve Currency to Fix Broken `Confidence Game’

September 7, 2009

By Jonathan Tirone Sept. 7 (Bloomberg) — The dollar’s role in international trade should be reduced by establishing a new currency to protect emerging markets from the “confidence game” of financial speculation, the United Nations said. UN countries should agree on the creation of a global reserve bank to issue the currency and to monitor the national exchange rates of its members, the Geneva-based UN Conference on Trade and Development said today in a report. China, India, Brazil and Russia this year called for a replacement to the dollar as the main reserve currency after the financial crisis sparked by the collapse of the U.S. mortgage market led to the worst global recession since World War II. China, the world’s largest holder of dollar reserves, said a supranational currency such as the International Monetary Fund’s special drawing rights, or SDRs, may add stability. “There’s a much better chance of achieving a stable pattern of exchange rates in a multilaterally-agreed framework for exchange-rate management,” Heiner Flassbeck , co-author of the report and a UNCTAD director, said in an interview from Geneva. “An initiative equivalent to Bretton Woods or the European Monetary System is needed.” The 1944 Bretton Woods agreement created the modern global economic system and institutions including the IMF and World Bank. Enhanced SDRs While it would be desirable to strengthen SDRs, a unit of account based on a basket of currencies, it wouldn’t be enough to aid emerging markets most in need of liquidity, said Flassbeck, a former German deputy finance minister who worked in 1997-1998 with then U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers to contain the Asian financial crisis. Emerging-market countries are underrepresented at the IMF, hindering the effectiveness of enhanced SDR allocations, the UN said. An organization should be created to manage real exchange rates between countries measured by purchasing power and adjusted to inflation differentials and development levels, it said. “The most important lesson of the global crisis is that financial markets don’t get prices right,” Flassbeck said. “Governments are being tempted by the resulting confidence game catering to financial-market participants who have shown they’re inept at assessing risk.” The 45-year-old UN group, run by former World Trade Organization chief Supachai Panitchpakdi , “promotes integration of developing countries in the world economy,” according to its Web site. Emerging-market nations should consider restricting capital mobility until a new system is in place, the group said. The world body began issuing warnings in 2006 about financial imbalances leading to a global recession. The UN Trade and Development report is being held for release via print media until 6 p.m. London time. To contact the reporters on this story: Jonathan Tirone in Vienna at jtirone@bloomberg.net

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North Korea Weaponizes Plutonium, Says It’s Open to Talks on Disarmament

September 3, 2009

By Paul Tighe and Heejin Koo Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) — North Korea said it is “weaponizing” plutonium and can either engage in dialogue or accelerate its nuclear program, indicating the communist state hasn’t given up on disarmament talks. “We are prepared for both dialogue and sanctions,” the official Korean Central News Agency said, citing a letter sent to the United Nations Security Council. “If some permanent members of the UNSC wish to put sanctions first before dialogue, we would respond with bolstering our nuclear deterrence.” The ultimatum may signal Kim Jong Il ’s regime is trying to improve its hand before rejoining talks to dismantle its nuclear program after vowing to abandon them forever. In the past month North Korea has indicated its willingness to make concessions by releasing two detained U.S. journalists, South Korean citizens and sending a delegation to the South. “North Korea wants a face-saving gesture from the United Nations that would provide the basis for them to return to nuclear talks,” said Ryoo Kihl Jae, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. “It appears to be a tactic of provocation and placation, which is common practice for North Korea.” Reprocessing of spent fuel rods is “at its final phase and extracted plutonium is being weaponized,” KCNA said in the letter. “Experimental uranium enrichment has successfully been conducted to enter into the completion phase.” Firing Missiles North Korea fired more than a dozen missiles this year and tested a second nuclear weapon in defiance of international pressure, prompting the Security Council to impose sanctions in June. The communist country said in April it would never return to nuclear disarmament talks involving the U.S., China, Russia, South Korea and Japan. The U.S. is “willing to engage in dialogue with North Korea, in the context of the six-party process, to see if North Korea is prepared to recommit to verifiable denuclearization,” Philip J. Crowley , a State Department spokesman, said by e-mail. “We will continue to work with the international community on enforcement of international sanctions. This is not an either-or proposition, but how this proceeds really depends on the choice for North Korea to make.” North Korea’s permanent mission sent the letter to the UN Security Council president yesterday, KCNA said in its report. It didn’t mention by name either the North Korean Ambassador to the UN, Sin Son Ho, or the U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice , who currently holds the council’s rotating presidency. ‘Never Be Bound’ North Korea “will never be bound” by the UN sanctions resolution imposed in June, KCNA said. “We have never objected to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and of the world itself,” it said. “What we objected to is the structure of the six-way talks which had been used to violate outrageously the DPRK’s sovereignty and its right to peaceful development.” The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is another name for North Korea. Kim’s regime, which tested the second nuclear device May 25, said in June it will continue its nuclear weapons program, including the use of plutonium stockpiles for weapons and developing a program to produce highly enriched uranium. The Security Council voted unanimously in June to adopt a U.S.-backed resolution punishing North Korea for its nuclear test. The measure seeks to curb loans and money transfers to North Korea and step up inspection of cargoes containing material that might contribute to the development of nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles. Stephen Bosworth , the U.S. special envoy on North Korea’s nuclear program, is in China to discuss how to resume disarmament talks. He travels to South Korea and Japan at the weekend after discussions in Beijing. He plans to meet South Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator Wi Sung Lac in Seoul tomorrow. To contact the reporters on this story: Paul Tighe at ptighe@bloomberg.net ; Heejin Koo in Seoul at hjkoo@bloomberg.net

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Iran Ready to Offer Nuclear Package Aimed at Spurring International Talks

September 1, 2009

By Ali Sheikholeslami Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) — Iran will present updated proposals aimed at spurring international talks to resolve the dispute over its nuclear program, said Saeed Jalili , the country’s top negotiator on the issue. Revisions to Iran’s package for nuclear talks were made in response to last year’s global developments, including the economic decline and the conflict in Georgia, Press TV cited Jalili as saying today, without providing details. He spoke at a Tehran news conference. “It seems to be another take at the same package offered by Iran last year,” said Samuel Ciszuk , Middle East energy analyst for London-based business intelligence company IHS Global Insight. That package “proposed some grand solution to re-order the international scene and solve many of the world’s problems — crucially not really dealing in a way close to any compromise with Iran’s nuclear issue.” Germany will host talks on Iran’s nuclear program tomorrow near Frankfurt involving representatives of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. The world powers last year offered Iran a set of economic incentives aimed at getting the government to agree to curb its nuclear development. The delegations from the U.S., Russia, China, the U.K. and France will be joined by German officials to discuss how to proceed following the latest report on Iran by the UN atomic agency, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement. Enrichment Slowing “It seems that the main first impression on the international community of the IAEA report is that the speed of Iran’s enrichment increase is falling,” Ciszuk said. “This will likely mean that those countries advocating a softer line on Iran have been given enough to seize on for new UN sanctions to appear unlikely for now.” Iran continues to enrich uranium in violation of UN sanctions, though at a slightly slower rate in recent months, according the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency said in the report on Aug. 28. The Vienna-based IAEA also said it can’t exclude the possibility that there is a military purpose to Iran’s nuclear program. The U.S., France, the U.K. and Germany have been pressing Iran to suspend uranium enrichment in return for help in developing civilian nuclear power. The Security Council has voted through three rounds of sanctions in an attempt to penalize Iran for breaking its commitments under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran denies it seeks nuclear weapons and says the atomic program is needed to produce power and for research. To contact the reporter on this story: Ali Sheikholeslami in London at alis2@bloomberg.net .

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