Indonesia is one of the most corrupt countries in the world – ranking 126 out of 180 nations on Transparency International’s corruption index. Now it is targeting organized crime in an effort to improve the country’s image. But as Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen found, the police and politicians have a habit of getting on the wrong side of the law themselves.

More from News Daily:

When Indonesia’s president delivered his independence day speech to parliament, stressing the need to eradicate corruption, it was clear to many onlookers that the biggest problem was staring him in the face.

In Indonesia, members of parliament top the charts when it comes to corrupt practices.

They’re known in the media as “kucing garong” — tomcats, who prowl the neighborhood in search of something to steal — and the public here is treated to an almost daily diet of news about corrupt officials who skim, steal, or extort.

For decades, corruption has been a way of life in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.

It permeates almost every level of society, reducing the country’s appeal to a wide array of foreign investors, and curbing Indonesia’s potential for growth and development so that it lags far behind its Asian rivals, such as China and Malaysia.

With the fall of former president Suharto in 1998, and the move toward greater democracy and regional autonomy, the situation grew even worse, according to some business people, because with more potential decision-makers, that often meant that more officials had to be paid off.

True, Indonesia has pushed through a host of political, economic and social reforms in the past decade, but it’s only quite recently that it has made more progress in tackling corruption.

(more…)

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an executive order to all California state employees mandating two unpaid days of leave per month beginning in February 2009 and lasting through June 2010. The executive order is the latest salvos in California’s budget battle. The state faces a $41.8 billion dollar deficit.

From Bloomberg News:

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today ordered all state workers to take two days of unpaid leave each month to conserve money amid a record budget deficit and a legislative impasse over how to fix it.

The furloughs will begin in February and will last through June 2010, Schwarzenegger said in an executive order. He also ordered all departments to cut 10 percent of their workforce costs, through firings if necessary.

“Every California family and business has been forced to cut back during these difficult economic times, and state government cannot be exempt from similar belt tightening,” Schwarzenegger said in a letter to state workers.

The furloughs came after Schwarzenegger vowed to veto a package of tax increases and spending cuts approved yesterday. Democrats had attempted to find a way around a two-thirds supermajority normally needed for passage of a tax measure as they considered ways to close the $42 billion shortfall that has depressed California bond prices and forced officials to halt $3.8 billion of public-works projects. The deficit also threatens to leave the most-populous U.S. state without enough cash to pay bills by February.

The furloughs would amount to a 10 percent pay cut, Chris Voight, executive director of the California Association of Professional Scientists, a group that represents about 3,000 scientists working for the state. The association and the Service Employees International Union announced they will sue to block the furloughs and any layoffs, which they said would violate collective-bargaining deals.

(more…)

Via The Daily Mail:

An American woman has given birth to her eighteenth child – and her husband says the couple want still more children. The fact that they are only giving their children names beginning with the letter ‘J’ has not slowed them up one bit.

Last night Michelle Duggar delivered the baby girl by Caesarean section at a hospital in Arkansas.
The baby, named Jordyn-Grace Makiya Duggar, weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces (3.26 kilograms) and was 20 inches (51 centimetres) long.

“The ultimate Christmas gift from God,” said Jim Bob Duggar, the father of the 18 children. “She’s just absolutely beautiful, like her mom and her sisters.”

The Duggars, who are evangelical Christians living in Bible-belt America, now have 10 sons and eight daughters.

Jim Bob Duggar said Michelle started having contractions Wednesday night.

She needed the Caesarean section, her third, because the baby was lying sideways.

Jim Bob said both baby and mother were doing well last night.

“We both would love to have more,” he said.

The U.S. cable network TLC broadcasts a weekly show about the Duggars, called “Seventeen and Counting.”

Chris Finnegan of TLC – which handles public relations for the Duggar family – said the show’s name would be updated to account for the latest addition to the family.

He said TLC also will air a show Monday on the baby’s delivery.

Jim Bob Duggar is 43, a year older than his wife. Their oldest child, Joshua, is 20.

The other Duggar children, in between Joshua and Jordyn-Grace, are Jana, 18; John-David, 18; Jill, 17; Jessa, 16; Jinger, 14; Joseph, 13; Josiah, 12; Joy-Anna, 11; Jeremiah, 9; Jedidiah, 9; Jason, 8; James, 7; Justin, 6; Jackson, 4; Johannah, 3; and Jennifer, 1.

“Our whole family is excited about Jordyn’s addition to our family,” Jim Bob Duggar said. “She’s just perfect in every way.”

The fast-growing family lives in Tontitown in north-west Arkansas in a 7,000 sq ft home, and the children are all home-educated.

Mrs Duggar has been been pregnant for more than 11 years of her life.

She and husband Jim Bob – evangelical Christians – said in a recent interview they would keep having children as long as God wills it.

Trust me God has nothing to do with this. Fundamentalism will be the death of us all.

Return to Main

“I will never, never, never, never surrender. Zimbabwe is mine. I won’t be intimidated. Even if I am threatened with beheading, I believe this and nothing will ever move me from it: Zimbabwe belongs to us, not the British.” — Robert Mugabe

It’s time for Mugabe to go. It’s time for an armed intervention to remove him from power. The life of a Zimbabwean must be worth something. In his 28 year run as leader of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe turned the breadbasket of African into Africa’s basket case. This week, cholera claimed its 1,000th victim. Mugabe claims the cholera epidemic was a Western plot aimed at destabilizing his government. How many more Zimbabweans must die before Mugabe is removed from power?

From the UK Guardian:

Robert Mugabe told his ruling Zanu-PF party yesterday that his country was facing a war with Britain but he would never surrender, and “Zimbabwe is mine”.

The Zimbabwe president’s defiant comments came amid escalating pressure from London on Zimbabwe’s neighbours to press Mugabe from office. Gordon Brown urged southern African leaders yesterday to distance themselves from Mugabe and described the situation in Zimbabwe as a tragedy.

“I will never, never, never, never surrender. Zimbabwe is mine,” Mugabe told the party’s annual conference. “I won’t be intimidated. Even if I am threatened with beheading, I believe this and nothing will ever move me from it: Zimbabwe belongs to us, not the British.” Brown called on African leaders to “make sure that it is absolutely clear to the people of Zimbabwe that we support those who are the democratically elected politicians”.

Hours earlier the state-run Herald newspaper reported Mugabe taunting other African leaders, saying they were under American pressure to force him from power but they lacked the courage to do it. “How could African leaders ever topple Robert Mugabe, organise an army to come? It is not easy,” he told Zanu-PF’s central committee. “I do not know of any African country that is brave enough to do that.”

Mugabe also sought to portray himself as seeking a political settlement, saying he had written to the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Morgan Tsvangirai, inviting him to become prime minister in a power-sharing government.

But Tsvangirai threatened to quit power-sharing negotiations yesterday unless the authorities produce dozens of opposition activists who have been abducted and disappeared in recent weeks in what appears to be a renewed campaign of intimidation by Mugabe. Tsvangirai also called for fresh elections if a coalition government was not put in place soon.

(more…)

Its title is the Kenya Communications Bill of 2008. And it’s an affront to the freedom of the press. Yet this past Wednesday, Kenya’s Parliament passed it. The Kenya Communications Bill of 2008 gives the Government powers to raid media houses and disable broadcasting equipment. The bill will also allow the Government to cart away equipment from media outlets, including printing presses and computers. Information and Communications minister Samuel Poghisio defended the passing of the Bill, arguing that the Government has no intentions of raiding media houses and that the clause was only retained as a safety measure.

“We do not raid media houses any more. This is only a measure that can be taken during emergencies,” he said.

It boggles the mind. Kenya deserves to join the 21st Century.

Al Jazeera’s Yvonne Ndege reports from Nairobi, where dozens of journalists have already been detained by the police for protesting against the proposed law.

(more…)

The world’s top oil producers and consumers met in London to discuss ways to stabilise the price of oil as its value continues to plummet.

The meeting in the British capital was attended by energy ministers from 27 nations and representatives from some of the world’s biggest oil companies. Al Jazeera’s Hamish MacDonald spoke with Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the International Energy Agency, to discuss the continuing price fall. Meanwhile Prime Minister Gordon Brown addressign the energy summit warned of the impact of volatile energy prices on the world economy. More on this side of the story from the BBC:

Volatile oil prices remain a threat to the global economy, Gordon Brown has warned, following the sharp fall in prices in recent months.

In a speech to an energy summit in London, Mr Brown said the “wild fluctuations” in prices in recent months had damaged the global economy.

He called for improved regulation of oil markets to stabilise prices and investment in clean energy technology.

Prices have tumbled from $150 a barrel to below $40 in the past six months.

Prices are now at their lowest level since the middle of 2004 after hitting record levels in July.

Mr Brown told energy ministers that the high oil prices of recent years had stoked inflation and forced governments to keep interest rates much higher than would have otherwise been the case.

This had hurt families and businesses, particularly in developing countries dependent on oil imports.

“It is clear that our most pressing challenge is price volatility,” he said.

“Wild fluctuations in prices harm nations all around the world.”

(more…)

Carla Robbins of The New York Times and Gideon Rose of Foreign Affairs magazine join Martin Savidge to discuss the week’s top stories.

They discuss the shoe-throwing incident in Iraq and its international importance, the worsening situation in Gaza and the potential for action in the Zimbabwe crisis.

Return to Main