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Democracy Headlines

News updates from the MyHeadlines database on the state of democracy worldwide.

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US defense chief: More forces for Afghanistan vote
Associated Press | World | Headlines 21 11 2008

UN panel urges China apology to 1989 protesters
Associated Press | World | Headlines 21 11 2008

Larry Elliott analyses the roots of the US economic crisis
The Guardian | World news 21 11 2008 Not since Roosevelt in 1933 has an incoming US president had a tougher economic challenge to face than Barack Obama. He is still piecing together his Treasury team but he doesn't need a pointy-headed academic to tell him the economy has hit the wall. The housing market is still crashing, unemployment is rising sharply, Wall Street is traumatised and it appears the life expectancy of another big bank, Citigroup, can be measured in days rather than weeks. This is a crisis long in the making. And three big structural changes help explain the mess the US now finds itself in. The first is that a profound shift in the balance of power between labour and capital over the past three decades has resulted in nugatory increases in real earnings for most people but massive rewards for those at the top. The second is that the US is living beyond its means at every level. In recent years, it has spent $106 (£71) for every $100 it has earned. The third is that Wall Street has grown in size and importance as more of America's manufacturing capacity has been exported overseas. America, as the world's can-do society, found a way of making this work for a time. More women worked, which disguised the fact that male incomes were under pressure. Couples worked longer to maintain their spending. When both those avenues were exhausted, they took on more debt. Borrowing was a readily available option because the shifting of production from North America to east Asia created big trade surpluses, particularly for China. Beijing had to do something with its export earnings and it parked a large chunk of them on Wall Street. This influx of capital helped push down borrowing costs, while the cheap goods from Asia kept the lid on inflation and allowed the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low. Cheap money drove up house prices, so consumers used their homes as cash machines. House prices only continue rising if there is a flow of first-time buyers, and these were found by offering mortgages to those who would normally have been disqualified. These were risky loans which Wall Street disguised by putting them into a blender with good-quality mortgages and selling them on to anybody who would buy them. Many investors, including UK banks, did. Inevitably, the housing bubble burst. The banks found they were sitting on huge, unquantifiable losses and by refusing to lend to each other set off a prolonged domino effect that has now reached deep into the heart of the American economy. Policymakers have throw the kitchen sink at the issue. The Fed has cut rates to 1% and there was a $150bn (£100bn) tax cut in the summer. Banks have been nationalised and recapitalised. So far none of it has worked. The scarring economic memory of the US remains the Great Depression; as things stand the sub-prime crisis will run it a close second.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds ]]>

Hugo Chávez faces test in Venezuela's regional elections
The Guardian | World news 21 11 2008 President Hugo Chávez faces an important test of his self-styled socialist revolution on Sunday when Venezuelans vote in regional and local elections after a tumultuous election campaign. Opinion polls suggest a resurgent opposition could win control of key states and cities and rein in the forceful president on the eve of his 10th anniversary in power. Discontent over violent crime, inflation and poor public services threatens to topple government candidates and trip up Chávez's ambition to turn South America's energy giant into a socialist state. With government revenues tumbling along with oil prices, the president has cast the election as an existential battle to protect the revolution from traitorous "little Yankees" and criminals who take orders from Washington. "If I am to continue governing Venezuela, it will depend on what happens [on Sunday]. Make no mistake, Chávez's political destiny is in play here," he said this week. Opposition leaders said the vote was a chance to rebuff an authoritarian megalomaniac whose corrupt and incompetent rule frittered a historic oil windfall. "It is not a choice between capitalism and socialism, that's a lie. Here the choice is between efficiency and inefficiency," said Carlos Ocariz, the opposition candidate for Sucre, an impoverished municipality in Caracas which opinion polls suggest has swung away from Chávez. Some 22 of 23 state governorships are up for grabs as are 328 of 335 municipalities. An opposition boycott helped give the president's allies an almost clean sweep in the previous regional elections in 2004, making it almost certain he will lose some governors and mayors on Sunday. If losses are minimal analysts expect Chávez to declare victory and push for a constitutional referendum to abolish term limits, allowing him to stay in power for as long as he wins elections. "A lot is at stake. Erosion of support is natural after 10 years so if Chávez does well on Sunday it shows he must be doing something right," said Steve Ellner, a political scientist at Venezuela's University of the East. Chávez's personal approval ratings remain over 50%, a tribute to his charisma and investment in free health clinics and subsidised grocery stores. But many of his own supporters are fed up with rampant murder rates, potholed roads, uncollected rubbish and inflation of 35%, the region's highest. "I voted for him before but not again. He's giving our resources away overseas and doing nothing here. Look at the state of this place," said Neria Fernandez, 64, a housewife gesturing to mounds of rubbish in Petare, a Caracas slum. Polls suggest the government could lose in six to nine states, including some of the most populous and economically important such as Carabobo, Miranda and Zulia. Chávez may also lose Barinas, his home state where his brother Adan is running to succeed their father as governor. Allegations of corruption and nepotism have split government supporters. The opposition has complained of intimidation and manipulation. Several big name candidates were banned from running over corruption accusations and others who appear poised to win have been threatened with jail. The president threatened to mobilise tanks in Carabobo if voters rejected his candidate, a shock-jock TV host called Mario Silva. The opposition has also alleged abuse of state resources. State TV runs non-stop propaganda for Chávez candidates and municipal buses ferry people to government rallies. Government-backed communal councils have distributed thousands of fridges, cookers, washing machines, fans, mattresses and beds. Government supporters see little wrong with a petro-state helping the poor in that way. "Thanks to the president Venezuela is different," said Donnala Perez, 53, braving rain at a government rally.
"We have a lot of things because of him. Before the poor weren't able to study, now we have universities. We have clinics, doctors who come to our homes. We are living in a happy time."

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds ]]>

Sean Jacobs: Barack Obama Could Not Have Won in Africa
HuffingtonPost.com | News | Web log 21 11 2008

Obama plans to nominate Clinton for top diplomat (AP)
Yahoo! | US elections 21 11 2008 In a Jun 27, 2008 file photo Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., takes the stage with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., at a campaign event in Unity, N.H., President-elect Barack Obama plans to nominate Clinton as secretary of state after Thanksgiving, an aide to his transition said Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola/file)

In a Jun 27, 2008 file photo Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., takes the stage with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., at a campaign event in Unity, N.H., President-elect Barack Obama plans to nominate Clinton as secretary of state after Thanksgiving, an aide to his transition said Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola/file)

AP - President-elect Barack Obama plans to nominate Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state after Thanksgiving, a new milestone for the former first lady and a convergence of two political forces who fought hard for the presidency.
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Disputed Senate ballots hold key to Minn. win (AP)
Yahoo! | US elections 21 11 2008 Senator Norm Coleman speaks at the second session of the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota September 2, 2008. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

Senator Norm Coleman speaks at the second session of the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota September 2, 2008. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

AP - A recount watchdog for Norm Coleman flagged a ballot because the voter put a check next to Al Franken's name instead of blacking in the oval. A Franken monitor challenged an apparent vote for Coleman because Franken's name was also marked. And representatives of both men invoked challenges because of marks elsewhere on the ballot that could make them identifiable.
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Mukasey feeling better, checks out of hospital (AP)
Yahoo! | US elections 21 11 2008

Attorney General Michael Mukasey leaves George Washington University Hospital in Washington, Friday, Nov. 21, 2008. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

AP - Attorney General Michael Mukasey was given a "clean bill of health" and went back to work Friday after his harrowing collapse at a late-night dinner speech.
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Government's Economic, Financial, Social and Cultural Programme for Fiscal Year 2009
EMM Alert | Development 21 11 2008

What would you remove from the internet
The Guardian | Technology | Web log 21 11 2008 If there's one thing the internet loves, it's big ginger singers. Numero uno, of course, is Rick Astley, but we shouldn't forget Simply Red's Mick Hucknall (very funny, but NSFW). And now Axl Rose is joining the web's strawberry superstars, by releasing the latest Guns n' Roses album, Chinese Democracy, on MySpace. (yes, the Chinese Democracy that's been brewing since the Chinese invented fireworks). I'm partial to a bit of Slash air guitar action now and then - but I can't help think that Axl's taken it all a bit far. Was he actually waiting for an entirely new music distribution model to bed in before he could finish the album? Couldn't he just take a lead from Metallica and the Beatles and stay away from my internets? Calm down. Anyway, all this is a very roundabout way of approaching this week's Friday Afternoon Question, which is: If you could remove one thing from the internet, what would it be? Best answer gets a free Dr Pepper.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds ]]>

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