Bank crisis to dominate EU talks

From : 15 October 2008

A multi-billion-euro rescue scheme for Europe's ailing banks is set to dominate an EU summit in Brussels.

The 27-member bloc is expected to rally behind plans agreed on Sunday by officials from the 15-nation eurozone.

Stocks markets have recovered some ground since then, but remain nervous because of worries over a recession in the US and Germany.

Environmental groups are fearful that the economic crisis will derail EU plans to tackle climate change.

Regulatory rethink?

Markets across Europe rallied after eurozone governments last Sunday pledged around $3 trillion (£1.7 trillion) to restore confidence in the banking system.

However, EU leaders have warned that it is too early to declare this crisis over.

"This is and remains work in progress. We see light at the end of the tunnel but we are not yet there," Mr Barroso said.

On Tuesday, recession fears pushed US share prices lower despite a $250bn (£143bn) government bank rescue plan.

Asian and European stock markets also lost ground following two days of dramatic rises, and a report suggested Germany, the EU's biggest economy, was on the verge of recession.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday ahead of the meeting, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should be "rebuilt" to help regulate the world's financial systems.

He also called for the creation of an early warning system for the international economy and for more cross-border supervision of multinational financial companies.

Mr Barroso said earlier that there was a need to rethink regulatory and supervision rules for the financial markets, as well as limits on executive pay.

Eurozone leaders, meeting under the chair of the French, who hold the current presidency, are expected to brief their EU colleagues on their rescue plans.

France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Austria are planning to guarantee bank lending, provide short-term liquidity and partly nationalise some banks, in schemes modelled on the UK's £500bn (640bn-euro) bail-out package.

However, the commission must scrutinising each country's plan to ensure they do not disadvantage other EU member states or violate EU competition laws.

The packed agenda for the two-day talks also includes:

• Leaders are expected to sign an immigration pact, committing their countries to common principles for handling immigrants.

• A decision to revive the failed Lisbon treaty, meant to give the EU more stable institutions in difficult times, is expected to be put on the back-burner until December.

• Talks on a new EU-Russia partnership treaty have been postponed, amid continuing concern about Russia's military presence in Georgia. There are divisions in the EU about when to resume them.

Climate shift

The EU meeting was originally due to focus on climate change.

Italy, Germany and Poland have argued that existing targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions would impose extra burdens on electricity generators and carmakers, as an economic slowdown looms.

Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas told the BBC's environment analyst Roger Harrabin that member states should be able to trade away more than half of their responsibilities for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by getting developing countries to install clean technologies on their behalf.

The European Commission originally proposed that member states should be able to trade no more than a third of their responsibilities.

The new proposal is highly controversial and will be resisted by the European Parliament because it has emerged that some of these clean technology projects would have been built anyway - in those cases, there is no carbon saving.

Some member states will also resist any trading over 50% for fear that it will undermine Europe's credibility on climate change, our correspondent says.

And the head of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, warned that the EU's ambitious plans should not be hijacked by concerns about economic costs.

"Climate change does not disappear because of the financial crisis. Tackling climate change is central to Europe's future prosperity," he said.

If Europe were to give up its leading role on climate change, "there will be less incentives of others to follow", he added.

Kontak Senjata Meletus di Perbatasan Thailand-Kamboja

From : 15 Oktober 2008

PHNOM PENH, RABU - Kontak senjata antara tentara Thailand dan tentara Kamboja meletus di perbatasan kedua negara di dekat Kuil Preah Vihear, Rabu (15/10) siang waktu setempat. Demikian dikatakan seorang pejabat Kamboja, Hang Soth.

"Tentara Kamboja dan Thailand saling menembak sekarang. Pasukan kami mencegah pasukan Thailand memasuki wilayah kami, tetapi mereka mulai menembak ke arah tentara kami," kata Brigadir Bun Thean dari lokasi perbatasan.

Kedua negara sama-sama mengklaim kepemilikan atas tanah di sekitar kuil Hindu, Preah Vihear, seluas 4,6 kilometer persegi. Pengadilan Internasional telah memutuskan kuil tersebut menjadi milik Kamboja, tetapi status tanah di sekitarnya belum jelas.

Perdana Menteri Thailand Somchai Wongsawat memerintahkan warga negara Thailand di Kamboja untuk meninggalkan negara itu secepatnya. Thailand juga telah menyiagakan pesawat tempurnya yang bisa segera dikerahkan jika sewaktu-waktu pecah pertempuran.

Militer Thailand dan Kamboja telah berhadap-hadapan selama beberapa pekan menyusul meningkatnya ketegangan setelah UNESCO menyetujui usulan Kamboja untuk memasukkan Preah Vihear ke dalam daftar Warisan Dunia , Juli lalu. Tentara kedua pihak telah ditarik pada pertengahan Agustus. Namun, ketegangan kembali timbul setelah kedua negara saling tuding tentara pihak lain melanggar perbatasan.

Pameran Buku Terbesar Angkat Sastra Turki

From : 15 Oktober 2008

LONDON - Frankfurt Book Fair 2008 resmi dimulai kemarin (14/10). Agenda pameran buku tahunan terbesar di dunia tersebut tahun ini mengangkat topik utama tentang kesusastraan Turki. Berbagai karya sastrawan negeri yang terletak di dua benua itu, termasuk karya pemenang Nobel Sastra 2006 Orhan Pamuk, dipamerkan dan dibahas mendalam selama pameran yang akan berlangsung hingga 20 Oktober tersebut.

Jelang pembukaan even yang dihadiri penulis terkemuka Brazil Paulo Coelho itu, penyelenggara Frankfurt Book Fair merilis hasil megasurvei tentang kesiapan publik dunia menyambut era buku digital atau e-book. Dalam survei yang melibatkan lebih dari seribu profesional industri buku asal sekitar 30 negara tersebut, diketahui bahwa publikasi buku secara digital lebih diminati sekarang. Lebih dari 70 persen responden menyatakan sudah sangat siap menghadapi era e-book.

Kalangan penulis sama siapnya menyambut era baru itu. Paulo, misalnya, menganggap kemajuan teknologi internet tersebut sebagai suatu keuntungan. "Memublikasikan isi buku secara gratis lewat internet justru akan mendongkrak penjualan," tuturnya.

Pengarang The Alchemist dan Eleven Minutes tersebut bahkan mulai menyebarluaskan karyanya dalam bentuk digital secara gratis. "Buktinya, penjualan buku-buku saya di Rusia langsung meningkat," lanjut pria Brazil yang didaulat membuka pameran bergengsi itu kemarin.

Namun, 66 persen responden yakin bahwa era e-book dan e-reader belum akan terjadi dalam waktu dekat. Hingga lima tahun ke depan, publikasi buku secara tradisional masih akan mendominasi. "Sekitar tujuh persen responden berpendapat, e-book baru akan menjadi sumber penghasilan terbesar industri buku pada 2013," tutur penyelenggara dalam newsletter yang mereka publikasikan. (Rtr/CBSNews/hep/ttg)

Kenaikan Harga Saham Berlanjut Eropa Minta Regulasi Pasar Uang Harus Diperkuat

From: 15 Oktober 2008

PHNOM PENH, RABU - Kontak senjata antara tentara Thailand dan tentara Kamboja meletus di perbatasan kedua negara di dekat Kuil Preah Vihear, Rabu (15/10) siang waktu setempat. Demikian dikatakan seorang pejabat Kamboja, Hang Soth.

"Tentara Kamboja dan Thailand saling menembak sekarang. Pasukan kami mencegah pasukan Thailand memasuki wilayah kami, tetapi mereka mulai menembak ke arah tentara kami," kata Brigadir Bun Thean dari lokasi perbatasan.

Kedua negara sama-sama mengklaim kepemilikan atas tanah di sekitar kuil Hindu, Preah Vihear, seluas 4,6 kilometer persegi. Pengadilan Internasional telah memutuskan kuil tersebut menjadi milik Kamboja, tetapi status tanah di sekitarnya belum jelas.

Perdana Menteri Thailand Somchai Wongsawat memerintahkan warga negara Thailand di Kamboja untuk meninggalkan negara itu secepatnya. Thailand juga telah menyiagakan pesawat tempurnya yang bisa segera dikerahkan jika sewaktu-waktu pecah pertempuran.

Militer Thailand dan Kamboja telah berhadap-hadapan selama beberapa pekan menyusul meningkatnya ketegangan setelah UNESCO menyetujui usulan Kamboja untuk memasukkan Preah Vihear ke dalam daftar Warisan Dunia , Juli lalu. Tentara kedua pihak telah ditarik pada pertengahan Agustus. Namun, ketegangan kembali timbul setelah kedua negara saling tuding tentara pihak lain melanggar perbatasan.

N Korea 'sex spy' Jailed in South

From : 15 October 2008

A North Korean woman has been sentenced to five years in a South Korean prison for spying, say reports.

Won Jeong-hwa, 34, admitted seducing military officers in exchange for classified information on the location of important military installations.

Investigators have also accused her of scheming to murder intelligence agents using poison-tipped needles, though the plot did not go ahead.

North Korea has denied she is an agent, calling her "human scum".

It has accused the South of fabricating the case for propaganda purposes.

'Defector'

Won - unsmiling but calm, dressed in green prison uniform with her hair in a ponytail - was sentenced on Wednesday in a court in Suweon, south of Seoul.

The headline-grabbing case came to light in August, when Won was arrested along with her stepfather Kim Dong-sun.

According to AFP news agency, she had come to South Korea in 2001, in the guise of a defector from the North, and was tasked by its National Intelligence Service with touring military units to give anti-communist lectures.

She used the occasions to contact army officers, AFP quoted investigators as saying, some of whom she slept with in exchange for secret information.

The agency reported that she was also found guilty of involvement in the kidnapping of a South Korean businessman from China to her authoritarian homeland in 1999, and of trying to trace the whereabouts of a top defector, Hwang Jang-yop, living in the South.

Won could have faced life behind bars. But the judge passing sentence cited her confession, co-operation with investigators, and expressions of remorse.

Her stepfather, 63, is also being prosecuted on spying charges.

Won's work as a spy has not been admitted by the North, which accuses the South of creating a charade for propaganda purposes.

Despite apparent advances in six-party negotiations over North Korea's nuclear programme, North-South bilateral relations have chilled since South Korea's conservative president came to office. He has adopted a harder line towards the North.

Spionase 'Bersenjata' Seks Divonis 5 Tahun

From: 15 Oktober 2008

SEOUL, RABU — Seorang wanita Korea Utara yang dituduh sebagai mata-mata divonis lima tahun penjara oleh Pengadilan Distrik Suwon, Korea Selatan, Rabu (15/10).

Won Jeong Hwa, nama terdakwa itu, ditangkap pada Juli 2008 dengan tuduhan membocorkan informasi kepada Korut, termasuk informasi tentang instalasi militer utama Korsel, daftar pembelot Korut, dan informasi pribadi para pejabat militer Korsel.

Jaksa penuntut umum mendakwa Won menggunakan seks sebagai senjatanya dalam menjalankan misi spionasenya. Ia menjalin hubungan kasih dengan seorang pejabat militer Korsel untuk memuluskan aksi. Dalam penyelidikan, Won juga berupaya membunuh agen intelijen Korsel dengan jarum beracun. Namun, rencana jahat ini urung dilaksanakan.

Won adalah Korut kedua yang ditangkap di Korsel dalam 10 tahun terakhir. Kisah Won yang mirip skenario film itu menarik perhatian media di sana. Sejumlah media menjulukinya Mata Hari, yakni penari yang menjadi mata-mata selama Perang Dunia I.

Kasus Won membuat hubungan Korsel dan Korut kian memanas. Negara Komunis Korut dengan geram menuduh Korsel berusaha mempolitisasi kasus ini untuk merusak citra Korut. Dua negara itu terlibat Perang Korea pada 1950-1953. Secara resmi keduanya belum mengadakan gencatan senjata sehingga secara teknis masih terlibat perang.

Modernisasi Thailand Berawal di Jawa

From: 14 Oktober 2008

Oleh : Iwan Santosa

Kehidupan dan kemajuan Pulau Jawa akhir tahun 1800-an dan awal 1900 ternyata menjadi inspirasi bagi modernisasi Kerajaan Siam (Thailand) yang kini menjadi salah satu pelaku industri otomotif, pertanian, perkebunan, serta produk pangan olahan kelas dunia.

Semua itu berawal dari kunjungan Raja Rama V atau Raja Chulalangkorn yang dikenal sebagai pembaru Siam ke seantero Pulau Jawa pada tahun 1871, 1896, dan 1901. Raja Chulalangkorn adalah putra sulung Raja Mongkut atau Raja Rama IV yang dikenal dalam film legendaris Anna and the King.

Kunjungan Raja Chulalangkorn diabadikan di utara Kota Bandung di kaki air terjun Dago. Raja Chulalangkorn yang menghadiahkan patung gajah di Museum Nasional, Jakarta, menorehkan nama dalam prasasti di batu besar di kaki air terjun. Putra Raja Chulalangkorn, Raja Rama VII atau Raja Prajadiphok, juga singgah di air terjun Dago pada 12 Agustus 1929 dan meninggalkan prasasti serupa.

Dua buah gazebo kayu berarsitektur Thailand warna merah, hijau, dan kuning emas sudah berdiri menaungi dua prasasti peninggalan Raja Chulalangkorn dan Raja Prajadiphok. Gazebo tersebut menambah indah pemandangan air terjun Dago yang mengalir deras.

Atase Kebudayaan Kedutaan Besar Thailand untuk RI Sombat Khattapan mengatakan, prasasti itu merupakan tanda persahabatan kerajaan Siam dengan masyarakat Jawa dan Indonesia.

”Raja Chulalangkorn belajar banyak dari keberadaan infrastruktur dan industri modern di Jawa zaman itu, seperti kereta api, jalan raya, hingga perkebunan yang menjadi tulang punggung ekonomi Thailand sekarang. Setelah beliau kembali ke Siam, pelbagai perintah untuk membangun jaringan kereta api, perintisan perkebunan karet, hingga pelebaran jalan ukuran dikerjakan serius setelah membuat catatan secara detail segala segi kehidupan di Pulau Jawa,” kata Sombat.

Diminati wisatawan

Imtip Suharto, warga Bandung yang secara teratur datang ke air terjun Dago, menyayangkan banyaknya sampah di air terjun Dago yang hanyut dari hunian warga di daerah hulu. Padahal, air terjun tersebut dapat menjadi magnet bagi wisatawan mancanegara, seperti Belanda hingga Thailand. Khususnya bagi bangsa Thai, situs peninggalan para raja dari dinasti Chakri selalu dihormati dan dikunjungi secara berkala. ”Sayang kalau situs ini rusak. Bahkan, papan penanda situs dari besi juga rusak digergaji,” kata Imtip.

Imtip yang juga menulis Journeys to Java by a Siamese King mencatat betapa Raja Chulalangkorn menjalin hubungan baik dengan penguasa Jawa dari semua keraton yang ada di Yogyakarta dan Surakarta. Beliau juga bersahabat dengan keraton- keraton di Cirebon, Jawa Barat.

Berdasarkan data yang diolah Imtip dari pelbagai sumber, sungguh layak jika Raja Chulalangkorn belajar dari Pulau Jawa. Kala itu, galangan kapal terbesar di dunia terdapat di Surabaya. Pelbagai industri dari usaha kecil menengah pembuatan topi hingga permesinan dikunjungi lalu dicatat secara detail untuk dikembangkan di kerajaan Siam (nama kerajaan Thailand baru resmi digunakan tahun 1940-an).

Kini bangsa Thailand menikmati buah dari proses studi banding ke mancanegara hingga Eropa-Amerika yang diawali di Pulau Jawa. Peresmian situs air terjun Dago seharusnya menjadi cambuk bagi bangsa Indonesia untuk bangkit kembali di semua bidang dan kembali menjadi panutan bagi bangsa lain.

Looking West in the White House race

From: 13 October 2008

By Jonathan Marcus
BBC diplomatic correspondent, Denver

With the US presidential election campaign moving into the final furlong, Ken Summers, a Republican representative in the Colorado State House, was out canvassing support.

He was working not just for his own re-election but for the man he is backing for the White House, Senator John McCain.

It was a bright and balmy autumn evening in South Lakewood, a genteel suburb of Denver, and Ken Summers showed no sign of swimming against the political tide.

Quite apart from his easy manner, he has something that is a great plus for a politician: the deep reassuring voice of a pastor - his previous occupation.

"Yes," he acknowledged, "the influx of new voters has changed the political landscape in Colorado."

But, he insisted: "John McCain is himself a Westerner; he understands Western issues like water, land and illegal immigration."

There was no sign that Mr Summers was expecting anything other than a McCain victory.

But all the signs are that the presidential race here in Colorado is going to be close. And that, in itself, is a reflection of a profound process of political change that is affecting not just Colorado, but many other Western States as well.

'Perfectly balanced'

In Colorado itself, some 85% of voters live in a long, urban metropolis extending north and south from Denver along what is known as "the Front Range" - hard up against the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

So forget the images of open prairies and lonely cattle ranches. The typical Western voter now lives in a suburb, commuting to work often in high-tech or post-modern industries.

All those who see the US as simply a land of "gas-guzzlers" will be surprised to hear that in Colorado, the renewable energy sector is the fastest growing industry.

Veteran Colorado pollster and analyst Floyd Ciruli is the man to go to for an explanation of Colorado's changing political dynamics.

"This is extraordinary," he told me. "Colorado has never had this much attention in a presidential election in my life-time."

That is in large part because of the closeness of the national race; and, if things are very close, then Colorado's nine electoral college votes could be crucial.

"Colorado's electorate, because of an upsurge in Democratic Party support is almost perfectly balanced," Mr Ciruli went on.

"Power is held by a group of unaffiliated voters - they are a little less attentive to politics, a little less loyal to a party and more likely to be affected by the headlines."

Collapsing brand

Mr Ciruli's polling has shown this vital swing group moving back and forth and, consequently, the lead has changed several times.

"At the moment, Senator Barack Obama is ahead but that could still change," he said.

The changing political dynamic in the West is due, according to Mr Ciruli, to two main factors.

"The Democrats have positioned themselves well in the Western states, choosing more moderate candidates in tune with key Western issues," he said.

And they have also been able to capitalise on their early adoption of environmental issues, not least renewable energy, which plays well in the West.

The second factor is what Mr Ciruli calls "the collapse of the Republican brand nationally".

The Republicans have traditionally done well in the West. George W Bush carried most of these states in 2000 and 2004.

Both he and Vice-President Dick Cheney are Westerners. But the Republican Party's Western magic seems to have evaporated.

'Phenomenal growth'

Of course, the trend has been developing for some time.

Pat Waak, chairwoman of the Colorado Democratic Party, was in an ebullient mood when I met her at a local party headquarters in another Denver suburb.

She told me: "The interior West, leaving out the West Coast, has been undergoing a phenomenal demographic growth in the last 10 years.

"It's coming from the East and West Coasts - predominantly people who are choosing a different lifestyle that is very much connected with the out-of-doors, the open spaces and the Western independent spirit."

In fact, she does not think the polls are giving an accurate picture, arguing that they underestimate Democratic support among the young and newly registered voters - and there are an awful lot of them.

"Young people, Hispanics and women will be the key to an Obama victory," she said.

Of course, the decision of the Democratic Party to hold its convention in Denver - the first time it had done so for 100 years - gave an added boost to the party's "Western strategy".

Changing party?

One of the people who has long argued for the Democrats to "look West" is former senator and one-time presidential hopeful Gary Hart. I went to see him in his office on the campus of the University of Colorado.

From his window, you could see new high-rises going up on the edge of the city and, away in the distance, the majestic peaks of the Rocky Mountains.

"We have made serious inroads in the last five or 10 years in governorships, state legislatures, and increasingly in congressional delegations, not just in the Pacific Western States but also in the Mountain States as well," he noted.

This Democratic shift, he hoped, would re-shape his party. It would become less obsessed with traditional social issues and the legacy of slavery in the South, he said.

"A new Democratic party - a Western-focused Democratic party - would be the information-age party; it would be the resources and environment party; the climate change party; an open and more libertarian party on social issues and so forth."

So the stakes out here in the West are great indeed.

Not just the presidency but the long-term fate of one of the country's two major parties could rest upon the political changes that are taking place here on the high plains.

Ratu Sirikit Tunjukkan Dukungan ke PAD

From: 14 Oktober 2008

BANGKOK - Perdana Menteri Thailand Somchai Wongsawat terus mencari cara untuk meredam tekanan yang diarahkan kepadanya. Dalam pidato yang ditayangkan televisi secara nasional, mantan hakim itu mengulangi bersedia mundur. Tapi, dengan syarat, dia bisa merampungkan berbagai agenda penting nasional hingga akhir tahun nanti.

Beberapa agenda penting tersebut, kata Somchai, adalah persiapan untuk upacara pemakaman Putri Galyani Vadhana, kakak Raja Bhumibol Adulyadej, yang meninggal pada Maret lalu karena kanker. Rencananya, upacara pemakaman tersebut dihelat pada November. Selain itu, tugas lain yang harus disiapkan Somchai ialah perayaan ulang tahun Raja Bhumibol yang jatuh pada 5 Desember serta ASEAN Summit pada pertengahan bulan yang sama.

Dalam kaitannya sebagai tuan rumah untuk pertemuan para pemimpin negara anggota ASEAN itulah, lanjut Somchai, pemerintah memerlukan Wisma Negara -tempat PM berkantor- yang saat ini diduduki para demonstran antipemerintah yang tergabung dalam Aliansi Rakyat untuk Demokrasi (PAD). Untuk itu, Somchai meminta para pengunjuk rasa segera meninggalkan gedung yang sudah mereka duduki sejak 26 Agustus itu.

Tapi, pidato dan permintaan Somchai tersebut belum mendapat tanggapan dari PAD. Kemarin (13/10) kelompok yang dimotori kaum kelas menengah Thailand tersebut juga membatalkan rencana unjuk rasa di depan Kantor Pusat Kepolisian Nasional. Padahal, 1.350 polisi sudah disiapkan untuk berjaga. Dua jalan utama menuju kantor itu juga sudah ditutup.

Pembatalan tersebut dilakukan karena para petinggi PAD menghadiri upacara pemakaman dua korban yang meninggal dalam bentrok 7 Oktober lalu. Ratu Sirikit pun turut menghadiri upacara pemakaman tersebut.

''Kami tidak mau demonstrasi (di kantor polisi) membayangi momen (pemakaman) yang penting ini,'' ujar Sondhi Limthongkul, salah seorang pemimpin PAD.

Kehadiran Ratu Sirikit dalam kesempatan itu sepertinya kian menegaskan dukungan kerajaan terhadap golongan antipemerintah. Sebelumnya, saat bentrok fisik antara kaum antipemerintah dan petugas keamanan pada 7 Oktober lalu, Ratu Sirikit menyumbangkan dana THB 100 ribu (sekitar Rp 27 juta) untuk perawatan para korban luka-luka di rumah sakit. Kerusuhan di depan gedung parlemen tersebut menelan lebih dari 400 korban luka dan dua meninggal. (Bangkokpost/The Nation/dia)

Asian stocks repeat US successes

From: 14 October 2008

Financial markets in Asia have risen sharply, with the Nikkei gaining 13% in morning trading, and Sydney up 5%.

The gains came after Wall Street shares rocketed 11% on Monday as investors welcomed fresh moves to deal with the worldwide financial crisis.

Investors were helped by news the US government wanted to put in place its $700bn bank bail-out quickly.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has now announced a A$10.4bn ($7.3bn) economic stimulus package.

It will allow for one-off payments to the country's low-wage earners and pensioners and follows earlier announcements of guarantees of bank deposits for three years.

According to Mr Rudd, the strategy "will strengthen the national economy and support Australian households".

By lunchtime, Sydney's S&P/ASX200 was up 219 points at 4399.7, and the Australian dollar had strengthened against the US dollar, trading four cents higher than on Monday.

In New Zealand, the stock market rose 6.7% by early afternoon.

In the US, President George W Bush is due to make a statement shortly before markets open there later on Tuesday.

He will speak after meeting his working group on financial markets.

Rescue plans

On Monday US Treasury and Federal Reserve Bank officials met the chief executives of some of America's biggest banks, to work out details of the US government's $700bn (£400bn) bail-out package.

The US has said it was also getting ready to follow in Europe's footsteps and purchase stakes in financial institutions.

On Monday the US Treasury announced it was set to buy stakes in a "broad array" of financial firms.

European governments have said they are putting up to 1.7 trillion euros ($2.3 trillion; £1.3 trillion) to protect the continent's banks through guarantees and other emergency measures.

The sums are a maximum, and might not all be spent if the financial crisis eases.

So far Germany has approved a bank rescue plan worth up to 500bn euros, France will spend about 350bn euros, the Netherlands has pledged 200bn euros, Spain 100bn euros, and Austria 85bn euros.

Italy said it would spend as much as was needed, without giving any exact figures.

The bulk of the European money will be used to guarantee lending between banks - part of a plan agreed this weekend by the 15 nations that use the euro.

The cash will also be used to take stakes in ailing banks, with the UK government saying it would inject up to £36bn of taxpayers cash into Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and HBOS.

Irak Tidak Butuh Inggris Lagi

From: 14 Oktober 2008

London, Senin - Perdana Menteri Irak Nouri al-Maliki mengaku, Irak sudah tidak lagi membutuhkan bantuan pengamanan dari 4.100 personel keamanan Inggris, terutama di garis depan medan pertempuran. Akan tetapi, Irak masih tetap membutuhkan pelatihan personel keamanan dan masalah teknis yang lain.

Pernyataan Maliki itu muncul di berbagai media massa Inggris, Senin (13/10). Seperti disebutkan di harian The Times, Maliki menegaskan, hal ini tidak berarti Irak menolak bantuan dari pihak lain. Namun, untuk saat ini Irak sudah tidak lagi membutuhkan bantuan pasukan tempur. ”Kehadiran tentara Inggris sudah tidak perlu lagi seperti dulu. Kami sangat menghargai semua yang telah mereka lakukan,” ujar Maliki.

Sebagai ganti, kemungkinan Irak masih membutuhkan pelatihan yang terkait keamanan dan isu-isu teknis yang lain. Pernyataan Maliki itu sejalan dengan laporan bulan Agustus yang memaparkan rencana Inggris untuk menarik pulang pasukannya yang bertugas di Irak.

Rencananya, proses penarikan pasukan itu akan dilakukan hingga sembilan bulan ke depan. Akan tetapi, tidak seluruh pasukan akan ditarik pulang segera. Militer memperkirakan masih akan ada beberapa ratus personel Inggris yang tetap dipertahankan.

Perdana Menteri Inggris Gordon Brown pernah berjanji, bulan Juli, akan mulai menarik pasukan pada awal tahun 2009. Namun, militer Inggris mengaku kemungkinan penarikan itu masih dalam proses pembahasan. Sampai saat ini belum ada keputusan apa pun, baik dari pihak militer maupun Pemerintah Inggris.

Selain menegaskan maksudnya agar Inggris ”pulang”, Maliki juga mengungkapkan kekecewaannya dengan pertikaian yang terjadi di kota Basra.

”Pasukan Inggris memilih menarik diri dari konfrontasi yang sedang terjadi dari dalam kota ke arah wilayah bandara. Mereka menjauh dari konfrontasi itu. Akibatnya, kota dikuasai oleh geng-geng dan kelompok milisi,” kata Maliki.

Inggris menyerahkan tanggung jawab pengamanan Basra kepada Pemerintah Irak, Desember lalu, meski pada saat itu tengah terjadi pertikaian yang sengit di antara faksi Syiah dan meluasnya penyusupan anggota milisi ke dalam pasukan keamanan lokal. Meski telah menyerahkan tanggung jawab pengamanan kepada Irak, pasukan Inggris tetap bertahan di markas militer di dekat bandara, 550 kilometer dari Baghdad.

Sebelumnya, Inggris membuka markas di dalam sebuah istana di Basra sesampai di Irak dalam misi ”invasi ke Irak” yang dipimpin oleh AS pada tahun 2003.

”Situasi di sana kian memburuk. Banyak anak muda yang kini membawa pedang dan semena- mena memotong leher wanita dan anak-anak. Rakyat Basra meminta bantuan kami dan akhirnya kami memutuskan untuk masuk ke kota itu,” kata Maliki.

Untung saja, lanjutnya, krisis di kota Basra itu bisa diantisipasi karena adanya keputusan Maliki untuk mengirimkan ribuan tentara Irak ke Basra.

Awal bencana

Dalam kesempatan yang sama, Maliki mengkritik kesepakatan antara Inggris dan Tentara Mahdi, yakni kelompok milisi Syiah terbesar di Irak, untuk menghentikan serangkaian serangan mortir dan peluru kendali.

”Tentu saja kami tidak nyaman dengan kesepakatan yang ada itu. Kami menilai hal itu sebagai awal bencana. Mereka seharusnya sejak awal memberitahukan hal itu kepada kami. Tentu kami bersedia membicarakan kesepakatan itu bersama-sama sekaligus mencari keputusan yang terbaik. Namun, ketika Inggris bertindak seperti itu sendiri, akan muncul persoalan,” kata Maliki.

Meski merasa kecewa dengan Inggris tentang kesepakatan itu, Maliki mengakui, pasukan koalisi tetap telah ”memberikan bantuan yang sangat berarti”. Oleh karena itu, Irak tetap terbuka untuk berbagai perusahaan Inggris.

”Untuk saat ini, hubungan kita amat baik. Kita akan berusaha mempererat hubungan dengan memperluas kerja sama di bidang-bidang lain,” kata Mali- ki. (AFP/AP/LUK)

Tentara Inggris Menjadi Mata-mata Iran

From: 14 Oktober 2008

LONDON, SENIN - Seorang prajurit Inggris, Kopral Daniel James (45), menjadi mata-mata untuk Iran setelah ia kecewa karena promosinya diabaikan. Ia beralasan tindakan tersebut dilakukan karena merasa dipinggirkan dan menganggap perlakuan kepadanya sebagai diskriminasi rasial.

Alasan tersebut terungkap dalam sidang pengadilan, Senin (13/10). James mulai berhubungan dengan pejabat-pejabat Iran di Kabul ketika ia bekerja sebagai seorang penterjemah untuk Jendral David Richards, perwira tinggi Inggris yang menjadi panglima pasukan NATO di Afghanistan.

"Tuduhan dalam kasus ini adalah bahwa selama akhir 2006, loyalitas terdakwa pada negara ini memudar dan loyalitasnya beralih ke Iran, negara kelahirannya," kata jaksa Mark Dennis di pengadilan Old Bailey. Dennis mengatakan, James telah mengkhianati orang-orang yang bekerja bersamanya di Afghanistan dan berusaha menjadi seorang agen untuk kekuatan asing.

Tindakannya memberikan informasi mungkin menguntungkan pihak-pihak yang sedang terlibat dalam konflik aktif dengan pasukan penjaga perdamaian. James mengadakan kontak telepon dengan seorang kolonel yang bekerja sebagai atase militer Iran di Kedutaan Besar Iran di Kabul dan mengirimkan pesan bersandi dalam email.

"Ia ditangkap pada Desember 2006, beberapa bulan setelah kontak itu dilakukan, sehingga kegiatannya terhenti saat masih permulaan," kata Dennis. Jaksa itu mengatakan bahwa James, yang sebelumnya bekerja sebagai guru dansa salsa dan di klab malam di Brighton, adalah seorang yang suka melamun dan ini merupakan bagian dari motivasinya untuk melakukan tindakannya itu.

Terhadap tuduhan tersebut James membantahnya. Antara lain terhadap tiga tuduhan berdasarkan Undang-undang Rahasia Negara mengenai mengkomunikasikan dan mengumpulkan informasi yang mungkin berguna bagi musuh, dan kejahatan yang disengaja di sebuah kantor negara.

NK restores nuclear site access

From: 13 October 2008

UN monitors have confirmed that North Korea has restored their access to the Yongbyon nuclear site, including the plutonium reprocessing plant.

The decision came a day after Pyongyang pledged to resume disabling the plant, and two days after the North was taken off a US list of terrorism sponsors.

Pyongyang had sought removal from the US blacklist since agreeing a nuclear disarmament-for-aid deal in 2007.

The secretive communist state tested an atomic weapon in 2006.

But six-nation talks between North and South Korea, the US, China, Japan and Russia later resulted in an agreement for Pyongyang to halt all its nuclear work.

The current dispute flared when the North barred nuclear inspectors after accusing the US of failing to honour its side of the deal by keeping the country on its terror blacklist.

In a statement, and IAEA spokeswoman said inspectors would start overseeing "core discharge activities" at the Yongbyon reactor on Tuesday.

She said the inspectors would also resume "containment and surveillance measures" at the site.

Reuters news agency quoted a diplomat as saying the first job of the inspectors would be to reassess the status of the nuclear facilities since recent steps taken to reactivate them.

Japan critical

Pyongyang began disabling its Yongbyon nuclear reactor in August, but recently made moves to reactivate the plant after the US initially stalled on removing North Korea from the terror blacklist.

On Saturday the US state department said North Korea had agreed to allow nuclear experts to take samples and conduct forensic tests at all its declared nuclear facilities and undeclared sites, prompting Washington to reverse its decision.

The North would also allow inspectors to verify its denials about transfers of nuclear technology and an alleged uranium programme, it said.

South Korea hailed the US decision to remove the North from its blacklist, saying it would help lead to its "eventual abandonment of its nuclear programmes".

But Japan criticised the move. Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said Tokyo first wanted North Korea to provide more information about Japanese citizens it abducted in the 1970s and 1980s, in what he said amounted to terrorist acts.

North Korea has admitted to kidnapping 13 Japanese civilians to train its spies. Japan believes the figures could be higher and is sceptical about North Korea's claim that all but five are now dead.

UNHCR 'failed' S Africa migrants

From : 13 October 2008

By Martin Plaut
BBC News

South African civic organisations are demanding an inquiry into the United Nations refugee agency's response to May's xenophobic violence.

They accuse the UNHCR of failing in its responsibility to stand up for the most vulnerable people.

An estimated 100,000 African migrants were displaced in the attacks and many sought refuge in displacement camps.

The groups say some UNHCR staff helping at the camps treated people with "enormous contempt and disrespect".

At least 62 people were killed in a series of brutal attacks on foreigners in towns across the country.

The government established a string of camps to house them, with the help of the UNHCR and local non-governmental organisations (NGOs)

'Rude'

Several of the NGOs who worked in the camps have now launched a blistering criticism of the way the UN refugee agency went about its work.

The document of their complaints has been signed by 14 local organisations including Black Sash, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), the country's largest trade union federation, Cosatu, and the South African Council of Churches.

It says that UNHCR staff members who dealt with people in the camps in ways that "could contribute to xenophobia" and were sometimes downright "rude".

It accuses the UNHCR of failing to intervene to stop the South African government forcing Zimbabwean refugees back across the border.

Fatima Hassan, the lawyer who oversaw the drafting of the complaint, told the BBC that many people who fled to Zimbabwe had been unable to register as refugees.

"The UNHCR's position has always been to only regard them as economic migrants in all their advocacy with our government," said Ms Hassan.

"They have not publicly said these people should be regarded as refugees, and for us this is a major issue.

"The UNHCR has not fulfilled its mandate to refugees and displaced people under international law."

An internal investigation by another UN agency, a copy of which has been seen by the BBC, makes similar observations.

They conclude with a call for a "commission of inquiry into the failures of the UNHCR", an inquiry that they say should be "conducted in a public forum".

It will be up to the UNHCR to decide how to respond to the calls for a public inquiry into the allegations.

Tinggalkan Bumi untuk Memfoto Bumi

From : 13 Oktober 2008

BAIKONUR - Tidak semua orang dapat menikmati petualangan luar angkasa. Kemarin (12/10) miliarder Amerika Serikat Richard Garriott, 47, beruntung bisa melakukannya. Menumpang kapsul pesawat luar angkasa milik Soviet, Soyuz TMA-13, dia berangkat menuju stasiun luar angkasa internasional kemarin.

Dia berangkat bersama seorang astronot AS, Michael Fincke, dan kosmonot Rusia Yuri Lonchakov. Pesawat wisata luar angkasa itu lepas landas dari stasiun peluncuran milik Rusia di wilayah Kazakhstan, Baikonur Cosmodrome, tepat seperti dijadwalkan. Keluarga Garriott menyaksikan keberangkatan pesawat tersebut dari layar.

Perjalanan seharga USD 30 juta (Rp 294 miliar) tersebut dimulai pukul 13.01 waktu setempat. Sepuluh menit berselang, pesawat itu telah memasuki orbit. "Saya bangga, saya bangga," kata ayah Richard Garriott, Owen. "Mereka sudah berada di orbit, bagus sekali," ucap mantan astronot AS tersebut.

Air mata bahagia ibu dan kekasih Garriott, Eve dan Kelly Miller, berlinangan setelah melihat peluncuran tersebut sukses. "Itu keren, keren sekali," tutur Miller. Soyuz akan sampai ke pangkalan stasiun angkasa luar internasional pada Selasa (14/10). Garriott bakal tinggal selama sepuluh hari di ruang angkasa untuk melakukan sejumlah eksperimen. Di antaranya, mengambil foto bumi guna memastikan adanya perubahan setelah 35 tahun. Hasilnya bakal dibandingkan dengan foto ayahnya yang diambil ketika berada di stasiun luar angkasa milik AS pada 1973.

Pria yang berbisnis di bidang game komputer tersebut dijadwalkan balik ke bumi pada 24 Oktober dengan kapsul Soyuz bersama kosmonot Oleg Kononenko dan Sergei Volkov yang saat ini sudah berada di stasiun angkasa luar internasional. Ayah Volkov, Alexander, juga pernah berangkat ke luar angkasa.

Garriott, warga Texas yang memanen uang berkat keberhasilan mendesain game fantasi komputer tersebut, pada masa kecilnya pernah memimpikan bisa mencapai angkasa. Namun, penglihatannya bermasalah sehingga gagal menjadi astronot NASA (Badan Angkasa Luar AS).

Tapi, obsesinya terhadap perjalanan luar angkasa tak pernah berhenti. Dia kemudian menjadi anggota dan investor Space Adventures Ltd. Perusahaan yang bermarkas di AS itu mengorganisasi penerbangan dengan pesawat Rusia untuk lima miliarder Negeri Paman Sam. Yang pertama menikmati layanan wisata keluar bumi tersebut adalah pengusaha kaya asal California, Dennis Tito, pada 2001. (AP/erm/ttg)

Rusia Uji Misil Jarak Jauh

From : 13 Oktober 2008

Sistem Persenjataan Diperbarui untuk Menghadapi Ancaman AS

Moskwa, minggu - Militer Rusia kian memperlihatkan kekuatan militernya dengan uji coba tiga misil antarbenua jarak jauh RS-12M Topol atau biasa disebut SS-25 Sickle dan Sineva, Sabtu dan Minggu (12/10). Ketiga misil itu berdaya jangkau maksimal 10.000 kilometer.

Dua misil ditembakkan dari dua kapal selam yang berpatroli di perairan Laut Okhotsk (utara Jepang) dan Laut Barents (timur Norwegia). Sementara satu misil lagi ditembakkan dari daerah Plesetsk (barat laut Rusia) yang berada di kawasan utara Rusia.

Misil yang pertama, Sineva, meluncur dari Laut Barents ke arah barat dan tepat sasaran mengenai target di barat laut Rusia, Sabtu. Titik tembak dan target yang ada di Samudra Pasifik diperkirakan menempuh jarak 11.500 kilometer.

Dua misil lain (Topol) ditembak dari Laut Okhotsk dan Pletsk meluncur ke arah timur serta mencapai target di Semenanjung Kamchatka, Samudra Pasifik, Minggu. Misil dari Pletsk mengenai target yang ada di lokasi uji coba Kura—sejauh 6.000 kilometer—setengah jam setelah peluncuran yang disaksikan Presiden Rusia Dmitry Medvedev.

Mengenakan jaket kulit—model baru militer Rusia—Medvedev memeriksa misil Topol, dengan panjang sekitar 21,5 meter, sebelum diluncurkan. Misil jenis Topol ini dirancang khusus untuk bisa menembus sistem pertahanan peluru kendali (rudal) seperti yang ingin dibangun Amerika Serikat di wilayah Eropa Timur. ”Ini adalah hasil terbaik yang pernah dicapai selama ini oleh negara mana pun,” kata Medvedev setelah uji coba.

Medvedev juga berjanji segera mengembangkan generasi yang baru dalam hal persenjataan bagi militer Rusia. ”Kami akan mengembangkan senjata jenis baru, tetapi kami juga akan mengembangkan senjata yang kami miliki saat ini. Uji coba ini menunjukkan perisai kami ini sudah kokoh,” ujarnya.

Mengantisipasi AS

Medvedev tak mengungkapkan lebih jauh mengenai sistem persenjataan baru yang akan dibangun Rusia. Selama ini Medvedev selalu mengatakan bahwa Rusia berencana memperkuat sistem pertahanan garis perbatasannya dengan meningkatkan kesiapan perang dan senjata yang baru.

Selama ini Rusia juga menentang keras rencana AS membangun sistem pertahanan rudal di Polandia dan Republik Ceko. Untuk menangkis ancaman dari AS, Rusia berjanji membangun sistem yang sama.

Komandan Kekuatan Strategis Militer Rusia Kolonel Jenderal Nikolai Solovtsov menyebutkan, ketiga misil dan senjata yang lain yang akan dikembangkan dalam beberapa tahun ke depan mampu mengamankan Rusia dan negara sekutunya. Misil Topol pertama kali dirancang dan dibangun saat Uni Soviet masih berjaya. Dalam 10 tahun terakhir Topol jauh berkembang dalam penggunaannya.

”Pengembangan Topol ini bisa menggantikan misil ’uzur’ tanpa harus menambah anggaran militer,” sebut kantor berita Interfaz mengutip penasihat militer Rusia, Alexander Vovk.

Pengamat isu militer Pavel Felgenhauer menilai uji coba misil itu menunjukkan keinginan kuat dari Rusia untuk mempersiapkan diri. ”Ini hanya latihan jika terjadi konflik atau terlibat perang dengan AS. Ini termasuk permainan perang strategis yang terbesar dalam 20 tahun terakhir. Ini pernah terjadi tahun 1980-an. Sejak itu belum pernah ada lagi, baik di Rusia maupun di AS,” ujarnya.

Uji coba misil dilakukan sehari setelah Rusia mengumumkan latihan perang armada kapal perang bertenaga nuklir Pyotr Veliky—termasuk kapal selam penghancur—di lokasi rahasia di Laut Mediterania. (REUTERS/AFP/LUK)

Europe Acts to Strengthen Banks

From: 13 October 2008

Major European economies have announced multi-billion euro rescue schemes to shore up their banks.

Germany has approved a package worth up to 500bn euros (£393bn; $683bn), France will spend about 350bn euros and Spain has set aside 100bn euros.

The bulk of this money will be used to guarantee lending between banks - part of a plan agreed to this weekend by the 15 nations that use the euro.

Meanwhile, President George W Bush said nations were taking "decisive action".

Speaking with Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, he said the US was continuing to work closely with Europe.

The cash injection by France, German and Spain was echoed by similar moves by Austria and Italy.

Austria is to spend up to 85m euros, while the Italian government pledged to inject as much money as needed without giving any figures.

France and Germany will also use the cash to take stakes in ailing banks.

The announcements helped to lift investor confidence, with stock markets rising worldwide.

Two-fold plan

The two-fold plan involves guaranteeing lending between banks and taking stakes in financial institutions - similar to the bank rescue in the UK announced last week.

The US is also getting ready follow in Europe's footsteps and purchase stakes in financial institutions.

"We are designing a standardised programme to purchase equity in a broad array of financial institutions," said Neel Kashkari, the treasury official in charge of the US government's $700bn bail-out package.

Monday's other key developments included:

• The UK government said it would inject up to £37bn of taxpayers cash into Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and HBOS
• US shares, tracking earlier gains in Europe and Asia, rose strongly in early trading as investors welcomed fresh efforts by global leaders to end the recent financial turmoil

• The world's major central banks said they would offer financial institutions an unlimited amount of short-term dollar loans to help stem the crisis
• The Icelandic stock exchange said share trading would remain suspended until Tuesday because of continuing "unusual market conditions".

'Massive'

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said France would offer up to 40bn euros to provide banks with the financing they needed via a public company in which the state would the only shareholder.

"This is a massive engagement," he said.

He added that no financial institution would be allowed to collapse.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the measures being taken would only work if they were accompanied by more robust regulation that will curb "market excesses."

"The package passed by the German government will serve the financial system and ought to serve to protect the citizens and not just serve to protect the banking system," she said.

Fund

Unlike France, Germany and Britain, Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said that Spain did not need to take stakes in any banks because its banks were solvent.

However, last week the Spanish government announced the creation of a 30bn euro fund to buy assets from Spanish banks to help stabilise the lending industry and unfreeze credit.

At present banks are reluctant or unable to loan cash to fellow financial institutions due to fears about whether the money will be paid back.

It is this lending between banks that traditionally lubricates the banking system, freeing up cash for lending to private individuals and other firms.

Akan Tawari McCain Jabatan

From: 13 Oktober 2008

WASHINGTON - Kalaupun kalah dalam pemilihan presiden Amerika Serikat pada 4 November mendatang, John McCain tak perlu khawatir. Sebab, Barack Obama, sang rival, sudah siap menawarinya jabatan. Dua sumber Partai Demokrat yang dekat dengan Obama menegaskan hal itu kemarin (12/10). Tapi, tak dijelaskan persisnya jabatan apa yang ditawarkan Obama kepada politikus 72 tahun tersebut.

Dua sumber itu hanya mengatakan, jika bekerja sama dengan McCain, Obama bakal menjangkau seluruh lapisan. Obama tak menghiraukan serangan McCain dalam kampanye yang menyebutnya berkawan dengan teroris. Dia menganggap itu bukan pendapat pribadi McCain, melainkan tekanan dari penasihatnya.

"John McCain adalah orang baik, tidak diragukan lagi. Barack Obama akan mengajak dia bekerja sama," ujar salah seorang sumber kepada harian Inggris Daily Telegraph. Kerja sama serupa sebelumnya pernah dilakukan mantan Presiden Bill Clinton dan Presiden George W Bush, meskipun di antara mereka masih ada perselisihan.

Sumber yang satu lagi menyatakan, jika terpilih sebagai presiden, Obama mengatakan bahwa dia akan bekerja sama dengan orang terbaik, meskipun bukan dari Partai Demokrat. "John McCain berpengalaman. Kita akan berkumpul bersama ketika semua ini sudah berakhir," katanya.

Kedua sumber menuturkan, McCain memang tidak akan ditawari kedudukan di kabinet. Namun, Obama mungkin akan memintanya untuk berbagi pikiran dalam masalah hubungan dengan veteran, isu yang paling dekat dengan McCain yang merupakan veteran Perang Vietnam. (AP/Telegraph/erm/ttg)

World 'to Fail' on Nature Target

From: 13 October 2008

By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website, Barcelona

The world's governments will fail to meet their agreed target of curbing biodiversity loss by 2010, according to experts questioned by BBC News.

Nearly 200 countries signed up to the target in 2002.

Ten leading conservationists asked here at the World Conservation Congress were unanimous that the goal cannot be met.

All the global indicators of progress are heading in the wrong direction, and few governments have even translated the target into national legislation.

Not all the experts questioned would go on the record, and some said there was a reluctance to embarrass governments over their failures on the matter.

Others suggested the target was unachievable even at its inception six years ago.

Ahmed Djoghlaf, executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), told BBC News that the 2010 target was achievable if governments acted urgently, but conceded that "all indicators are telling us it is unlikely".

Last week saw the publication of the Red List of Threatened Species, showing that between a quarter and a third of mammals are at risk of extinction.

It also saw the head of an EU-commissioned review into the economics of biodiversity loss say that degradation of forests worldwide cost the global economy more each year than the current banking crisis.

Measured approach

The CBD was agreed at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, but not until 10 years afterwards did it acquire a firm, supposedly binding target - "to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on Earth".

Georgina Mace, director of the Centre for Population Biology at Imperial College London, said that on the worldwide basis there was absolutely no chance of achieving it.

"We don't have many measures of biodiversity at a global level, but there are a few," she said.

"They measure things like the rate at which species are moving down the categories of threat on the Red List towards extinction, they measure average trends in various populations that have been measured over time, they measure trends on habitat change."

"And at global level, all those data that we have show either continuing downward rates of loss or maybe continuing rates of loss - so some of them aren't getting worse, some are just staying at the same rate of loss - but none of them are getting better," she added.

In addition, virtually all of the trends that drive the loss of species and ecosystems are continuing at a global level.

"The biodiversity convention doesn't deal with cross-cutting issues such as logging, road building, climate change, pollution and the expansion of agriculture," said Gordon Shepherd, director of global policy at the environmental group WWF.

"In reality the people who own decision-making in those areas, be they in governments or in business, have much more power than environment ministers, who don't have tools to get to grips with over-use [of natural resources] or over-consumption."

Political paths

However, Sebastian Winkler from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said the time period from 2002 to 2010 was so short that we should not have expected to see any changes in the real world.

He suggested a different way of measuring the lack of progress - that only 16 governments have followed through on their commitment to integrate the 2010 target into national plans for tackling biodiversity loss.

Mr Winkler runs an IUCN initiative called Countdown 2010, which aims to engage stakeholders across the world such as local authorities and get them to commit to actions that could improve prospects in their own regions.

"Now the CDB is trying to use Countdown 2010 as a fig leaf for governments - we have 800 partners, they're each taking at least 10 actions, so that's 8,000 actions and that's what they hope to report back as progress," he said.

By March next year, governments must submit assessments of their own progress to the CBD, which will compile them into a global assessment.

Sweet dreams

Thomas Lovejoy, president of the Washington DC-based think-tank, the Heinz Center, said there were signs of progress in different corners of the world, citing Costa Rica and Bhutan among countries that were taking the issue seriously.

"In 43 years we've gone from one protected forest in the Amazon to 40% of the area under some form of protection," he said.

"It's not enough to maintain the integrity of the ecosystem but it's a huge achievement."

Europe is the continent which has made most progress towards the target. According to one recent study, it is on course to curb biodiversity loss - but by 2050, rather than 2010.

Mr Djoghlaf said the 2010 initiative had at least put the issue of natural decline into the political and public spotlight.

"There is more and more increased awareness, people are ready to be engaged, business behaviour is changing, biodiversity is becoming a business case because businesses know the market of tomorrow is green, and they have to adapt," he said.

Most of the other leading figures I spoke to here about the issue were not willing to go on the record, although all said in private there was no chance of achieving the target.

Sebastian Winkler said it was important to keep governments engaged with the issue.

"Martin Luther King said 'I have a dream', not 'I have a nightmare'," he said.

"And if we always paint nightmares, we will not engage the international community."

But Mr Lovejoy suggested that at the level of species and ecosystems, the nightmare was already unfolding.

"There's no longer a question whether there will be a sixth major extinction in Earth history," he said.

"It's already happening, and the question is how big we'll allow it to get."

Richard.Black-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

Program Buy Back BUMN Saham Angkat IHSG

From : www.kompas.com 13 Oktober 2008

JAKARTA, SENIN - Program pembelian kembali (buy back) saham BUMN yang dianjurkan pemerintah sedikit meredam tekanan jual perdagangan di Bursa Efek Indonesia (BEI). Indeks Harga Saham Gabungan (IHSG) ditutup naik 0,70 persen, Senin (13/10) atau 10,204 poin menjadi 1.461,873 dan indeks LQ45 terangkat 3,065 poin atau 1,08 persen ke posisi 287,301.

"Beberapa imbauan pemerintah tentang rencana buy back dan imbauan masyarakat tidak panik telah menenangkan pasar, sehingga indeks BEI kembali menguat," kata analis riset PT BNI Securities Muhammad Alfatih. Ia mengatakan pemerintah mendorong program buy back menjadi sentimen positif pasar.

Menurut dia, sentimen tersebut telah membuat investor asing kembali ke pasar. "Sebelumnya mereka keluar secara besar-besaran, saat ini tampaknya mulai kembali ke pasar," tambahnya.

Fatih juga melihat penerapan otoritas bursa tentang auto rejection sebesar 10 persen juga menjadi pertimbangan pelaku pasar untuk kembali pasar. Selain itu, lanjutnya, kenaikan indeks ini juga dipengaruhi oleh beberapa bursa regional yang kembali menguat, seperti indeks Hang Seng di bursa Hongkong yang naik 1.515,29 poin (10,24 persen) ke posisi 16.312,16 dan indeks Straits Times di bursa Singapura terangkat 143,09 poin (7,34 persen) ke level 2.091,41.

"Namun sentimen krisis global ini belum berakhir, sehingga sewaktu-waktu kembali menjadi ancaman. Dengan naiknya indeks saat ini paling tidak menjadi momentum kebangkitan kembali," harapnya.

Pada perdagangan Senin (13/10) ini pergerakan saham di BEI masih didominasi yang turun sebanyak 97 dibanding yang naik 72, 35 tidak berubah harganya dan 255 tidak aktif diperdagangkan. Kenaikan indeks didorong naiknya Telkom Rp150 menjadi Rp6.600, Gas Negara terangkat Rp150 ke posisi Rp1.740, Antam melangkah Rp100 ke level Rp1.150, Timah menambah Rp60 ke harga Rp1.200, Indosat melangkah Rp375 ke Rp4.325 dan Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam melambung Rp500 menjadi Rp5.750.

Volume perdagangan di pasar reguler mencapai 2,678 miliar saham dengan nilai Rp3,168 triliun dari 73.098 kali transaksi. Posisi investor asing masih net sell (posisi jual bersih), dimana investor jual sebanyak 8,725 miliar saham (Rp5,106 triliun) dibanding posisi beli sebanyak 8,547 miliar saham (Rp4,825 triliun).

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