"This year's theme reflects a common challenge shared by Chinese CEOs and policy-makers alike," noted Lee Howell, the Head of Asia at the World Economic Forum. " China 's future growth targets will require companies and ministries to apply innovative ideas and technologies to ensure the country's sustainable development," added Howell.

“The Summit fully absorbs emerging trends in global development and new situations in China ’s advancement. Under the timely and macro-level theme of innovation, it will mobilize business and academic leaders from both inside and outside of China to contribute to the goals of China ’s open economy. It also provides a valuable platform and opportunity to enhance mutual understanding, identify common goals, recognize collaboration potentials, strengthen confidence in cooperation and achieve win-win in the end,” said Li Mingxing, Deputy Director-General, China Enterprise Confederation (CEC).

Key representatives from the government of the People’s Republic of China include: Cheng Siwei, Vice-Chairman, Standing Committee, National People's Congress; Chen Deming, Executive Vice-Chairman, National Development and Reform Commission; Dai Xianglong, Mayor of Tianjin; Xia Deren, Mayor of Dalian; Li Ruogu, Chairman and President, Export-Import Bank of China, Pan Yue, Vice-Minister of the State Environmental Protection Administration, Zhang Xiaoqiang, Vice-Chairman, National Development and Reform Commission; Su Ning, Deputy Governor, People’s Bank of China; Wang Jingchuan, Senior Advisor, State Intellectual Property Office; Xu Guanhua, Minister of Science and Technology. From business, some of the key leading personalities include: Xu Siwei, Senior Vice-President, China Minmetals Corporation; Pang Xiusheng, Chief Financial Officer, China Construction Bank; Chen Feng, Chairman , China Hainan Airlines; Qin Jiaming, President, China Railway Construction Engineering; Sun Wenjie, President, China Construction Corporation; and Chen Tonghai, Chairman, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec).

Six distinguished leaders from business and government will serve as Co-Chairs for the China Business Summit:

Chen Yuan, Governor, China Development Bank, People's Republic of China

Baba Kalyani, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Forge, India

Maurice Levy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Publicis Group, France

Liu Changle, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Phoenix Satellite Television Co., Hong Kong, SAR

Wang Jianzhou, Group President, China Mobile Communications Corporation, People's Republic of China

Yang Yuanqing, Chairman, Lenovo Group, People's Republic of China

At the China Business Summit, the World Economic Forum’s China and the World: Scenarios to 2025 will be launched. In addition, a new public-private partnership to address tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS in China will be launched by the Global Health Initiative of the World Economic Forum. This will be a groundbreaking initiative that brings together select companies, the Chinese government, UN agencies and non-governmental organizations in a joint effort to respond to the growing economic and social threat of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in China .

The Summit is held with the full support of our Strategic Partners: Accel Partners , Accenture , AMD , Apax Partners , Audi , Avaya , Bombardier, Booz Allen Hamilton, BT, CA, Credit Suisse, Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, Ernst & Young, Fluor Corporation, HP, HSBC, Intel, Manpower, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Nakheel, New York Stock Exchange, PricewaterhouseCoopers, UBS, Volkswagen, Zurich Financial Services. Phoenix Satellite Television is the Host Broadcaster of the event.

Unilever, Coca Cola, Monsanto, Sealed Air, Tetra Laval and Ericsson were among the multinational companies joining Kenyan and regional companies such as Comcraft, Kenya Commercial Bank, Nakumatt Holdings, Western Seed Company, Osho Chemical, ASET Capital and African Agricultural Capital, together with Kenyan government officials, NGO and international-agency leaders in mobilizing business solutions to the persistent problem of hunger in Kenya.

“This is a new approach,” said Dr. Romano Kiome, Permanent Secretary of Agriculture with the Government of Kenya. “We believe that engaging business can bring new solutions to a problem that persists in Kenya.”

The Alliance strategy was formed by CEOs and public leaders and presented to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in January 2006. Siaya District in Western Kenya was chosen as the initial pilot location due to its high levels of hunger and poverty, coupled with significant potential to increase food production, improve nutrition and boost incomes through business action.

“Our company is committed to taking action on hunger, working in partnership with others to achieve that,” said William Hickey, CEO of Sealed Air, who catalysed the effort among World Economic Forum member companies. Sealed Air has begun advising Siaya District community groups on packaging solutions for locally-produced fortified foods.

“There are many ways business can have an impact on hunger,” stated David Mureithi, CEO of Unilever Kenya, which is working with Siaya producers to develop market opportunities for locally-grown crops.

Over 30 global, regional and Kenyan companies pledge to support the Alliance in several priority areas for business development in Siaya District:

1. Staple crop production and market linkages

2. Integrated processing and packaging of high-value products

3. Retail and consumer market development

4. Entrepreneurship capacity-building, especially for youth.

Participating companies developed plans of action for each priority area and pledged to meet and report back on concrete progress in late November.

In Kenya, the Alliance is jointly facilitated by several partners including the World Economic Forum, Technoserve, the UN Millennium Project MDG Centre and the Government of Kenya.

“To reach the Millennium Development Goal of halving hunger by 2015, we need the partnership of the private sector,” said Dr. Glenn Denning, Director of the UN Millennium Project’s MDG Centre in Nairobi. “Our goal is to support an economic transformation in rural areas. Today we found several concrete opportunities to begin that transformation in Siaya District and we’ll be working to put them quickly into action.”

“Our assessment found many business opportunities that would benefit the community and improve local producers’ ability to make a profit,” said Antony Bugg-Levine, Director of Technoserve Kenya. Helena Leurent of the World Economic Forum agreed.” We’re focusing on win-win solutions,” she said.

“The International Monetary Fund (IMF) took a first step Thursday toward retooling itself to reflect major changes in the global economy, agreeing to increase the power that several fast-growing countries have over its policies and promising to boost their clout more in the next two years.

The IMF's Executive Board, which represents its 184 member countries, approved a resolution that would modestly increase the voting power of China, South Korea, Mexico and Turkey immediately. The resolution, which still must be approved at the Fund's annual meeting in Singapore on September 19, also sets forth a plan to revamp the formula for determining voting shares by the 2008 annual meeting. The vote change is the initial stage of a broader initiative aimed at refocusing the IMF's priorities and giving high-growth emerging countries, especially in Asia, a bigger say over its operations, commensurate with the size of their economies. …” [The Washington Post/Factiva]

“… The Board also backed a second round of quota adjustments for more emerging powers, based on a new formula for calculating quotas to be agreed over the next two years. Managing Director Rodrigo Rato said the current formula is unsatisfactory for the 184 member countries and the Board agreed to start discussing how to set a new formula immediately. ‘There is a sense of urgency and need to discuss the formula. I have to say it is not going to be easy because if it was easy, it could have done it before. We should expect a complicated discussion.’ …” [Reuters/Factiva]

“…[T]he IMF was expected to launch a broader, two-year effort to realign voting rights for all of its 184 member countries, in recognition of the fact that many other nations, such as Indonesia, Singapore, Spain and Malaysia, are also far more economically powerful now than their voting shares indicate, while others have seen their share in the global economy shrink. For instance, while South Korea's economy is twice the size of Belgium's, its voting share in the IMF is only about a third of what Brussels is allotted, according to US Treasury figures. The US accounts for 30 percent of world economic activity but controls just 17 percent of the votes at the IMF. …” [The Wall Street Journal/Factiva]

“… The changes being proposed would give the four countries voting rights more in line with their weight in the global economy. … ‘I think that all members recognize that relevant quotas and voting shares do not adequately respond to the reality of the world economy,’ Rato said. In return for giving them a greater say in decision-making, the IMF hopes that China and other fast-developing economies will listen to calls to revalue their currency. …” [BBC News Online/Factiva]

“… At the same time Rato said it was important to protect the voice and representation of lower income countries through an increase in the number of basic votes a member is allocated regardless of their economic clout. African countries are worried that with the focus on fast-growing economies they could miss out on a chance to get a greater say themselves at the IMF. …” [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

“… At the Singapore meeting, issues to be discussed include proposals for reform of the Fund's governance structure and the changes [the] IMF is making in the way the Fund conduct[s] macroeconomic surveillance, which is a core function of the international institution, according to Rato.” [Xinhua(China)/Factiva]

Founded in 1999, the Falun Dafa Information Center is a New York-based organization that documents the rights violations of adherents of Falun Gong (or "Falun Dafa") taking place in the People's Republic of China. In July of 1999 China's autocratic Communist Party launched an unlawful campaign of arrests, violence, and propaganda with the intent of "eradicating" the apolitical practice; it is believed certain communist leaders feared the influence of the practice's 100 million adherents. The campaign has since grown in violence and scope, with millions having been detained or sent to forced labor camps. The Center has verified details of over 2,900 deaths and over 63,000 cases of torture and abuse in custody (reports / sources). Falun Gong is a traditional-style Buddhist "qigong" practice, with roots in the Chinese heritage of cultivating the mind/body for health and spiritual growth.

HUMANITARIAN SUPERSTARS
Cynics mock, charities defend stars aiding Africa
Bloggers and pundits mock the new breed of humanitarian superstars.

HURRICANE KATRINA ONE YEAR ON
New Orleans economy on the mend, but threats loom
Brisk spending on reconstruction has provided a lifeline for New Orleans' devastated economy but a housing shortage and poor quality of life is threatening the region's long-term prospects.

UGANDA TRUCE
Safe routes for LRA rebels not chosen yet - Uganda
The safe routes will take the northern rebels from the bush to camps in south Sudan as part of a truce that may mark the end of one of Africa's longest wars.

LEBANON CRISIS
Lebanon govt to subsidise postwar home rebuilding
The government isn t helping southern Beirut, where damage to residential areas was greatest, but Hizbollah has already begun handing out its own $12,000 in cash to help families pay a year's rent until it rebuilds their homes.

ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT
Hundreds demand jobs in violent protest in Gaza
A Hamas politician says the government will distribute financial aid to workers within days.

SRI LANKA CONFLICT
Monitors blame Sri Lanka forces for aid massacre
The Nordic-staffed mission rules that the execution-style killings were a ceasefire breach by the government.

CHOLERA IN SUDAN
INTERVIEW-Cholera rampant in Sudan, WHO fears for neighbours
Nearly 25,000 cases have been recorded this year and the epidemic threatens neighbouring Chad, says an expert at the U.N. World Health Organisation.

DARFUR CONFLICT
U.S., Britain seek vote on UN troops for Darfur
The resolution would require the Sudanese government's consent before deployment, and Khartoum s shown no sign of this yet.

SOMALIA TROUBLES
ANALYSIS-Shift on Somalia may make peace harder
A demand by international donors for Somalia's interim government and Islamists running Mogadishu to reach a deal to work together may actually make peace harder to achieve, diplomats say.

CONGO (DR) CONFLICT
Returning villagers strain Congo aid efforts - UN
An epidemic could hit eastern Congo, an aid group warns as infection rates soar.

BURUNDI TRANSITION
Burundi asks for U.N. to recall representative
Burundi is accusing the U.N. special envoy of "undiplomatic" conduct amid growing international concern over an alleged coup plot that may harm the country's path to peace.

SOUTHWEST CHINA DROUGHT
Drought in SW China worsens as temperatures soar
Despite efforts to dig wells in the area and create artificial rainfall, more than 17 million people are short of drinking water, says Xinhua news agency.

IVORY COAST UNREST
Ivory Coast rivals should share power-Gabon's Bongo
Elections due at the end of October to select a new leader are no longer possible, says the head of the United Nations mission in the country, potentially leaving a political vacuum.

NEPAL AID PLAN
Annan seeks more talks with Nepal on U.N. aid plan
Nepal's government and Maoist rebels agree on the main elements of how the United Nations can help their country recover after a decade of conflict, says the United Nations.

INDIA'S NORTH EASTERN CLASHES
India's Assam rebels say to halt attacks on army
Bangladesh seeks international assistance to help find a new home for thousands of refugees from Myanmar, saying it cannot afford to keep them any longer.

PHILIPPINES-MINDANAO CONFLICT
Manila says no new deadline for Muslim peace deal
The Philippine government declines to give a new deadline for a peace agreement with Muslim rebels as differences over territory junked hopes for a deal next month.

SENEGAL INSURGENCY
GAMBIA-SENEGAL: UN assesses conditions of displaced on border
Gambian authorities say 3,740 people have crossed into Gambia because of fighting between Senegalese troops and rebels from the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance.

FLOODS
Horn of Africa hit by cycle of drought and flood
Areas that experienced painful drought for several months from late 2005 are now suffering deadly flooding caused by abnormally heavy seasonal rains.

NORTH KOREAN AID
S. Korea, China in aid efforts for flood-hit North
South Korea sends a first shipment of food and supplies to North Korea to help it cope with the aftermath of heavy July flooding.

ALERTNET BLOGS
NEWSBLOG: August 25, 2006
Will Darfur's people get a say in the peace process, and is aid funding terrorism? Plus Sri Lanka's displacement crisis.

William M. Arkin on National and Homeland Security writes the following article:

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld declared war on the world yesterday, weaving an elaborate picture of an enemy made up of terrorists, morally confused and cynical westerners, disagreeable military strategists and experts, and the news media.

Enlisting every citizen in a mass ceremony, Rumsfeld stated that there could be no appeasing of the enemy and any "any moral or intellectual confusion about who and what is right or wrong can weaken the ability of free societies to persevere."

The "who" Rumsfeld is talking about is himself.

Rumsfeld is the "who" that is right, and everyone who disagrees is not only wrong, but a danger to freedom.

Within minutes of Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld's speech yesterday, I received an Email from Thayer C. Scott, the Secretary's speechwriter, delivering talking points.

The Defense Department then took the unusual step, usually reversed for its broadsides against Seymour Hersh of The New Yorker, of issuing a statement saying that the Associated Press coverage of Rumsfeld's Salt Lake City remarks mischaracterized Rumsfeld's remarks.

Either Rumsfeld has delivered one of the most important speeches of the modern era, or he's gone crazy.

I think crazy, not just because I think the Secretary is wrong on his intellectual characterization of terrorism, and not because he is wrong about the media and its intentions, and not because he is so pugnacious, or because he has been wrong so many times because.

Rumsfeld is so wrong about America. His use of World War I history and the specter of fascism and appeasement, and his argument about moral weakness or even treason in any who oppose him, is not only polarizing but ineffective in provoking debate and discussion about the proper course this nation must take to "fight" terrorism.

This is not the first time that Rumsfeld has shown himself to be so out of touch, so contemptuous of America. Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense has displayed a contempt from long before 9/11 for anyone who disagrees with him, particularly in his initial wars against those in the uniformed military.

Moreover, Rumsfeld's declaration of war yesterday follows from his basic view that the Defense Department has to do it all: He has created an intelligence bureaucracy because he is distrustful and contemptuous of the CIA and all others. He has built up a secret army and covert capabilities in special operations forces because he wants to control and to rely only upon his own warriors. He has created a homeland security apparatus that looks over the shoulder of the Department of Homeland Security and is the ultimate arbiter of security. He has created his own FBI in the Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA), and fought to ensure that the NSA stays under Pentagon control. He has created his own law and his own human rights policy. He has subverted Congress through unexamined supplemental budgets and super-secret programs.

Even as a military strategist, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld pushed a losing strategy in Afghanistan. This is not just because he went to war with an initially small force. After all, the war against the Taliban and al Qaeda began just weeks after 9/11 and that was what could be mobilized in that short period. The tragic error was that Rumsfeld continued to think that the terrorist threat existed in the form of a small army to be routed by his fabulous "transformed" warriors.

It is Rumsfeld who declared "mission accomplished" long before President Bush stepped on to the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. Rumsfeld has been wrong in fighting and too quick to declare victory thereafter.

Rumsfeld declared victory in Afghanistan, in addition, because he was twitching to move on to the next enemy, and the next and the next. But even when the weaknesses and problems became apparent about how the Afghanistan war had been fought, Rumsfeld still pushed an identical military strategy in Iraq, brushing aside any criticism as naïve and appeasing and out of touch with the new gathering storm of weapons of mass destruction.

And even as Iraq has become one of the biggest hornet's nests in history, the Secretary has convinced himself over and over that progress is being made and victory is just around the corner. America, Rumsfeld says, is not to blame, conflating a just war with a preemptive American strike. America is not to blame and therefore Rumsfeld is not to blame: no missteps, no errors of judgment. The Secretary just wants his soldiers to believe now that he anticipated all along that the enemy was totalitarian and fascist and that Iraq was part of the big plan.

If I were the conspiratorial type, I'd say Rumsfeld was a particular menace to America because in his view of a monolithic and totalitarian terrorist enemy, and in his analysis of the weakness of American society, he can only come to the messianic conclusion that he indeed needs to takeover the country in order to save it. And this might even be worth speculating about were it the case that Rumsfeld reflected the views of those in the military leadership, or were it the case that Rumsfeld could actually engineer such a coup.

But alas, the Secretary would get the intelligence wrong, employ too few troops, and send tank columns on thunder runs through Manhattan and Hollywood, prematurely declaring victory and then being befuddled about the American desire to recover and preserve its way of life, which is not the Rumsfeld way.

"Can we truly afford to return to the destructive view that America -- not the enemy -- is the real source of the world’s troubles?," Rumsfeld asked yesterday.

This has got an easy answer: World troubles? Rumsfeld is the source of troubles much closer to home.

“China's (sizzling) economy is slowing but should still expand by 10.4 percent this year, the World Bank said Tuesday, as newly released statistics suggested measures to prevent runaway growth might be taking effect,” reports Associated Press.

Platts Commodity News writes that “The outlook for China's economy remains favorable.With production capacity continuing to expand in line with demand, inflation low, and the current account in surplus, the main policy concern is not general overheating.Policymakers are worried that high investment could cause overcapacity in specific sectors, and may affect the banks because loans may turn bad in the future.”

Asia Pulse notes that “Bert Hofman, the bank's Lead Economist for China, stressed that the country's investment has been increasingly driven by firm's profits and profitability rather than administrative agendas. For instance, sectors like transport equipment, ordinary machinery, and the textile industry which were identified by China's National Development and Reform Commission as having seen particularly rapid fixed assets investment growth saw particularly high profit growth. The only exceptions, he said, were large sectors outside of core manufacturing where government policies including on pricing have a large influence.

Another noticeable point is that investment growth tended to be higher in sectors dominated by the private sector. The importance of state-owned enterprises in industrial sectors, in contrast, seems to have displayed a negative relationship with fixed assets investment growth said the report.”

Xinhua adds “A problem continuing to plague China's economic growth, however, is the largely imbalanced patterns. With growth still led by industry, investment, and exports, along most dimensions the rebalancing desired by the government is clearly not happening, stressed the report. A typical example is the energy consumption. In the first half, energy consumption per unit of GDP went up 0.8 percent, at odds with the plan to have it reduced by 4 percent this year and 20 percent from 2006 to 2010.

To deal with the situation, the World Bank experts suggested the Chinese government focus more on policies that may help rebalance the economy including measures to stimulate domestic consumption and increase the efficiency of investment, measures to increase the relative attractiveness of producing services over manufacturing; and institutional reforms to give local decision makers stronger incentives and better tools to pursue rebalancing.”

“Mexico's Finance Ministry said Thursday that it upped the amount of loan
prepayments it will make to multilateral institutions to $9 billion and
also paid down $3.38 billion in sovereign debt.

The Ministry said the success of a debt auction conducted by the Bank of
Mexico will allow the country to prepay more than the $7 billion in World
Bank and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) loans that was initially
announced in June. The $12.38 billion reduction in external debt ‘will
allow the continued strengthening of the public debt structure, reducing
the vulnerability of public finances against adverse changes in global
markets,’ it said in a release. …” [Dow Jones/Factiva]

“… Mexico's debt to the two lenders had stood at over $13 billion. Mexico
is also using $3.38 billion to finance buybacks of sovereign debt from
international markets conducted in the last several weeks, the department
said. The government bought back parts of 15 different sovereign bonds
maturing between 2007 and 2033. … The transactions will cut Mexico's
external debt as a percentage of gross domestic product to 5.4 percent
from 7 percent, and as a percentage of total public debt to 27.3 percent
from 35.2 percent, it added.” [The Associated Press/Tom Barkley/Factiva]

“… Under the operation, the Bank [of Mexico] will switch local debt from
monetary regulation bonds, known as Brems and issued by the central bank,
to government-issued Bondes development bonds. The central bank stopped
issuing Brem bonds last week. The operation was meant to underscore
Mexico's financial strength ahead of the July 2 election … . …

Mexico -- which once struggled under one of Latin America's heaviest debt
loads -- has impressed foreign investors in recent years by slashing what
it owes, buying back global bonds and relying more on safer local-currency
paper. …” [Reuters/Factiva]

US Unveils Plan To Tackle Global Corruption

“US President George W. Bush launched a new global campaign on Thursday to combat kleptocracy, or rampant government corruption, which he said
undermines democracy and development in poor countries.…

Bush's National Strategy To Internationalize Efforts Against Kleptocracy
follows the agreement by the Group of Eight powers at their summit in St.
Petersburg, Russia to coordinate legal and financial policies to fight
corruption. … State Department official Josette Shiner told reporters US
government agencies would work with foreign counterparts to detect
kleptocrats, deny them access to financial systems, recover and return
stolen funds and prosecute officials. …” [Reuters/Factiva]

“The plan ‘identifies critical tools to detect and prosecute corrupt
officials around the world, so that the promise of economic assistance and
growth reaches the people,’ Bush said in a statement … . …” [The
Associated Press and Dow Jones/George Gedda/Factiva]

“The new initiative centers on the creation of an inter-agency team
involving the State Department, Department of Justice and the US Treasury
to track and prosecute high level corruption and recover ill-gotten gains,
said Shiner.…

The World Bank estimates that some one trillion dollars are paid each year
in bribes to government officials and that hundreds of billions of dollars
are looted from the world's poorest regions annually. …” [Agence France
Presse/DM/Factiva]

Greenland Ice Melt May Be Faster Than Thought

“Greenland's ice sheet is melting more rapidly than expected, according to
data obtained from two National Aeronautics and Space Administration
satellites that measure the gravitational pull of the earth's rivers,
mountains and glaciers.

The finding, reported today in the journal Science, adds to concern that
global warming may cause faster sea-level rises than predicted,
potentially increasing risks to coastal cities and areas. According to
the new satellite measurements, Greenland lost about 57 cubic miles of ice
in 2005. That figure is more than double some previous annual estimates,
and the rate of melting appears to be increasing, said Jianli Chen, a
researcher at the Center for Space Research at the University of Texas at
Austin, and the lead author of the study. …” [The Wall Street
Journal/Antonio Regalado/Factiva]

“Greenland's ice sheet is the second biggest in the world, containing
about 2.5 m cu km of ice, or 10 percent of the world's total ice mass. The
University of Texas study found that about 240 cu km were melting every
year. Chen said more observations would be needed in future years to
confirm whether the melting was continuing at such an accelerated rate. …”
[The Financial Times/Fiona Harvey/Factiva]

“… If the ice cap were to completely disappear, global sea levels would
rise by 6.5 meters (21 feet). Most of the ice is being lost from eastern
Greenland, a US team writes in Science journal. … The group's findings
agree remarkably well with a study released earlier this year that used
data from other satellites to estimate mass changes in the Greenland ice.
…” [BBC News Online (UK)/Factiva]

In related news, “the United Nations has appointed a new head of its
Climate Change Secretariat, Yvo de Boer, ahead of the annual November UN
Climate Change Conference to be held this year in Nairobi. The conference
of 189 countries will decide how to distribute a climate change adaptation
fund, possibly exceeding $400 million, and host talks on global action to
combat climate change. The 52 year old Dutch national was a prominent
figure at a make-or-break conference in 2000 in the Hague, which
fine-tuned the Kyoto Protocol and inserted carbon trading as a means of
achieving emissions cuts, said UN climate change spokesman John Hay.
[Reuters/Factiva]

“UN special envoy for AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis, on Wednesday called
for rich nations to cancel the debts of the world's poorest countries to
help them fight against AIDS and HIV infections.

There is an ‘urgent need to deal with AIDS in the context of poverty,’
Lewis said at a news conference ahead of the XVI International AIDS
Conference in Toronto. … Only one-third of the countries most burdened by
AIDS, debt and poverty could expect modest debt cancellation by mid-2006,
and donors have committed less than half the funds needed to meet poverty
reduction and HIV prevention targets, he said. …” [Agence France
Presse/AMC/Factiva]

“… Lewis urged Canada on Wednesday to take a leadership role in the fight
against HIV and AIDS … . Stephen helped present a four-step plan for
Canada to stop the disease from spreading … . It calls for a timetable to
increase Canada's assistance to developing countries to 0.7 percent of
gross national income. It also asks Canada to invest in health care
systems of developing countries, to cancel their debts to free up money to
fight AIDS and to follow through on commitments to make medicines more
affordable in Africa. …” [The Associated Press/Rob Gillies/Factiva]

“… Canada is the only country of the 22 that endorsed the 0.7 percent
target that has not yet set a deadline, Lewis told a packed press
conference. …. Lewis said Canada should focus its support on two or three
countries - instead of funding the current 25 - so that they can ‘turn the
pandemic around’ one country at a time. …” [The Globe and Mail
(Canada)/Unnati Gandhi/Factiva]

“ … The AIDS conference, which starts on Sunday, is expected to draw some
20,000 participants to Canada's largest city for a week of events
including films, fashion shows and seminars and scientific discussions
about AIDS. Speakers will include Bill and Melinda Gates, whose foundation
on Wednesday pledged $500 million over five years to the Global Fund to
fight AIDS, TB and Malaria -- the largest private donation the fund has
ever received. …” [Reuters/Natalie Armstrong/Factiva]

“… Based in Geneva, the fund provides financial support for programs in
the developing world to prevent or treat the three named diseases. … The
organization's Director, Richard G.A. Feachem said $200 million will go to
help underwrite the fund's sixth round of grants, which will be awarded in
November. However, the fund needs about $500 million more for that round,
he said. Since its start, it has committed about $5.5 billion for use in
132 countries.

“The visiting World Bank Vice-President for Africa vowed in Khartoum to
Carbon Emission Deal Between Chinese Chemical Plant, World Bank

“The United Nations has approved a Chinese chemical plant's sale of
greenhouse gas emission credits to the World Bank in the largest-ever
emission reductions deal.

The Changshu 3F Zhonghao New Chemicals Material Co. Ltd, in Jiangsu
Province, will receive EUR 438 million for cutting HFC-23
(trifluoromethane) emissions by the equivalent of 10.43 million tons of
carbon dioxide annually for the next seven years. The World Bank will buy
the company's emission reductions on behalf of a partnership of overseas
public and private sector buyers, the Xinhua-run Shanghai Securities News
reported on Thursday.

HFC-23 has a global warming potential 11,700 times greater than carbon
dioxide. It is generated in the manufacture of HCFC-22, a gas used as a
refrigerant and feedstock, and a raw material for other products. HFCs, or
hydrofluorocarbons, are among the six heat-trapping gases covered in the
Kyoto Protocol. The deal will ensure the factory's HFC-23 is captured and
safely disposed of.

The Umbrella Carbon Facility of the World Bank will buy the emission
reductions for EUR six per equivalent ton of carbon dioxide. ….”
[Xinhua/Factiva]

TORONTO - The Canadian Auto Workers union is donating $50,000 to help with humanitarian relief in the Middle East.

"The humanitarian crisis is getting worse as each day passes in the Middle East," said CAW president Buzz Hargrove. "A co-ordinated emergency response is needed to help ease the suffering of the hundreds of thousands displaced in all areas affected by this crisis."

The CAW's donation is going to a group of four of Canada's largest relief agencies called The Humanitarian Coalition. Care Canada, Oxfam Canada, Oxfam-Quebec and the Save the Children Canada responded to the crisis by forming the coalition.

The coalition's response is based on meeting the needs of the most vulnerable with emergency programs providing food, mats and blankets, child protection, powdered milk for children, psycho-social support, medicines and health services.

"Thousands lack access to basic, life preserving services," said Robert Fox, executive director of Oxfam Canada. "A coordinated response will save lives and will have a lasting effect on the entire region."

Ottawa - On this day of recognition for our country's peacekeepers, Canada, the cradle of international peacekeeping, has 2300 soldiers in Afghanistan fighting terrorism and insurgency under NATO chain of command and a mere 60 serving with UN Peacekeeping Forces.

"At the end of the Cold War, Canada was the only nation to have contributed to every UN peacekeeping operation. Regrettably, we have fallen to 50th in the list of nations contributing to UN missions," says Warren Allmand, former federal cabinet minister and current President of the World Federalist Movement--Canada.

"We have allowed ourselves to become a peacekeeping has been. Today, as we celebrate the immense contribution of Canadian soldiers to international peacekeeping, Canada cannot continue to shirk its responsibility to the international community. "

"Canada could make a significant difference in places like Darfur where humanitarian demands are greatest" says Peter Langille, a defence analyst at the University of Western Ontario. Canada was one of the moving forces behind a UN Standby Force known as SHIRBRIG and one of 15 nations agreeing to support it. "A SHIRBRIG force of some 6,000 troops — with Canada contributing about 600 — could head off a genocide and get food to hundreds of thousands who might otherwise starve," Langille contends.

Prof. Walter Dorn of the Canadian Forces Staff College in Toronto states: "Particularly after the parliamentary vote on Afghanistan, the Canadian Forces are in danger of becoming a single mission military with UN peacekeeping as the greatest casualty. At a time when UN peacekeeping is surging, with 18 missions in the field, Canada is desperately needed to help meet the demand for soldiers. But we are turning our backs to the UN and the millions of suffering Africans and others in war-torn areas who need our help."

“The European Union's trade chief on Monday defended a decision not to
attend a summit in Australia designed to revive stalled global trade
talks,” reports Reuters (08/07).

“EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said Australia should take a more
balanced approach to the World Trade Organization (WTO) talks, which
collapsed in July after ministers failed to reach an agreement on farm
subsidies and market access for agriculture. … Australian Trade Minister
Mark Vaile rejected the criticism, saying Australia had been an honest
broker and was not biased towards any side in the stand-off. …”

The Associated Press (08/07) adds that “… [While he would not be attending
himself,] Mandelson said the EU would be represented. … Mandelson
[further] said the Cairns Group meeting is not the only forum at which the
Doha round could be revisited. …”

Xinhua (China, 08/07) notes that “… the meeting was initially for the
Australian-led Cairns Group of 18 farm-exporting countries to mark the
20th anniversary of the formation of the free trade group, but it was
expanded to include the US and EU as the last-ditch effort to salvage the
failed Doha free trade talks. …”

In related news, Dow Jones (08/04) writes that “UN Secretary General Kofi
Annan on Friday called for reviving global trade liberalization talks so
that developing countries can use trade to lift millions out of poverty.
Annan, making his first trip to the Dominican Republic, said the WTO's
long-struggling Doha round of trade talks were in ‘crisis.’ ‘I used the
word crisis - I didn't say it's dead,’ Annan said in a speech at the
presidential palace in the capital of Santo Domingo. …”

EFE News Service (08/05) reports that “Brazil confirmed that on September
9-10 it will host a high level meeting of the G-20 developing nations to
discuss the WTO Doha round and ‘alternatives that favor negotiations.’
‘Other developing countries are also being invited to take part,
particularly those that are currently coordinating regional or special
interest groups in the WTO,’ a Foreign Ministry communique said Friday.
WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy was also invited ‘and he said that he
plans to attend the event,’ the statement said. …”

Reuters (08/04) notes that “the Brazilian government said on Friday it
welcomed a US move to cut cotton subsidies this week but that the move was
insufficient to comply with a WTO ruling. …”

"International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato
yesterday unveiled an ambitious agenda for next month's annual meeting of
the IMF and World Bank in Singapore - and said he hopes to see some key
decisions made there. Other IMF officials accompanying Rato on a visit to
Tokyo said the Singapore meetings promise to be among the most meaningful
and productive for many years," reports The Business Times Singapore.

"The IMF's new medium-term strategy will be the centerpiece of
discussions, said Rato. It includes, among other things, giving greater
voice to Asian and other emerging market economies, new ways to prevent
and deal with financial crises, increased emphasis on strengthening
financial markets, and offering new types of lending instruments to IMF
member countries. ..."

Dow Jones writes that "Rato said member nations are favoring a two-step
change in voting rights in the Fund, which would increase the leverage of
emerging economies like China and Turkey. The issue is how much each
country should contribute to the lender - its quota - and, therefore, how
much weight it should have in decision making in the 184-nation body ... .
... Rodrigo would like members to approve a small, quick share increase
for China, Mexico, Turkey and South Korea at the IMF's annual meetings in
Singapore in September.

'The A-plan is to have a two-year program in which quotas would be revised
twice to be able to increase the voice of the most dynamic economies,' he
told Dow Jones and CNBC television in an interview late Thursday. The
quota formula, which includes factors like gross domestic product, will be
changed to make it 'more transparent, credible and simple' and the IMF
will take steps to make quota increases easier to implement in the future
to reflect changes in the global economy, he said. Meanwhile, low income
nations would also be guaranteed minimum quotas, he added. 'I think that
is a program that, I would say, could have the support of a very broad
constituency of the members. And, if that is the case, that should be
approved in Singapore for a two-year program,' he said. ..."

Reuters adds that "Japanese Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki reiterated
calls on Friday to give Asian emerging economies more voting power in the
IMF to reflect their growing role in the global economy. He added that
giving them more say in the Washington-based institution would help narrow
the psychological distance between the Fund and Asian countries,. ...
Tanigaki added that he discussed the review of the quota allocations and
other IMF reform agenda with visiting IMF Managing Director Rodrigo Rato
in Tokyo on Wednesday. ..."