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Wednesday 9 April 2003
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Bush was to meet Wednesday with Slovak President Rudolf Schuster, whose country has said it will give the United States a list of companies that could help to rebuild Iraq once the hostilities are over.

On Thursday, Bush meets with presidents Abel Pacheco of Costa Rica, Francisco Flores of El Salvador, Alfonso Portillo of Guatemala, Ricardo Maduro of Honduras, and Enrique Bolaños of Nicaragua.

"These leaders are not only building democracy's foundations at home but are also supportive of our efforts to disarm Saddam Hussein and liberate the Iraqi people," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said last week.

Those countries could also provide political support if the pre-war rift between the United States and some traditional allies widens over the UN role when it comes time to rebuild Iraq and set up a new government.

"The President looks forward to discussing with his Central American colleagues the current state of negotiations on the US-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and to advancing our common goals to promote peace, prosperity, and stability in the Western Hemisphere," he said.

Caribbean And Latin America Face FDI Decline, Report Reveals 
by Philip Morton, Investors Offshore.com

In its World Investment Report 2003, the UK's Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) warned that countries in the Caribbean and Latin America should brace for a continued decline in foreign direct investment this year.

Observing that in 2002 'there was hardly a country in the region that did not experience a decline in FDI inflows', the EIU announced that growth in foreign direct investment over the medium term is likely to be slower for Latin America and the Caribbean than in other emerging markets.

The report on international investment trends cited structural weaknesses and high levels of external debt as factors likely to hinder growth, and warned that: 'FDI inflows will also be hindered by costs to business deriving from bureaucracy, deficiencies in infrastructure and underinvestment in human capital'.

The EIU review suggested, however, that of all of the countries surveyed for the purposes of the report, Mexico is likely to benefit most from FDI inflows this year.

From paralegal to paradise
By BILL SPRING Fine Living Network

Sierra Goodman went from drowning in a sea of paperwork to swimming in an ocean of dolphins. Once a stressed-out paralegal, she now owns and runs a thriving vacation destination and scientific research foundation in Costa Rica, where having fun goes hand in hand with preserving the environment.

It all started with a love of animals. When Goodman was growing up in Orange County, Calif., her family had cats and dogs.

"I wanted to be a veterinarian until I realized that this meant operations and blood!" she says. "I'm not sure when my dolphin and whale craze came about, but as I got older I started to collect little trinkets with dolphins and whales on them."

Goodman graduated from high school in 1982 and decided that she "wasn't the degree type." She liked learning on the job and chose to work as a paralegal for her father, an attorney. Complete Story

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Spain urges journalists to leave Iraq

Spanish Defense Minister Federico Trillor recommended Tuesday the Spanish journalists covering the war in Iraq leave the country after two Spanish reporters were killed in the conflict.

Trillo explained to the Spanish media the possibility of uncontrolled situations in Iraq, in which the journalists become military targets, said the Spanish Defense Ministry.

The official issued his recommendation following the death in Baghdad of two Spanish journalists in the past 24 hours: Julio Anguita from Spanish daily El Mundo and Tele 5 channel cameraman 37-year-old Jose Couso.

A US tank fired on Tuesday at the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad, where Couso was killed together with another cameraman from Reuters and injured three more journalists of the same agency.

Spanish military authorities expect an explanation from the United States in regard to the reasons why the tank fired at the hotel.

Trillo has ordered the Spanish commander in Kuwait for humanitarian assistance to request the US military command to clear the issue, the Spanish authorities said.

EU slashes euro-zone economic growth forecast for 2003

The European Commission (EC) Tuesday slashed its 2003 economic growth forecast for the euro- zone to 1 percent from 1.8 percent.

Assuming the war in Iraq is over before the summer, EC, the executive arm of the European Union (EU), predicted in its spring economic report that lower oil prices, combined with renewed confidence, would trigger a moderate recovery.

But "it's unlikely to be a vigorous rebound," the EC warned. Unemployment will continue to weigh on consumption and stock market weakness will dampen balance sheets.

Euro-zone growth will reach only 2.3 percent next year, down from an earlier forecast of 2.6 percent. Last year, the economy grew by a meager 0.9 percent.

The economic outlook is particularly bleak in Germany, where the euro-zone's largest economy is expected to expand only 0.4 percent this year.

Last fall, the Commission predicted a growth of 1.4 percent. Under the EC's worst-case scenario - a protracted war, oil prices peaking above 45 US dollars and confidence further deteriorating -it said euro-zone growth would slow to 0.2 percent this year and reach only 1.5 percent next year.

Northern Ireland must abandon paramilitarism: Belfast summit

Northern Ireland must end paramilitary activity completely and irrevocably, said the leaders of US, British and Irish governments here on Tuesday.

In a joint statement, US president George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern called on politicians of Northern Ireland to accept proposals for moving the Good Friday Agreement forward.

"The break with paramilitarism in all its past forms must be complete and irrevocable," said the statement.

The proposals are to be released Thursday, the fifth anniversary of the signing of the accords aimed at ending three decades of sectarian strife in the British province.

"The acceptance and implementation of the governments' forthcoming proposals would promote the reconciliation that the people of Northern Ireland desire and deserve," said the statement.

"These proposals, built on the firm ground of the Good Friday Agreement, hold out the prospect of enormous progress. They reflect our shared view that there can be no place in Northern Ireland for paramilitary activity and capability," it added.

The statement came as Bush prepared to leave the province following his overnight stay on Monday, during which he held a summit on the US-led war against Iraq with Blair at Hillsborough Castle, south of Belfast.

Ahern joined the two leaders on Tuesday for a working lunch with the pro-Agreement parties to discuss the stalled Northern Ireland political process.

Progress on implementing the Good Friday accords has been stalled since October when Northern Ireland's power-sharing executive and assembly were suspended amid a row over alleged IRA spy activities.

Saddam still controls Republican Guard forces: Pentagon

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein might still control the Special Republican guard and death squads despite of an earlier US air strike specially targeting at him and his sons, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

"The Republican Guard are receiving instructions, but in many cases not following them and not capable any more so they're not an effective fighting force," said Major General Stanley McChrystal, vice-director of joint operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

But it seems Saddam Hussein "still controls elements of the Special Republican guard and death squads" as command orders are still being issued by Iraqi leadership, McChrystal told a Pentagon press briefing.

McChrystal acknowledged that he was not sure whether the Iraqi leader was killed in the air strike. "I think the end game is the end of the regime and that's much closer than people thought it was," he said.

A US B-1 bomber dropped four specially designed 2,000-pound bombs on a building in a Baghdad residential neighborhood suspected to contain Iraqi leaders, including Saddam and his two sons.

Members of the B-1 crew told reporters Tuesday that they were patrolling the Iraqi capital when they were told about a high priority leadership target.

The bomber arrived at the target just 12 minutes later. The first two bombs struck the building, then the other two, equipped with a 25-millisecond delay fuse, penetrated further into the target.