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Is High-Fructose Corn Syrup Really So Bad?

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:47:57 +0000

Turn on the TV and there’s an ad promoting it, or a different ad promoting its absence. In a grocery store, choose your Raisin Bran with – or proudly without – it. But what exactly is high-fructose corn syrup?

“It’s corn starch that has been treated to turn it into sugar,” said New York University Professor Marion Nestle. “It is sugar. It’s just sugar.”

But a lot of people aren’t buying that, reports CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller. Just last month, San Francisco parents forced high-fructose corn syrup out of the chocolate milk in the school system. Why?

“People feel like they don’t know where their food is coming from anymore,” said Dana Woldow, the co-chair of the student nutrition committee. “They don’t understand how its produced and I think they have a natural suspicion of anything in their food system that they feel is not natural.”

And the name sounds like a chemical, parents say. This backlash is not just a fad according to consumer experts.

“Consumers really want foods and ingredients that sound like they came out of their refrigerators or kitchen cupboards and not a science lab,” said Krista Faron.

So companies are busy removing high-fructose corn syrup from some products, citing reasons like “consumer trends.”

“In the food industry, the consumer is king,” Faron said. “When the consumer is very vocal about demanding changes, food manufacturers listen.”

@katiecouric: High-Fructose Corn Syrup
@katiecouric: Americans and Food

But in this case is it necessary? Chemically speaking, high-fructose corn syrup is just sugar with an image problem. It starts as corn starch, and enzymes are used to convert it into glucose and fructose. Various chemicals extract table sugar from sugar beets and sugar cane. It’s also made up of glucose and fructose in virtually the same proportions.

High-fructose corn syrup started replacing sugar around 1980 mainly because it’s cheaper. It’s almost half the price of sugar, partially because the United States, the world’s largest grower of corn, subsidizes farmers who grow it, and that lowers its price. The United States also restricts the import of sugar, which hikes its price. High-fructose corn syrup also prolongs the shelf life and gives a moist and chewy consistency, while sugar is better for crispness.

The food police – the ones who told us Chinese food and theatre popcorn were bad – would also be yelling about high-fructose corn syrup. But instead, they say the controversy is all hype.

“The evilness of high-fructose corn syrup has become an urban myth,” said Michael Jacobson with the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Jacobson blames the high-fructose corn syrup controversy on a 2004 study that seemed to link soft drinks sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup to the obesity epidemic.

“They didn’t have one shred of evidence to back up their theory,” Jacobson said. “And they eventually recanted and they realized that HFCS and sugar are essentially the same. But they couldn’t put the genie back into the bottle.”

Overall, we still consume more sugar than high-fructose corn syrup. Experts say we should be the most concerned about something the two sugars share.

“It’s fructose that we’re worried about,” Nestle said.

That’s because it’s the fructose in any sugar that goes directly to the liver, where it gets converted into fat, potentially leading to health problems like heart disease and diabetes.

“There’s too much of it in our diet so we ought to be eating less of sugars generally,” Nestle said.

But there is a question whether our bodies metabolize high-fructose corn syrup differently than table sugar. Scientists at UC Davis are conducting a long-term study to answer that. Results are expected by the end of this summer. Until then, call it high-fructose corn syrup or call it sugar, but don’t call either one a healthy choice.

Mexico’s Slim becomes ‘world’s richest’ person (AP)

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:25:01 +0000

is the world’s richest person, jumping past
to become the first person from a developing nation to top the list, according to
.
The rise of Slim, the son of an immigrant shopkeeper who amassed a $53.5 billion fortune and bought a major stake in the New York Times, is part of an increased presence on the
from emerging countries, said Forbes’ reporter Keren Blankfeld.
Slim’s worth surged in the past year as his cell phone holdings rebounded in value. He is the first non-American to top the list since 1994.
Arturo Elias Ayub, an executive at Slim’s Telmex telephone company and the billionaire’s son-in-law, expressed satisfaction that a Mexican businessman is now at the top of the list.
“The reaction is one of satisfaction, that this confidence in
exists, and this confidence in our group’s companies,” said Elias Ayub, who frequently acts as Slim’s spokesman.
But he said the 70-year-old magnate is not breaking out the champagne.
“This is a number brought out by a magazine that doesn’t concern us, or worry us,” said Elias Ayub, echoing Slim’s 2007 comment about the top spot that had eluded him for years: a Spanish phrase — “me es impermeable” — that roughly translates as “I’m impervious to that.”
Slim is known for wearing inexpensive suits and rarely using the computers his companies sell, preferring old-style paper notebooks. A baseball fan, his indulgences are largely limited to cigars and diet soft drinks.
While he owns — either personally or through his foundations and museums — an impressive collection of art, including works by French sculptor Auguste Rodin, he works out of a set of somewhat dowdy, 1970s-style offices.
A civil engineer by training, he has bought up troubled or government-owned companies of all types, fixed them up and resold them for huge profits.
That kind of thrifty eye for undervalued businesses has served him well, especially after the market downturns in recent years.
“In periods of crisis, he has always invested, and now we are beginning to see the fruits of that,” Elias Ayub said.
Blankfeld said the 2010 top-10 list — which includes Slim, two billionaires from India and one from Brazil — reflects the increasing presence of
, adding that Slim is the first person from one to top the list.
“They’re kind of spread. It’s a nice spread,” she said of the list, long dominated by Americans and Europeans.
Gates’ and Buffett’s donations also played a role in their decline to the number 2 and 3 spots.
“A big reason for that is they are both very philanthropic,” said Blankfeld. “They’ve given away so many billions of dollars.”
Slim has donated to several causes, but not on nearly the same level. In January, he announced a $65 million donation for genetic research on cancer, type 2 diabetes and kidney disease in Mexican and Latin American populations.
Speaking to reporters in 2005, Slim described his philosophy.
“Wealth must be seen a responsibility, not as a privilege. The responsibility is to create more wealth. It’s like having an orchard; you have to give away the fruit, but not the trees.”
, whose 30 members constitute the world’s most important market economies, it is also a developing nation. More than 50 million of Mexico’s 107 million people live in poverty, defined as not having enough money to meet housing, transport, education and other normal expenses.
— defined as not having money to buy enough food — afflicted 19.5 million people here in 2008.
In that landscape, Slim’s $53.5 billion fortune has drawn frequent criticism.
“This is shameful,” said
, 45. “This is part of what is wrong with the Mexican political system and the corruption in the circles of power, that allow there to be a few rich people and millions of poor.”
Slim’s conglomerate of retail, telecom, manufacturing and
so dominate the Mexican commercial landscape it is often easy for Mexicans to find themselves talking over a Slim-operated cell phone at a Slim-owned shopping center waiting to pay a bill to a Slim-owned company at a Slim-owned bank. If the line is too long, they can catch a quick coffee at a Slim-owned restaurant.
Slim’s Telmex company controls 83 percent of land phone lines in Mexico, and is also the leading Internet service provider. Another of his firms is the leading cell phone operator, and he wants to get into convergence services to offer television and interactive media.
While he has acknowledged that prices for Internet service in Mexico remain high, he has hotly denied operating a near-monopoly in calling services, or charging excessive prices for calls.
He also owns the Sears and Saks retail stores operating in Mexico. And last year,, he announced a $250 million investment in
.
After living for almost two decades in the shadow of Slim, some Mexicans say his wealth as an understandable — and perhaps inevitable — outgrowth of Mexico’s lopsided, dog-eat-dog
.
“He was intelligent enough to get to where he is, while we, as a people, have never known how to unite ourselves,” said 17-year-
student Manuel Santibanez. “We are always looking out for ourselves.”
Associated Press writer Carlos Rodriguez contributed to this report.

Berlusconi wins reprieve

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:18:22 +0000

Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s centre-right prime minister, won a reprieve on Wednesday night from his two trials on charges of fraud and corruption after parliament approved a law granting him and other ministers the right to avoid appearing in court because of their public commitments.

The centre-right government used its large majority to ram the legislation through the senate in a vote of confidence that cut short debate on over 1,000 amendments raised by opposition senators who protested in the chamber. Some wore shirts emblazoned with “Berlusconi go on trial” while others waved copies of the constitution.

Mr Berlusconi, a billionaire media mogul, is a defendant in two trials related to his business activities while he was in opposition. He has denied the charges.

Prosecutors intend to appeal against the legislation which will come into law after its signature by Giorgio Napolitano, head of state. The bill passed through the lower house in February.

Mr Berlusconi’s ruling coalition resorted to the device, known as “legitimate impediment”, after the constitutional court last October revoked an immunity law that parliament had passed for the prime minister in 2008. The government argues that Mr Berlusconi cannot govern while being dragged through the courts by judges and prosecutors he accuses of being part of a left-wing conspiracy against him.

An earlier attempt to end Mr Berlusconi’s legal problems, by cutting short the length of trials, stalled in parliament because of resistance from his own allies.

Mr Berlusconi, who is also on the defensive over his party’s bungling of its registration of candidates for regional elections at the end of March, on Thursday called on his supporters to stage nationwide rallies a week before the vote. Ignazio La Russa, defence minister, stepped in to manhandle a heckler who disrupted the press conference where Mr Berlusconi blamed the opposition and magistrates for his party’s failure to register its candidates in time for the Lazio region polls.

Pakistani spy chief, crucial to U.S. aims in Afghanistan, to stay on (McClatchy Newspapers)

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:17:25 +0000

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan's powerful spy chief, who's important to the domestic campaign against
and his country's co-operation with the U.S.-led coalition in neighboring
, will remain in office for another year, the government announced Wednesday.
Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha was due to retire later this month as the head of the
, and his additional year could help cement Islamabad's increasingly tough position against militants and improving relationship with the U.S.
,
Gen. Ashfaq Kayani
, who's scheduled to retire before the end of this year.
U.S. President Barack Obama 's administration
has to turn things around in the Afghanistan – Pakistan region — the epicenter of global jihadist activity . . . Pasha's extension is an extremely significant development,” Stratfor, a private U.S. intelligence-analysis firm, said in a report.
American officials have lobbied for the extensions for Kayani and Pasha, whose cooperation with the
U.S. military
and the CIA they praise, and who senior American officials think now recognize the danger that Afghan and Pakistani
.
The near-simultaneous retirements scheduled for Pasha and Kayani, as well as the planned retirement of Gen. Tariq Majeed , the
, had raised fears over the continuity of Pakistani policy. More than eight years after the U.S.-led intervention in Afghanistan , the West and Pakistan finally appear to be cooperating more closely, although both sides maintain their suspicions of each other.
However, Kayani's relationship with the U.S. and his extension in office by a civilian government, which would be unprecedented, could stoke resentment from other senior officers who remain suspicious of American motives and whose promotions would be put on hold.
Pasha, whom Kayani appointed to the ISI job in October 2008 , is said to have planned the Pakistani military's two big offensives against homegrown Taliban extremists last year, in the Swat valley in the
on the Afghan border.
The offensives were the military's first concerted action against the Pakistani Taliban after years of halfhearted operations and peace deals with the extremists.
The ISI supported, trained and even created
, first to battle the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and later to fight in India and the disputed northern region of Kashmir .
Stratfor said the ISI “is in the process of a major shift; it is transitioning from being the cultivator of jihadists to being an entity that fights them.”
The change started before Pasha, with some pro-jihadist officers fitfully purged since 2001, but it gathered momentum under him.
Pasha, 57, has vowed privately to smash jihadists of all stripes on Pakistani soil, not just those who threaten his own country, according to those who know him. His claim took on weight in recent weeks when Pakistan said it had arrested a series of senior Afghan Taliban commanders long thought to be its proxies in Afghanistan .
Senior U.S. officials, though pleased with the arrests, remain unsure of the motives behind them, partly because, they say, Pasha's ISI continues to fuel rampant anti-Americanism in the Pakistani news media. They think it's too early to ascribe the captures to a decision by Pakistan to abandon its decades-old strategy of using armed proxies to achieve its goal of placing a pro- Islamabad government in Kabul and minimizing the influence there of its neighboring archfoe, India .
U.S. military officials
think the arrests are more likely an effort by Pakistan to position itself for what it's convinced is an inevitable American troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by ensuring that Islamabad has a powerful say in any peace talks and no Afghan insurgent leaders make separate deals with the U.S. and Afghan governments.
(Shah is a McClatchy special correspondent. Jonathan S. Landay and John Walcott contributed to this article from Washington .)
U.S. government knows of no al Qaida arrest in Pakistan

Controversial Egyptian cleric leaves mixed legacy (McClatchy Newspapers)

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:26:36 +0000

CAIRO, Egypt — Egypt's top cleric, Sheik Mohammed Sayed Tantawi , a controversial figure throughout the Islamic world, died of a heart attack Wednesday while on a visit to
. He was 81.
,
's principal center of scholarship and faith, a millennium-old institution that
in June.
Critics, however, say the prestige of Azhar fell into decline under Tantawi, who was perceived by many Muslims to be a mouthpiece for U.S.-allied
. Mubarak appointed Tantawi to his position in 1996 to cap a long career as a scholar whose reputation as a relative moderate extended well beyond
.
, a pre-Islamic custom that's still widely practiced in Egypt and
. He condemned
, spoke against the notion of a
and was conspicuously silent on the U.S.-led war on Iraq after early remarks that were interpreted as giving the green light for Egyptians to join the
.
Detractors say the cleric merely gave religious cover to state decisions.
“He did not act as the sheik of al Azhar , but as a government employee. The result was the shrinking of al Azhar's role in the
,” said Fahmy Howeidy, a prominent Islamist thinker and columnist in Cairo .
Howeidy said Tantawi's mixed legacy in the Islamic world was secured with a handshake. During an interfaith dialogue organized by the United Nations in 2008, Tantawi shook hands with Israeli President Shimon Peres — a major offense to many Muslims who identify with the Palestinian cause.
was under Israeli blockade, prompting some members of the Egyptian parliament to demand his dismissal.
The last controversy came late last year, when he issued a decree banning female students at schools and universities affiliated with al Azhar from wearing the niqab, or full facial veil. His ruling, however, was not interpreted as championing women's rights, but rather as aiding Mubarak's authoritarian regime in its war against a tide of religious fundamentalism.
, where he'd attended a prize-giving ceremony. At his family's request, Tantawi will be buried in the Saudi holy city of Medina, near the shrine of Islam's Prophet Muhammad, Egyptian state media reported.
The director of Tantawi's office, Abdelmoneim Kamal , said the late cleric's deputy, Mohamed Wasel , would temporarily lead al Azhar until a new grand sheik is appointed.
(El Naggar is a McClatchy special correspondent.)
Defying bombers, Iraqi security forces vote en masse
Ex-U.S. ally Chalabi, now Iran's friend, likely winner in Iraq
Iraq elections have high stakes, but low bar

Papandreou returns to Greek unrest

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:43:59 +0000

George Papandreou flew home from Washington on Wednesday bearing an unexpected gift from US president Barack Obama – a long-awaited visa waiver for Greek citizens visiting the US.

“This is practical proof of the Obama administration’s trust in our government,” a beaming Mr Papandreou said after emerging from his first working visit to the White House.

It was a gift that could do more to maintain the Greek prime minister’s approval ratings than any of his grand statements about cracking down on market speculators or support for setting up a European Monetary Fund.

Greek-Americans are the largest single group in the 10m-strong Greek diaspora, and one family in four keeps in touch with relatives in the US, say foreign ministry officials.

But a successful performance on the international stage – his six-day trip included stops in four capitals – cannot disguise the fact that Mr Papandreou faces deepening troubles at home.

Thursday’s 24-hour strike called by public and private sector trade unions to protest against the government’s latest austerity package will shut down Athens international airport and bring the capital to a standstill for the second time in a week.

Mr Papandreou also faces unrest in his governing Socialist party over pay cuts for public sector workers, the party’s power base for the past 10 years.

During his absence, two senior Socialists made separate attacks on the government’s switch in policy since it came to power pledging “more social protection” at last October’s national elections.

“There’s a sense that the party has betrayed its socialist mission by adopting such harsh policies,” said an official in the prime minister’s office.

The realities of day-to-day Greek politics make a sharp contrast with Mr Papandreou’s efforts to rebuild his country’s image.

Mr Papandreou arrived in Washington as Europe’s spokesperson for curbing the use of credit default swaps and tightening regulation on derivatives trading, rather than the leader of a country desperately trying to avert a default.

He won the support of Mr Obama to promote an anti-speculation initiative with the G20 group of countries – though US officials gave a cool reception to his plea for a ban on naked short selling of sovereign debt.

Back at home, Mr Papandreou and his finance ministry team still face a nagging problem over how to lower the cost of borrowing on the international capital markets without a European Union guarantee of support.

Although bond spreads have narrowed since the launch of the latest austerity package, Greece still has to pay 300 basis points more than the equivalent German bond – a premium that government officials say is unsustainable.

The need to raise €20bn (£18bn, $27bn) in April and May to finance expiring debt is likely to revive pressure on spreads, an Athens fund manager said.

Biden: Palestinians Deserve “Viable” State

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:25:23 +0000

Vice President Joe Biden’s displeasure over an Israeli plan to enlarge an east Jerusalem settlement was on display Wednesday as he warned against actions that “inflame tensions” and reassured his Palestinian hosts that they deserve a sustainable, independent state.

The Israeli plans have overshadowed Biden’s visit, meant to promote a new round of U.S.-led negotiations, and drew Palestinian accusations that Israel is not serious about peace. Israel apologized for embarrassing Biden with the timing of its announcement, but made clear it had no intention of reversing its plan.

U.S. Condemns New Israeli Settlements

Capping a day of meetings with Palestinian leaders, Biden declared that Washington is committed to brokering a final peace deal — something that has eluded U.S. leaders for nearly two decades.

“The United States pledges to play an active as well as a sustainable role in these talks,” Biden said. He stressed the Palestinians deserve an independent state that is “viable and contiguous,” a clear message to Israel that the U.S. expects a broad withdrawal from the West Bank as part of a settlement. Palestinians contend that Jewish enclaves dotted across the West Bank would make it impossible for them to sustain a state.

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has given only conditional support for Palestinian independence and signaled that he wants to retain control of key parts of the West Bank, including Jewish settlements. The U.S., along with the Palestinians, consider settlements built on lands claimed by the Palestinians to be obstacles to peace.

The Israeli plan to build 1,600 new homes in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo — which would allow it to increase its population of 20,000 by more than half — was an embarrassing setback for Biden.

U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley described the timing of the announcement as “unusual” on Wednesday, in comments to reporters.

“It would be unusual for an Israeli government to take this kind of action while the vice president is standing next to the prime minister,” he said. “We are talking to the government and trying to understand what happened and why.”

Standing alongside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Biden condemned the Israeli plan and urged both sides to refrain from actions “that inflame tensions or prejudice the outcome of talks.”

“It’s incumbent on both parties to build an atmosphere of support for negotiations, and not to complicate them,” he said.

The European Union also urged Israel to reverse its decision “and to refrain from unilateral decisions and actions that may jeopardize” negotiations. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband called it a “bad decision at the wrong time.” Germany said the plan was “not acceptable” given the two sides’ recent agreement to renew talks.

Just ahead of Biden’s arrival Monday, Israel and the Palestinians both agreed to resume indirect negotiations through the mediation of U.S. envoy George Mitchell. The resumption of talks ends a 14-month deadlock and marks the Obama administration’s first accomplishment in the Israeli-Palestinian arena.

Israeli settlement construction had been a key issue stalling the negotiations, and Abbas said Wednesday that new Israeli building, especially in Jerusalem, threatened the negotiations before they got off the ground.

“We call on Israel to cancel these decisions,” Abbas said. “I call on the Israeli government not to lose a chance to make peace. I call on them to halt settlement building and to stop imposing facts on the ground, and to give the efforts of the Obama administration and Senator Mitchell the chance to succeed.

The fate of Jewish settlements is one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Some 270,000 settlers live in the West Bank, in addition to 180,000 Israelis living in Jewish neighborhoods built in east Jerusalem. The Palestinians claim both areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war — as parts of a future state.

The dispute over the settlements has been a key reason for the deadlock in peace talks over the past year. Abbas has insisted on a full freeze on settlement construction as a condition for resuming talks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has imposed a partial slowdown on West Bank construction, but allowed building in east Jerusalem to continue. Israel considers all of Jerusalem to be its capital, and Netanyahu has said he will never share control of the holy city.

Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai, whose office announced the latest construction plans in east Jerusalem, apologized Wednesday for disrupting Biden’s visit. But he said the problem was merely about timing, not substance.

“We had no intention, no desire, to offend or taunt an important man like the vice president during his visit,” Yishai told Israel Radio. “I am very sorry for the embarrassment … Next time we need to take timing into account.”

Ministry spokeswoman Efrat Orbach said the ministry routinely issues announcements of planning decisions immediately after they are taken. But this is not the first time that such announcements have dovetailed with visits by top U.S. officials. Plans for hundreds of settlement apartments were announced during the peace mission of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The Israeli announcement drew an unusually harsh condemnation from Biden late Tuesday. And in an apparent snub Tuesday night, Biden pointedly arrived 90 minutes late to his scheduled dinner with Netanyahu.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said the Palestinians appreciated “the strong statement of condemnation” by the U.S. administration.

Israel’s opposition Kadima Party said it is planning a no-confidence vote in the prime minister in parliament for “destroying” the Biden visit.

The new construction plan also drew a sharp rebuke from Egypt, Israel’s closest ally in the Arab world, and from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“This is absurd. It is disdainful of the Arab and the Palestinian positions and the American mediation,” said Hossam Zaki, a spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

Israeli media lambasted the move, calling it an embarrassment.

“A slap heard round the world,” read the headline of a front-page commentary in Israel’s Haaretz daily.

Aung San Suu Kyi to be barred from polls and party (AFP)

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:57:25 +0000

unveiled on Wednesday.
In a move branded “disappointing and regrettable” by the United States, the regime said in a law printed for the first time in state newspapers that anyone serving a prison term cannot be a member of a political party.
— would in turn be abolished if it failed to obey the rules.
was sentenced to three years' jail in August over an incident in which a US man swam to her lakeside home. Suu Kyi's sentence was commuted by junta supremo
.
“I have noticed that we have to expel Daw Suu. Their attitude is clear in this law,” NLD spokesman
told AFP, using a respectful form of address to refer to Suu Kyi.
“I was extremely surprised when I saw this, I did not think it would be so bad.”
also gives the NLD just 60 days from Monday, when the law was enacted, to register as a party if it wants to take part in the elections, or else face dissolution.
The NLD has yet to announce whether it will take part in the polls promised by the junta, which are expected in October or November although the government has still not set a date.
“The NLD also needs to reply clearly but I cannot say how we will respond,” Nyan Win said.
.
The 64-year-old Suu Kyi has been in detention for 14 of the last 20 years since the previous elections.
She was already barred from standing as a candidate under a new constitution approved in a 2008 referendum that stipulates that those married to foreigners are ineligible. Her husband,
, died in 1999.
The constitution reserves a quarter of all parliamentary seats for the military.
“What I can say now is the law is meant to safeguard the constitution. It will be a very big problem for us as they asked us to obey a constitution that we cannot accept,” Nyan Win added.
A senior NLD official speaking on condition of anonymity said the party was expected to register anyway, noting that Suu Kyi was not officially a member for the 1990 elections either.
“I think no party members want to dissolve the party because of this law,” the official said.
The new law effectively also prevents more than 2,100
from taking part in the elections.
— and members of the civil service from standing. Monks led mass protests in 2007, which the regime suppressed with the loss of at least 31 lives.
The act is the second of five laws to have been enacted on Monday ahead of the polls.
The first law, details of which were revealed Tuesday, stipulates that the regime itself will hand-pick members of the electoral commission.
The United States expressed concerns over the new laws and reiterated calls for Suu Kyi's release.
“We would like to see steps taken by the government to encourage domestic dialogue in anticipation and in advance of the elections,” US regional envoy
, as part of a tour of
.
“I think it would be fair to say what we have seen so far is disappointing and regrettable,” Campbell said.
, which uses Myanmar's former name, urged worldwide action in response to the new laws.
“Now, the ball is in the court of the United Nations, United States, and the international community, who have been repeatedly calling for the regime to make an inclusive, free and fair election,” said Aung Din.
-based analyst Aung Naing Oo said the new law was a big blow to the NLD because Suu Kyi had always been its most important part, but added: “The NLD strategy is survival, I think they will get themselves registered.”

British Airways strike looms as last-ditch talks fail (AFP)

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:45:32 +0000

crew over working conditions failed on Wednesday, raising the threat of a walkout as early as next week.
“Despite a prolonged period of negotiations it has not been possible to reach agreement between BA and Unite,” said
, head of
, who chaired the talks.
Unite, which represents 12,500
at Britain's biggest airline, meets Thursday to decide dates for a strike.
seven days' notice before a strike goes ahead — meaning a walkout could come as early as March 18, although they have ruled out action over Easter.
Cabin crew voted 80 percent in favour of a strike around two weeks ago. Earlier plans to strike over the Christmas and New Year's holidays were thwarted by a court ruling.
British Airways, which has forecast a record loss in its current financial year, says it wants to review the working conditions of its cabin crew, who are paid more than counterparts at rival airlines.
Unite is protesting against imposed contractual changes that include fewer cabin crew on flights, a pay freeze, and different working conditions for new members of staff.
“Talks with British Airways concluded today without agreement being reached,” Unite said. “Management's offer went nowhere near addressing our members' concerns over crew numbers and
.”
For its part, the airline said it remained available for more negotiations.
in France went on strike last month, amid growing unrest in the
which has been hard hit by the economic downturn.

New York may have to borrow to bridge deficits

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:01:08 +0000

New York state may have to borrow to smooth a path back to financial health over the next few years, its lieutenant governor said on Wednesday, highlighting the severity of the fiscal trouble facing US states in the wake of the financial crisis and economic recession.

Richard Ravitch, who rose to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s for his work with New York City during its financial crisis, has been charged with drafting a turnround plan for the state.

The plan, unveiled on Wednesday and must be enacted by the state legislature, also includes measures that lock the state into paying down a so-called structural deficit in five years, create a five-member oversight board to assess the budget situation quarterly as well as authorise the governor to make cuts if the lawmakers fail to agree on gap-closing measures within a limited timeframe. Long-term planning would accompany future annual budget talks and the state would have to set aside more rainy day reserves.

“The current economic crisis did not cause New York’s budget troubles,” Mr Ravitch said. “It merely exposed them.”

New York had a chronic mismatch of revenue and spending that it had glossed over with the use of cash accounting, allowing for “one-shot” budget fixes, he said. Accounting practices vary by state.

The budget deficit is projected at more than $9bn (£6bn) for the fiscal year of 2011, starting on April 1. But he estimated the structural deficit was more like $13bn. Mr Ravitch predicted that without reform, the structural imbalance would surge in five years to $60bn, a gap that could only be closed with “horrendous taxes”.

His plan includes a shift to GAAP accounting, the accepted standard for US corporations, as well as a change in the start of the fiscal year to July 1 in line with most states.

The sombre budget news out of New York could be a sign of what is to come nationwide as lawmakers grapple with the latest round of budget deficits over the next few months.

The ripple effects of the recession have decimated state tax revenues. That has meant several years of budget deficits and painful cuts to staff and services throughout the country. State lawmakers closed a cumulative budget gap of $145.9bn for the fiscal year of 2010.

As details of Mr Ravitch’s plan have leaked out, concern has arisen over the inclusion of deficit borrowing, a practice that has always been controversial but has become a hot issue after Greece’s debt crisis.

Mr Ravitch argued it might be unrealistic to close bulging gaps with spending cuts alone. Under his plan, borrowing would come only with strict limits and controls on spending and revenue balance.

The proposed legislation would authorise up to $2bn annually in short-term borrowing secured by personal income taxes to balance the budget in the first three years of the plan.

Not all states borrow for budget relief and some are prohibited. In the last recession, states issued nearly $30bn of debt to help balance budgets, according to Standard & Poor’s, the rating agency.