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President Obama takes another page from the Ahmadinejad (Columbia U) playbook. For the Iranian it was engage the opponent, your target, your enemy, the infidels. Attempt to persuade them you mean them no harm. For Ahmadinejad it was more a case of the trojan horse. For Obama it is more a case of the appeaser cowering to a sworn enemy of Israel and anyone who defends them. Falls nicely into place with that infidel thing. And just as nicely into Obama’s surrender strategy if you recall the campaign of 2008.

The only thing missing from Obama’s message below is ‘and they all lived happily ever after.’.. And we know the genre of writing from which that fantasy comes. Hope and change will not render it true. This Messiah would need to conjure a miracle or three for that to happen. Pleading shows weakness and no courage of conviction whereas strength through the projection of power and determination based on defending principle does. Count the number of times that appeasing the agenda of rogue nations has been successful in the past.

Russia was not requested to ‘tear down that wall’ during the Cuban missile crisis. Japan wasn’t asked to surrender right after they attacked Pearl Harbor. But President Obama tells the ‘Muslim world’ he intends ‘to deal with Palestinian and Israeli peace.’ He tells people with no interest in peace with Israel that he will work on that. Is that what comes from a Harvard education?

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

President to Muslim World: “Americans are not your enemy”

In his first interview with an Arab television station, President Barack Obama offered a bold change to America’s relations with the Muslim world.

“My job is to communicate to the American people that the Muslim world is filled with extraordinary people who simply want to live their lives and see their children live better lives,” President Obama told Al Arabiya. “My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy.”

In the interview, conducted in the White House map room, President Obama also expressed his commitment to tackling the Middle East peace process immediately.

“Sending George Mitchell to the Middle East is fulfilling my campaign promise that we’re not going to wait until the end of my administration to deal with Palestinian and Israeli peace, we’re going to start now,” he said. “It may take a long time to do, but we’re going to do it now.”

The interview is part of the President’s broader outreach to the Muslim world, which includes a promise to make a major address from the capital of a Muslim nation.

Al Arabiya is a 24-hour Arabic-language news channel based out of Dubai.

US President Obama gives exclusive interview to Al-Arabiya TV

U.S. President Barack Obama says he will work to show the Muslim world that Americans are not their enemy.

In his first formal interview - granted to an Arab television network - the American leader said his job is also to show Americans that people in the Muslim world simply want to live their lives and make better lives for their children.

Speaking on Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television, Mr. Obama pointed out that he has lived in Muslim countries and has Muslim family members.

As for Islamist terrorists, he said their ideas are bankrupt. He said nothing they have done has ensured that a child in the Muslim world is getting a better education, or has better health care.

Mr. Obama also repeated his inaugural address pledge to extend a hand to countries such as Iran if they are - as he said - “willing to unclench their fist.”

He said the United States must be willing to engage in diplomacy with Iran and promised to lay out a general framework and approach over the next several months.

Asked about the president’s comments Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it is up to Iran to demonstrate some willingness to engage meaningfully with the international community.

As for the current standoff between Israel and Hamas, he said “the moment is ripe” for Israelis and Palestinians to achieve a lasting peace, but he added that all parties in the region must play a role in the process.

Mr. Obama said it is not possible to think of the Middle East without looking at the region as a whole, including Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Pakistan, for he said they are all interrelated.

He also said he plans to follow through on a promise to address the Muslim world from a Muslim capital.

The report below suggests use of the word ‘global’ when referring to current economic troubles around the world not only describes the geographic nature of the problem but geopolitical as well. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s concern of money going to US automakers from US taxpayers putting German automakers at risk provides a substantially humorous face on this reverse order of trade subsidy worries. How many foreign countries place barriers to US goods all the while accepting US corporate outsourcing to spur growth in their own economies?

The early promise of ‘a new direction’ in France with the election of Nicolas Sarkozy may be giving way to the honeymoon is long over and the French are scurrying back to their old ways of sending up flares of impending doom and expecting external concessions. This blog’s suggestion that the best thing about Sarkozy leading France was the opportunity for more photo ops of Carla Bruni may end up being less comedy relief and more political reality.

Russia seems to be the only country in this report which relies greatly on the other part of the auto industry equation, energy. The recent dive in the price of oil from its July record highs leaves the nation with the split personality between cold war demon and new world democracy with a severe reversal of fortune in petro dollars.

The only thing missing from all this international intercourse is the predictable hope for world peace and global tranquility. The only common ground here is that all concerned are on equal footing when it comes to playing the game, ‘blank’ on your neighbor. But it is reassuring that good and evil in international politics is equally balanced among the nations described in the report. And that is only because the likes of Iran and similar nations are not noticeably involved. Maybe they are a little less noisy with the fall of oil prices too.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

European officials are taking a close look at how the United States is helping its ailing auto industry.

President George W. Bush welcomes Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany to the Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008, at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. White House photo by Chris Greenberg

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she wants to make sure aid to the U.S. auto industry will not put Europe’s own auto companies at a competitive disadvantage.

Merkel’s comments came at a news conference Tuesday in the northern Italian city of Trieste with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Carmakers in both the U.S. and Europe have been asking for government help, with French automaker Peugeot, Europe’s second largest car company, warning the global auto industry is in danger of a collapse.

Meanwhile, France wants to see a stronger international response to the global financial crisis.

In a statement released today, French President Nicolas Sarkozy says France will host a summit in January because world leaders must show they can offer “concrete solutions.”

At a meeting of industrial and developing countries last week in Washington, leaders only managed to agree on a set of principles to prevent the global economy from getting worse.

The Paris summit will be co-hosted by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and will include world leaders as well as Nobel prize-winning economists.

Reuters news agency reports International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn says the list of countries asking for help is growing every day. And Russian President Dmitri Medvedev says his government may need to spend another $180 billion to stabilize the Russian economy.

Russia has already spent almost $200 billion on a series of measures to counter the economic meltdown. The World Bank today cut its growth forecast for the Russian economy in 2008 and 2009.

India is also worried about the effect of the global financial crisis on its economic growth. Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said Tuesday the government should cut interest rates. He also called on businesses to cut prices and accept lower profit margins to help stimulate the Indian economy.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies says the financial crisis is having an impact on donations from wealthy nations.

And migrant workers from the Philippines tell VOA the financial crisis is having an impact on how much money they are able to send to their families back home.

In 2007, Filipino migrant workers sent more than $14 billion to the Philippines, equal to 13 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP.

GOP bailout stooge to Cavuto: “It’s not your money” (Michelle Malkin) 

By Stephanie Ho
Beijing
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Pro-Tibetan activists unfurled a banner proclaiming “Free Tibet” over an Olympics poster at the headquarters of China’s nationwide TV broadcaster. This is the latest in a string of unsanctioned protests during the first full week of the Olympics. Stephanie Ho reports from Beijing.

Chinese police Friday detained five foreign protesters from the group, Students for a Free Tibet.

The group says two of the demonstrators had climbed up on the still under-construction headquarters of state-owned
China Central Television to hang the banner. The other three watched from below.

“While China has its coming out party to the world, people forget that in Tibet right now, there’s a vicious military crackdown that’s been in place since March,” said a protester.

There is no immediate word as to what happened to Friday’s protesters. But other foreign demonstrators detained recently have been quickly deported.

This protest is the latest in a series of small-scale demonstrations by pro-Tibet and other foreign activists, who have criticized China for alleged repression in Tibet, human rights abuses and religious restrictions.

One American activist, Olympic speed skater Joey Cheek, had his visa revoked last week, right before he was due to travel to China as a private citizen. He founded a group called “Team Darfur,” that aims to raise awareness of the ongoing crisis in the Sudanese region of Darfur. His group is one that points to China’s close relations with the Sudanese government, and calls on Beijing to do more to help resolve the Darfur crisis.

One protest in Beijing earlier this week, that wasn’t aimed at China, involved a small group of Georgian citizens, who held demonstrations in front of the Russian Embassy in Beijing.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters the crowd was persuaded to disperse and leave, and that what he called “no extreme actions” took place.

Qin also repeated the standard answer he gives to questions about all protests in China - stressing that the staging of processions and demonstrations in China must abide by Chinese laws and regulations.

Meanwhile, Chinese public security authorities have not responded to faxed questions as to how many protest applications they have approved during the Olympics. All Chinese or foreign groups have to apply for permission to hold demonstrations in one of Beijing’s officially-designated protest parks.

from MoreWhat.com:

It is understandable for people to use big events and crowded venues to voice protest over issues. It should also be understood that the Olympic games have a history of such interruptions and worse. The original idea was to put all that aside and interact in a spirit of sports competition without the other stuff. It would be nice if those who feel the need to protest could understand a little of that. Perhaps they wouldn’t need to protest so much. Hire a lobbyist.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Musharraf Allies Say Talks Could Lead to Resignation, Legal Immunity

By Barry Newhouse
Islamabad
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Allies of Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf say there are ongoing talks with his political opponents about allowing Mr. Musharraf to resign without facing impeachment charges. But VOA’s Barry Newhouse reports from Islamabad that the president’s spokesman continues to deny that Mr. Musharraf plans to step down.

Days before Pakistan’s coalition government says it will reveal several impeachment charges against Mr. Musharraf, some of the president’s allies say there are ongoing talks between the two sides that could allow Mr. Musharraf to quietly resign without facing impeachment or criminal charges.

A spokesman for the president, Rashid Qureshi, is denying that the president plans to step down or is seeking a deal for legal immunity.

But Senator Mushahid Hussein, a senior leader of the president’s Pakistan Muslim League Q party, confirms in an interview with VOA that there are talks under way for some sort of compromise agreement. He says “the next few days will be decisive” in the standoff.

“I don’t speak for the president but I can certainly say there are backchannels between the presidency and the government which are trying to reach an amicable settlement - so that the country can move on,” said Hussein.

Political analysts say a drawn out impeachment struggle against the man who has ruled Pakistan for nearly nine years would dredge up old controversies and consume the government’s attention when the country faces other serious economic and security problems.

But the coalition government, which spent months haggling over its policy toward the unpopular president, last week made unseating Mr. Musharraf its primary goal.

Since then, a series of lopsided no-confidence votes in the country’s four provincial assemblies that included some defections from traditionally pro-Musharraf parties have eroded the president’s political support.

With the two sides discussing terms under which Mr. Musharraf could resign, some Pakistani officials say U.S. diplomats have lobbied for a dignified exit for Mr. Musharraf. The U.S. embassy insisted the issue is an internal matter for the Pakistani people to decide.

Senator Mushahid Hussein called one possible option for Mr. Musharraf, the “Richard Nixon formula,” in reference to the U.S. president who resigned before his likely impeachment in 1974.

“A variation of that could be seen in Pakistan where perhaps there would be a quiet resignation, there would not be any impeachment and Mr. Musharraf would fade quietly into the night to his newly built residence on the outskirts of Islamabad,” he said. “And there would not be any kind of charges or prosecution afterward. People don’t want to see it as any kind of a blood feud - that’s not in the national interest.”

So far, members of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N party have insisted that the president stand trial for alleged crimes he has committed while in office even if he resigns. The stance of the Pakistan People’s Party on the issue has been unclear.

from MoreWhat.com:

Musharraf was more often than not playin’ ball with the US. As in most cases in the history of our foreign policy, we get the good with the bad. A question about Musharraf might include the obvious how much did he really do to quell terrorism or assist with rounding the bad guys. Did he keep the peace in his country and were Bhutto’s supporters largely made up of wealthy, educated liberals that ignored the less wealthy as much as Musharraf. But the more important questions deal with tensions between Pakistan and India and what may happen to American interests if someone really replaces Musharraf. Be careful what you wish for is a statement that comes to mind.

Stanford Matthews

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Asian stocks recouped some of their steep losses of the past two days after market confidence received a shot in the arm from the U.S. Federal Reserve. But as VOA’s Heda Bayron reports from Hong Kong, stock analysts say the markets may remain volatile despite Tuesday’s U.S. interest-rate cut.

Most Asian indexes jumped within minutes of opening Wednesday as investors heaved a sigh of relief after two days of panic selling.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point - its biggest cut in more than two decades.

However, Ben Kwong, strategist at KGI Capital Asia in Hong Kong, says it is not yet clear if the rate cut will have a long-term impact.

“I think the rate cut by the Fed is a little bit late and the market is expecting more,” he said. “I think today the rebound is just mainly due to short covering and not due to genuine buying. I think investors still have to see if the market can stabilize at the current level.”

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index climbed more than two percent Wednesday, after losing more than nine percent in two days. South Korea’s KOSPI rose more than one percent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 surged 4.4 percent.

Some stock analysts say the Fed’s surprise intervention Tuesday signaled that the toll on the U.S. economy of the home mortgage crisis may be worse than expected.

They expect another rate cut next week when the Federal Open Market Committee - which sets U.S. monetary policy - meets again.

As the specter of a U.S. recession loomed, investors in the region have been selling shares in companies viewed highly vulnerable to a U.S. economic slowdown - mainly Asian exporters. In Wednesday’s rallies, some exporters rose along with the rest of the market.
By Heda Bayron
Hong Kong
23 January 2008

By Barry Newhouse
Islamabad
09 November 2007

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Pakistani forces have stopped former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto from leaving her home to lead a demonstration against the country’s emergency laws. VOA’s Barry Newhouse was at Ms. Bhutto’s Islamabad residence, where she spoke to reporters from behind coils of barbed wire.

Ms. Bhutto had hoped to speak before hundreds of thousands of supporters at a rally in Rawalpindi Friday, but instead addressed journalists and several hundred riot police outside her Islamabad residence.

She said the government had made strenuous efforts to prevent the protest, arresting 5,000 of her supporters, sealing off roads to Rawalpindi and dispatching thousands of troops to stop her from leaving her home.

“To stop one million people, they had to paralyze the whole government of Pakistan in the northern part of the country,” said Ms. Bhutto. “How long can they do this day after day? They can’t.”

Throughout the day, police arrested dozens of Ms. Bhutto’s supporters outside her home but allowed senior leaders of her party to move freely. Ms. Bhutto denied she had been placed under house arrest, but the police barred her from leaving her neighborhood.

Ms. Bhutto says that President Pervez Musharraf’s announcement of elections by February 15 was merely a ploy to quiet dissent. She said there is growing opposition to Mr. Musharraf.

“And I think the regime is trying to break this momentum by making vague promises that will give hope,” she said.

She says unless General Musharraf agrees to step down as army chief, reinstate the constitution, and hold elections on schedule in January, she will not negotiate with him. “The regime has a choice - either paralysis or to stop putting obstacles in our path,” said Ms. Bhutto.

The former prime minister says she still plans to lead a protest march early next week from Lahore to Islamabad. But following the security crackdown Friday on the planned Rawalpindi protest, it is unclear if Ms. Bhutto’s party can carry out that plan.

Mr. Musharraf imposed emergency rule last Saturday. The government has detained more than two thousand opposition figures and critics, and has imposed strict limits on the news media.

The president has said the emergency rule is needed to combat growing violence by Islamic militants. However, witnesses and opposition leaders say most of those detained were moderate members of the community, including judges, lawyers and human rights activists.

World leaders, including President Bush, have called on Mr. Musharraf to end emergency rule, retire from the military and hold elections as originally scheduled in January.

Avian flu may be the best example of a potential catastrophic event that will be largely ignored or shrouded with incompetence or sheer apathy right up until the moment it becomes a pandemic. While considerable focus and attention was placed on the topic early on, since then the tiny foe has systematically gone about its business with little opposition from any source capable of mounting a reasonable defense.

Not like there are no other major issues about which we should be concerned. However, avian influenza is a threat that can make all the others rather moot. It is the sort of problem that displays no discrimination or prejudice or other human attribute when selecting targets. Whatever can be defined as part of the biosphere is on its list of targets. No socio-economic or geopolitical considerations here. No personal preferences or bias or any other subjective analysis clouds its judgment. As a matter of fact, there is no judgment. It’s not that kind of arrangement.

Most people are aware that H5N1 is only advancing as slow and methodical as it has for lack of successful method to infect other species. There have also been reports that much progress has been made in developing vaccines. Reports in addition to the two presented here have suggested enough vaccine can be produced but there may be shortcomings attached to this solution. And of course, the early discussions made many comparisons to the 1918 flu epidemic as well as the frequency of such events and that we are overdue for another.

The primary point of this post is to publish another warning that there may be a serious lack of concern and response to the risk from this particular foe. The virus is extending the courtesy of giving the human species a great deal of time to solve the problem. But just like the fact that this living organism does not apply subjective analysis to its daily business, the time allowed thus far to prepare ourselves is simply the result of a natural sequence of events. If we end up not being prepared when the threat advances we will have no one to blame but ourselves.

Scientists Say Bird Flu Spreading in Several Asian, African Countries

By Luis Ramirez
Bangkok
07 November 2007

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Nations in Asia and Africa have had much success in stopping the spread of bird flu, but experts meeting in Bangkok this week say the H5N1 virus continues to spread in a number of countries. VOA’s Luis Ramirez reports from Bangkok.

Experts with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization say bird flu is still considered an animal disease, affecting only a small number of humans so far. But they say the threat of a human pandemic, in which millions could die, is still very real.

Dr. David Nabarro, the United Nations’ senior Coordinator for Avian and Human Influenza, told reporters in Bangkok Wednesday that while most nations have made progress in containing the virus’ spread, there remain some problem areas.

“We’ve seen during the last three years that countries have invested a lot of resources in vaccination of poultry, in improving veterinary services, and also in what we call bio-security, in order to try to reduce the risk of…avian influenza continuing to circulate in poultry or in wild birds,” he said. “We’ve seen in many countries, extraordinary success in getting this under control: (but) not everywhere. There’s some problems in the region.”

He says the virus continues to spread in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam in Asia, and Egypt and Nigeria in Africa.

Experts say nations that have yet to develop an export-oriented poultry industry are finding it more difficult to contain the disease.

They say Thailand, as one example, has had greater success in controlling bird flu, because it already had a veterinary system in place to support its sizable poultry exports.

Another challenge that could hinder efforts to contain the spread of H5N1 is the reluctance by some countries to hand over tissue samples of bird flu cases. China is one of them. Dr. Nabarro says negotiations continue in efforts to get Beijing to disclose more data and materials that could help scientists develop a vaccine.

“There are some situations in which countries have asked for clarification on the benefits that they’re likely to get as a result of sharing samples, and there is some international negotiation under way at the moment to try to establish a satisfactory basis for sample-sharing by seeing whether or not it will be possible to ensure that those who do provide samples are able to benefit from products that are produced with the help of those samples,” he said.

Experts say Beijing’s concerns have to do with intellectual property rights to any vaccine that is developed with data or research originating in China. Indonesia has hesitated to supply tissue samples for similar reasons.

Representatives of several nations are scheduled to meet in Geneva later this month to address those concerns and talk about setting up a new international standard of sharing information and samples.

The H5N1 strain of the avian influenza virus mainly affects birds and has struck primarily in Asia, but it has also appeared in Europe and Africa. Since its appearance in Hong Kong in 1997, the H5N1 virus has killed at least 211 people in eleven countries. Tens of millions of poultry have died or been slaughtered due to the disease.

The World Health Organization says all evidence to date indicates that close contact with dead or sick birds is the principal source of human infection. Scientists say they are mainly concerned about the virus in animals for now, but fear that the virus could mutate and become easily transmissible between humans.

UN Expert Says World Unprepared for Avian Flu Pandemic

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
24 October 2007

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A top United Nations expert on Avian influenza says the world is not yet ready to protect itself from a potential avian influenza pandemic that could kill millions of people. He says it will take another few years before countries complete their pandemic preparedness plans. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.

Health experts are concerned that the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus will transform itself into the virus that causes the next human pandemic.

David Nabarro is senior U.N. systems coordinator for avian and human influenza. He says many uncertainties surround the disease. But, what is certain, he says, is that there will be a human influenza pandemic some time in the future.

He says no one knows when or where this will happen or how severe it will be. But, he says, given the potential magnitude of human suffering and of the economic consequences, it is essential to be prepared.

He says most countries have some kind of pandemic preparedness plan in the works.

“Unfortunately, only a relatively small proportion are adequately prepared to keep going in the event that the pandemic has massive absenteeism associated with it. And we need hard work for at least two or three years more to make sure that the whole world is properly pandemic ready. It is not easy. But, I will tell you one thing: being prepared for a pandemic will help countries to be prepared for other mega-catastrophes, not just those that are due to infectious disease,” said Dr. Nabarro.

The World Health Organization reports bird flu has spread to about 60 countries and territories. It says the H5N1 virus appears to be entrenched in the poultry populations of Indonesia, northern Egypt and parts of Nigeria, Bangladesh, China and Vietnam.

Bird flu remains a largely animal disease. But, latest figures show about 350 people who had close contact with diseased poultry have become infected and more than 200 have died.

Dr. Nabarro says health experts fear that one day H5N1 or another animal virus will mutate into a form that could spread easily from one human to another.

In anticipation of this, he says WHO is working with national authorities to make sure they will be able to respond promptly to contain the virus wherever it emerges.

“That prompt response has to be within days,” said Dr. Nabarro. “WHO has worked with countries to develop protocols for rapid response and has also been ensuring that there are adequate stockpiles of Oseltamivir or Tamiflu, which is part of the rapid response. WHO is also working on trying to ensure that there will be a plan that can be put into place for rapid production of pandemic vaccines once the new virus appears and also is looking at the possibility of vaccines against H5N1 in humans stockpiled.”

Dr. Nabarro says it will take drug companies about six months to manufacture vaccines against avian influenza once a pandemic appears and the viral strain is identified. He says millions of people could die during that period.

Should avian influenza strike, he says people should stay away from crowds. They should wear protective gear, such as masks and they should use the anti-viral drug Tamiflu.

Dishwashers for Clinton
By Hill Truth
The Hillary Project
Donors whose addresses turn out to be tenements. Dishwashers and waiters who write $1,000 checks. Immigrants who ante up because they have been instructed to by powerful neighborhood associations, or, as one said, “They informed us to go, so I went.” Others who say they never made the contributions listed in their names or who were not eligible to give because they are not legal residents of the United States.

You know, it just might not go away. One needs a template to simplify posting of Clinton stories to include the dirty laundry list of sordid scenarios that have not, to date, resulted in convictions. If liberals want to present their counter arguments against members of the conservative side of politics that’s fine. We have all heard enough Bush bashing. We have all probably heard enough liberal bashing. But then this is America and everyone is entitled to opinions served here as well as the sprinkling of facts from sources featured with this blog’s opinions.

Ann Coulter would not receive support from this blog if she ran for President. And neither would Janeane Garafalo even though some of her character parts were quite entertaining. Go figure, this blog will not support Hillary Rodham Clinton for President. For reasons that may mirror the liberal side of things in that they would not support another member of the Bush family, this blog will not support another member of the Clinton family. Once was way more than enough.

The echo of the LA Times report excerpted from The Hillary Project above is a quick review of the latest Hillary Rodham Clinton saga that continues to scream for resolution and is yet another torpedo that has not sunk the bad ship Hillary. About all that can be done is to keep the story alive so those in a position to unearth the facts, evidence and case to present are encouraged. Big time politics have a tendency to sweep over the dirt but as every Watergate conspirator knows, the long arm of the law can prevail even under intense pressure to retreat.

One more time, somebody call the DOJ.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com
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By Trish Anderton
Jakarta
22 October 2007
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The Indonesian government says the pilot in a fiery plane crash earlier this year ignored repeated warnings to abandon his landing attempt. The March 7th accident in Central Java claimed 21 lives. Trish Anderton reports from Jakarta.

The report from Indonesia’s National Transport Safety Committee, issued Monday, says the pilot of the Garuda plane tried to land, despite 15 warning alarms and his copilot’s calls to abort the attempt.

It also finds the plane was traveling faster and descending more sharply than normal. The plane skidded across the Yogyakarta runway into a rice field and burst into flames.

Peter Gibson of Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority says pulling out of a landing if you are having problems is one of the essential rules every pilot learns.

“You must have a stabilized approach and that means, literally, the aircraft is configured for landing, and everything is proceeding smoothly, and if anything is giving the pilot concern, the training says go around and do it again,” said Gibson.

The report also called the airport’s emergency plan less than effective, and said delays in putting out the fire may have contributed to the death toll.

Transport officials say the report is designed to help prevent future accidents.

But Danang Parikesit of the Indonesian Transportation Society says it should have made detailed recommendations on how to improve elements such as communications and emergency response.

“The report does not address specific intervention or specific measures that need to be carried out by those three most responsible organizations in airline safety: first, the government, second, the airport authority and the third is the airline company,” said Parikesit.

The pilot and copilot survived the crash, and remain suspended from duty. The government says, by law, the report may not be used as part of any possible criminal case against the men.

The accident was the second major air crash in Indonesia this year. On New Year’s Day, an Adam Air jetliner plunged into the sea off the island of Sulawesi, killing everyone aboard.

The United States has declared that Indonesia does not comply with international air safety standards. In June, the European Union banned all Indonesian airlines from its airspace.

Airbus Delivers First A380 to Singapore Airlines
By Kate Woodsome
Hong Kong
22 October 2007

Airbus has delivered its new A380 super jumbo jet to its first customer - Singapore Airlines. The delivery is a huge relief to the European plane-maker after a troubled start to the industrial project. Kate Woodsome at VOA’s Asia News Center in Hong Kong has more on this and other business stories from Asia.

In a handover ceremony in Toulouse, France last week, Airbus presented Singapore Airlines with the world’s largest plane - 18 months later than planned.

Airbus stalled delivery of the A380 after wiring problems spiraled into a financial crisis that toppled the management and led to 10,000 job cuts.

Airbus chief executive officer Thomas Enders thanked Singapore Airlines for its patience.

“For more than a decade, we have appreciated your great cooperation, your support, your confidence in the A380 program and today is our chance to thank you for challenging us and for sharing your ambitious dream, creating the world’s largest, most efficient, most comfortable commercial aircraft,”

said Enders.

The first commercial flight from Singapore to Sydney will take off October 25. Full service begins October 28.

Singapore Airlines’ Silkair says it has reduced its services to Burma because of a drop in tourism after last month’s bloody military crackdown on pro-democracy protests. Silkair has cut its weekly flights from 14 to 12. It says it will run just 10 flights a week starting next month.

In Japan, Nomura Holdings Incorporated, the country’s largest securities firm, says it will leave the U.S. market for residential mortgage-backed securities due to losses suffered in the sub-prime mortgage crisis. It plans to cut more than 400 jobs, 30 percent of its U.S. workforce.

French food giant Groupe Danone SA says it is selling its entire 20 percent stake in Shanghai-based Bright Dairy and Food for $127 million. Danone plans to sell its 104 million shares to Shanghai Milk Group and to S.I. Food Products Holdings Limited. No reason was given.

Danone also has joint ventures with China’s biggest milk producer, China Mengniu Dairy Company, and a troubled partnership with Chinese beverage maker Wahaha Group.

A new study by the U.S. investment bank Merrill Lynch and the professional services group Capgemini shows the number of U.S. dollar millionaires in the Asia-Pacific region has grown by 8.6 percent to 2.6 million people this year.

More than 70 percent of them live in China and Japan. The number of millionaires rose 21 percent in Singapore, more than 20 percent in India and 16 percent in Indonesia.

In Macau, casino gambling revenue has surged in the third quarter to $2.5 billion. That brings total gambling revenue this year to $7 billion.

Macau’s Gaming and Inspection and Coordination Bureau says that is 47 percent higher than earnings from the same period last year, and bigger than gambling revenues for all of 2006.

By VOA News

Japan has canceled nearly $5 million in aid to Burma over the military’s government crackdown that resulted in the shooting death of a Japanese journalist.

Japan’s Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said Tuesday that the move reflected the present situation in Burma and last week’s U.N. Security’s Council’s statement criticizing the crackdown.

Japanese video journalist Kenji Nagai was killed September 27 while filming the crackdown on protesters in Rangoon.

Officials say the canceled grants - worth $4.7 million - were intended to fund the construction of a human resources center in Burma.

On Monday, the European Union decided to impose an import embargo on timber, gems and precious metals from Burma in response to the military government’s crackdown on demonstrators.

In a statement released after Monday’s meeting in Luxembourg, European foreign ministers said the seriousness of the situation in Burma has made it necessary to increase direct pressure on its military rulers.

They said the new measures are designed to target those responsible for the violent crackdown and will not harm the general population.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the EU would offer economic incentives and support if Burma participates in a U.N.-brokered dialogue with its opponents. But he threatened further sanctions if Burma’s government refuses to cooperate.

U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari is on a visit to Southeast Asia to gather support for political reconciliation in Burma.

Gambari is set to return to Burma in mid-November.

Burmese authorities opened fire on thousands of anti-government demonstrators in Rangoon last month. Since then, authorities have arrested thousands of monks and activists, and many are believed to have been killed.

This series of photos released by the Democratic Voice of Burma shows the sequence of events of Kenji Nagai’s death on the street in Rangoon

By Chad Bouchard
Bangkok
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Burma’s state-controlled media say the country’s military dictatorship has donated thousands of dollars to Buddhist monasteries across the country, ostensibly to promote reconciliation. The United Nations Security Council is considering a statement condemning the junta’s violent crackdown on monks and other protesters over the past two weeks. Chad Bouchard reports from Bangkok.

The New Light of Myanmar newspaper says the Burmese government has given about $8,000, food and medical supplies to 50 monasteries.

Buddhist monks began boycotting military donations last month and led peaceful street protests in Rangoon, Mandalay and other cities. Police stopped the demonstrations with live gunfire, tear gas, clubs and mass arrests.

The government says it is searching for four monks suspected of leading the protests.

One of the wanted monks, Ashin Gambiya, told VOA that the Buddhist clergy were intimidated into accepting the government’s money, despite their boycott.

He says the monks consider the money to be dirty, so they accepted it but will put it aside and refuse to use it, so their boycott is still going on.

The ruling military council announced Saturday that 78 more people have been arrested in connection with the demonstrations.

State media also say pornography and weapons were confiscated during raids on monasteries.

The government says it has released more than half the people arrested in the crackdown.

The United Nations’ special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, has briefed members of the U.N. Security Council after his visit to Burma.

The 15-member Security Council is to debate a draft statement Monday denouncing Burma’s violent response to the peaceful demonstrations and calling for the release of political detainees.