Japan unveils record $1 trillion budget

Japan has unveiled a record 92.29 trillion yen ($1 trillion) annual budget designed to revive its recession-hit economy.

Japan's three-month-old cabinet approved the budget for the next financial year that begins in April amid growing worries about its mounting debt.

The budget reflects Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's campaign pledge to increase spending for child support and slash wasteful outlay for public works.

"This budget is to protect lives. I exerted all my efforts to secure budgets to support child-rearing, employment, the environment and welfare," Hatoyama told a news conference.

Hatoyama said that his government will work to support Japan's fragile economic recovery as a 1.4 percent growth was projected for Asia's biggest economy in 1010.

"I will do my best to avoid a double-dip recession," Hatoyama added. This year Japan's economy experienced its worst downturn in decades.

The government also plans to release a record 44 trillion yen in bonds that would cover a plunge in tax profits, as its public debt is already the largest in the world.

The record bond issuance could cause fresh worries over the country's mountainous debt.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=114683§ionid=3510213.

Uzbekistan to vote, West remains silent

Uzbekistan is to vote in a parliamentary election Sunday as the country's four pro-government political parties are allowed to participate in the elections.

The candidates from pro-government political parties have expressed support for President Islam Karimov's government.

They will compete for the 150 parliamentary seats, so the election is expected to make the president's position even stronger.

Uzbekistan has no official opposition party. Global rights groups classify the country as one of the world's most repressive.

The West was once critical of Uzbekistan's rights abuses, yet there has been no mention of the subject ahead of the Sunday vote.

Sending monitors to Uzbekistan has not been broached, as the Asian state has promised to support Washington's so-called war on terror in Afghanistan, which was allegedly aimed to eradicate militancy and to arrest or kill militant leaders including al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.

With the Taliban gaining ground in Afghanistan and NATO supply lines from Pakistan under attack, the West is concerned about stability in Uzbekistan, which lies on the new supply route for cargo to US troops fighting the Taliban.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=114682§ionid=351020406.

Iranian weightlifting champion passes away

Veteran Iranian champion of Asian and world weightlifting competitions Ramazan Ali Teymouri has passed away in northern Iran as a result of a heart attack.

Teymouri embarked on his career as a heavy weightlifter in his hometown of Babolsar in Mazandaran Province, and after a short time made a success of it.

The Iranian athlete collected numerous awards during various Asian and World competitions, among them three gold medals from Asian Weightlifting Championships: in 1980 in Seoul, South Korea; in 1983 in Damascus, Syria; in 1984 in Tabriz, Iran.

Following his glittering career as a weightlifter, Teymouri made the decision to remain associated with the sport and became a weightlifting referee.

Teymouri is survived by wife and a son, Reza, who is also a weightlifter.

His body will be laid to rest on Saturday in Babolsar with officials from the Islamic Republic of Iran Weightlifting Federation, veteran Iranian weightlifters, sportspersons, as well as his bereaved relatives in attendance.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=114681§ionid=3510211.

Pakistan air strikes kill 10 in Orakzai Agency

Pakistani military planes have bombed suspected militant hide-outs in the Orakzai tribal area, south-west of Peshawar, killing at least 10 people.

The attacks by Pakistan Air Force fighter jets on Friday morning killed at least ten people, three women and four children among them, and injured around a dozen others.

According to local officials, the house of tribal elder Zikria Khan was razed to the ground during the attack on the Feroz Khel area on the outskirts of Orakzai Agency.

In a related development, security forces said they killed four militants in Mohmand Agency on Friday.

The Orakzai tribal district is where the Pakistani army believes many of the pro-Taliban militants have fled following a military offensive in South Waziristan which began in October.

While the Pakistani army claims that the militants are being forced to flee, locals say civilians are getting killed in these assaults.

The officials maintain that members of the Tehrik-i Taliban who had escaped from South Waziristan were living in the house. Independent sources said Zikria Khan and his family had nothing to do with militants and all the victims were civilians.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=114684§ionid=351020401.

Algeria considers quotas to boost female political candidates

The possibility of mandatory quotas to give female Algerian politicians a better shot at power received wide discussion at a recent meeting of Maghreb political and legal experts.

By Fidet Mansour for Magharebia in Algiers — 20/12/09

The idea of boosting the Maghreb's number of female office-holders through gender-based quotas, particularly in Algeria, is sparking debate in the region's political and legal circles.

Algeria offers one example of how Maghreb women's electoral fortunes have declined. Despite a strong presence in the education, justice and health-care systems, Algerian women saw their number of parliamentary seats fall from 35 in 1962 to 30 in 2007.

Such concerns spurred political and legal experts to meet on Sunday (December 20th) in Algiers to raise awareness about women's role in politics and their relationship to the media. But much of the debate at the event centered on the quota question.

"The quota is the only democratic formula that will allow women to get into politics," Algerian feminist activist and author Nassera Merah said at the event, which was held as part of a project on women's political power in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia jointly run by the UN International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women and the Center for Arab Women Training and Research.

"[Quotas] are nothing new: They already exist in Sweden, Norway and France, and they've enabled countries like Rwanda and Ethiopia to have a good percentage of women in Parliament," Merah said during the meeting, which targeted female parliamentarians and municipal council members, as well as party activists and journalists.

Algeria's proposed gender-based quotas drew mixed opinions.

"In Algeria, the laws are not discriminatory," said Nadia Bellal, a legal consultant for the UNDP in Algeria. "They don't prevent women from entering into political contests alongside men; the obstacles lie at the implementation stage and in people's thinking."

In spite of such opinions, Algerian Solidarity Minister Djamel Ould Abbas last week announced a bill aimed at strengthening women's participation in national political life.

"Despite political openness, women's representation within elected institutions, namely Parliament and the local assemblies, is still very low," Abbas told the press on December 13th. "The bill, to be published in January, will enforce the provisions of Article 31a of the new Constitution, which stipulates that 'the State shall work to promote women's political rights by increasing their opportunity to access representation in the elected assemblies'."

Under the bill, Algeria would opt for a quota system with clearly defined proportions of electoral lists composed of female candidates.

The new law would mean "fairer representation of women in politics," said the minister, adding that any lists that did not comply with the quota would be rejected.

The new bill is "the result of sacrifices made by campaigning organizations", said the director of the Information and Documentation Center on Women's and Children's Rights, Nadia Aït Zai.

Even though the bill's basic idea has been welcomed by Algerian political parties, some female politicians have their doubts.

"The quota system can't fix the problem of parity and equality in terms of access to political posts," said Louisa Hanoune, leader of the opposition Labor Party, which boasts nine women MPs.

Hanoune, who favors "skills" rather than quotas as the basis for political advancement, said "women must not appear on an electoral list unless they have the necessary skills and abilities. And if they do, then there's no need for us to limit their numbers."

For Algeria's 2012 elections, some political parties are already thinking of ways to boost women's representation in Parliament. But quotas or no quotas, ordinary Algerians who spoke to Magharebia seemed in favor of women playing a more prominent role in politics.

"There must be no obstacles put in the way of electing women to posts of political responsibility," said Zohir, 35.

Karima, 40, said women "must decide their own destiny. They must be free to enter or shun politics, as they wish."

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2009/12/22/feature-03.

Tunisian advocates for kids aim to unplug 'digital violence'

Parents and society need better tools to shelter young people from the onslaught of violent images in video games and the new media, say children's rights advocates.

By Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia in Tunis – 22/12/09

The internet and video games are exposing young Tunisians to virtual violence that is seeping into the real world, according to children's advocates who met last week in Tunis to strategise on solutions.

"Digital violence is one of the most serious forms of violence practiced against children," the director general of the Observatory for Media, Training, Documentation and Studies on the Protection of Children's Rights, Adil al-Hentati, said at the December 17th event.

The conference gathered officials from various UN and Tunisian child welfare organisations to devise better ways to protect children from increasing rates of violence, which some say have been spurred by the emergence of the new media.

Presenters at the event also introduced a national program for combating violence against children and disseminating a culture of non-violence.

The program "is ...part of our efforts to enhance the protection of children so that they may not turn into a source of violence", said Tunisian Minister for Women, Family, Children and the Elderly Sarra Kanoun Jarraya as she delivered the conference's opening address. She said the proposed program will implement recommendations made by the UN secretary general in 2005.

The conference covered three main themes: promoting prevention of violence, strengthening the capability of civil society to prevent violence and enhancing the means of monitoring violence for research and study.

"The modern means of communication plays an important role in the spread of violence and turning scenes of violence into a normal thing for children," said Salwa Mallaf, who works to protect children's rights.

In Tunisia, schools recorded more than 2,000 cases of violence in the 2004-05 academic year.

"Children now exchange scenes of killing and violence, usually accompanied by sarcastic comments, as if violence, killing and scenes of blood no longer affect their feelings," she added. "This is an extremely serious thing, and all the components of society have to deal with it before it's too late."

UNICEF's Tunisia representative, Maria-Luisa Fornara, said there are "275 million children who are exposed to different forms of violence" all over the world.

Fornara welcomed Tunisia's efforts to prevent violence against children by implementing national programs. She also called for "strengthening the prevention side, given the close link between the violence against children and their behaviors in adolescence and middle age".

However, not all violence carried out by children is a result of the internet and video games, nanny Basma Mallakh pointed out.

"Family factors represent a main reason for the spread of the culture of violence among children," she said. "These factors include depriving children of parents' care and love at a very early age, family disputes, family disintegration and discrimination in the treatment of children."

A 2008 report by the World Health Organization claims that 150 million girls and 75 million boys under the age of 18 are victims of sexual violence. Between 133 and 275 million children are exposed to domestic violence, according to a 2008 International Labor Organization report.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2009/12/22/feature-02.

Few Moroccan imams preach extremist politics, ministry contends

All 20,000 of Morocco's Friday-prayer leaders have pledged to fight fundamentalism, according to Islamic Affairs Minister Ahmed Toufik.

By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 22/12/09

Moroccan imams who breach preaching guidelines to sermonize on political or fundamentalist topics are few in number, according to Moroccan Islamic Affairs Minister Ahmed Toufik.

"Several newspapers recently uncovered transgressions in a number of cities," Toufik told Parliament on December 15th in response to questions about the alleged use of Friday sermons to advocate extremism.

But the minister added that while some imams "have used sermons given in mosques for political ends", no more than 30 cases of misconduct had been recorded annually for the past seven years.

"Although some irregularities occur, they are the exception rather than the rule," said Abdelbari Zemzemi, an MP and imam. He said the regulations aim to keep the political and religious spheres separate.

"If an imam stands as a candidate, he is forbidden to preach on Fridays. Mosques cannot be exploited as platforms from which to convey political messages," Zemzemi added.

According to Toufik, of the 45,000 imams in Morocco, all of the 20,000 who conduct Friday services have pledged to eliminate fundamentalism.

Toufik insisted that his ministry keeps a very close watch on sermons, and correct errors by raising awareness and providing training.

Since the May 2003 terrorist attacks in Casablanca, the government has been more wary about the messages imams spread during Friday prayers, said political science professor Fouad Madani. Training imams and monitoring sermons are now part of the government strategy.

"The post of imam is no longer assigned to all those who come first," Madani said. "Over the past few years, young graduates have had the values of citizenship and tolerance instilled into them as part of efforts to promote professionalism and modernise the profession, as well as reduce the risk of fundamentalism."

The ministry launched its imam-training program in June to better prepare preachers for their public and clerical roles, after a 2008 survey conducted by the ministry discovered that 82% of imams had no formal religious training.

Under the new monitoring structure, if an imam preaches on a taboo topic, he is summoned by the local council of ulemas and is reprimanded.

Moroccans agreed that extremist imams are hard to find.

Mourad Boulaâlej, a 45-year-old from Taza, said he had never heard an imam deliver a political or fundamentalist speech. He acknowledged that his relatives had told him about imams delivering controversial speeches, but dismissed it. "Moroccans know how to separate things," he said.

"I've never seen imams deliver an obscurantist or terrorist speech," said Sara Ktiri, a 21-year-old political science student who has been attending Friday prayers for four years.

"On the contrary, sometimes the speech is very official because it comes from the minister of Islamic affairs," she added.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2009/12/22/feature-01.