Global Network Readiness Index Ranks Italy 45th in the world - an Italian is poisoned to get Top Knowledge/Networking Job in UNDESA

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE REPORT INDEX

AND HERE FOR FULL REPORT

SO AN ITALIAN WILL TEACH THE WORLD HOW TO NETWORK,

SHARING HIS OWN COUNTRIES ACHIEVEMENTS AND BEST PRACTICES ?

DESA IS USED TO THEIR NETWORKING SKILLS ANYWAY - SO WHY CHANGE ?

REFRESH YOUR MEMORY HERE !!

AND HERE !!

AND HERE !!

AND HERE !!

Sha Zukang from Delhi: - We need to accelerate technology diffusion

"....UN Under-Secretary General for economic and social affairs Sha Zukang said a tough issue was in intellectual property and on how to reward innovation while accelerating technology diffusion.

He advocated a big investment push on renewable energy in developing countries. International technology cooperation and knowledge sharing can mobilise mature technologies for developing countries, and make other technologies like renewable energy more affordable to the poor....."

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE AT THE STAR ONLINE

China and international institutions: alternate paths to global power

How will the global community be affected by the engagement of this massive global power with international institutions?

Author: Marc Lanteigne

ISBN: 978-0-415-45956-3 (paperback) 978-0-415-36584-0 (hardback) 978-0-203-01837-8 (electronic)

No. of pages: 230

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS IN GOOGLE BOOKS

Some quotes from the book...

REDUCTION OF THE RISKS AND COSTS OF INFORMATION GATHERING

"...In the area of state-to-state relations, the axiom "information is power" takes on additional relevance in the post-cold war system. Asymmetries in the level of information between countries can be a source of vulnerability and greatly hamper peaceful international relations." page 22

"...As Keohane noted, one of the most significant advantages of participating in international regimes is that they reduce the costs of transactions between actors during legitimate bargaining, but increase the costs of bargaining in bad faith. one reason for this phenomenon is that institutions facilitate the exchange of information amongst members, thus reducing the risks of barganining..." page 22

"...This was certainly as asset to an emerging China being forced to play catch-up in its understanding of the international system. Information gathering was a primary reason for China's post-1970 policy of institutional engagement, and has played an important role in Chinese power acquisition..." page 22

"...China increasingly opts to participate in international institutions rather than relying exclusively on bilateral agreements. In other words, while China ca learn a lot about state A from engaging it alone, engaging state A within an institutional framework also provides added data on how states A, B, C, D, engage each other." page 23

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS IN GOOGLE BOOKS

Source Code China: The New Global Hub of IT (Information Technology) Outsourcing

Source Code China: The New Global Hub of IT (Information Technology) Outsourcing
Wiley | October 5, 2007 | ISBN:0470106964 | 320 pages | PDF | 5 MB

"Organizations not sourcing IT services from China are literally missing the boat. Mr. Eltschinger's book takes readers on an intellectual journey explaining how and why China is becoming the premier offshore destination for businesses all over the world. This is a must read for any business executive and I highly recommend you knock this one off your reading list immediately."-David Etzler
Chief Executive Officer, OutsourceWorld

UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Admits Election Fraud But Denies Cover Up

CLICK HERE TO READ STORY @ eGov Monitor

The top United Nations envoy to Afghanistan has acknowledged that “widespread” fraud took place during the August elections, but stressed that there are mechanisms in place to ensure that the result reflects the will of the people.

“It is true that in a number of stations that opened in the south and south-east, there was significant fraud – but it’s not only there,” noted Mr. Eide, who added that “the extent of that fraud is now being determined.”

In recent days, former Deputy Special Representative Peter Galbraith has accused Mr. Eide of favouring incumbent Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the run-up to and after the country’s 20 August election by allowing voting irregularities to occur.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which is headed by Mr. Eide, did not monitor the elections – which were organized by the Independent Election Commission (IEC) –but did support the process.

“I have spent all my time over the last weeks for one purpose – and that is to bring this election process forward. That’s been a difficult process, marred by so many problems, not least, as you know, by widespread fraud. So it’s not been easy and that has been my only focus,” Mr. Eide told a news conference in Kabul yesterday.

“It is important to bring this country through this process and to continue this process of installing democracy in Afghanistan,” said the Special Representative.

Mr. Eide – who was flanked at the news conference by the ambassadors of the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany and representatives of the European Union and NATO – refuted allegations made by his former deputy about the election process, including “ghost polling stations” and discrepancies in voter turnout.

The Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) is in the process of auditing suspicious ballot boxes and other complaints related to the elections.

“I believe that the institutional framework we have created – whatever its weaknesses and those are weaknesses we recognize – I understand well that these institutions would, in the end, be able to remove fraudulent votes and honour valid votes,” said Mr. Eide.

“We are now at a critical juncture,” he stated. “We have put very solid mechanisms in place to ensure that those steps are taken correctly, and that the result reflects the vote of the Afghan people.

“And I do believe, therefore, firmly, that when the result is being certified it will be a result being made on a solid basis and that should be acceptable to the Afghan people.”

U.N. Repudiates Obama Diplomacy

by Ross Kaminsky (more by this author) Posted 10/22/2009 ET

Last Friday, the U.N. Human Rights Council repudiated the Obama administration’s diplomatic efforts to establish a Middle Eastern peace by passing -- by 25-6 -- a resolution in support of the “Goldstone Report”, a 575-page thinly disguised attack against Israel. It is not just more of the same from the U.N.: it’s much worse.

The report, covering Israel’s month-long incursion into the Gaza Strip late last year (Operation Cast Lead lasted from December 27, 2008 until January 18, 2009), puts on a thin veneer of even-handedness by accusing both Israelis and Palestinians of crimes, but contradicts so many of the facts that its conclusion -- that Israeli officials may be guilty of war crimes -- should be completely lacking in credibility. But in the bizarre world of the U.N., such is the norm and the accusation taken so seriously there -- and in Europe -- that Israeli government officials may soon not be able to travel to Europe for fear of arrest.......

FOR MORE READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE AT :

CLICK HERE

BREAKING NEWS : - UN Vienna Building - Nuclear expert dies in 40-metre plunge

http://austriantimes.at/news/General_News/2009-10-21/17423/British_nuclear_expert_dies_in_40-metre_plunge

Police are investigating after a British nuclear energy expert involved in negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme fell 40 metres to his death from a UN building in Vienna.

Officials announced today (Weds) that the man – who has been identified only as Timothy H. by police – died on the spot yesterday after a fall from the 17th floor at Vienna International Centre (VIC), one of the United Nations’ (UN) main headquarters along with New York, Nairobi and Geneva.

Authorities said the 47-year-old man – a member of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) – had joined the UN’s current talks with Iran over its nuclear programme.

Investigators refused to reveal any further information on the case but said they ordered an autopsy.

Time for transparency and accountability for UNRWA

By Lanny Davis - 09/09/09 06:38 PM ET

http://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/lanny-davis/57983-time-for-transparency-and-accountability-for-unrwa

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was established in 1949 — so it is about to celebrate its 60th anniversary. American taxpayers are contributing a lot of money to support UNRWA — to the tune of $148 million in 2008 alone. Since 1950, the U.S. has contributed more than $3.4 billion to UNRWA—the single largest monetary contributor to this U.N. organization.

So do U.S. taxpayers get to see independent audits of how UNRWA spends its money? No. In fact, most U.S. taxpayers have no idea what UNRWA does. If they did, they might insist on more transparency and accountability for this unusual international organization.

Here are a few facts about UNRWA:

It was originally founded in 1949 as a temporary agency to provide relief services to Palestinian refugees and is the only United Nations agency dedicated to one specific group of refugees. (For example, there were millions of refugees after World War II, but the U.N. set up only one — UNRWA — dedicated to serve Palestinians and Palestinians alone.)
UNRWA’s definition of the refugees to whom it devotes its time and attention are well beyond the original 900,000 Palestinian refugees who were identified in 1950. Today the number served is over 4.5 million. Why? Because UNRWA has defined its mission to serve the descendents of the original 900,000. This means grandchildren or even great-grandchildren of the original Palestinian refugees are the focus of UNRWA’s attention — in refugee camps located in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank and Gaza. (Some might ask: Why haven’t the Saudis, with all their oil money, contributed to finding homes for the great-grandparents, parents, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the original Palestinian refugees over these 60 years?)

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the agency tasked with resolving refugee problems worldwide, employs approximately 6,300 staff to care for a global refugee population of 11.4 million — not counting the 4.5 million Palestinians served exclusively by UNRWA. Yet the UNHCR gets along with a worldwide staff of approximately 6,300 people. And how many staff does UNRWA employ for less than one-half the number of refugees in a concentrated area in the Middle East? The latest estimate: over 24,000 people, and most of them Palestinians — with a total budget in 2008 of over $400 million. (Some might ask: Why do the Palestinians require more almost four times the number of paid staff in the Middle East to serve less than one-half the number of people served by the UNHCR globally?)

According to the UNRWA Report of the Board of Auditors for the biennium ended Dec. 31, 2005, UNRWA does not track recording, deleting, renaming or manipulation of financial information by staff members or volunteers, and therefore has no means of detecting the alteration of financial data or other types of redirection of UNRWA funding. (Some might ask: Why not? Why doesn’t the U.N. require an independent auditor to track all use of funds and put everything on the Internet for all to see — especially U.S. taxpayers?)

These and other facts are all contained in a resolution introduced this year by Rep. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.) along with over 20 Democratic and Republican co-sponsors. The legislation is aimed at requiring, at the very least, full transparency and accountability by UNRWA. And in two specific areas — support of terrorism and the teaching of anti-Semitic and -Israeli hate — Rothman demands answers.

For example, there is significant evidence that members of Hamas, an organization that the U.S. lists as terrorist — meaning it intentionally kills Israeli civilians to achieve its announced goal of destroying the state of Israel — are on UNRWA’s payroll. According to Rothman’s resolution, in 2004, Peter Hansen, then the commission-general of UNRWA, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., “I am sure that there are Hamas members on the UNRWA payroll, and I don’t see that as a crime.”

Moreover, there is indisputable evidence that anti-Semitic and anti-Israel textbooks are being used in UNRWA-sponsored schools — including texts that contain negative references to Jews and omit entirely the state of Israel from maps.
Rothman’s resolution would urge the secretary of State to take all necessary measures (including, presumably, a full investigation) to determine whether UNRWA is using, contrary to U.S. law, U.S. tax dollars for Hamas terrorists on its payrolls or to further terrorist propaganda; to publish online copies of all educational materials used in UNRWA-administered schools; and to use terrorist name-recognition software to ensure that UNRWA staff and volunteers are not terrorists or affiliated with terrorist organizations.

And then there is the question of the anti-Israel bias of UNRWA’s top officials, also paid in large part by U.S. taxpayers. The record of UNRWA press spokesman Chris Gunness for biased statements against Israel is widely perceived.
Rothman has the right idea — turn the lights on, ramp up transparency and accountability, and then U.S. taxpayers and voters can decide whether they still want to send their hundreds of millions of dollars to support UNRWA.

Davis, a Washington lawyer and former special counsel to President Clinton from 1996-98, served as a member of President George W. Bush’s Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board in 2005-06. He is the author of Scandal: How ‘Gotcha’ Politics is Destroying America.

Source:
http://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/lanny-davis/57983-time-for-transparency-and-accountability-for-unrwa

China: Replace Dollar With Global Currency

http://cristyli.blogspot.com/2009/06/china-replace-dollar-with-global.html

Deficits, Debt and Dollar Demise?

The Heritage Foundation

As unemployment and debt both spiral up, the US economy should brace itself to avoid what could be a real knockout punch. Even before the financial market collapse a year ago, several key countries have voiced their growing concern over the role of the US dollar as the reserve currency in world trade, and many have suggested a new world currency take its place. The world mandate to Obama and Congress is that they are spending too much money and the rest of the world does not want to be stuck with the bill. It’s time for our government to start listening to these serious and dire rumblings.

China, India, Russia and France have all expressed concern that a growing US deficit and debt have the potential to make their $6.5 Trillion in currency reserves worthless.China holds the most US debt including over $800 Billion in Treasury bonds. And while our Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner makes the case for the need of a “strong dollar”, one must wonder how the world views his words with the US deficit approaching $2 trillion.

The UN has repeatedly called for a new reserve currency again and again. UN undersecretary-general for economic and social affairs, Sha Zukang stating on Tuesday that

“Important progress in managing imbalances can be made by reducing the reserve currency country’s ‘privilege’ to run external deficits in order to provide international liquidity.”

Translation: The world is tired of paying our bills and is willing to dethrone the “almighty dollar”.

The dollar has served as the world’s reserve currency since the Bretton Woods Agreements in 1944. These agreements established that foreign countries were to redeem their currencies into dollars, then be able to convert their dollars into gold held by the Federal Reserve. This system fell apart over the next thirty years due to a negative US trade balance and high inflation brought about by a vast increase in the money supply. Then in 1971 president Nixon officially “closed the gold window”, stating the US would no longer redeem dollars into gold, and the world went officially on a complete fiat money system.

The move by Nixon signaled to the world that the US had no intention (and no ability) to pay back foreign gold redemptions and the move to a total Dollar reserve allowed the US to run even higher trade deficits than before. The world, having used the dollar as a semi-reserve over the previous 28 years, had little choice but to accept the new system which provided considerable benefits, especially from 1980 through 2000.

Now, though, with US running trillion dollar deficits and calls for the debt ceiling to be raised above $12 trillion, the rest of the world has had enough. While the prospect of a currency move does not look imminent and China continues to support the dollar-as pointed out by Heritage research fellow Derek Scissors yesterday-, if the rest of the world does decide to officially drop the dollar quickly, our economy would suffer on a scale that would make the Great Depression look like a picnic.

The solution is clear: Washington must stop spending immediately. The questions facing Congress about which new programs to fund should be replaced with which programs need to be cut. The party is over for the US and the rest of the world has proclaimed they have no desire to clean up our mess. President Obama and the Congress must recognize the disastrous long-term implications of their course, including the world’s eventual reaction, and head us away from the iceberg rather than toward it.

For more information on the current US budget crisis, these Heritage reports lay out what’s ahead for the country.

Deficits, Debt and Dollar Demise?

The Heritage Foundation

As unemployment and debt both spiral up, the US economy should brace itself to avoid what could be a real knockout punch. Even before the financial market collapse a year ago, several key countries have voiced their growing concern over the role of the US dollar as the reserve currency in world trade, and many have suggested a new world currency take its place. The world mandate to Obama and Congress is that they are spending too much money and the rest of the world does not want to be stuck with the bill. It’s time for our government to start listening to these serious and dire rumblings.

China, India, Russia and France have all expressed concern that a growing US deficit and debt have the potential to make their $6.5 Trillion in currency reserves worthless.China holds the most US debt including over $800 Billion in Treasury bonds. And while our Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner makes the case for the need of a “strong dollar”, one must wonder how the world views his words with the US deficit approaching $2 trillion.

The UN has repeatedly called for a new reserve currency again and again. UN undersecretary-general for economic and social affairs, Sha Zukang stating on Tuesday that

“Important progress in managing imbalances can be made by reducing the reserve currency country’s ‘privilege’ to run external deficits in order to provide international liquidity.”

Translation: The world is tired of paying our bills and is willing to dethrone the “almighty dollar”.

The dollar has served as the world’s reserve currency since the Bretton Woods Agreements in 1944. These agreements established that foreign countries were to redeem their currencies into dollars, then be able to convert their dollars into gold held by the Federal Reserve. This system fell apart over the next thirty years due to a negative US trade balance and high inflation brought about by a vast increase in the money supply. Then in 1971 president Nixon officially “closed the gold window”, stating the US would no longer redeem dollars into gold, and the world went officially on a complete fiat money system.

The move by Nixon signaled to the world that the US had no intention (and no ability) to pay back foreign gold redemptions and the move to a total Dollar reserve allowed the US to run even higher trade deficits than before. The world, having used the dollar as a semi-reserve over the previous 28 years, had little choice but to accept the new system which provided considerable benefits, especially from 1980 through 2000.

Now, though, with US running trillion dollar deficits and calls for the debt ceiling to be raised above $12 trillion, the rest of the world has had enough. While the prospect of a currency move does not look imminent and China continues to support the dollar-as pointed out by Heritage research fellow Derek Scissors yesterday-, if the rest of the world does decide to officially drop the dollar quickly, our economy would suffer on a scale that would make the Great Depression look like a picnic.

The solution is clear: Washington must stop spending immediately. The questions facing Congress about which new programs to fund should be replaced with which programs need to be cut. The party is over for the US and the rest of the world has proclaimed they have no desire to clean up our mess. President Obama and the Congress must recognize the disastrous long-term implications of their course, including the world’s eventual reaction, and head us away from the iceberg rather than toward it.

For more information on the current US budget crisis, these Heritage reports lay out what’s ahead for the country.

UN and Arab states shopping for new basis currency – AAA bond rating certain to fall

October 7, 6:53 PMPittsburgh Conservative ExaminerJosh Geldrich

On Tuesday the United Nations called to reduce global dependence on the US dollar. In a statement further reinforcing their previous declaration, the UN called for a new global reserve system that does not rely on any single nation’s currency, but would instead be based on a new global reserve currency; Special Drawing Rights (SDRs).

An SDR is a basket of currencies made up of 0.6320 US Dollars (%43), 0.4100 euro (%34), 18.4 Japanese yen (%11) and 0.0903 pound sterling (%11). The Euro is currently made up of currencies from Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.

UN undersecretary general for economic and social affairs, Sha Zukang, said that, "Important progress in managing imbalances can be made by reducing the reserve currency country’s 'privilege' to run external deficits in order to provide international liquidity."

But the UN’s call to change from the Dollar standard used worldwide does not come alone. The UK news outlet the Independent reports that “Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar.”

The Independent further states that, “Secret meetings have already been held by finance ministers and central bank governors in Russia, China, Japan and Brazil to work on the scheme, which will mean that oil will no longer be priced in dollars… The plans, confirmed to The Independent by both Gulf Arab and Chinese banking sources in Hong Kong, may help to explain the sudden rise in gold prices, but it also augurs an extraordinary transition from dollar markets within nine years.”

While Yahoo News reports that, “Big oil producing nations denied on Tuesday a newspaper report that Gulf Arab states were in secret talks with Russia, China, Japan and France to replace the U.S. dollar with a basket of currencies in trading oil,” can we be certain that they were not discussing the move?

What Yahoo fails to recognize is that if these countries admitted to discussing such a move away from the dollar, our country’s currency would rapidly and fatally nose-dive, throwing the financial systems across the globe into turmoil and plunging us into societal anarchy. It’s common knowledge that the Arab states, China, Russia, Japan and France own close to $3 trillion in currency and treasuries.

Not less than ten years ago, stories like the one in the Independent would never have been taken seriously. Today however, we fight war-deficits, huge expenditures from the last administration and a current administration which examples only fiscal irresponsibility and forces legislation which hinders and in some instances halts economic activity.

Since the most appropriate way for talks of this nature to occur would be in secret, the only thing left is the list of countries that have the most invested in the dollar. In March of this year China called for a new dominant world reserve currency instead of the dollar, in a system within the framework of the Washington-based IMF. The UN called for replacement of the dollar previously on September 10th this year. French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for the dollar to make an exit at the G8 summit in July of this year. Some evidence also suggests that several Arab states have suggested a change from dollar based oil pricing to other mechanisms.

With global leaders beginning to use the term “toxic” in their description of the dollar, we can be certain that our country’s AAA bond rating will soon be stripped. What remains uncertain is if our President heeds this wakeup call and returns us to responsible free-market principles or continues the destructive course which he currently navigates.

Interview: China-UN relations to reach new height, says top UN official

by Xinhua writers Wang Xiangjiang, Gu Zhenqiu, Bai Jie

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-10/09/content_12200126.htm

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- "I believe China-UN relations will reach a new height. China's engagement in UN affairs will be increasingly deep and comprehensive," Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs at the United Nations, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

With the launching of its reform and opening-up policy, China's comprehensive national power had begun to ascend, and its national interests had expanded, Sha said, adding that China's participation in the UN had increased.

"As a permanent member of the Security Council and the largest developing country, China is committed to multilateralism. China is a firm, steadfast supporter of the UN," he said.

The veteran Chinese diplomat, 62, assumed his current position two years ago. Before that, Sha held numerous key posts in the Chinese diplomatic service. He served in various missions abroad, including London, Colombo, New Delhi, New York and Geneva.

A CONSTRUCTIVE ROLE

"Today, China is playing a dynamic and constructive role in the UN," Sha noted.

He observed that China maintained good collaborative relations with other member states, in particular with other developing countries, safeguarding their "shared broad interests."

"How to promote the rights and interests of developing countries is a key factor determining the Chinese position at the Security Council," Sha said, pointing out that through the "G-77 (the Group of 77) plus China" formula, China had worked together with other developing countries to vigorously champion developing countries' rights and interests.

Sha said China also enjoyed relatively good relations with developed countries and was seeking to play a constructive role in promoting multilateral collaboration.

"China exercises its veto power at the Security Council prudently. Likewise, in other UN commissions or committees, China cast 'against' votes with caution," he said.

INTERESTS IN HARMONY

When asked how he handled the balance between being both a Chinese and a UN official, Sha stressed that China's interests are "in harmony, and not in contradiction, with the interests of the international community."

China accounts for one fifth of the world's population. By helping China, the UN was helping the world. China, in turn, was making a tremendous contribution to the world in meeting the challenges of the 21st century, he asserted.

According to Sha, China represented an important force for peace and development; moreover, within the UN, China was a driving force for cooperation.

"In short, China conducts its foreign policy in a principled, reasonable manner. Member states welcome such an approach," he said.

GREATER IMPACT

"The prevalent view is that China will be having even greater impact on international affairs. Therefore, China will need to take on more duties and obligations," Sha reasoned. "However, asking China to sacrifice more and more human and financial resources, without China being listened to -- that, in my view, will be unacceptable."

"China's influence will expand -- this is inexorable," he said." It is a different era today. Close to all issues involve China's national interests, calling for China's deep engagement."

At the same time, the international community welcomed and needed China's comprehensive engagement in international affairs, with their ever increasing expectations for China, he said.

"China has a rightful place at the table. It marks China's deepening engagement. That said, it is not tantamount to the right to dominate; still less the right to hegemony," Sha said.

There was no need for China, a permanent member of the Security Council, to be "shy about her power," he added.

"As a matter of fact, developing countries, including China, are still owed their fair say in international affairs. That is what is often referred to as unfair, unjustifiable international order," he said.

UN calls for new reserve currency

The United Nations called on Tuesday for a new global reserve currency to end dollar supremacy which has allowed the United States the "privilege" of building a huge trade deficit.

"Important progress in managing imbalances can be made by reducing the reserve currency country?s 'privilege' to run external deficits in order to provide international liquidity," UN undersecretary-general for economic and social affairs, Sha Zukang, said.

Speaking at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Istanbul, he said: "It is timely to emphasise that such a system also creates a more equitable method of sharing the seigniorage derived from providing global liquidity."

He said: "Greater use of a truly global reserve currency, such as theIMF?s special drawing rights (SDRs), enables the seigniorage gained to be deployed for development purposes," he said.

The SDRs are the asset used in IMF transactions and are based on a basket of four currencies -- the dollar, euro, yen and pound -- which is calculated daily.

China had called in March for a new dominant world reserve currency instead of the dollar, in a system within the framework of the Washington-based IMF.

Copyright AFP 2008, AFP stories and photos shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium

At UN, Sen. Boxer Criticizes Firing of Galbraith, Rates Congo 60% on Rapist Generals, No Goldstone

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 12 -- Senator Barbara Boxer of California, after meeting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, was asked on Monday morning by Inner City Press about Mr. Ban's firing of long time U.S. diplomat Peter Galbraith as the UN's deputy in Afghanistan, for alleging the UN is covering up pro-Karzai voting fraud. Video here, from Minute 4:10

"On Mr. Galbraith, t's a very sad day when someone is dismissed for telling the truth, that's how I feel about it," Senator Boxer replied. Video here, from Minute 6:18.

But did she bring up the firing to Ban Ki-moon during their meeting? Apparently not. When Inner City Press asked Sen. Boxer if she had raised to Ban the UN system's handling of the Goldstone report on Gaza, Boxer testily replied that she had come only on two topics: violence against women, which she said took up 75% of the meeting -- and "that you never asked any questions about" -- and climate change. Video here, from Minute 8:59.

In Sen. Boxer's read out of the violence against women portion of the meeting, she spoke of rapes in broad daylight then turned to an aide for the name of the country. Guinea -- Guinea Conakry.

Inner City Press asked Sen. Boxer about charges that the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo works with Congolese army units which are accused of rape. Sen. Boxer gave an answer that may be news: that of the "five generals," three have been relieved of duty, but two continue to serve. The reference is to five names that the UN gave to President Kabila. But is being relieved of duty enough? And is 60% a passing grade?

Sen. Boxer at UN, in the past, Galbraith, Guinea and Goldstone not shown

On climate change, Inner City Press asked Sen. Boxer to respond to chief U.S. negotiator Jonathan Pershing's statement that if the Congress hasn't passed legislation before the Copenhagen meeting, it will be very difficult for the U.S. to make any specific commitment at that meeting.

Boxer's response was that she does not agree that the U.S. is not making progress. She spoke about court decisions and actions of governors and mayors. But what about the Congress? What about the U.S.'s ability to make a commitment in Copenhagen? Watch this site.