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April 26, 2009 | Chris Nineham - Stop the War Coalition Conference 2009

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New judicial appointments get thumbs up from Bar

Datuk Gopal Sri Ram taking his oath of office before Chief Justice Tan Sri Zaki Azmi at the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya this morning.

– Picture by Choo Choy May

By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani and Edward Cheah

PUTRAJAYA, April 15, 2009 (malaysianinsider) – Three new judges were elevated to the Federal Court today with another five appointed to the Court of Appeal.

The appointments are seen as a significant injection of new blood which earned praise even from the Bar Council as signalling reform of the judiciary.

Datuk Gopal Sri Ram, Datuk Wira Ghazali Mohd Yusof and Datuk James Foong took their oath of office before Chief Justice Tan Sri Zaki Azmi in a ceremony at the Palace of Justice this morning.

The three seats became vacant after the retirement of Chief Justices Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim and Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad, and judge Datuk Az-mel Ma'amor.

All three Federal Court and five Court of Appeal judges received their letters of appointment from Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin at Istana Negara here earlier.

“The expectations of the citizens and our clients are very high. They want speedy and efficient disposals of the cases. I know we have been working hard, shorthanded at all levels. It means that with the shortage of judges, even working at full speed, we are unable to overtake the number of appeals filed,” said Zaki.

With the appointments of the three judges, the Federal Court now has the maximum 12-member bench.

The five new High Court judges who took their oath of office before Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Alauddin Mohd Sheriff were Datuk Mohd Hishamuddin Mohd Yunus, 59, Datuk Kang Hwee Gee, 64, Datuk Jeffrey Tan, 59, Datuk Azhar Maah, 63, and Datuk Ramly Ali, 56.

The Court of Appeal will now have 22 high court judges.

“You should be proud that you have been chosen to fill in the vacancies because the choices are made on merits. This is necessarily so if the intention is to improve the respect given to the courts. You will, I am sure, continue to meet the highest standard expected to be speedy but fair,” Zaki Azmi told the new judges.

Bar Council President Ragunath Kesavan told reporters that the new appointments signal a strong intent to reform the judiciary.

“I am quite happy with the appointments and promotions, I think the issue of merits have been taken into consideration. We are very pleased that we have been consulted as well by the chief justice and we have given our input.

“With the good start to the reform of the judiciary, there is recognition of merit in the promotion of the court of appeal and federal court judges,” Ragunath said.

He also commended Zaki for inviting senior members of the Bar to serve in the judiciary and warm the relationship that the two bodies are enjoying.

“I must say this that in this last one year ... the bench and bar, we have had more meetings than the last 10 years so in terms of consultation, we have been having many consultations.

“We are very happy with the response, of course there are some areas in which we want more improvements but the reform of the judiciary is a work in progress,” Ragunath said.

Bank Negara sees economy improving in 2nd half

KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 – Bernama

The effect of the fiscal stimulus and supportive monetary environment will put the country’s economy in a better position in the second half of the year, Bank Negara Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said today.

She also noted that although the external economies were experiencing contraction, the domestic economy is still growing.

“There is a need to sustain the domestic economy,” said Dr Zeti.

The first quarter of this year, however, is very much affected by contraction in external economies, which has affected the country’s export, she said.

“The effect of the (negative) global developments showed up in the first and second quarters of the year. Our export numbers are bad,” she told reporters after the launching the Interbank Murabahah Master Agreement here, today.

Asked whether there was a need to revise the gross domestic product (GDP), she said: “Right now we have made assumptions that the second half will stabilise and that the fiscal stimulus will be implemented.

“In the current environment our projection is more or less a flat growth because of the contractions of the external environment and it is being offset by domestic demand,” she said.

To a question on whether the economy will bottom out, Dr Zeti said: “It is not clear yet and what is the direction of the global economy.

“We are seeing some stabilisation taking place. This is very encouraging but we still have to wait and see because of the financial sector resolution in many of the advanced countries which still need to take place before we see stabilisation occurring,” she added.

Bank Negara sees economy improving in 2nd half

KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 – Bernama

The effect of the fiscal stimulus and supportive monetary environment will put the country’s economy in a better position in the second half of the year, Bank Negara Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said today.

She also noted that although the external economies were experiencing contraction, the domestic economy is still growing.

“There is a need to sustain the domestic economy,” said Dr Zeti.

The first quarter of this year, however, is very much affected by contraction in external economies, which has affected the country’s export, she said.

“The effect of the (negative) global developments showed up in the first and second quarters of the year. Our export numbers are bad,” she told reporters after the launching the Interbank Murabahah Master Agreement here, today.

Asked whether there was a need to revise the gross domestic product (GDP), she said: “Right now we have made assumptions that the second half will stabilise and that the fiscal stimulus will be implemented.

“In the current environment our projection is more or less a flat growth because of the contractions of the external environment and it is being offset by domestic demand,” she said.

To a question on whether the economy will bottom out, Dr Zeti said: “It is not clear yet and what is the direction of the global economy.

“We are seeing some stabilisation taking place. This is very encouraging but we still have to wait and see because of the financial sector resolution in many of the advanced countries which still need to take place before we see stabilisation occurring,” she added.

Pepe Escobar: Welcome to another New World Order

April 14, 2009 - Pepe Escobar Pt1: A tsunami of hype around another New World Order

German FM Wants US Nuclear Arms out of Country

10/04/2009 | alamanar

German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier wants the remaining US nuclear weapons in his country to be removed as they are obsolete, a magazine reported Friday.

According to the issue of Der Speigel due to go on sale Monday the weapons are "militarily obsolete" and "should be withdrawn from Germany" in the view of Steinmeier, a Social Democrat minister in the ruling coalition. "The withdrawal of this kind of weapon should be a theme at the forthcoming disarmament conference proposed by the United States," the magazine quotes Steinmeier as saying.

His remarks follow a speech in Prague by US President Barack Obama in which he suggested that efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation should be relaunched with the aim of achieving a world "without nuclear weapons".

Steinmeier's remarks also coincide with the traditional Easter demonstrations in which for more than 30 years anti-nuclear protestors have shown their opposition to nuclear weapons. The United States pulled most of their nuclear weapons out of Europe in the 1990s when the Cold War ended.

But Der Spiegel says that about 100 are still positioned in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. Germany has never been a nuclear power. German conservatives, led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, believe that the presence of US nuclear weapons on German soil lets Berlin keep influence in a "very sensitive sector", in particular NATO, according to a leading conservative quoted by the magazine.

Chomsky: NATO should immediately disband

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:08:46 GMT | PressTV

Noam Chomsky

NATO would be better off if it sought an "immediate disbandment", renowned American author and political analyst Professor Noam Chomsky says.

"If the question was 'How ought NATO to develop?' the answer is 'immediate disbandment'," Chomsky told Russia Today when asked about the alliance's development in the future.

Chomsky said despite the costly maintenance of the US military, which spends half of the world's military expenditure, and the financial crisis, President Barack Obama has shown no desire to limit the military spending.

"In reality there is little sign of change. You may have noticed that despite the financial crisis there is no serious attempt to limit US military spending since (Barack) Obama became president," he said.

"They may cancel some expensive high tech projects like purchase of the F22 fighter. You don't need those sorts of planes for the sort of wars we have now."

Chomsky also slammed the previous US administration for concocting excuses which contributed to NATO's survival.

The administration of George W. Bush "issued a defense strategy document that effectively said that the real threat was actually the advanced technological level of third world countries and the need to preserve the superiority of the US technological military industrial base…. So suddenly the original threat turns out to be a lie and it is business as usual for NATO."

The comments came ahead of the 60th NATO anniversary which marks its formation with the aim of providing collective defense for members.

The body's defensive capability rose to utmost standards upon accepting the then-united West Germany in mid-1990s. Moscow dropped its objection to the accession in exchange for the alliance's promise not to expand beyond Germany's border and close to those of Russia's.

In contravention of the pledge, however, the Bush administration threw its weight behind the membership bid of former Soviet Union states such as Georgia and Ukraine.

"The United States wants to recruit Eastern European nations to join NATO because they think they will be prepared to send soldiers to fight in those sorts of wars," Chomsky concluded.

ISA Freed detainees identified

KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 — reported by malaysianinsider — source : Bernama

Of the 13 ISA detainees released, two are members of the outlawed Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), one a member of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI), seven members of the Darul Islam group and three foreigners involved in the falsifying of documents.

The JI member, Wan Amin Wan Hamat, was detained on March 20, 2003 and his detention was extended to March 19, 2011.

The others are Hindraf leaders V. Ganabatirau and R. Kengadharan; Darul Islam group members Binsali Omar, A. Artas A. Burhanudin, Idris Lanama, Francis Indanan, Mohd Nazri Dolah, Pakana Selama and Mohd Arasad Patangari; and foreigners V. Sundaraj (of India), San Khaing (Myanmar) and Amir Hussain
(Myanmar).

G20 live bloggers share their views

April 02, 2009 - G20 Voice, a group of 50 bloggers, have been given unprecedented access to the summit of world leaders taking place in London.

The bloggers come from 22 countries, representing a global audience of 14 million readers.

Three of them - Ahmed al Omran from Saudi Arabia, who blogs at saudijeans.org, Cheryl Contee from the United States, who blogs at jackandjillpolitics.com, and Swati Sahi from India, who blogs at oneworld.net - spoke to Al Jazeera.

NGOs urge action, fairness for G20 summit

hu, 02 Apr 2009 20:25:38 GMT | PressTV

Leaders of the Group of Twenty

Commenting on the G20 summit, NGOs say that there is much more to be done to rescue poor countries from the worst of the global financial crisis.

During Thursday's G20 meeting in London, world leaders agreed to a raft of measures to combat the global financial downturn, pledging to spend five trillion dollars by the end of 2010, with USD 1.1 trillion going to the IMF.

The measures would see the sale of gold reserves to help poor countries, a new push to pass free trade rules, major reforms to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, secretive tax havens named and shamed, and new rules on corporate pay.

"We welcome the 1.1 trillion dollars for global economic recovery. But we must ensure that poor countries get their fair Share -- that Uganda benefits as well as Ukraine," said Oxfam spokesman, Duncan Green.

This is while Greenpeace said the G20 had missed a chance to secure long-term environmental improvements, saying there were just 'vague aspirations'.

"Long-term economic recovery is dependent on tackling climate change," said Greenpeace UK's executive director, John Sauven.

"A full-blown climate crisis raises the prospect of mass migration, mass starvation and mass extinctions. It will make poverty permanent in the developing world and strangle growth in the developed."

UK Prime Minster, Gordon Brown, noted that the G20 nations are committed to ward off economic catastrophes; however, he pledged 'no quick fixes', for the global financial crises.

G20 protesters converge outside Bank of England

Thousands of anti-capitalist and anti-war protesters are converging on the Bank of England today to demonstrate ahead of the G20 summit that starts in London tomorrow.

They followed four "horsemen of the apocalypse" that set out from four different central London tube stations to meet outside the Bank. The horses symbolise the evils of war, financial chaos, climate change and homelessness.

Later this afternoon, at 2pm, supporters of the Stop the War Coalition will gather to demonstrate outside the US embassy in Grosvenor Square. They will march to a rally in Trafalgar Square.

socialistworker

'The rich want me to pay for their crisis'

I'm a care worker on less than £7 an hour with no pension – but Brown and the G20 are doing nothing to help millions like me

Claudia Campbell is one of millions of people working in Britain forced to live on very low pay.

As a care worker in Birmingham she spends long hours helping people with learning disabilities.

Despite her work being both demanding and important Claudia earns just £6.56 an hour – that's just £838 a month.

"It's a struggle to survive on what I earn," she told Socialist Worker. "Rents, bills and food prices are all spiralling – but my pay is standing still. When I'm in the supermarket I have to think very carefully about the price of every item I buy."

There are no such worries for the G20 world leaders who are meeting in London this week. They are wining and dining on the best that Britain's restaurants have to offer, while the heads of industry talk of the need to cut costs.

But calls for "belt tightening" by Britain's bosses can only mean more pay cuts and more job losses for the rest of us.

Already two thirds of British manufacturers say they have frozen pay or are considering doing so in the future. Meanwhile millions of public sector workers have suffered from below inflation rises for years in a row.

The rich are determined to use the economic crisis to their advantage. They don't just want to slash pay – they want an assault on pensions and public spending too.

In every town in Britain there are thousands of people who spend sleepless nights worrying about their jobs, their homes and how to carry on putting food on their family's tables. And it's the lowest paid and the unemployed that are being hit the hardest.

"Gordon Brown won't do anything for people like me," says Claudia. "If he was serious about helping those at the sharp end of the recession he could increase the minimum wage from just £5.73 an hour. Or he could step in to stop the jobs losses round here."

The past four months has seen a jobs massacre in Claudia's home city of Birmingham. Some 450 people were made redundant at Jaguar Land Rover, 600 at nearby Aston Martin and 850 at van makers LDV.

And it's not just the manufacturers – many local suppliers have gone out of business too. Trade unions have at last woken up to the issue and are planning a massive demonstration over jobs in Birmingham on Saturday 16 May.

"There's got to be a fight over jobs," says Claudia. "But there should also be one about pay. Why should people like me be earning only the bare minimum when there are people like MPs who claim more in expenses than I will earn in a lifetime?" mean more pay cuts and more job losses for the rest of us.

Already two thirds of British manufacturers say they have frozen pay or are considering doing so in the future. Meanwhile millions of public sector workers have suffered below-inflation rises for years in a row.

The rich are determined to use the crisis to their advantage. They don't just want to slash pay – they want an assault on pensions and public spending too. And it's the lowest paid and the unemployed that are being hit the hardest.

"Gordon Brown won't do anything for people like me," says Claudia. "If he was serious about helping those at the sharp end of the recession he could increase the minimum wage from £5.73 an hour. Or he could step in to stop the jobs losses round here."

The past four months has seen a jobs massacre in Claudia's home city of Birmingham, with redundancies at Jaguar Land Rover, Aston Martin and LDV.

Many suppliers have also gone out of business. Trade unions have at last woken up to the issue and are planning a mass demonstration over jobs in Birmingham on Saturday 16 May.

"There's got to be a fight over jobs," says Claudia. "But there should also be one about pay. Why should people like me be earning only the bare minimum when there are MPs who claim more in expenses than I will earn in a lifetime?"

socialistworker