Global Economy to Slow More

The combination of higher energy prices and weaker growth prospects in advanced economies could dampen the outlook also for emerging markets. Nonetheless, despite these risks, the most likely outcome is a continued global expansion.

However, the persistence of the imbalances undermines confidence that the global growth expansion can be sustained, says IMF First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky.

The imbalances are:

i. New risks threaten global growth

ii. Global imbalances still challenging

iii. Currency moves reflect new uncertainties

Rising oil prices, financial market turmoil, and a sliding dollar have grabbed the headlines in recent months.

Underlying these developments, however, is the emergence of record external payments imbalances and the associated capital flows.

Speaking with the IMF Survey magazine, he argues that it is more urgent than ever that the major players—China, the Euro area, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the United States—follow through on promised policy plans that were announced last April as part of the IMF's Multilateral Consultation On Global Imbalances. -IMF

Israel Is 4th Largest Arms Exporter

Associated Press reported that Israel became the world's fourth largest defense exporter in 2007, surpassing Britain, with $4.3 billion in signed contracts, officials said Tuesday amid efforts to tighten controls on the nation's arms sales to banned countries or groups.

Israel exports mostly radar systems, drones and anti-tank missiles to India, Turkey, Britain, the United States and other Western nations, defense officials said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information. But Israel has earned a questionable reputation for the small percentage of its sales -- usually of shells, rifles and ammunition -- that go to war-torn countries, analysts said.

A new Israeli law attempts to ensure that Israeli weapons do not end up in the wrong hands.

Under pressure from the United States, the No. 1 arms exporter, Israel enacted the law that will make it illegal for Israeli residents to sell any weapons, even if they are not Israeli-made, to embargoed countries or militias.

Those convicted could serve as much as three years in prison and be fined up to $1.5 million, said Eli Pinko, the head of the new inspection department set up to comply with the law. The new law takes effect Jan. 1.

Israelis have in the past sold arms to embargoed countries and groups. Despite the violations and international pressure on Israel to take action, local law did not allow for their arrests.

"About 5 percent of the exports are meant for problematic countries in the Third World, in Asia and Africa, for countries that are in the midst of civil war," said military affairs expert Yossi Melman. "These are the markets that give Israel a bad name."

Israel also deals with countries with poor human rights records, like a sale to Zimbabwe in 2001 of crowd dispersal equipment that was later used against demonstrators protesting Robert Mugabe's rule, Amnesty International's Israel branch said.

Israelis also have been suspect in sales to Croatia during the war there in the mid-1990s and to Ivory Coast and Nigeria.

Amnesty welcomed Israel's attempt to improve its laws but the organization's campaign director, Ilan Lonai, said the efforts needed to go further.

"Israel needs to come up to standards that are not only better than what they are at the moment, but to international standards, like those of the United States and European Union," Lonai said.

Israeli defense officials have said Israel must export arms to keep its defense industries viable. Israel needs to develop and manufacture weapons for its military, which faces threats from hostile neighbors, but the Israeli military by itself is too small a market to sustain the industry.

World views on free press mixed

World opinion is divided on the importance of having a free press, according to a poll conducted for the BBC World Service.

Of those interviewed, 56% thought that freedom of the press was very important to ensure a free society.

But 40% said it was more important to maintain social harmony and peace, even if it meant curbing the press's freedom to report news truthfully.

Pollsters interviewed 11,344 people in 14 countries for the survey.

In most of the 14 countries surveyed, press freedom (including broadcasting) was considered more important than social stability.

The strongest endorsement came from North America and Western Europe, where up to 70% put freedom first, followed by Venezuela, Kenya and South Africa, with over 60%.

Graph: How different countries rate press freedom

In India, Singapore and Russia, by contrast, more people favoured stability over press freedom.

In those countries, around 48% of respondents supported controls over the press to ensure peace and stability.

Around 40% expressed the view that press freedom was more important.

People were also asked to rate how free the press and broadcasters were in their country to report the news truthfully and without undue bias.
Perceptions varied widely among developing countries, ranging from 81% giving a high rating in Kenya, to 41% in Mexico.

In India, 72% of respondents thought their media were free, compared with just 36% in Singapore.

Honesty
But some developed countries which strongly believed in press freedom were critical of their own media's honesty and accuracy.

In the United States, Britain and Germany, only around 29% of those interviewed thought their media did a good job in reporting news accurately.

Chris Coulter, vice-president of GlobeScan, the company that led the research, says: "Despite the fact that people in Britain really value freedom of the press, when we asked specifically around news organisations how they're doing in reporting news accurately and truthfully, respondents were quite critical."

"Only about a third of people in Britain actually gave positive ratings to either publicly-funded news organisations or privately-funded news organisations."

He says he was quite surprised by this finding, but points out that the research was conducted during October this year, when trust in the BBC and other public service broadcasters in Britain had been hit by a series of phone-in problems and other editorial lapses.

Owners' views

The survey also identified concern in some countries over the concentration of private media ownership in the hands of fewer large companies.

In Brazil, Mexico, the United States and Britain, more than 70% of respondents agreed with the suggestion that ownership was an issue because the owners' political views emerged in the news.

Germans had a particularly poor view of their private media companies - with just 18% giving them a high rating for accurate news.

But overall, publicly-run news organisations were viewed slightly more negatively than ones run for profit.

Only in Egypt, Germany, Russia and Singapore did people rate the public media more than privately-owned media companies.

The poll was conducted by the international research firms GlobeScan and Synovate, as part of a season of programmes marking the 75th anniversary of BBC World Service.- BBC

The largest Christmas tree in China

A photo taken on December 3, 2007 shows a Christmas tree in Beijing, capital of China. The Christmas tree, which was erected at Jiadebao square in Beijing, is 23 meters high and 10 meters in diameter.

Currently the Christmas tree is the largest one in the capital of China. [newsphoto]