TRAVELS BOOKS INTERNET SHOWBIZ Archive Nov 15 Archive Nov 22 Archive Nov 30 Archive Dec 6 Archive Dec 13

An independent view of the world seen from Tokelau

The Independent New York Times

Tokelau, Saturday, January 17 2009 Special Edition, editor - contact sumpinein@gmail.com

EDITORIAL: The latest war in Gaza must raise some serious question for unbiased opinion. On the one hand there is a Middle East superpower, Israel, armed by the USA with the latest hardware and technology, on the other is the rump entity of an undefined Palestinian state that has been blockaded for decades, Gaza, hemmed in by its neighbour, without free land, sea or air access, greatly undeveloped and poor in comparison to first world Israel. What would be the reaction on any other normal people in those circumstance? It was widely reported that the population of Jerusalem was terrified by a false alarm that rockets had been fired on the city, whilst at the same time Palestinians suffered the onslaught of a powerful modern army, leaving more than 1,000 Palestinians dead and thousands injured with massive destruction to the territory's infrastructure. This newspaper sides with neither of the belligerents but common sense tells us the battle is unequal as is the suffering.

AWARDS AND TEARS
Kate Winslet has won two Golden Globe awards in one of the best nights for British talent in recent memory. The Reading-born actress, 33, picked up gongs for best supporting actress for The Reader, in which she plays former Nazi guard who has an affair with a younger man, and for best actress for her role as a frustrated suburban housewife in Revolutionary Road. The actress was rendered speechless by the second win – one of the more unexpected of the night. "Is this really happening," she asked in an emotional address that paid tribute to her "spectacular" co-star, Leonardo DiCaprio, and to her husband, Sam Mendes, who directed the film.

A KENNEDY IS BACK
Caroline Kennedy, daughter of John F Kennedy and America’s most celebrated political dynasty, will seek the United States Senate seat in New York being vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton.

HIGH DEFAULT RATE FOR MODIFIED HOME LOANS IN USA
More than half of delinquent homeowners whose mortgages were modified earlier this year ended up re-defaulting within six months, a top bank regulator said Monday. Some 53% of borrowers with loans modified in the first three months of 2008 and 51% of those with loans modified in the second quarter could not keep up with payments within six months, according to U.S. The high re-default rate raises concerns about the long-term effectiveness of loan modifications, which many are pushing as a key solution to the nation's financial crisis. A record 1.35 million homes are in foreclosure, while the number of borrowers who have fallen behind on their payments soared to a record 6.99%, the Mortgage Bankers Association said last week. Meanwhile, 1.7 million homeowners have been helped in 2008 through the Hope Now Alliance, a coalition of lenders, servicers, investors and counsellors working with delinquent borrowers on modifications and repayment plans. Modifications that include an interest rate reduction have a 15% re-default rate, said Bair, citing a recent Credit Suisse study.
CULTURE

CREOLE STOMP
This band incarnates the traditional values of Cajun music in the USA. The Cajuns live mainly in Louisiana and are the descendants of Acadian exiles. Today, the Cajuns make up a significant portion of south Louisiana's population, and have exerted an enormous impact on the state's culture.

Every now and again a band comes along that redefines a genre of music and carries it even further...that group is Dennis Stroughmatt and Creole Stomp.  Always leaving audiences wondering "who are they?," and "where do they come from?," Dennis and CS are based in southern Illinois and happily tell audiences "we are from upper Louisiana."  While this may bring chuckles from many and nodding heads from others "in the know," this is the group that does represent "old upper Louisiana." Dennis learned to speak French and play French Creole music in a southeast Missouri French Creole community before moving to the state of Louisiana.  After returning to Illinois from Louisiana, Dennis began a long odyssey that eventually culminated in the forming of Creole Stomp in 2002. And since that time he and his band have carried the torch of French Creole music and culture across  North America performing a blend of music from the state of Louisiana and old upper Louisiana.  Their unique sound and mix of ancient and modern Mississippi River valley musical tradition positions them as the only band to encompass French Creole and Folk Music from the entirety of the old Louisiana Territory.  And although Dennis continues to play with many of his Louisiana based friends on occasion, you can always find him at the helm of Creole Stomp playing somewhere from San Diego to Boston

Read DEATH OF A FINANCIER by JOHN FRANCIS KINSELLA

Tom Barton, a City mortgage broker, decides to quit his business in the wake of the subprime crisis and arrives in Kovalam, in the south of India. In the Maharaja Palace he finds himself in the company of holiday makers from the UK, Scandinavia and Russia. Stephen Parkly, the CEO of a successful City bank, and his young wife Emma are taking a well earned year end break. Parkly falls gravely ill with a mysterious infection, whilst back in the City, unknown to him his mortgage and investment bank, West Mercian Finance is in grave difficulties. Ryan Kavanagh, a doctor, comes to Emma’s aid with the help of Barton, after an attempted cover-up by the Indian authorities, who fear for their tourist industry and more especially medical tourism, as the disease threatens the resort with the tourist season in full swing. Thousands of British tourists enjoying the sun are unaware of the pending disaster, many are equally unaware their savings about are to be wiped out in the West Mercian collapse.
ADVERTISEMENTS

 

DEATH OF A FINANCIER

NOW AVAILABLE IN eBOOK FORM FOR ONLY $7.50 FROM
 

 

OR PRINT VERSION FROM
More books by John Francis Kinsella from Vincennes Books: Borneo Pulp, The Legacy of Solomon, Offshore Islands, The Lost Forest

LONDON TO TIMBUKTU BY FLYING-CAR
A voyage to fabled Timbuktu in a flying car may sound like a magical childhood fantasy. But this week a British adventurer will set off from London on an incredible journey through Europe and Africa in a souped-up sand buggy, travelling by road - and air. With the help of a parachute and a giant fan-motor, Neil Laughton plans to soar over the Pyrenees near Andorra, before taking to the skies again to hop across the 14-km (nine-mile) Straits of Gibraltar. The ex-SAS officer then aims to fly over the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, above stretches of the Sahara desert and, well, wherever else the road runs out. But forget Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - this flying machine is based on proven technology.

Lakeview Terrace

A gripping film about neighbourly hate that inverts racial stereotypes. Next door neighbour, (Eddie Murhpy) presents himself: “I’m your worst fucking nightmare, man. I’m a nigger with a badge.” When Chris and Lisa Mattson, a nice mixed-raced couple, move into their dream home on a quiet cul-de-sac in southern California, they discover their worst nightmare lives next door: a black cop with a badge and a hatred of mixed-race couples. Lakeview Terrace belongs to that genre of thrillers — Unlawful Entry, Fatal Attraction — in which good, white, well-off middle-class people have their lives invaded by former lovers, lunatics or the neighbour(s) from hell.

ISRAELI ONSLAUGHT HITS UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS IN GAZA AND PALESTINIAN DEATH TOLL PASSES 1,000

The media coverage of this endless conflict overlooks the 'chicken or egg' dilemma which cannot however justify the brutality of Israel's strong arm methods against what in effect are defenceless Palestinians civilians. It is true that Hamas have fired rockets into Israel, it is also true that Israel kills Palestinians on a regular basis. For decades Gaza has been an open prison. Cut off from the world by land, sea and air to all intents and purposes by Israel. According to the Middle East Times: 'The death toll of Palestinians killed by Israelis has soared 100 percent since the U.S. sponsored November peace talks in Annapolis, according to Palestinian political leader Mustafa Barghouti. The former Palestinian information minister and head of the Palestinian National Initiative political movement backed up his claim with data showing that the ratio of Palestinians to Israelis killed last year was the most unbalanced ever, at 40:1, up from 30:1 in 2006 and 4:1 from 2000-2005. A report by the U.N.'s humanitarian office for Palestinian affairs, OCHA, stated that 44 Palestinians were killed in November alone. Most of these deaths were a direct result of Israeli-Palestinian violence, while 12 resulted from inter-Palestinian fighting. In the same month 127 Palestinians were injured. This compares with one Israeli death and seven injuries in November. The total death toll for 2007 stands at 322 Palestinians and eight Israelis. "We do not want anyone to die, Israeli or Palestinian, but this ratio is alarming. It is unacceptable to justify such large-scale killings under the pretext of security," Barghouti told the Maan News Agency, adding that five of the eight Israelis killed in 2007 were soldiers who died while carrying out military incursions inside the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. "Israel uses security as a pretext to step up its aggression against Palestinians and to evade any commitments to peace," Barghouti said, adding, "The question here is about security for everyone, not only Israelis, and about equality for everybody." Yehezkel Lein, research director for the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem, expressed his own concerns to the Middle East Times: "We are worried about the number of Palestinian civilians who continue to be killed. "B'Tselem has filed a petition before the Israeli Supreme Court requesting that every Palestinian civilian killed by the Israeli Defense Forces be automatically investigated by the state, something which doesn't occur, as Israel defines the current situation as an armed conflict in which 'collateral damage' occurs." Prior to the outbreak of the second intifada in 2000, every civilian death was automatically investigated by the Jewish state, as the conflict in the Palestinian territories was regarded as a policing matter. Indeed, B'Tselem concurred with Barghouti's assessment in its annual end-of-year report, which said Israel uses security to justify virtually every Israeli action in the occupied territories. "There is no doubt that Israel faces serious security threats, and is entitled and even obligated to do its utmost to protect its population." But too often Israel fails to balance legitimate security needs with protecting Palestinian rights, the report added. Additionally B'tselem claimed there was a "lack of accountability of Israeli security forces, in all matters relating to human rights. This can be seen clearly in the reluctance of the state to thoroughly investigate violations and to prosecute those responsible for them," the report stated. And bringing those -- whose fingers are quick on the trigger when it comes to Palestinian lives -- to justice continues to be a problem for other NGOs and human rights activists as well. Over the last couple of years another Israeli human rights organization, Yesh Din, has helped Palestinian complainants in the West Bank to lay charges against Israeli settlers and military personnel. The rights group escorts the complainants to meetings at police stations in Jewish settlements or to military bases – places that are otherwise out of bounds to Palestinians. "Conviction rates are around 10 percent of cases opened, due to what we consider unprofessional investigations. This includes the police 'losing the paperwork' or being 'unable to identify the perpetrators,'" Lior Yavne, Yesh Din's research director, told the Middle East Times. However, an IDF spokesman stated, "IDF soldiers, on all levels, are instructed to grant the Palestinian population, not involved in terrorism, the full protection afforded to civilians under the laws of armed conflict."Be that as it may, one of the major problems underlying the continuing high rate of civilian casualties in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, at the hands of the Israeli military, is Israel's interpretation of its responsibilities toward protecting and investigating the deaths of civilians in the West Bank and Gaza, as a signatory to the Geneva Convention. The Jewish state argues that although it will respect the convention it is not legally bound to it, because, Israel says, it is not an occupying power and that the Palestinian territories never belonged to another state before, an interpretation that flies in the face of international law and U.N. resolutions.
Nevertheless, the International Red Cross continues to meet with the relevant Israeli authorities to persuade them of Israel's international obligations as a signatory to the convention. Eloi Fillion, protection coordinator of the International Committee of the Red Cross, explained to the Middle East Times that his organization also holds regular workshops on principles of international humanitarian law for Israeli security personnel and members of the IDF, which he says are positively received. But, he said, there was only so much that groups like his could do, as ultimately the protection of Palestinian civilians lay in a negotiated settlement. "Until there is a political settlement to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict," Fillion said, "the majority of casualties will continue to be civilian, who will also bear the brunt of the suffering."

MIDDLE EAST FACTS

On 29 November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly voted 33 to 13, with 10 abstentions, in favour of the Partition Plan, while making some adjustments to the boundaries between the two states proposed by it. Switching their votes from November 25 to November 29 to provide the two-thirds majority were Liberia, the Philippines, and Haiti. All heavily dependent on the United States, they had been lobbied to change their votes. The State Department noted that it had been shown that unauthorized U.S. pressure groups, including members of Congress, sought to impose U.S. views on members of foreign delegations. At that time Israel as a state did not exist and the UN was composed of only 54 nations and all Middle East members voted against the resolution, whilst South Africa, then under apartheid, was the only African nation to vote for the resolution, since there was no other African member state, except Egypt who voted against. Since that time the total member states risen to 192. It is of course difficult to change history and past resolutions, but some consideration should be given to the changes that have taken place in the world whilst protecting the position of Israel, as well as the Palestinian people - a small and weak nation facing a regional superpower.

YOU WANNA BUY A NEW CAR? WE'VE GOT'EM

THE INDEPENDENT NEW YORK TIMES PRESENTS SEASONAL GREETINGS TO ALL ITS READERS

PLEASE LET US HAVE YOUR COMMENTS AND OPINIONS

CONTACT OUR EDITOR AT sumpinein@gmail.com

ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT?

The commander of Zimbabwe's air force has been wounded in what officials are calling an assassination attempt. Perence Shiri, 53, a close ally of President Mugabe seen as one of the most feared military leaders, was shot in the arm and is said to be stable.

The opposition MDC says he was one of the masterminds of violence against its supporters during this year's election. Its spokesman said the attack was aimed at justifying a military crackdown and eventual declaration of an emergency. The incident comes as pressure grows on Zimbabwe to allow international mediation in its political crisis. The crisis is compounded by a cholera epidemic which has left hundreds dead. On Monday, at the UN Security Council's first discussions on Zimbabwe since July, Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said the world was witnessing a failure of the leadership in Zimbabwe to address the crisis. After disputed presidential elections in March, Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) agreed to form a power-sharing government. But implementation of that agreement, reached in September, has been dogged by disagreements over whose supporters would get key ministries.
Cholera ravages Zimbabwe. This disease is described in John Francis Kinsella's novel Death of a Financier.

SENTENCED TO BLINDING
TEHRAN: An Iranian man has been sentenced to be blinded under Islamic laws in retribution for blinding a woman by throwing acid on her face for rejecting his marriage proposal, press reports said on Thursday.
A Tehran criminal court on Wednesday issued the ruling against the jilted suitor identified as Majid, 27, who confessed to throwing acid on Ameneh Bahrami's face four years ago, Kargozaran newspaper said.
Despite years of treatment in Spain, Bahrami has lost sight in both eyes and still bears serious injuries to the face and body, the report said. The newspaper did not say whether the convict would appeal against the ruling that he also be blinded by acid.
Under the Sharia-based law practised in the Islamic republic, those convicted of causing intentional physical injury are punishable by "qisas", or the eye-for-an-eye Islamic penalty.

 ICELAND THREATENS UK
It is a sign of the times that security has been increased at Reykjavik's small Parliament building, from one policeman to three. Iceland's Prime Minister Geir Haarde faces almost daily calls for his resignation from small but angry protests - and has even been seen with an armed bodyguard at the gym. The crisis that saw Iceland's three largest banks collapse in October also soured relations with Britain. And while Mr Haarde insists "we need to move on", he also insists his government is considering court action against the UK. "I think there's a special case with regard to Kaupthing which needs to be looked into," he says, referring to Iceland's biggest bank which collapsed on 9 October. A decision on whether to go to court is expected by early January, focusing on action by the British authorities to put the UK operations of the bank's subsidiary, Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander (KSF), into administration. "We are looking at whether or not the action of the FSA (Financial Services Authority) led to the collapse of Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander in the UK, which in turn led to the collapse of the mother bank here in Iceland," he says. Iceland's financial sector imploded over 11 unprecedented days. First Glitnir, the third-largest bank, was nationalised on 29 September, then Landsbanki, the second-largest, was taken over under emergency legislation on 7 October.

'We have saved the world'

Gordon Brown's slip of the tongue provoked hilarity in the Commons. Gordon Brown is preparing to offer billions in loan guarantees to struggling businesses amid Tory claims that his bank rescue scheme is not working.

Barack Obama’s grandfather was imprisoned and brutally tortured by the British

Barack Obama’s grandfather was imprisoned and brutally tortured by the British during the violent struggle for Kenyan independence, according to the Kenyan family of the US President-elect. Hussein Onyango Obama, Mr Obama’s paternal grandfather, became involved in the Kenyan independence movement while working as a cook for a British army officer after the war. He was arrested in 1949 and jailed for two years in a high-security prison where, according to his family, he was subjected to horrific violence to extract information about the growing insurgency.

IMAMS AND RABBIS GATHER TO PROMOTE PEACE

logo_IR_Small.gifParis, 15 December 2008, the Foundation Hommes de Parole inaugurated the Third World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace at UNESCO. The theme of the Congress is The Sacredness of Peace.
Abdoulaye Wade, President of the Republic of Senegal and President of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, Director general of UNESCO opened the proceedings.

CHINA DEVALUES
The central bank has shifted the central peg of its dollar band twice this week in a calculated move that suggests Beijing aims to offset the precipitous slide in Chinese manufacturing by trying to gain further export share abroad. The futures markets are pricing in a 6pc devaluation over the next year. "This is clearly a big shift in policy and we are now on alert," said Simon Derrick, currency chief at the Bank of New York Mellon. The move follows a Politburo speech by President Hu Jintao warning that China is "losing competitive edge in the world market".

DON'T CRY FOR HIM
Guy Ritchie will receive almost £50 million in cash and property in what may be the largest divorce settlement paid to a man, a spokeswoman for his former wife, Madonna, said last night. The film director and the pop singer were granted a divorce settlement in the High Court last month. Ritchie, who has an estimated fortune of £30 million, was originally reported not to be asking for any money from his wealthier wife, whose fortune is estimated at £300 million. The split, via a “quickie” procedure, was held up by lawyers as a model separation, devoid of acrimony, and Ritchie’s apparent refusal to demand a share of his former wife’s fortune was praised as a rare act of integrity. Last night, however, Madonna’s spokeswoman, Liz Rosenberg, said that Ritchie would receive a figure of between $76 million and $92 million (£49 million and £60 million) in cash and property. This includes the couple’s country home, Ashcombe House, in Wiltshire. worth an estimated £10 million to £12 million, and their West London pub, the Punchbowl, which they bought for £2.5 million. Their settlement is about twice the amount that Sir Paul McCartney paid to Heather Mills.

Harvard University Research: The Aftermath of Financial Crises

House prices likely to fall for up to six years suggests latest research from Harvard University Latest academic study on impact of previous financial crises suggests house prices have a long way to go both in duration and magnitude of fall (average of -36%). Authors say: "An examination of the aftermath of severe financial crises shows deep and lasting effects on asset prices, output and employment. Unemployment rises and housing price declines extend out for five and six years, respectively.”

Anglo Irish Bank Nationalized

The state had planned on pumping 1.5bn euros (£1.4bn) into the bank, but has decided that recapitalisation is not the way to secure its future. Anglo Irish has about 100 billion euros on its books, but there was no need for customers to act, the state said. It added that all employees would stay with the firm and that shareholder rights would be protected. The bank's board said it would work with the government to ensure its long-term commercial viability. Ministers had been due to hand over the 1.5bn euros bail-out in return for 75% shares with an annual fixed dividend being paid to the government of 10%. "In the current circumstances the State is the only available potential owner," the government said. "I would again stress that this government decision safeguards the interest of the depositors of Anglo, and the stability of the economy, given the significance of Anglo in this regard, as already recognised by the European Commission," said finance minister Brian Lenihan. "The bank will continue to operate as normal and depositors and creditors should continue to transact as normal." A lack of liquidity has made it increasingly difficult for the banks to lend money to their customers. And confidence in Irish banks has been undermined by the global credit crunch. They have been especially badly hit by a slump in the Irish property market which has led to a collapse in the value of investments linked to the property market. In October the government of the Irish Republic acted to shore up its financial system by guaranteeing all deposits in the republic's banks and all money borrowed by the banks from other financial institutions. This led to many savers in the UK putting money there as it came before the UK government had boosted its protection for savings. According to latest figure released at the end of September, 50% of the money saved with Anglo Irish came from UK customers. Anglo Irish recently lost top executives over a secret loans fiasco. In December the bank's chairman resigned after a 87m euros loan controversy. Sean Fitzpatrick confirmed that he had transferred millions of euros out of the Dublin-based bank's accounts. Chief executive David Drumm announced his resignation shortly afterwards.
 

HERO SAVES 150 LIVES
Captain Chesley B Sullenberger III has been universally hailed as a hero after pulling off one of aviation's all-time great escapes, but he played down the drama in the phone call to his wife, Lorrie. "I hadn't been watching the news," said Mrs Sullenberger at her home in Danville, California. "He called me and said: 'There's been an accident.' At first I thought it was something minor, but then he told me the circumstances and my body started shaking and I rushed to get our daughters out of school. I was stunned. "My body won't stop shaking. I think he's fine. I'm relieved." Mrs Sullenberger said of her 57-year-old husband, known as Sully: "He is the consummate pilot. He is about performing that airplane to the exact precision to which it is made. "I've heard Sully say to people 'It's rare for an airline pilot to have an incident in their career'." The passengers on board US Airways flight 1549 could not have been in safer hands once their Airbus 320 lost power in both engines after hitting a flock of geese as it took off from La Guardia Airport on Thursday afternoon. Mr Sullenberger is not only a qualified glider pilot, he is also a renowned expert on aviation safety and has his own company providing consultancy on safety methods. A former US Air Force fighter pilot, who flew F-4 Phantoms from 1973 to 1980, Mr Sullenberger has been with US Airways for 29 years, clocking up more than 19,000 hours flying time.

 Madoff enjoys the comfort of his luxurious apartment whilst small time thieves face instant justice behind bars
The decision is sure to outrage investors who have been clamouring for Mr Madoff to be sent to jail for allegedly carrying out the largest financial fraud in history. Prosecutors said the gifts were grounds to have his bail revoked because what is left of Mr Madoff's assets will have to be returned to burned investors. But the judge not swayed by their arguments that Mr Madoff represents an economic danger to the community because of the size of the fraud and his actions in sending the gifts. Judges in bail decisions normally consider two main factors: whether the defendant is a flight risk or a danger to the community. "The government fails to provide sufficient evidence that any potential future dissemination of Madoff's assets would rise to the level of an economic harm," Magistrate Judge Ronald L. Ellis wrote. The anxiously awaited decision does put more restrictions on Mr Madoff, including forcing him to come up with a list of items at his apartment and allowing a security firm to check on the items. The security company will also be allowed to search all outgoing mail from Madoff to ensure that no property has been transferred. Defense lawyer Ira Sorkin says the "the opinion speaks for itself and we intend to comply with the judge's order." Mr Sorkin has said the gifts were an innocent mistake and said he is neither a danger to the community nor a threat to flee. Authorities say Mr Madoff has described his activities as a $50bn Ponzi scheme — a scam that pays early investors returns from the investments of later investors The big question is whether NY trader Madoff acted alone and why his suspected con game was not uncovered sooner. Even by the standards of New York's recent financial turmoil, the charges levelled at Bernard Madoff are eye-watering – a staggering $50 billion swindle perpetrated by one of the most celebrated traders on Wall Street. Mr Madoff, 70, a former chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange and a supposed pillar of the financial community, has been accused of defrauding hedge funds of billions with a fake investment scheme called a 'Ponzi'. Now thousands, possibly tens of thousands, of investors confront losses that range from serious to devastating. Some families said on Friday that they believed they had lost all their savings. A charity in Massachusetts said it had lost essentially its entire endowment and would have to close. In the fraud outlined by the government, Mr Madoff allegedly promised huge returns to early investors in his asset management business, only to lose their money on the markets. He then paid them back with money put in by later investors, rather than from revenues generated by any real share trading, prosecutors claim. The news has rocked the hedge fund world as investors faced losing all their money in a scam that, if confirmed, would have what one expert described as a "monumental impact" on the $1.6 trillion ( industry. Prosecutors say Mr Madoff ran his fraudulent operation for years secretly from a separate floor of the Manhattan offices of his trading firm, Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities, keeping its financial statements "under lock and key".

INVEST, INVEST, INVEST!

THE GREAT DEPRESSION

REAL ESTATE DOWNFALL DRAMA

USA AIDS AFRICAN STATE MILITARY
Thousands of miles from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, another side of America’s fight against terrorism is unfolding in this remote corner of West Africa. American Green Berets are training African armies to guard their borders and patrol vast desolate expanses against infiltration by Al Qaeda’s militants, so the United States does not have to.
A recent exercise by the United States military here was part of a wide-ranging plan, developed after the Sept. 11 attacks, to take counterterrorism training and assistance to places outside the Middle East, like the Philippines and Indonesia. In Africa, a five-year, $500 million partnership between the State and Defense Departments includes Algeria, Chad, Mauritania, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia, and Libya is on the verge of joining.  American efforts to fight terrorism in the region also include non-military programs, like instruction for teachers and job training for young Muslim men who could be singled out by militants’ recruiting campaigns. One goal of the program is to act quickly in these countries before terrorism becomes as entrenched as it is in Somalia, an East African nation where there is a heightened militant threat. And unlike Somalia, Mali is willing and able to have dozens of American and European military trainers conduct exercises here, and its leaders are plainly worried about militants who have taken refuge in its vast Saharan north. “Mali does not have the means to control its borders without the cooperation of the United States,” Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, a former prime minister, said in an interview. Mali, a landlocked former French colony that is nearly twice the size of Texas with roughly half the population, has a relatively stable, though still fragile, democracy. But it borders Algeria, whose well-equipped military has chased Qaeda militants into northern Mali, where they have adopted a nomadic lifestyle, making them even more difficult to track.

POUND REGAINS LOST TERRITORY BUT FOR TOURISTS ONE EURO EQUALS ONE POUND

READING DEATH OF A FINANCIER

THE CREDIT CRUNCH SONG

BUSHES REIGN COMES TO AN END

Gerard Baker wrote in The Times " It takes a very special courage, the sort only certain politicians possess, I suppose, to wait until someone is out of the room before speaking ill of him. Having stood closely by George Bush's America these last few years as a trusted member of Tony Blair's inner circle, and then as Foreign Secretary, David Miliband yesterday chose the last 120 hours of Mr Bush's presidency to say what a disaster his foreign policy had been. The War on Terror was a “mistaken” doctrine that had united the West's enemies against us, he told an audience in Mumbai. Thank you, David. You might have thought of saying that sooner. Interestingly, if it's an attempt to curry favour with the incoming US President, it may be as misjudged as the Foreign Secretary's faint-hearted putsch against Gordon Brown last summer. From what I hear, though he has his doubts about some of the terminology, Barack Obama is going to tread very carefully before signalling any big changes in the broader US approach to the threat of terrorism, the seriousness of which he fully grasps as he prepares to take office. Around the world the Bush name is synonymous with arrogance, ignorance, reckless insouciance, torture, violence and ineptitude. And those would be from America's friends. He leaves office with his country facing the worst economic crisis since (take your pick) Jimmy Carter or Herbert Hoover left town, two of his predecessors now firmly ensconced in the presidential Hall of Infamy. But before we consign him to a seat in the same dark palace, we should pause. The end of a president's term in office is never the best time to review his record. Richard Nixon, the only president forced from office by something other than election or death, is regarded more favourably 30 years later, especially for his diplomatic achievements. Lyndon Johnson, pilloried for the Vietnam War and a broken man when he stepped down in 1969, is now rightly lauded for his civil rights record. Harry Truman left office to widespread disdain - in the midst of another messy war, in Korea. But he is now widely regarded as one of the best presidents, the architect of America's Cold War strategy. Then again, we should quickly note that there's no fixed rule about this. Sometimes presidents who leave office to contemporary derision get the same raspberry from the historians years later: Presidents Carter and Hoover spring to mind. So what is it to be for Mr Bush: a stunning revision of historical judgment some time in the future? Or will the next decade or so merely confirm how bad the world now believes him to be? Mr Bush's presidency was and will be defined by the events of September 11, 2001. Any proper judgment on it must reflect not only how he responded to them but how those events changed America.

RISING ECONOMIES OF ASIA TOO SMALL TO RESCUE WORLD

According to a Daily Telegraph article dated 12 December by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard (know for his anti-European stance) "the rising economies of Asia are too small and deformed to rescue world growth as America, Britain, Australia, and Club Med face their day of debt reckoning. China may make matters worse, not better. The seven pillars of global demand over the last year - measured by current account deficits - have been the United States ($793bn) (£388bn), Spain ($126bn), Britain ($87bn), Australian ($50bn) Italy ($48bn), Greece ($42bn), and Turkey ($34bn). Most are facing a housing bust. All are in trouble. China cannot possibly step into the breach. Jahangir Aziz and Xiangming Li argue in a new IMF paper that China's economy is now so geared to the US and EU markets that a 1pc fall in external demand will lead to a 4.5pc slide in exports and 0.75pc fall in GDP. Assumptions that it will weather a global shock are "likely to be wrong, perhaps dramatically." China is indeed gobbling up iron ore, soybeans, and crude oil, but it still makes up less than 4pc of global consumption and is no longer adding to total demand. Imports have been more or less flat since April. China is boosting GDP at the world's expense, by snatching markets with a cheap yuan. It is beggar-thy-neighbour growth. Note that Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Lehman Brothers, have all begun to tear up the "decoupling" manual. - the pre-crunch script assuring us that the world could get along fine as the US buckled. "What began as a U.S.-specific shock is morphing into a global shock," said Peter Berezin, a Goldman Sachs strategist. "There is a clear risk that some of the hot housing markets in Europe and some emerging markets will cool dramatically," he said. The bank has begun "shorting" the Chilean peso. Is the metals boom over? In Europe, not a single junk bond has been issued since August. Spreads on Euribor - the rate used to price mortgages in Spain, France, Italy, and Ireland - reached 93 basis points last week, a new record. This is tantamount to four rate rises for homeowners. Thomas Mayer, Europe economist for Deutsche Bank, said the European Central Bank must cut rates immediately, regardless of the lingering inflation threat. "This could go beyond just a normal recession. It could turn into a real economy-wide crunch that we cannot stop," he said. Four months after the global credit system suffered its August heart attack, nothing has been resolved. The US market for Asset Backed Commercial Paper (ABCP) shed another $23bn last week. The outstanding volume has fallen for 17 weeks in a row as lenders refuse to roll over loans, cutting off $393bn in funding since August. For now, consensus has settled on the view that subprime losses will total $500bn, and crimp lending by $2 trillion as bank multiples kick into reverse. This assumes there are no more shoes to drop. Yet shoes are dangling precariously across the global credit system. We may soon have to add the terms HELOCs and 'monoline insurers' to our crunch lexicon. HELOCs are home equity loans, the money extracted from houses to pay bills and keep shopping. Many borrowers pushed their debt to 110pc of house values at the top of the bubble. Moody's says 16.5pc of these loans are in arrears beyond 60 days. The HELOC market is roughly $600bn, so add another $100bn to the funeral pyre. These niches add up. Monoliners are specialist insurers who earn fees by lending their AAA ratings to US states, counties, and cities for bond issues - the safest corner of the credit industry. The nasty twist is that most have ventured into mortgage debt to spice returns. They now face enough losses to threaten their AAA standing. A downgrade means that every bond bearing their guarantee must be downgraded pari passu. Pension funds and institutions will be forced to liquidate sub-AAA holdings. A fresh cascade of distress sales will ravage the $2,400bn 'muni' market. The unthinkable now looms. Moody's said it was "somewhat likely" that top insurer MBIA would fall below the AAA capital requirement: Fitch warns of a "high probability" that CIFG Guaranty and Financial Guaranty will be placed on negative watch. Both agencies are poised to issue verdicts. The insurers will then have a month to raise capital, no easy task after a 70pc crash in share prices. US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson confronts the very real danger of a credit implosion spiralling into a full-blown depression. Given the risks, he can be forgiven for pushing through a rescue plan last week that amounts to a flagrant abuse of contract law and capitalist principles. His subprime rate freeze is undoubtedly a stinker. The reckless are bailed-out. Those who scrimped to amass a little equity get stiffed. Moral hazard runs amok. But bankruptcy settlements are always ugly. This differs only in scale. Mr Paulson's New Deal may at least reduce systemic risk. Frozen rates concentrate losses in the lower tiers of mortgage debt, but rescue the upper tiers, which is where the threat lies for the financial system. Would free marketeers rather see the whole edifice of capitalism burned to the ground to make their point? The root cause of this staggering debacle lies in errors made long ago by the Federal Reserve and fellow sinners. It was they who inflated the credit bubble by holding interest rates too low for too long. It was they who lulled their nations into suicidal levels of debt. The strategic failure of a whole generation of economists, bankers, and policy-makers has been so enormous that it may now take a strong draught of socialism to save the Western democracies. We start - but may not end - with the nationalization of Northern Rock". Whether Evans-Pritchard is right or wrong only time will tell, but his commentary certainly gives food for thought.
HELP THOSE IN NEED DURING IN WAR ZONES

Since food prices began to rise 100 million more people have been pushed into poverty, according to the World Bank, with as many as two billion on the verge of disaster. Almost half the world's population, let's remember, live on less than $2.50 per day. Millions die annually of hunger and starvation, and more than a billion do not have access to fresh water.

 GIVE GENEROUSLY - DIRECTLY TO THESE CHARITIES

With the world financial crisis these numbers are poised to rise dramatically with population growth, dwindling natural resources and higher consumer prices across all goods and services. So as the stock market tumbles and the world economy falters, it's important to remember that it's more than financial losses we are talking about, it's the loss of life.