No need to
get overly pessimistic about world economy:
IMF official
As the cloud of
the Iraq war was gradually fading away,
Managing Director of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) Horst Kohler on Thursday
said there is no need to get overly
pessimistic about the world economy.
Appearing
slightly more optimistic than IMF chief
economist Kenneth Rogoff, Kohler told the
press that he is quite satisfied with the
current situation.
He said a short
war in Iraq is a "good news" for the
world economy since the oil price is dropping
back.
Kohler also
talked about the economic situation over the
past years, saying that "the global
economy had demonstrated such a
resilience."
He said that in
the last 2-3 years, the world economy has
experienced a series of shocks, including
burst of the bubble, the September 11
terrorist attacks, corporate scandals and the
current war.
"We should
not be complacent, but we also should not be
overly pessimistic," said Kohler, adding
that an growth rate of 3 percent this year and
4 percent next year will be a good development
for the world economy.
When releasing
the latest semi-annual "World Economic
Outlook" report, IMF chief economist
Rogoff said Wednesday that the world economy
is suffering from a number of uncertainties,
including security concerns, the war in Iraq,
stock market volatility and a possible housing
bust.
European
Parliament votes for stronger common defense
policy
The European
Parliament's (EP) plenary session has voted
overwhelmingly in favor of a report calling
for a stronger common foreign and security
policy.
The report was
adopted by the European Union's (EU)
legislature in Strasbourg, France after two
days of debate, the EuroNews Television
reported Thursday.
The report,
drafted by French member of the European
Parliament Philippe Morillon and hailed by
Greece as a "source of inspiration",
sets out ideas and principles for the
establishment of a more effective European
Security and Defense Policy.
It calls for an
EU defense clause (for those states willing to
take on this responsibility), increased
capabilities, a common defense budget and a
common armaments agency.
Moreover, the
report suggests the establishment of a joint
military college and the creation of
5,000-strong force permanently ready to
intervene for humanitarian and rescue
operations.
European
Commissioner for External Relations Chris
Patten welcomed the report while addressing
the EP. He hoped that the overhaul of the
policy would help enhance the competition
awareness of the related industries.
The EU's common
foreign and security policy was officially set
out in the Maastricht Treaty which came into
force in 1993. The common security and defense
policy, formed in the overall framework of the
common foreign and security policy, was
explained by the Amsterdam Treaty in 1999. EU
leaders amended and enriched the policy at
subsequent summit meetings.
Singapore to
quarantine foreign workers from SARS-affected
areas
New foreign
workers arriving from economies affected by
severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) must
undergo a mandatory 10-day quarantine as from
April 11, Singapore Minister for Manpower Lee
Beng Yang announced Thursday.
Work permit
holders arriving from WHO list of SARS-affected
areas will be quarantined for 10 days at the
designated dormitories and employment pass
holders may be quarantined for 10 days at
their homes here or suitable residential
accommodation pre-arranged by their employers,
Lee said.
In Singapore's
labor force category, foreigners who could
only earn less than 2,500 Singapore dollars
per month hold work permits, while those who
could earn more than 2500 Singapore dollars
monthly hold employment passes.
The minister
also said that existing work permit holders
and employment pass holders who visited SARS-affected
areas will be subject to the same quarantine
on their return to Singapore.
Lee urged
employers not to bring in new workers from
BARS-affected areas and consider engaging
Singaporean workers or workers from other
areas instead.
He also urged
employers not to send their foreign workers
back on home leave or send any of their
workers for work assignment or training in
SARS-affected areas.
In reply to a
question, Lee said if foreign workers get
infected with SARS here, he will get treated
at hospital but all his benefit must come from
employers.
There about
over 450,000 foreigners working in Singapore
with 170,000 of them low-skilled laborers.
Restoring
Law and order in Iraq must be a priority: UN
chief
Priority must
be given to restoring law and order in Iraq,
where the civilian population is suffering
from anarchy while the wheel of war rolls on,
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on
Thursday.
"Law and
order must be a major concern" now in
Iraq as the country is in the absence of a
functioning government, Annan told reporters
at the United Nations headquarters in New
York.
In the past
several days, many Iraqi civilians ransacked
government buildings, shops and warehouses in
the capital Baghdad and other cities in a
widespread looting spree amid signs of
crumbling government rule throughout the
country.
The UN chief
also said Iraqis have paid "a heavy
price" in the war.
At least 1,250
civilians have been killed and more than 5,100
wounded as the war entered its 22nd day on
Thursday, according to Iraqi estimates.
The US-led
coalition should be responsible for the
welfare of the people in the country while war
is going on, in accordance with the Geneva
Convention and humanitarian aid regulations,
Annan said.
Asked whether
Iraq's UN ambassador, Mohammed al-Douri, had
asked for asylum, Annan said al-Douri did not
make an asylum request when he last met him on
Monday. Annan added he did not know the
whereabouts of al-Douri.
Annan said UN
chief weapons inspector Hans Blix's mandate is
still valid and he expected Blix and other UN
weapons inspectors to return to Iraq as soon
as possible.
All UN weapons
inspectors evacuated from Iraq on March 18
after US President George W. Bush gave Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein a 48-hour ultimatum
to leave his country or face war a day
earlier.
Blix's contract
with the UN expires in June.
Schroeder
warns against more US wars in other regions
after Iraq war
German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Thursday
warned the United States not to launch
military strikes in other regions after the
Iraq war.
"I warn
against repetition" of the US-led war on
Iraq, said Schroeder in an interview with
German TV RTL.
Schroeder said
he saw no reason for him to back off from the
anti-war attitude the German government has
taken toward the Iraqi issue.
He called for a
quickest transition of power in Iraq to a
democratically elected government, while
describing the debate in the United States on
partition of the reconstruction contracts in
Iraq as "macabre".
He said efforts
must now be made to prevent a humanitarian
catastrophe in Iraq.
However,
Schroeder did not rule out the possibility of
Germany's participation in a UN-led
peace-keeping mission in Iraq, saying that his
country would never shun offering help.
He stressed
that the summit of German, Russian and French
leaders on Friday in St. Petersburg was not
aimed against anyone and that the European
defense initiative pursued by Germany would
not exclude Britain.
The German
leader said that the relations between Berlin
and Washington should normalize, "but we
do not press ourselves."
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