Sadr Plans Political Party-Jordan Times/New World Media Watch

[Gloria]

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WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR JUNE 14, 2004

1//The Jordan Times, Jordan--SADR PLANS POLITICAL PARTY (Shiite firebrand Moqtada Sadr, whose militia has battled the US-led coalition since April, plans to form a political party to contest Iraq's January elections, a top lieutenant to the radical preacher told AFP Sunday. The aide said the party would build on support for Sadr's fierce rebellion against the foreign occupation, which has put up some of the strongest resistance to the coalition since the US-led invasion in March 2003…Khazaali said the Sadr movement and the outlawed militia of the radical cleric, whose popularity has skyrocketed since he launched his uprising, would continue to exist to establish a "connection between the religious movement and the popular base." He also warned that Sadr's forces would return to violence if necessary.)



2//The Daily Star, Lebanon--IRAQI GRADUATES FACE HARSH CHALLENGES, PRECARIOUS JOB MARKET (Saad Kadhem, a spokesman for the Education Ministry, says the Finance Ministry will try to place about 1,800 of this year's 70,000 nationwide graduates into poor-paying but reliable state jobs. Many of those getting degrees fear for their prospects. "I'm not optimistic about my future," said Amir Hossein, 23, about to receive a degree in management. "There's not anything. All the students are jobless.")



3//The Independent, UK--WAR SPENDING ‘HAS MADE COUNTRY MORE VULNERABLE’ (America is "massively vulnerable" to another big terrorist attack because of President George Bush's insistence on diverting resources from internal security to the war in Iraq, Richard Clarke, the former White House counter-terrorism chief has said. He told The Independent the war in Iraq had taken focus and financing not only from the hunt for Osama bin Laden and his al-Qa'ida supporters but from homeland security programmes in the US. "America is massively vulnerable," Mr Clarke said. "Its chemical plants are vulnerable; its train systems are all vulnerable. We are a target-rich environment. There are lots of targets that could be made harder to attack but we are not doing that.")



4//The Toronto Star, Canada--KYOTO TOP OF MIND – THANKS TO HARPER (Stephen Harper has left no doubt where he stands on the Kyoto Protocol and climate change. At a campaign stop in Barrie last week, Harper said a Conservative government would scrap the protocol — aimed at reducing global emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases…Harper has previously said he doubts the scientific evidence that the build-up of greenhouse gases caused by our addiction to gasoline, oil and other fossil fuels is leading to potentially cataclysmic change in Earth's atmosphere. "I think the science is still evolving," he said in Barrie. Environmentalists say the Conservative policy is frightening. But they couldn't be happier that the issue has finally emerged from the dark recesses of the platform's fine print into the cold light of media and voter scrutiny.)



5//Xinhuanet/China View, China--SEVERE ENERGY SHORTAGE WARNED (Accelerating development of power-intensive machinery, auto, steel and manufacturing sectors, the growing pace of urbanization and low energy efficiency are blamed for China's extensive shortage of energy, which may worsen before 2020. An industrial report of the State Information Center with the National Bureau of Statistics forecasts China will face a more severe power shortage this year than it did in 2003. A total of 24 provincial areas imposed power brownouts in the past few months…Xu said China's energy sector has to face two major challenges as growing energy supply will pose pressure on the environment and low energy efficiency has become a major constraint on the expansion of the energy sector and sustainable social and economic problems. Coal accounts for 80 percent of the country's energy consumption.)