• Fight for future

    Life still hard for 'hero' of East Timor struggle ...
    2008-10-09 20:28:13

  • Qatar tops Middle East, North Africa in corruption rankings

    INT49International/SocietyQatar tops Middle East, North Africa in corruption rankingsDubai, Sep 24 IANS Qatar led the Middle East and North Africa MENA region in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index CPI 2008 released by the Berlin-based NGO Transparency International TI.Qatar topped the region with a rank of 28th and scoring 6.5 on a scale ranging from zero highly corrupt to 10 highly clean.It shared the position with Spain, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.Other Gulf states to follow Qatar are the United Arab Emirates UAE at 35th position 5.9 points, Oman at 41st 5.5 and Bahrain at 43rd 5.4.While Oman shared its rank with Mauritius, Bahrain was at the same level as Macau.The other two Gulf Cooperation Council GCC countries, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, were ranked 65th 4.3 and 80th 3.5, respectively.While Kuwait shared the rank with Cuba, corruption levels in Saudi Arabia were seen at the same level as in Brazil, Thailand and Burkina Fasso.Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden shared this year's top spot with the highest score of 9.3, followed by Singapore at 9.2. At the bottom is Somalia at 1.0, slightly trailing Iraq and Myanmar at 1.3 and Haiti at 1.4.The list covered 180 countries across the world.In a statement, Johann Graf Lambsdorff of the University of Passau, who carries out the CPI survey for TI, underscored the disastrous effects of corruption and gains from fighting it. "Evidence suggests that an improvement in the CPI by one point on a 10-point scale increases capital inflows by 0.5 percent of a country's gross domestic product and average incomes by as much as four percent," he said.The TI report named Qatar, Oman and Bahrain along with Albania, Benin, Cyprus, Dominica, Georgia, Indonesia, Jordan, Mauritius, Nigeria, Poland, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, South Korea, Tonga and Turkey as the countries showing significant improvements in rankings from last year.Bulgaria, Burundi, Finland, France, Italy, Macao, Maldives, Norway, Portugal, Somalia, Timor-Leste and Britain were named as noteworthy examples of deterioration from last year.TI, in its report, also warned that in low-income countries, rampant corruption jeopardised the global fight against poverty, threatening to derail the UN Millennium Development Goals MDGs. "According to TI's 2008 Global Corruption Report, unchecked levels of corruption would add $50 billion - or nearly half of annual global aid outlays - to the cost of achieving the MDG on water and sanitation," it said."Not only does this call for a redoubling of efforts in low-income countries, where the welfare of significant portions of the population hangs in the balance, it also calls for a more focussed and coordinated approach by the global donor community to ensure development assistance is designed to strengthen institutions of governance and oversight in recipient countries, and that aid flows themselves are fortified against abuse and graft," it added.TI said this is the message it would take to the ongoing 63rd UN General Assembly session where member states would meet Sep 25 to take stock on progress in reaching the MDGs, and ahead of the UN conference on financing for development to be held in Doha, Qatar.Meanwhile, following the release of the CPI 2008, the Bahrain Transparency Society BTS has attributed that country's rise from 46th position in 2007 to 43rd this year to announcements made by the Bahrain's Tender Board and the publication of oil prices on the National Oil and Gas Authority's website.In a statement to the official Bahrain News Agency, BTS president Abdulnabi Alekry expressed the hope that Bahrain would achieve a more advanced ranking and better CPI score.He also revealed that BTS was currently preparing a national transparency report to be presented at the Athens Transparency Conference in November this year. He said that the society has been in contact with reporters, auditors and economists to compile this report. --Indo-Asian News Serviceab/sh/dg703 Words24091541
    2008-09-24 06:04:09

  • Foreign troops needed in East Timor for at least another year: PM AFP

    AFP - East Timor wants foreign troops to stay on its soil for at least one more year as instability is still a threat to the young nation, the prime minister said Friday....
    2008-09-20 20:00:00

  • Remote Australia edging towards 'failed state'

    Canberra, Sept 13 ANI: A group of prominent Australians have warned that remote Australia has become a "failed state" fuelled by dysfunction and neglect that threatens the nation's security, social cohesion and rare ecosystems.The Remote Focus Group, which includes academics, politicians, public servants and mining executives, has produced a "prospectus", detailing the extent of the crisis and calling for an urgent national debate.While stressing that the problems go beyond those of indigenous communities, the prospectus argues that there is a looming demographic crisis with an exploding Aboriginal population that shows few signs of migrating to metropolitan cities. In contrast, rural employment is falling. "The overwhelming evidence demands that decisive and comprehensive action is needed to address the crisis in Remote Australia," the group says, and warns that imposed solutions that don't involve consultations will not work.According to The AGE, the group has called for a radical rethink in policy planning for the region that covers 85% of the continent and holds 65% of its resources wealth.They argue that conditions of endemic poverty, a paucity of services, financial mismanagement and high rates of homicide and violence in remote Australia fits the criteria of failed states like the Solomon Islands and East Timor. ANI
    2008-09-13 07:00:00

  • More grief for Timor: cane toads

    Australia's military may be responsible for introducing cane toads to East Timor....
    2008-09-00 00:00:00

  • Gusmao welcomed at Parliament House

    East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao has been given a ceremonial welcome at Parliament House in Canberra this morning, ahead of meetings with Kevin Rudd....
    2008-08-24 21:00:00

  • Was East Timor rebel leader executed by presidential guard

    East Timorese rebel leader Alfredo Reinado and his chief lieutenant may have been executed after the assassination attempt on President Jose Ramos Horta in February, an autopsy report suggests. ...
    2008-08-13 05:32:38

  • Was East Timor rebel leader executed by presidential guard - Times Online

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    2008-08-13 03:37:21

  • Premier Received By East Timor, Guinea Bissau Presidents

    The Angolan Prime Minister, Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos, was received last Friday in Lisbon by the Presidents of East Timor and Guinea Bissau, respectively, Ramos Horta and Nino Vieira....
    2008-08-10 00:14:43
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