Better governance for a global age

WATERLOO, Ontario — The financial crisis roiling the world is the result of serious shortcomings in domestic financial governance that have also highlighted gaps in the global governance of international finance and capital.

On any given day, mail is delivered across borders; people travel from one country to another via a variety of transport modes; goods and services are freighted across land, air, sea and cyberspace; and a whole range of other cross-border activities take place in reasonable expectation of safety and security for the people, groups, firms and governments involved.

Disruptions and threats are rare — indeed, in many instances rarer in the international domain than in some sovereign countries that should have effective and functioning governments. That is to say, international transactions are typically characterized by order, stability and predictability.

This immediately raises a puzzle. How is the world governed — in the absence of a world government — to produce these norms, codes of conduct, and regulatory, surveillance and compliance instruments? The answer is global governance: the sum of laws, norms, policies and institutions that define, constitute and mediate relations among citizens, society, market and public authorities — the wielders and objects of the exercise of public power.



Morocco: Tangier Experiences Massive Flooding

For the past few years, Morocco has been experiencing a significant drought. Unfortunately, recent rain storms have brought little relief, as Northern Morocco experiences massive flooding, claiming the lives of at least 13 people.



Iraqi ministry members hurt in car bombing

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Four members of Iraq's health ministry were wounded Sunday after a bomb attached to their vehicle detonated in central Baghdad, an Interior Ministry official said.



ISRAEL: Water woes

Israel's geographic location, steady population increase and rising living standards place a chronic strain on the country's limited water resources. Now, four consecutive years of drought are pushing the water problem into a full-blown crisis.

The shortage touches all areas of life -- agriculture and the environment as well as personal hygiene. Twenty-five years ago, "Raful," as then-agriculture-minister Rephael Eitan was known, proposed that Israelis shower in pairs. Fun as that may be, long-term national planning would have been more effective, according to a parliamentary inquiry committee on the Israeli water sector in 2002. More recently, national infrastructures minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer initiated an emergency plan that will, among other things, dramatically increase the country's desalinization capabilities.



Lanka floods claim four, displace lakhs

The flood situation in Sri Lanka continued to worsen in the last 24 hours with four people dying and the number of people affected climbing above the 1.36 lakh mark.
The worst affected are areas in the south, west and north-west of the country where occupants of more than 25,000 homes have had to seek shelter.



Nationalist Group Linked To Killings Christians In Turkey

ISTANBUL, TURKEY (BosNewsLife)-- Turkish officials said Tuesday, October 21, that they will resume a trial against suspected members of an anti-Christian nationalist-secularist group with links to the army and secret services, who allegedly killed many people, including three Christian publishing house employees, a priest, a journalist and a judge.




New Aral Sea Map Followup

While looking around online for more up to date information regarding the Aral Sea, I found a couple images to share. They both come from Oriental Express, which is more a tourism advancement site than one dedicated to water management or Central Asian scholarship. Still, I hadn’t seen either of these images before. I am largely at the whim of Google’s search engine, so I’d appreciate any leads on Aral scholarship from the readers.




India, Iran to explore trade, transit facilities

NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will visit Iran from November 1 to attend a Joint Commission meeting during which the two countries are likely to sign three agreements and explore ways of improving trade and transit infrastructure.

Tehran hopes that the two sides will be able to discuss the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, whose trilateral future hangs in the balance because of New Delhi’s sensitivity over the transit route through Pakistan.



Iran arming 'freedom armies': top commander

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran is arming "freedom armies" in the Middle East, according to a top commander of the country's elite Revolutionary Guards quoted Sunday by a military website.
"Today, not only our armed forces are self sufficient but the freedom armies of the region get part of their weaponary from us," said Hossein Hamedani, deputy commander of Iran's volunteer Basij militia.

His comments appeared on the public relations website of the Revolutionary Guards, of which the Basij militia forms a part.



Asia eyes key stake in new global financial system

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Asian leaders will find the first global summit on the current financial turmoil a perfect venue to demand a key stake for the region in any new international financial system, experts say.

As Europe and the United States clash over their leadership role in framing a new international financial architecture at the November 15 meeting in Washington, Asians feel they have much of a stake in the stability of the global system as the industrialized countries, the experts said.



Australian central bank intervenes as dollar falls again

SYDNEY (AFP) — Australia's central bank intervened Monday to prop up the local dollar which closed down 4.2 percent against the greenback as investors turned it into the whipping boy of the global financial crisis.

The Aussie was trading at 0.6122 to the greenback at 5:00pm (0600 GMT), down more than two US cents from Friday's domestic close of 0.6388, after hitting a five-year low of 0.6060 in US weekend trade, its weakest since April 15, 2003.



SKorea makes biggest-ever rate cut in face of crisis

SEOUL (AFP) — South Korea Monday announced its largest-ever interest rate cut and urged legislators to approve big tax cuts and spending increases to shield the economy from the global financial crisis.

President Lee Myung-Bak said the country would not face a repeat of the 1997-1998 financial crisis, but stressed the need to bolster domestic demand to counter sluggish exports amid the global slowdown .

The Bank of Korea earlier reduced its key rate by 75 basis points to 4.25 percent after a special meeting, the largest-ever one-day cut.




Back to Bretton Woods
European leaders invoke historic conference to fix financial system

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Forget Davos. As world leaders attempt to pick up the pieces left by the most terrifying financial crisis since the Depression, it may be time for a New Hampshire mountain resort town to reclaim the spotlight.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown have sounded calls for a revisit of the 1944 Bretton Woods conference that laid the groundwork for much of the postwar financial world order.

President Bush earlier this week acquiesced to calls by Sarkozy and European Union officials, setting a Nov. 15 summit of leaders from the Group of 20 leading industrial and developing nations to be held at the National Building Museum in Washington.



Doomsday in an Oil Barrel

Just say this: There will be an attack on one of Saudi Arabia’s major oil terminals (e.g. Ras Tanura, Abqaiq or the Strait of Hormuz) within the next six months.

As a consequence, more than six million barrels per day will be taken off the global market, leading the price of oil to rise overnight to more than $200/bbl – and stay there for as long as a year until the terminal is repaired. The President of the United States, the Prime Minister of Japan, and heads of government in Europe will open sustained crisis consultations, coordinate the release and sharing of strategic petroleum reserves, and agree on other measures to try to manage the crisis. Notwithstanding these efforts, the global economy – already over-burdened by the collapse of financial markets – will sink rapidly into the chaos of a deep and prolonged depression. Japan, which imports 99% of its fuel, will be first to go, but the interdependence inherent in our globalized world will assure that all industrialized countries will suffer essentially the same fate.



Iran media confirms: Ahmadinejad is ill

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has fallen ill due to his heavy workload, a close associate told the Iranian state news agency late Saturday.

Parliament member Mohammad Ismail Kowsari, a close ally of the president, told IRNA that Ahmadinejad was feeling under the weather because of the strain of his position.



Iranian official calls for attack on UK

Fearing a US strike on Iran during President George W. Bush's last months in office, a senior Iranian official has suggested the Islamic regime should target London to deter such an attack.

In an article on the Iranian Web site Aftab last week - translated by the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute - the head of the Europe and US Department in the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Wahid Karimi, said that an attack on London would deter the US from attacking Teheran.

"The most appropriate means of deterrence that Iran has, in addition to a retaliatory operation in the [Gulf] region, is to take action against London," Karimi said.



Nato officers rent villa owned by Naples Mafia boss Antonio Iovine

American Nato officers have been renting a villa near Naples for years that belongs, indirectly, to Antonio Iovine, a clan chieftain of the Camorra, the Neapolitan Mafia.

Mr Iovine, 44, nicknamed “o’ninno” — the baby — because of his small stature, is wanted for murder and other crimes, and is listed among the 30 most dangerous criminals in Italy. He has been on the run for 12 years.

According to an investigation that was published in Corriere della Sera yesterday the villa of Mr Iovine may be only the tip of an iceberg. Italian police sources suggested that there were scores of similar cases in the Naples area of Nato service personnel living in houses that were owned by the Camorra. There are several Nato facilities in the area, notably a US telecommunications centre in Bagnoli and the US Air Force base at Capodichino.

“It’s ludicrous, isn’t it? The coffers of Nato, to which Italy also contributes, are helping to fill the coffers of the Camorra,” Franco Roberti, the co-ordinator of the local anti-Mafia bureau, said.



Iran expands naval bases amid threats

Iran says the country's military is set to expand its defensive fronts in the Strait of Hormuz, the Sea of Oman and the Indian Ocean.

The announcement by Iran's Deputy Army Commander Brigadier General Abdolrahim Moussavi came after the country's Armed Forces inaugurated a new naval base in the strategic port of Jask on Monday.

Describing the port of Jask as the main entrance to Iranian waters, Brig. Gen. Moussavi said the new naval base would act as a protective barrier against enemy infiltration.




Floods in Yemen claim 68 lives

At least 68 people are dead and a further 31 missing in severe flooding caused by torrential rain in Yemen.

Around 1,700 homes have been destroyed displacing hundreds of families in floods that swept the south-eastern provinces of Hadramout and Mahra, following 30 hours of heavy rainfall.

Yemeni authorities have declared the eastern provinces a disaster area and President Ali Abdullah Saleh has allocated almost €80m in aid to flood-hit areas.



Black Sea security program regional workshop kicks off in Yerevan

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On the initiative of Harvard University and National Strategic Research Institute at the RA Ministry of Defense, Black Sea security program regional workshop kicked off with participation of 16 countries in Yerevan today.

"Armenia was among the first countries to join the program. This conference offers a possibility to exchange opinions and transmit a clear message on regional security," said major general Hayk Kotanjyan, director of the National Strategic Research Institute.



Astana, Tehran to Swap Oil Rights

Kazakhstan is ready to exchange exploration rights it holds for oil and gas assets in the Caspian Sea with Iran to gain access to reserves in the Persian Gulf, Prime Minister Karim Masimov said, according to Shana.ir.

"In general, we are ready to swap assets with Iran, but there is no particular deal under way," Masimov said in Astana.



Bosphorus City sells

For the last month everyone has been listening intently to news of the impending crisis and asking how big it will get and when it will end. Yet, despite these anxieties, 350 people bought $150 million dollars worth of houses from Sinpaş GYO in a 12-day period.

The real estate firm started sales of its Bosphorus Project in Halkalı-Büyükçekmece, a developing industrial and residential area past the airport in Istanbul, on Oct. 11 and in a matter of 12 days the company had sold 350 units.



China, Vietnam make breakthrough on border issues

China and Vietnam have pledged to turn contentious border areas into economic growth zones and jointly explore oil-rich offshore areas.

The agreement was reached during a visit by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to Beijing.

Both countries are among claimants to the Spratly islands in the South China Sea, and claim sovereignty over the Paracel islands, occupied by China.

During Mr Dung's visit, the two governments agreed to start a joint survey of the region, advance negotiations on demarcation of the maritime zones and jointly exploit them.




EDF in £265million North Sea gas buy

France's EDF has increased its grasp of the UK energy sector, buying a majority of North Sea gas fields from ATP Oil & Gas in a £265million deal.

The French utility will take control of 80 per cent of ATP’s North Sea business, with the option to acquire the remainder next year.

The deal will give EDF control 68 per cent of the Tors zone, which includes two natural gas fields, and 80 per cent of the Wenlock field.

The total volume of reserves is estimated at three billion cubic metres. ATG, a subsidiary of a US company, will continue to operate the fields, whose output is delivered to the Bacton gas terminal.




Japan to Agree $800 Million Loan to Fund Panama Canal Expansion

Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The Japan Bank for International Cooperation, the state-owned overseas lender, said it will sign an $800 million syndicated loan for the expansion of the Panama Canal that will help Japan boost trade with the Americas.

JBIC, as the state bank is known, will offer $400 million, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. will provide another $400 million, said JBIC spokesman Ryutaro Nishizaki. The loan contract will be signed by year end, he said.



Malaysia to host first-of-its-kind international water conference

Malaysia will host a two-day international conference on water from November 18, against the backdrop of a looming global water shortage.

The Asia Pacific Water Conference 2008, the first of its kind to be organised, will see the exchange of views and sharing of best practices in water resources management among experts from Malaysia, the Philippines, the United States, Russia, Germany, Singapore, Indonesia, Denmark and India.

The conference, themed “A Shared Future in Water” to be held at the Sheraton Subang Hotel and Towers in Subang Jaya, is jointly organised by the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) and the Water Association of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya (Swan), according to a statement.




The Globalist Quiz Who's running out first?

The United Kingdom, now producing almost 600 million barrels per year, with 0.3 percent of the world's proven reserves, has an estimated six years until it runs out of oil. The reserves of another North Sea oil producer, Norway, are expected to disappear in less than nine years. Both countries began to produce oil in significant quantities in the late 1970s, a factor critical in overcoming the effects of the 1973-74 oil crisis.



Ocean transportation and Logistics: Port of New Orleans poised for growth

NEW ORLEANS—While shippers might assume that the Port of New Orleans is still in recovery mode from Hurricane Katrina and subsequent storms, a recent visit revealed that authorities there are doing more than just treading water.

“As you can see, there’s a lot of new development underway in anticipation of the Panama Canal expansion,” said port spokesman, Chris Bonura. “We have been experiencing steady growth over the past year, and anticipate more as our ‘master plan’ moves forward.”

Indeed, in a recent address to port stakeholders, Port of New Orleans president and CEO Gary LaGrange, detailed how a well-funded 2020 Master Plan would enhance existing container and breakbulk operations.



Primeline Energy Agreement in Principle for Gas Sale

LONDON, ENGLAND, Oct 27, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- Primeline Energy Holdings Inc. ("Primeline" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: PEH) today reported that an agreement in principle for the sale of gas from the Lishui 36-1 gas discovery (the "Agreement") has been entered into and the Company now proposes to proceed with the preparation of the development plan for the Lishui 36-1 discovery.
...
Primeline and China National Offshore Oil Corp. ("CNOOC") have concluded initial negotiations with Zhejiang Natural Gas Development Company Ltd. ("Zhejiang Gas") which have resulted in the Agreement being signed on 27th October 2008 between Zhejiang Gas and CNOOC. Entering into the Agreement, CNOOC acted on its own behalf and on behalf of Primeline and Primeline Petroleum Corporation ("PPC"), the foreign contractors as defined by the petroleum contract for Block 25/34 ("Petroleum Contract").