Top official says UN making progress on improving efficiency and coordination

The United Nations has taken a significant step to avoid duplication and strengthen coordination between nine departments and agencies in so-called rule of law activities, a complex field ranging from peacebuilding and the environment to counter-terrorism and dealing with human rights abuses, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said today.

US Economic Crisis Worsens: Unemployment Rate Hits 9.8%; Stocks Tumbleon News of 263,000 Job Losses

US unemployment rate hits 9.8%

By Alan Rappeport in New York
October 2 2009 13:50
Financial Times

The US unemployment rate climbed to a fresh 26-year high of 9.8 per cent in September, as the pain of recession continues to linger on the shoulders of American workers in spite of aggressive measures to stimulate the economy.

Official figures on Friday showed that non-farm payrolls dropped by 263,000, making it the 21st consecutive month that the US economy has shed jobs. The data were worse than even the most grim expectations, as economists predicted a 175,000 drop in payrolls, and followed a decline of a revised 201,000 jobs in August.

US stocks were set to plunge after the report. S&P 500 futures were 11.9 points lower at 1,015.50, trading below fair value. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 100 points to 9,618. Nasdaq futures were down 15 points at 1,655.50, also trading below the fair value reading.

The dollar advanced as investors flocked to safe havens, while oil prices fell and gold dipped below the $1,000 mark

The US unemployment rate has more than doubled in the past two years and the number of people without jobs has risen by 7.6m to 15.1m since the recession began in December 2007.

Few industries were spared job losses last month, with construction, manufacturing, retail and government agencies culling the highest numbers of workers. Only the education and healthcare sectors added jobs in September.

Hourly earnings ticked up by a penny to $18.67, but the average work week, a closely watched measure that signals future hiring, slid back to 33 hours. This remains close to a record low and economists suggest that an expansion in working hours will have to come before new hiring begins.

“Hourly earnings are soft reinforcing a view that the short term problem is disinflation not inflation, and does not support a consumer spending rebound,” said Alan Ruskin, a strategist at RBS Greenwich Capital.

The labour department figures come as analysts project that the US economy grew at an adjusted annual rate of 3 per cent in the just completed third quarter. Fears abound, however, over a “jobless recovery”, where companies that have become acclimated to operating with fewer workers are slow to begin rehiring and where employment lags the rest of the economy.

Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, said on Thursday that even if the economy expands at a rate of 3 per cent, that will not be enough to chip away at the unemployment rate, which is expected to rise above 10 per cent before falling back next year.

Mr Bernanke has pointed rising levels of long-term unemployment, of six months or more, as another looming risk to the labour force, as workers begin to see their skills erode. In September, 5.4m Americans had been unemployed for more than six months, representing 35.6 per cent of those who were unemployed.

Other indicators have added to the argument that unemployment will remain stubbornly high. New jobless claims have been mounting at a clip of around 500,000 a week, the rebound in manufacturing activity appears to be sputtering and the latest Conference Board survey found that more people feel like jobs are hard to get.

When the labour market does begin to rebound, the recovery will likely be uneven, as several US states are experiencing more employment pain than others. According to the labour department, unemployment rates in 14 states have already breached the 10 per cent mark.

Additional reporting by Samantha Pearson

US stock futures sink on jobs report

By Samantha Pearson in New York
October 2 2009 14:04
Financial Times

US stocks were set to sink lower on Friday after disappointing data on jobs raised concerns about the pace of economic recovery and a possible correction on Wall Street.

S&P 500 futures were 11.9 points lower at 1,015.50, trading below fair value. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 100 points to 9,618.

Nasdaq futures were down 15 points at 1,655.50, also trading below the fair value reading.

September’s non-farm payrolls report showed the loss of 263,000 jobs, taking the unemployment rate up to 9.8 per cent from 9.7 per cent in August when a revised 201,000 jobs were lost.

Economists polled by Bloomberg had been expecting the unemployment rate to rise to 9.8 per cent but had forecast a loss of only 175,000 jobs last month.

On Thursday, Wall Street suffered its biggest daily loss since early July after weekly jobless claims rose more than expected. The data showed that 551,000 Americans filed for their first week of unemployment benefits last week. The figure was up from a revised 534,000 in the previous week and worse than economists’ forecasts of 535,000.

After the market’s close, CIT, the lender to small and mid-sized companies, launched a debt exchange as part of a restructuring plan to avoid bankruptcy. The century-old group said about a third of its bondholders had agreed to participate in the exchange offer or would vote for the restructuring plan. The shares rose 9.4 per cent to $1.16.

Edge Petroleum filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, sending its shares down 69.8 per cent to 16 cents. The Houston-based company said it expected the bankruptcy court to enter a ruling in early December.

Jeffrey Immelt, General Electric’s chief executive said the company was holding discussions on partnerships or an initial public offering for its NBC Universal unit, as further reports suggested a deal would be struck with cable operator Comcast. General Electric shares were down 2.2 per cent to $15.62, while Comcast gained 0.6 per cent to $15.76.

Airlines were also expected to come under investor scrutiny after the European Union filed an antitrust complaint to AMR’s American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia over the carriers’ proposed trans-Atlantic alliance. AMR fell 1.8 per cent to $7.10.

Enteromedics plummeted 88 per cent to 88 cents after the company said its device for the treatment of obesity was not effective. The Maestro system had been designed to send electric impulses to block nerve impulses responsible for the sensation of hunger.

Resources Connection, the professional services firm, lost 1.8 per cent to $16.59 after the company reported a first-quarter loss late on Thursday due to a 51 per cent drop in international sales.

European stocks were firmly in the red before the opening on Wall Street. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 index was 1.4 per cent lower at 968.29.

Asian equity markets closed lower, led by a 2.5 per cent decline in Japan’s Nikkei index.

Bond yields were lower. The yield on the two-year Treasury note was two basis points lower at 0.841 per cent, while the 10-year Treasury note was down five basis points at 3.124 per cent.

The dollar index, which tracks the US currency’s progress against a basket of the world’s main currencies, gained 0.1 per cent.

Gold was trading 1 per cent lower at $989.20 per ounce and oil prices were also lower. The price of US crude fell $1.64 to $69.16 a barrel.

Markets spooked by weak US jobs data

By Michael Hunter
October 2 2009 14:04

World equities markets fell faster on Friday after news of much steeper-than-expected job losses in the US stoked growing concern about the strength of the global economic recovery.

September’s non-farm payrolls report showed the loss of 263,000 jobs, worse than the 180,000 in consensus forecasts, and even the 250,000 loss forecast by the most bearish analysis.

It was also a steeper drawdown than the 216,000 jobs lost in August and the overall unemployment rate in the US rose to 9.8 per cent from 9.7 per cent in August.

It was the 21st consecutive month the US economy lost jobs outside the agricultural sector, taking the total number of jobs lost since the start of the recession to over 7m.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs warned before the release of the data that the usual recruitment drive in the public sector, which boosts overall employment and accompanies the new academic year, would be softer than usual.

“September is the month when returning teachers (and other educational workers) show up in the payroll data.

“Although most jurisdictions have tried their best to avoid outright layoffs in this area, they have also clamped down on new hires. This suggests that we could see job losses on a seasonally adjusted basis, as jobs in this sector before seasonal adjustment normally rise about 14 per cent, or roughly 290,000 at current levels of the workforce, between August and September.”

Markets in Europe hit session lows after the data. London’s FTSE 100 fell 1.6 per cent to 4,969.99, the first time it was quoted under the 5,000 point mark since early September. The Xetra Dax 30 in Frankfurt gave up 1.7 per cent to 5,462.0. Overall, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 2 per cent softer at 962.36.

The equity market falls follow a strong performance for global equities indices during the third quarter, which ended earlier in the week. London’s FTSE 100 rose 21 per cent in the three-month period, the sharpest quarterly gain in its 25-year history. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 made gains of 17.5 per cent.

Futures trading indicated that losses on US equity indices would continue. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called 122 lower at 9,349.0.

There were sharp falls across Asian equity markets on Friday ahead of the release of payrolls, following overnight declines on Wall Street.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 closed 2.5 per cent lower at 9,731.87 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was 2.7 per cent weaker in late trading.

On foreign exchange markets, the dollar held steady, as traders cut short positions in the US currency ahead of potential haven demand for it, should the non-farm payrolls report represent an unpleasant surprise.

Against the yen, the dollar slipped 0.5 per cent to Y89.14. Against the euro the dollar rose 0.1 per cent to $1.4515, as the haven properties of the US currency came into play.

Base metals, often used by investors as a proxy for betting on the prospects of global economic growth, were under pressure. Zinc fell 2.8 per cent to $1,867, while copper fell 2.5 per cent to $5,862

Crude prices were also weaker. Nymex WTI futures gave up 2.7 per cent to $68.92.

US Treasuries rose, forcing yields lower, with the 10-year yield falling 6.4 basis points to 3.11 per cent.

Stocks Drop After Weak Jobs Data

By GEOFFREY ROGOW
Wall Street Journal

U.S. stocks traded lower Friday, pointing to the sixth market decline in seven sessions, as the September nonfarm payrolls report came in well below Wall Street expectations.

In recent trading, the the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down about 41 points at 9467. General Electric, Boeing and Bank of America were the index’s two biggest decliners, all off more than 2%. The Dow had been off nearly 100 points early in the morning but recently pared some of its earlier declines.

The Labor Department said employers eliminated more jobs than expected last month as the unemployment rate climbed to 9.8%, another sign that a rapid recovery in the labor market is unlikely.

Nonfarm payrolls declined by 263,000 in September, with the Labor Department noting that the largest job losses were in construction, manufacturing, retail trade and government. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires survey had expected a 175,000 decrease.

“It’s a market that was going to be vulnerable to a more challenging environment anyway and the data has made it even more difficult,” said Steven Goldman, a market strategist for Weeden & Co. “These pullbacks are quick and one wonders if we are in a transition mode.”

A technical move for the Standard & Poor’s 500, recently off 5 points at 1024, helped stocks pare some of their declines. That index bounced off its 50-day moving average around 1021, a level traders highlighted as a point of support for the index. Industrials were the S&P 500’s weakest sector.

The Nasdaq Composite recently slid 1, or 0.1%, to 2056.

U.S. stocks were also hammered Thursday, setting off declines in market’s across the globe overnight. In Thursday’s U.S. session, as the fourth quarter kicked off, the employment component of the ISM manufacturing index triggered worries over the health of the economy. Friday’s figure was just the latest in a string of recent economic reports suggesting a 60% run in the S&P 500 since March may have overextended the economic landscape. Overall, the S&P 500 has fallen in six of the last seven sessions, though the third quarter did mark its best quarterly performance since 1998.

“You’re not seeing a lot of panic selling in this decline, it’s actually been pretty orderly,” said Richard Gatto, an equities and derivatives trader with Meridian Equity Partners. “Though, if we continue to go lower and for some reason get through the 930 level (on the S&P 500), then maybe people get nervous again.”

In another piece of economic data on Friday, the Commerce Department said U.S. factory goods orders fell in August, brought down by a lower demand for airplanes and snapping a string of increases in a sign manufacturing’s recovery from recession will be fitful.

Treasurys prices rallied after the latest U.S. nonfarm payroll data, while the euro rebounded versus the dollar and the dollar slipped against the yen.

Other events in the spotlight Friday include the International Monetary Fund and the G7 meeting in Istanbul.

Among stocks to watch, CIT rose 15% after the troubled lender announced a fresh restructuring program.

First Solar rose 5.3% after Standard & Poor’s said the Tempe, Ariz.-based maker of solar power modules will be added to the S&P 500, replacing Wyeth, which is being bought by Pfizer.

Crude-oil futures fell below $70 a barrel Friday as participants took profits after Thursday’s rally.

Write to Geoffrey Rogow at geoffrey.rogow@dowjones.com

Jobless Rate Reaches 9.8 Percent in September

Unemployment rate rises to 9.8 percent in September, as employers cut 263,000 jobs

By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON

The unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent in September, the highest since June 1983, as employers cut far more jobs than expected. The report is evidence that the worst recession since the 1930s is still inflicting widespread pain.

Persistently high unemployment could weaken the recovery as consumers, concerned about their jobs and incomes, restrain spending. Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of the nation’s economy.

The Labor Department said Friday that the economy lost a net total of 263,000 jobs last month, from a downwardly revised 201,000 in August. That’s worse than Wall Street economists’ expectations of 180,000 job losses, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.

The unemployment rate rose from 9.7 percent in August, matching expectations.

If laid-off workers who have settled for part-time work or have given up looking for new jobs are included, the unemployment rate rose to 17 percent, the highest on records dating from 1994.

More than a half-million unemployed people gave up looking for work last month. Had they continued searching, the official jobless rate would have been higher.

All told, 15.1 million Americans are now out of work, the department said. And more than 7.2 million jobs have been eliminated since the recession began in December 2007.

Many analysts expect the economy grew at a healthy clip in the July-September quarter, technically ending the recession, but few think the recovery will be strong enough to lower the jobless rate. Most economists expect the rate to top 10 percent and keep climbing.

The economy has received a boost from the Cash for Clunkers auto rebate program and other government stimulus efforts, but many economists believe that growth will slow in the current quarter and early next year as the impact of those programs fade.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday that even if the economy were to grow at a 3 percent pace in the coming quarters, it would not be enough to quickly drive down the unemployment rate. Bernanke said the rate is likely to remain above 9 percent through the end of 2010.

Hourly earnings rose by a penny last month, while weekly wages fell $1.54 to $616.11, according to the government data.

The average hourly work week fell back to a record low of 33 in September. That figure is important because economists are looking for companies to add more hours for current workers before they hire new ones.

The uncertainty that surrounds the recovery has made employers reluctant to hire. The Business Roundtable, a group of CEOs from large corporations, said earlier this week that only 13 percent of its members expect to increase hiring over the next six months.

While job losses have slowed since the first quarter of this year when they averaged 691,000 a month, the cuts actually worsened last month in many sectors compared with August.

Construction jobs fell by 64,000, more than the 60,000 eliminated in August. And service sector companies cut 147,000 jobs, more than double the 69,000 in the previous month. Retailers lost 38,500 jobs, compared to less than 9,000 in August.

Temporary help agencies eliminated 1,700 jobs, down from the previous month, but still a sign of labor market weakness. Economists see temporary jobs as a leading indicator, as employers are likely to hire temp workers before permanent ones.

Top UN envoy welcomes agreement on presidential polls in Somaliland

The top United Nations envoy to Somalia today congratulated officials in the self-declared autonomous region of Somaliland in the Horn of Africa nation for striking an agreement to end a stalemate on delayed presidential elections.

Zimbabwe Safe For Investment, Says Vice-President Mujuru

Zimbabwe safe for investment: Mujuru

Herald Reporter

The situation in Zimbabwe has been exaggerated by some sections of the international media and the country remains a good investment option, Vice President Joice Mujuru has said.

In a meeting with the visiting 25-member German business delegation at Munhumutapa Building yesterday, VP Mujuru assured investors that as long as they followed laid-down legal and policy procedures, there would be nothing to fear.

“There are other countries where the situation is worse than in Zimbabwe, but they (international media) decide to keep quiet about it.”

VP Mujuru said the country was safe and the inclusive Government was working well and would not collapse.

“We don’t want to waste our time thinking of the death of the inclusive Government. For you our investors, you have to take our word that security is there.

“It (the inclusive Government) will work and your money will be safe. Let’s go on, let’s all come to Zimbabwe and you will be surprised by the difference you will make,” VP Mujuru said.

She said the land reform programme corrected historical imbalances brought about by colonialism, adding: “The war we fought in this country was on land. It was a war that was fought to regain our land.

“The other thing we wanted to get rid of was the system. We wanted everyone to live free as a citizen of Zimbabwe, we wanted to get rid of that system which was exploitative and discriminatory, especially against the black man” she said.

She reiterated that laws governing land did not affect investment in other sectors of the economy and those who wanted to invest in agriculture had to abide by the law.

“We have laws that govern land and there are procedures that have to be followed there. They (laws on land) only affect agricultural land, farmland. If you are there to do business elsewhere, there are laws that govern that side,” VP Mujuru said.

She added that land reform programme was an important programme and the issue could have been a source of future conflicts if it had not been addressed.

VP Mujuru said the appointments of Attorney-General Johannes Tomana and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono were constitutional.

“On one hand, they want us to follow the law on the other they want us to break the law. These people are employed on contracts and we have to follow procedures; we can’t break the contracts. The RBZ governor and the AG are people who were appointed before the inclusive Government,” she said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi also attended the meeting.

Germany’s Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Albrecht Conze commended the inclusive Government for the progress it had made and pledged his country’s support.

“Your pragmatic and optimistic approach is shared by everybody and we support it and I promise you that my government has stepped up its support,” he said.

The delegation also visited Marondera yesterday and met local businesspeople there. Ms Nina Mapili of the Southern Africa Initiative of German Business said Zimbabweans were the most enterprising people in Sadc but the country suffered from negative perceptions.

“The truth is that if there was no bad image portrayal and the playing field was level, virtually the whole of Africa would have to watch out for Zimbabwe’s potential,” she said.

Gilad Shalit Tape

Brassed off about creationism

A Missouri school band T-shirt is the latest battleground in the war between evolution and creation

Now is the time to invest in Haiti, UN envoy Bill Clinton says during latest visit

United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti, former United States president Bill Clinton, has led a delegation of 500 business leaders from around the world to the Caribbean country in a bid to unlock what he called Haiti’s “great potential for development.”

Honduras: UN officials sound alarm over crackdown on freedoms

The head of the United Nations agency tasked with upholding the freedom of expression today led a chorus of UN voices expressing concern over the suppression of civil liberties in Honduras following a coup d’état in the Central American country in June.

CNN Interview With President Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Politics of Patronage

Amanpour interview, politics of patronage

By Tendai Hildegarde Manzvanzvike
Zimbabwe Herald

IT WAS an exclusive interview where CNN International’s Christiane Amanpour naively hoped to lecture President Mugabe on some democratic tenets; and be a mouthpiece for Western governments, and what they consider to be the crucial issues in the inclusive Government.

Amanpour was supposed to be in the driving seat, but one wonders whether she managed to do that.

Who ended up being lectured to, and why? In fact, why did Amanpour make such a poor show of herself? Was it ignorance of the Zimbabwe issue, or was she taking President Mugabe for granted? Did she base her script on the lies and propaganda peddled by the Western media? Has Amanpour ever been to Zimbabwe, or bothered to learn the truth?

Amanpour’s interview with President Mugabe on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly was characteristic of the Western media’s attitude towards Africa and its leaders.

When President Mugabe told Amanpour, “The inclusive Government is a real power-sharing arrangement. Don’t denigrate it,” it was a summation of the intricate issues that define relations between Africa and the West.

He further told her: “We have 14 countries in Sadc, which are responsible for assisting us in bringing that about and for assisting us also in making it run . . . And read what they say. Listen to what they say.”

In this statement, President Mugabe made it very clear that Africa could hold its own, and time for being dictated to was over.

The Amanpour interview also saw a redefinition of the North-South power dynamics, and was a call on the West to stop interfering in Africa’s domestic issues.

The time for being treated as “good boys” or “good Africans” was over, as Amanpour tried to unsuccessfully rope in the likes of former South African president Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu to indict President Mugabe’s leadership.

The interview revealed the West’s politics of patronage and paternalism towards Africans, where they want to display Africans as people who cannot think, and who should accept anything and everything coming from the Anglo-Saxon world as the best.

Otherwise, how could viewers interpret Amanpour’s multiple interjections? Was she scared about the warning given by the BBC’s anchor, Owen Bennett Jones, when President Mugabe addressed the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation in Rome, that once the Zimbabwean leader was given a platform, he would use it to best advantage?

The interview not only smacked of Amanpour’s racist and supremacist attitude, but it also displayed a mindset that wants to make Africans believe that without the West, they are nothing, and that their rightful place is at the bottom of the heap.

Despite the spirited attempts to put down President Mugabe, Amanpour failed dismally. The ‘‘top-billed’’ journalist was no match for Zimbabwe’s veteran nationalist leader, who upstaged her every effort to sway the interview in her favour.

Wrote Wenjere on an online discussion forum: “This is the Great Hero of Africa, our own pride and every Zimbabwean MUST be proud of this man. Historical imbalances need to be addressed and yes the land reclamation is the best thing that could ever happen to any African country.”

President Mugabe remained focused, while Amanpour interjected his every response, and put across the message that he wanted the whole world to know: Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans.

Why hold an interview if you as the journalist want your viewpoints to be projected more than those of the person you are interviewing? Would Amanpour point a finger at President Barack Obama the way she did to President Mugabe, something that even decent mothers do not do to their children?

Why also have an interview, if all you want is to endorse your preconceived opinions? For it was quite clear that Amanpour had issues that she wanted to lecture President Mugabe on, and a content analysis of the interview revealed that this was an advocacy attempt by CNN to make Roy Bennett and land reform outstanding issues.

Although the Bennett issue was initially grouped together with other MDC-T Members of Parliament, Amanpour raised Bennett’s case more than five times.

Remarked Amanpour: “The problem, though, is, Mr President, that many people are saying that you’re still — and your party — is trying to sort of reduce the MDC majority or their officials in Parliament. There are MPs who are being arrested. They’re being charged with alleged crimes to prevent them from being able to take office. Why is this still happening?”

This was a clear reference to Bennett because he is the only one who is still to be sworn in. So for Amanpour to claim that MDC-T MPs are being “charged with alleged crimes to prevent them from being able to take office”, was a clear attempt to deliberately misinform viewers about the current status of the inclusive Government.

At another point she asked: “Has Roy Bennett committed a crime? Why is he not being sworn in?” When President Mugabe responded, she further questioned: “So charged with what? . . . Do you think that he will – do you think that he will be appointed? . . . But charged with what?”

It was her final remark on Bennett that made it all very clear that the race card was being used with undue abandon, “Well, we’ll obviously have to ask him about that, but . . .”

What did this mean and what are the implications? Amanpour did not believe President Mugabe, and she wanted her viewers to do the same. In her own words, Bennett was a more credible source than the Zimbabwean leader, despite the fact that they want him sworn in by President Mugabe. What hypocrisy!

When she verifies with Bennett, will the confirmation be for public consumption?

Amanpour also revealed her other credible sources: “Mr Mugabe, that’s certainly the first I’m hearing of it, and we will, obviously, put that to them. But can I say this? There are a lot of people — and you heard in that report — who considered you an African hero back in 1980, that you came and — some of my own friends, Rhodesians, some of the people I’ve worked with who were in the Rhodesian army, then became journalists in Rhodesia were stunned by the conciliatory nature and the addresses that you gave back in 1980. . . .”

Need we say more? Zimbabweans must think that this is a badge of honour because President Mugabe was called a hero by Rhodesians, just because of the policy of reconciliation, which they spurned and ended up being a one-sided affair? He was their hero when they continued to believe that the land issue would remain skewed in their favour?

For a journalist who reports on international issues, we wonder which era Amanpour lives.

She must be told in no uncertain terms that Rhodesia is dead, though some claimed it never dies. Rhodesia only lives in mindsets that lull themselves with the notion that Rhodesians never die.

That Rhodesia is finished is summed up with the statements that the land reform programme is irreversible, and that Zimbabwe will never be a colony again. It was also evident that Amanpour was not in charge of the interview process, as she probably would have wanted.

In some cases President Mugabe ended up being the interviewer: “But haven’t you heard of the Lancaster House discussions and the agreement with the British government? Because they are British settlers, originally they have been British settlers. And we agreed at Lancaster House that there would be land reform.

“Haven’t you heard of the regime change programme by Britain and the United States, which is aimed at getting not just Robert Mugabe out of power, but Robert Mugabe and his party out of power?”

There was an elaborate summary after the interview, but was CNN accurately reflecting on the tone, mood and feeling of the interview? Does the summary accurately capture what Amanpour got from the Zimbabwean leader?

“In President Mugabe’s first interview with a major Western media outlet in years, Amanpour explored the historic power-sharing agreement with the inclusive Government there, and got the President’s thoughts on the highly-emotive issue of land redistribution.

“As Mugabe prepares to take centre stage at the United Nations on Friday, 25 September, Amanpour took the opportunity to ask if the power-sharing agreement is really working; if international sanctions are responsible for his country’s economic and political turmoil; and what kind of engagement he is looking for from the international community.

“In this rare interview, Amanpour also addressed signs of optimism emerging in Zimbabwe; sky-rocketing inflation stabilising, basic goods returning to store shelves; and a loosening of restrictive media laws.”

It was interesting to note that CNN International’s live global interview programme “Amanpour”, which airs Mondays to Fridays was only launched on Monday, September 21, 2009.

The daily “Amanpour” series is expected to catapult her career where she will be the undisputed American queen of “international news”.

President Mugabe who was interviewed on Thursday, September 24, was among the first guests in the pioneering programme. Will the interview be one of Amanpour’s most memorable moments?

The write-up on Amanpour reads: “Combining her experience in the field, sharp intelligence and extraordinary depth of knowledge, the show will set the agenda for a new global conversation with global leaders, heads of state, cultural icons and uncommon voices.”

Did she succeed, and did it raise her profile, and the programme’s profile?

It is also important to understand where, ideologically, Christiane is anchored. Who exactly is Amanpour?

According to sources, Amanpour was born in London in 1958 to a British mother and an Iranian father, who was an airline executive. The family moved back to Iran soon after her birth.

One source also said: “The Amanpours led a privileged life under the government of the Shah of Iran. She returned to England in 1969 and her family fled Iran after the Islamic Revolution.”

Amanpour speaks English, French and Persian. In 1989 CNN deployed her to Frankfurt, West Germany, where she reported about the changes in Eastern Europe at that period.

In the 1990s she covered the Persian Gulf War and also the Bosnian War and other conflict zones. In 1992 she was in Mogadishu, Somalia, when US troops launched Operation Restore Hope, which was a failure.

CNN has reported about some of her memorable moments in her career. During the siege on Chairman Yasser Arafat’s compound in March 2002, the Palestinian leader hung up on her during a telephone interview.

Why? What had she said? And, what does this say about her ideological inclinations towards revolutionaries and countries that do not accept the West’s perception on international issues?

How much of her family background colours her perceptions about issues, especially the Zimbabwe question, especially when one considers that her mother is British, and she has been honoured by the Queen with a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE)?

Is it a background that makes her give balanced and objective reports, especially on countries that have a close relationship with Iran?

A New York Times report also says that Amanpour’s “emotional delivery from Sarajevo during the siege of Sarajevo led some viewers and critics to question her professional objectivity, claiming that many of her reports were unjustified and favoured the Bosnian Muslims, to which she replied, ‘There are some situations one simply cannot be neutral about, because when you are neutral you are an accomplice. Objectivity doesn’t mean treating all sides equally. It means giving each side a hearing’.”

Was Zimbabwe and President Mugabe one of these many situations?

Put simply, the 51-year-old journalist’s attitude can be summed up as arrogant, biased and subjective. In an industry where fame and rankings matter, getting an exclusive interview with the Zimbabwean leader could have been a scoop, but to what end?

BBC: Utterly unacceptable

Sophie Raworth, reading from the autocue live on the BBC One O’Clock news, has just made this quite unbelievable introduction to a piece on events in Ireland today:

“The people of Ireland return to the polls today in a referendum on whether to accept the Lisbon Treaty on enlarging the European Union.”

Hat-tip to friends in Northern Ireland who alerted us to this.

This is a quite unacceptable distortion of the facts - the Treaty has nothing to do with enlargement, otherwise we might be campaigning for a ‘yes’ vote. This Treaty is about giving the EU more powers. What is the BBC on?

We’ve made a complaint - and we urge everyone else out there to do so too, and as soon as possible. The same piece reported that most people in Ireland are still to vote, many of whom may not yet have made up their minds. This kind of ridiculous and false statement might just tip the balance.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/homepage/