Saturday, June 9, 2007
VOANews.com Headlines (UTF-8)
It's here! See our new video webcast called Daily Download at VOANews.com! Join host Doug Bernard and others for a slightly different take on the day's news, available for viewing online or through podcast. | |
|
Friday, June 8, 2007
VOANews.com Headlines (UTF-8)
It's here! See our new video webcast called Daily Download at VOANews.com! Join host Doug Bernard and others for a slightly different take on the day’s news, available for viewing online or through podcast. | |
|
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Proposed New AIDS Testing Procedures Stir Controversy
A proposed U.N. policy to require medical professionals to recommend that high-risk patients be tested for HIV has met with disagreement in Asia. Rory Byrne reports from Phnom Penh.
The United Nations estimates that less than 10 percent of people infected with the HIV virus in the Asia-Pacific region are aware that they have it. AIDS experts say this is a major obstacle in the campaign to prevent the spread of the disease. 
HIV/AIDS-affected children sit on a chair, waiting for their lunch at Opot pagoda, a healing center run by a non-government organization in Cambodia (File)
At an AIDS conference this week in Phnom Penh, U.N. agencies are examining a new policy that would require health-care providers to recommend an HIV test for all patients in high-risk groups, such as sex workers or drug abusers.
J.V.R. Prasada Rao, who heads the U.N. AIDS agency's regional support team, says patients must ask to be tested.
"Under the present policy, any person who would like to know his or her HIV status can come to a hospital or health center and seek a test, but we find that adequate numbers of people are not availing, [taking advantage of this facility], and because of [that], the roll-out of the anti-retroviral program in countries is not picking up adequate numbers of people, because many of them, they do not know their HIV status," said Rao.
Rao says the goal is to combat ignorance of the disease and help those infected get treatment.
"The health-care provider can offer the test. It is not obligatory," he continued. "The patient can still refuse the test. But otherwise the provider gives the test, and, if the person is HIV-positive, there is an obligation to follow-up with services."
But AIDS advocacy groups and other civic organizations warn that the new testing plan might discourage people from seeking health-care services altogether. They worry that people will feel pressured into taking the test.
Other activists say even if more people are tested, many countries in Asia lack the medical facilities to care for those who test positive.
Community medicine specialists like Daniel Tarantola, a professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, say that it is important to strike the right balance between protecting the community from exposure to HIV and guaranteeing people's right to make their own decisions.
"The reason is that if you violate people's human rights, if you violate their dignity, then you basically drive people away from services," said Tarantola. "You drive people like sex workers and drug users underground because they are afraid of all sorts of pressures that come from the system - health system and others, and the intended goal, which is to protect public health through the protection of individual health, is defeated."
Tarantola says he and other experts will look carefully at how the new U.N. HIV-testing guidelines will be adapted to the needs of Asia-Pacific countries.
The UNAIDS office will consult with medical professionals and AIDS activists throughout the region to refine the policy.
Strong Philippine Peso Hurts 8 Million Overseas Filipino Workers
The Philippine peso has become the second strongest currency in Southeast Asia this year, thanks in part to wages sent home by the more than eight million overseas Filipino workers. But those workers are suffering because the dollars and other currencies they earn are worth less, and that means fewer pesos to help their families. Douglas Bakshian reports from Manila.
 |
| Man changes his US $100 bill to Philippine Pesos at a money changer in Manila |
That is a big blow to overseas Philippine workers, many of whom take jobs as domestic helpers. Vicky Cabantac, 53, has held such a job in Hong Kong for 14 years. She makes the equivalent of about $435 a month.
In peso terms, she now earns 20,000 pesos, down from about 24,000 two years ago. She used to send 15,000 pesos a month home, but the weaker dollar and higher living costs in Hong Kong have cut that to 7,000. Cabantac helps support three nephews, while also financially aiding her three adult children, and things are getting tough.
"I am outraged because the value of our salary is not enough anymore to sustain [our lives]," she said. "The reason why we come here is to be able to earn something to improve the economic conditions of our families. But the problem is, under this present condition … I am suffocated with all these financial difficulties."
Cabantac left the Philippines 14 years ago. She was a teacher, and at the time a teacher's salary was one-third of what she could make as a maid in Hong Kong. She sacrificed her family life to make a decent living for her loved ones, but now that living is shrinking.
"The aspiration that we had before we came here, was to improve our economic condition, but this is not happening. Instead we are suffering financially, we have to incur loans … I am really helpless, hopeless sometimes," she said.
The peso is not the only Asian currency that has risen in value. Robust economic growth, increasing exports and rising foreign investment in the region have pushed up most currencies at the same time that the U.S. economy is slowing.
The Thai baht is up more than 8 percent this year against the dollar, the Malaysian ringgit has risen 3 percent and the Indian rupee is up 9 percent. This means that not only do overseas workers from these countries send home less money, the countries' exports are more expensive on the world market.
The Philippines relies heavily on money sent from overseas workers - which last year totaled almost $13 billion, or 11 percent of gross domestic product. Those remittances contribute to the strength of the peso - workers buy more pesos with dollars earned overseas, sending the price of the peso higher.
But the strong peso hurts the very people who help prop it up. Cynthia Telles heads the Mission for Migrant Workers Hong Kong, where more than 100,000 Filipinos work, most as maids.
"People are being punished twice," she said. "First that you are forced into leaving your family behind. Second is that while you work so hard, the amount of money that you get seems to be getting smaller and smaller, while you work harder and harder overseas."
The government acknowledges that overseas workers suffer from the strong peso. But Finance Secretary Margarito Teves says that overall, the strong currency helps the economy.
"The government still has a large stock of debt. For every peso of appreciation the government saves about 4.5 to 5 billion pesos ($100 million) in interest payments. …. I would say that a strong peso would generally have a net favorable effect on the Philippines because by and large the stack of debt has really a tremendous effect on the Philippines' situation."
No immediate relief from the strong peso appears in sight for the overseas workers.
Experts at Banco De Oro in Manila say they expect the peso to still be around 46 at the end of the year. Foreign remittances are expected to total about $14 billion this year, up more than $1 billion from 2006.
G-8 Leaders Reach Compromise on Climate Change; Critics Call it Weak
G-8 Summit host German Chancellor Angela Merkel says leaders have reached what she described as a substantial compromise on climate change, by agreeing on the need for substantial cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. But critics are calling it weak, as VOA's Sonja Pace reports from near the summit site at Heiligendamm, in northern Germany.
Speaking to reporters outside the conference center, Mrs. Merkel described the compromise as a major step forward. 
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, next to US President George Bush during second working meeting at G8 Summit in Heiligendamm, 07 Jun 2007
Mrs. Merkel said G-8 members agreed to curb the rise of global warming gases and also agreed that substantial emissions cuts will be necessary. A strategy to achieve this is to be worked out within the United Nations for 2009.
Mrs. Merkel made global warming a cornerstone of this summit, but she failed to overcome U.S. reluctance to commit to reducing emissions by at least 50 percent by the year 2050. She said, however, that those specific goals would be under serious consideration.
Philip Clapp, president of the Washington-based National Environmental Trust, describes the compromise as weak.
"The only thing that President Bush was willing to agree to was that there should be a new treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012 and that treaty should be negotiated by his successor in 2009," said Clapp. "He rejected every single substantive emissions reduction proposal, he even rejected proposals that the industrialized economies should improve the energy efficiency of their economies by 30 percent over the next decade and a half. The communiqué is fundamentally meaningless."
But British Prime Minister Tony Blair sees progress.
"Now we have an agreement that there will be a climate change deal, it will involve everyone, including America and China, and it will mean a substantial cut in greenhouse gas emissions and we are going to be, from a starting position, of considering the halving of emissions by 2050, which is a huge thing," he said.
Environmental advocate Philip Clapp says the one positive aspect is that even though President Bush refused to concede major points, he has paved the way for other G-8 leaders to begin to create a consensus on a new climate change agreement and then work on it with the next U.S. president.
Strike by S. African Public Workers Poised to Spread to Private Sector
In South Africa, more than 1 million workers in the private sector have been told to prepare to strike next week Wednesday in sympathy with striking public servants. The call by the powerful COSATU confederation would extend the work stoppage to important sectors of the economy such as mining and manufacturing. VOA's Scott Bobb reports from Johannesburg.
 |
| South African civil servants protest outside Tygerberg hospital during the first day of a national public service strike in Cape Town, South Africa, 1 June 2007 |
"The children of the workers are unable to go to school and the workers are being inconvenienced in all other public institutions," he said. "And therefore, it is in the best interests of the health of the workers in the private sector to get a solution to this. They want to play a role."
COSATU says it has 1.8 million members. It groups 21 unions, including the public servant unions currently on strike and powerful unions in the important mining and manufacturing sectors.
However, some of some COSATU members in essential services such as law enforcement are forbidden by law from striking.
Unions representing public servants went on strike last Friday demanding a 12 percent wage increase. They have rejected the government's offer of a 6.5 percent increase.
The unions say they will expand the strike to the entire public service beginning Friday, when the two sides are to hold another round of negotiations.
The strike has shut many public schools and crippled operations at public hospitals and government offices around the country. Members of the military have been called in to help in some hospitals.
Some incidents of intimidation have been reported but the strike for the most part has been orderly.
COSATU is a political ally of the governing African National Congress but it has criticized the South African government for ignoring the needs of workers and the poor in favor of business.
Freedom Fighter Exposes Unsung Heroes of Zimbabwe
A former guerilla fighter in Zimbabwe, Vesta Sithole, has written a book to expose what she says is the "truth" about the country's struggle against white domination. Zimbabwe became independent of Prime Minister Ian Smith's white Rhodesian government in 1980, and current President Robert Mugabe has received most of the credit for this. But Sithole's book, entitled 'My Life with an Unsung Hero – Memoirs of a Zimbabwean Woman Freedom Fighter' seeks to highlight the role played by her late husband in gaining freedom for Zimbabweans from the white colonialists. In her book, Sithole claims that Mugabe deliberately sidelined Zimbabwean nationalist leader, Ndabaningi Sithole, as the president became increasingly dictatorial. In the final part of his series on new African authors, VOA's Darren Taylor reports on Vesta Sithole's expose. 
Vesta Sithole's book is filled with invective against Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe
In her narrative, Sithole tells how her late husband, Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole, created the Zimbabwe African National Union Party (ZANU) in 1963 in opposition to Smith's administration, but later lost control of it to Robert Mugabe. Her book is largely characterized by rancor for Mugabe – a man she has known for decades since they met in exile in the 1960's.
"I left my career as a nurse to fight the white supremacists. I was harassed and imprisoned by the Rhodesian forces and later by my own people," Sithole reflects.
She penned her memoir in her home in Maryland, in the United States, where she now lives in exile – once again, having originally fled Rhodesia in the 1960's for Tanzania, where she was part of the resistance against white supremacy in her homeland.
"In 1980, we thought that freedom had arrived for all Zimbabweans. But it was Mugabe who ended up persecuting myself and my husband, because he saw as a political threat," Sithole says.
The Smith administration imprisoned her husband and Mugabe in 1964, and only released them a decade later.
"In my book, I want to tell the world about the thousands of people – including my husband – who fought for freedom for Zimbabwe, but never got any recognition for it. We sacrificed our lives for Zimbabwe – a Zimbabwe that to this day is not free from tyranny. I am not free to return to the Zimbabwe I love. I am regarded by Mugabe as an enemy of the state."
The love Sithole still has for her husband, who died in 2000, shines through the book. 'My Life….' is therefore part political intrigue, part love story, and part lament for the Zimbabwe of today: A country in economic chaos, with the highest inflation rate in the world, mass poverty and the negation of political freedoms that Sithole says she, her husband – and even Mugabe himself – once fought so hard to secure.
"It's a tragedy," she says.
Sithole, despite finding herself in exile in America, is in a unique position to comment on Zimbabwe's past.
In addition to the years she spent in exile helping to accelerate the eventual downfall of the Smith administration, she was present at all the major negotiations between the Rhodesian authorities, the British government and the liberation movements that led to Zimbabwe's independence.
But her book also describes her impoverished childhood in a township in Rhodesia's eastern highlands, and her political awakening as a young nurse in Bulawayo, when she began attending meetings held by activists.
After the Rhodesian government banned ZANU, Sithole jumped at the chance to join the movement in exile.
"I left the country in secret. No one knew where I had gone, not even my mother," she recalls.
In the book, she writes about the "dangerous and uncertain" cross-border journey she was forced to undertake in order to contribute to freedom for her people. A ZANU agent accompanied her on a bus to a post at Rhodesia's border with Zambia.
"I didn't know what was going on. I was totally confused. We had no passports. We waited at a fishing village near the border. When night fell, I was taken to the Zambezi River…. Later in the night, we crossed, through little boats. I was scared to death. I couldn't imagine traveling on that river. I had gone to school, I knew about the Zambezi River. I knew about all the crocodiles and the hippopotamus along that river. It was just frightening!" Sithole exclaims.
"God was with us, and we managed to cross, and as the years would go on I would realize that sometimes it is people you should be afraid of, not animals!" she quips.
Eventually she reached the Zambian capital of Lusaka, where other Zimbabweans were waiting to be transported to guerilla bases in Tanzania.
"We were all packed in like sardines in those trucks. Then we traveled through Zaire. It was such a long journey, the longest and strangest and most painful of my life…. We met different kinds of people. And we didn't understand any language. For me it was just so strange. I was thinking: If the end comes for me here, no one will ever find my body," says Sithole.
But the intrepid band of freedom fighters later reached Dar es Salaam.
The book, however, is dominated by reflections on her husband.
"Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole was a freedom fighter, through and through. He believed that people should be free in their homelands, and that no tribe should be made the elite ahead of another."
Sithole says her husband always seemed a "very soft person" but that when it came to "issues of freedom, he was on the hard line. He is the one who started the armed struggle in our country. He decided to go to China in the early sixties to go and seek weapons of war, for the first time. And he brought those things and he trained young men and women to fight."
But, according to Sithole, Reverend Ndabaningi always said that the armed struggle against the Smith government had been a "last resort. When it looked like Ian Smith wanted to negotiate, my husband was the first political leader to agree to talks. His philosophy was when two men fight, they must always shake hands afterwards."
But Robert Mugabe, Sithole claims, was a very different character.
"I met Mugabe in Dar es Salaam for the first time…. The impression has been created that everyone loved Mugabe. But to tell you the truth, many people distrusted him, even back then. He wanted power, and at any cost. He was a ruthless man. He always promoted people from his Shona (ethnic) group ahead of those from the Ndebele group."
Ironically, says Sithole, it was her husband's desire to negotiate for peace and to avoid "full on" armed conflict that led to his eventual marginalization.
"(In the late 1970's), Smith invited him, as ZANU president, to talks. Some people, like Mugabe, then said he was a sell-out when my husband talked with Smith," she says.
Reverend Sithole was seen by many in Zimbabwe's liberation movement as having betrayed the cause, when – at Smith's invitation - he joined a transitional government of whites and blacks in 1979.
But, as far as Sithole's concerned, her husband completed "all the groundwork" that laid the foundation for an independent Zimbabwe, by "working with Smith and softening the white hardcore in Rhodesia."
But, once all the hard work had been done, Mugabe, Sithole claims, "usurped this power from Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole and he became the leader of ZANU and after liberation (in 1980) he was the president. But he (Mugabe) didn't give full recognition to all those people who fought for freedom. He didn't praise them, he didn't say anything (about them); it was just as if there he was; he is the one who did it (all). My late husband was the president of this (ZANU) party also, and when he died Mugabe decided that he was not a hero."
In her book, Sithole slams Mugabe for excluding some Zimbabwean freedom fighters from the Heroes Acre burial ground in Harare.
"Anyone who has gone against Mugabe in any way, is not buried there. There's no one who is a trade unionist who is laid there. I just felt it was just unfair for him to do that; I should write something and bring up his (Rev. Sithole's) name plus names of others who have not been mentioned by Mugabe," Sithole says.
"I want to show everyone, especially Zimbabweans, that Robert Mugabe was not the only fighter in this war.
All the time Zimbabwean history is skewed to make it as if Mugabe was the only man who fought for freedom from white domination, when this isn't the case!" she maintains, emphatically.
In the 1980's, says Sithole, Mugabe immediately began targeting his perceived political enemies. Thousands of Ndebeles were massacred in Matabeleland. She says Reverend Sithole was also "on top of Mugabe's list" and he was "in and out" of prison.
In the 1990's, the persecution against her husband escalated. Mugabe jailed him for "instigating treason" – a charge Sithole says was "completely false."
"A lot of things just happened. The government had decided to take our farm, like the way they are taking the (white-owned) farms now. They started during that time by taking our own farm."
The Sithole's fled into exile in the US in 2000, when Reverend Sithole died, "forgotten and empty," of heart failure.
"He had developed heart problems while in prison in Zimbabwe," says Sithole.
She fears dying in America, like her husband, never having felt the ground of her homeland under her feet once again.
"I am an old woman now. I want to go back to Zimbabwe, to enjoy that beautiful country. I don't want to die on foreign soil like my husband. I am praying for a leader who understands the people, and gives them the freedom they deserve. I pray for Zimbabwe to once again prosper. It's a very rich country. If everybody who is outside in the diaspora goes back, it s going to flourish and bloom. But more than anything, what I want to see in my lifetime is dignity for all Zimbabweans."
But right now, Sithole says, all she has are her memories, contained in a book that's she's "happy" to have written - but still finds insufficient.
"It's not enough, it's not enough," she says. "I want to be a Zimbabwean again."
Climate Change Brings Malaria to New Areas of Kenya
As G-8 leaders debate what action they are going to take to tackle climate change, poor communities in Kenya's highlands are already feeling the impact of global warming. Katy Migiro reports from our Nairobi bureau that increased temperatures are bringing malarial mosquitoes to areas that were previously safe from the disease that kills more Africans than any other.
 |
| Malaria is spread by mosquitoes |
Warmer, wetter weather is taking malaria into new regions, including the highlands of Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda.
Kenyan scientist Shem Wandiga has studied malaria in the Lake Victoria region over the last 30 years. He says that warmer temperatures have brought malarial mosquitoes to the highlands around Mount Kenya - areas that, until a few years ago, were completely malaria free.
Gerald Mwangi Walterfang of the Kenyan NGOs Alliance against Malaria says people in Kenya's highland regions are particularly vulnerable to malaria, often dying quickly, because they do not have any immunity to the disease.
"If you have malaria and you have no access [to medicine] and you don't have funds to go to private hospitals, you are looking at death within less than 24 hours," he said.
Malaria is the number one cause of death in Kenya, as it is across Africa. Children are particularly vulnerable. Up to 40,000 infants die of malaria in Kenya each year.
Drugs to cure malaria cost around $10, way beyond the budget of the majority of Kenyans, who live on less than $2 a day.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria is financing the distribution of free drugs and bed nets across Kenya.
But Professor Wandiga says that such efforts, while laudable, are not enough. Many families are too poor to afford beds and sleep on mats on the floor. It is hard to securely cover such sleeping areas with mosquito nets.
Professor Wandiga says the only truly effective way to reduce the number of deaths caused by malaria in Africa is by eliminating poverty.
"Economic empowerment we have seen in our survey helps people to be less vulnerable to malaria," he said. "So poverty accentuates vulnerability to malaria. You want to provide preventive measures if the disease occurs, but if you are able to give people the means to support themselves and look after themselves then they will be less susceptible to malarial mortality."
The world's top scientists, reporting to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, predict that climate change will also increase the prevalence of other diseases, including Rift Valley fever, meningitis and cholera.
Computex 2007: Motherboard and graphics card show guide
With just a few exceptions, most of the motherboard and graphics card vendors can be found in Hall 2 making it fairly convenient to get information on the latest developments without covering a large distance.
In just a short time in Hall 2 it becomes fairly apparent that the main event at Computex Taipei 2007 is the Intel 3 series (Bearlake) chipset with every board marker showing versions in seemingly endless variations. It can get somewhat repetitive seeing the same chipset names over and over but thankfully most of the makers have come up with interesting features that help differentiate their products.
If you look carefully among the swarms of Bearlake products you might spot one or two boards based on the AMD 7 series northbridge which will support the new AM2+ CPUs and bring support for PCI Express (PCIe) 2.0 to AMD platforms. Two versions have been seen so far, the 780 and the higher-end 790 which supports two x16 PCIe slots typically, but Gigabyte has instead opted for four x8 slots to create a quad-Crossfire supporting board. According to company representatives at the various booths, 780 and 790 boards are expected to start shipping in late June or the beginning of July.
Another thing you might notice when checking out some of the live demo systems is a PCIe x1 add-in card based on Intel Turbo Memory (Robson). The cards were seen in several booths and according to the company representatives they will begin shipping in the third quarter. However, the vendors are still uncertain whether the cards will be available only as a bundle option with the motherboards or if they will be available at retail.
In terms of graphics card products the news is fairly light. Few vendors are showing new products based on Nvidia GPUs, and while at the show is probably the first time most people will see AMD 2600 and 2400 series cards in physical form, news about these products has been widely circulated over the past month or so, meaning that most people are likely to be familiar with the features. There are a couple of notable exceptions including a huge engineering model dual-GPU card by Micro-Star International (MSI) and Gigabyte Technology's passively cooled lineup.
One of the issues that will be presented at least in the short term following the launch of Bearlake is the limited availability of DDR3 memory. To overcome this Asustek Computer has leveraged its in-house memory module production facilities in several ways. One method the company is planning to adopt is to bundle a pair of own-brand modules with certain motherboards. This is a fairly simple solution, while another option the company has come up with is to do away with DIMM slots and simply embed the memory on the motherboard.
It is becoming common to see heat-pipe cooling solutions used on the north and southbridge and even other critical parts of the motherboard, and Asus is talking things even further with its new Cool Mempipe. As the name suggest this solution extends the heat-pipe arrangement so that it cools the DIMM modules installed in a motherboard. Another variation on the heat-pipes at which can be seen at the booth is a version specially designed for systems that use water cooling. If you feel like you need a break from looking at motherboards for a moment we suggest you take at looks at Asus' new Xonar sound card too.
It might be a little harder to spot something interesting over at the MSI booth but that is not to say there is not anything. If you take a look round the back of some of the display models, you will see that MSI has tweaked the design of the USB ports in order to provide more spacing between slots.
While there are no products on show with this feature, you should also ask the MSI booth representatives about the company's plans to bring Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) to the desktop. As a storage interface typically found on higher-end servers, SAS offers performance benefits but at an extra cost, and yet MSI believes that there is enough market for it on the desktop.
Then there is the monster-sized dual-Radeon 2600 card. Similar products to this have been released with older generation GPUs, but this card from MSI is one of only a few we saw based on current technology. Of course, the card on show is only an engineering sample and when the product finally reaches the market you can expect the card to have been reduced from its current dimensions of around 150mm × 300mm.
Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) is taking its push for the own-brand motherboard market to the next level by targeting the enthusiast market with its latest products. The company believes that if it is able to appeal to gamers then this will help increase brand recognition for its entire product range. Foxconn's gaming boards will carry the new sub-brand Mars (as in the god of war according to the booth rep.) and will feature a thermal controlled fan in the heat-pipe cooling system, LED diagnostics, and will come in a few Bearlake-based variations, including a three PCIe slot version, and a DDR2 and DDR3 combo model.
Other than the quad-Crossfire system on show, most of Gigabytes new motherboards do not add any new features, but that is not necessarily a bad thing as Gigabyte has a reputation for high-quality products that fulfill expectations. On the graphics card side what is instantly apparent is that most of Gigabyte's products use a passive cooling solution. According to a Gigabyte representative, around 90% of all the cards Gigabyte ships use passive cooling, and it is only at the high-end where both AMD and Nvidia restrict card vendors to only using their reference designs that Gigabyte does not use a passive solution.
| Quick guide to motherboard and graphics card booths | ||
| Company name | Booth location (Hall 2 unless noted) | What's hot |
| Asustek Computer | F185 | DDR3 memory solutions for Bearlake motherboards |
| Micro-star International | E149 | Dual-2600 GPU card |
| TUL (PowerColor) | F290 | Complete Radeon 2000 series lineup |
| Shuttle | E067 | New XPC barebones |
| Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) | E133 | New gaming motherboards |
| Gigabyte Technology | E137 | Quad-Crossfire |
| USI (Abit) | E087E | Live overclocking demonstration |
| Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) | Hall 4, T3F2 | DTX form factor systems |
| VIA | F243 | NanoBook |
| Sparkle | E085E | GeForce graphics cards with integrated LCD temperature display |
| Tyan | E083E | Personal supercomputer |
| Leadtek Research | Hall 1, A726 | Quadro Plex visual computing system (VCS) |
| Intel | Hall 4, T401 | Bearlake chipsets |
| AMD | Hall 4, TF1I | DTX, Radeon 2000 series |
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Islam Presents Life-Death Challenge in Chad's Hospitals
In Africa, some Muslims interpret Islam's teachings to mean a husband has almost total control over his wife - including her health care. Even in cases when a procedure might save a woman's life, health-care workers will often wait for a man's approval to proceed. Phuong Tran visits a hospital in the Central African country of Chad, and has this report for VOA.
 |
| Patient Halime Mahamat with mother |
The patient is recovering from a caesarian section to deliver her child.
The head of the midwife team, Fatine Maloun, says the 29-year-old patient came to the hospital with problems in the first hours of her labor. The midwife told the patient's parents the woman needed a caesarian, but they refused.
The patient's mother said she could not decide because her daughter's husband was not at home to give permission. She adds she was not able to find any other men in the family to give permission in his absence.
Maloun says the patient came back two days later after a man gave permission for the operation. By then, the midwife says the patient had lost a lot of blood, developed an infection and a high fever.
The midwives operated, but the midwife says it was too late to save the baby.
 |
| Midwife Fatine Maloun with patient |
"When a woman comes to the hospital, first her husband must be consulted about her care," she explains. "Even if he agrees, her father must also. And her uncles. All the men have to agree. This delays the woman's care, but we have to wait."
Senegal-based sociologist Djiby Diakhate says Islam presents a challenge to doctors who are taught to save lives under all circumstances.
Diakhate says even though doctors take a professional vow to protect life, they must also obey cultural beliefs.
The sociologist says health care workers in Muslim countries must accept what many believe is taught by the Koran, Islam's religious text, that a woman is completely dependent on her husband to make all important decisions.
He says for the patient who lost her baby, the midwives could have saved the child's life, but he says they chose to follow tradition to not risk angering God.
Diakhate says Muslims prefer to follow traditions, preferring to sacrifice the life of one child rather than face widespread death and retaliation from an angry God and ancestors.
At the hospital, the mother of the recovering patient pulls down the mosquito net as her daughter falls asleep.
She says if she could have decided on her own, she would have told the midwives to operate sooner.
But she says it was not possible to make the decision.
International Health Officials Urge Stronger Response to Drug-Resistant TB
International public health officials are calling for a stronger global response to drug-resistant tuberculosis. The call was made after American lawyer Andrew Speaker, who is infected with a form of tuberculosis that is resistant to most antibiotics, traveled aboard commercial airliners from the United States to Europe and back. VOA's Jessica Berman reports.
Officials at the World Health Organization estimate there are at least 400,000 new cases of tuberculosis each year that do not respond to two or more standard antibiotics.
Of these, WHO experts say 25,000 to 30,000 individuals are infected with extremely drug-resistant TB, or XDR TB, which is resistant not only to two or more standard antibiotics, but three or more of a newer class of antibiotics.
Andrew Speaker, who lives in Atlanta, Georgia and flew to Europe and back with his fiance, is infected with XDR TB. Speaker has been in isolation since his return.
European public health officials were not notified about the case until Speaker was back in the United States.
Mario Raviglione is Director of the Stop TB Department at the WHO. Although governments are considering ways to improve screening of people with infectious diseases at the border, Raviglione says that would be difficult to implement.
What is needed, accorded to Raviglione, are better measures to contain XTR TB, including rapid testing and new drugs.
"Here we are facing one of the highest burden diseases of the world, where the amount of money that is being spent, particularly internationally to help countries that are in need like African countries, is badly, badly insufficient," he said.
Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers have introduced legislation to prevent the spread of tuberculosis in the United States, and at least one hearing is scheduled to investigate the Andrew Speaker incident.
OAS Head Will Not Push for Mission to Venezuela
The head of the Organization of American States says he will not press Venezuela to approve a mission to study questions about media freedom in the South American country. From Panama City, VOA's Brian Wagner reports the mission was proposed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during the regional group's annual meeting.
In a closing news conference at the Panama City meeting of the Organization of American States, Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza dismissed a U.S. call for him to travel to Venezuela to investigate media freedom.
 |
| Jose Miguel Insulza |
Insulza says it is too early to consider sending a mission to Venezuela to discuss the government's decision not to renew the broadcasting license of Radio Caracas Television. He says Venezuelan courts and the Inter-American Court on Human Rights are considering several legal motions about the decision.
The OAS chief also says the OAS charter requires any official mission receive the consent of the country being visited.
Insulza says recent comments from Venezuelan officials suggest that there is no such consent and, therefore, the mission would not be possible.
Venezuela's delegate to the OAS meeting, Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro, condemned Secretary Rice's request as an attempt to intervene in his nation's government. He says an OAS mission should travel to the United States to probe alleged human rights violations there.
He says the OAS charter is intended to be a tool for dialogue and consensus, not a tool for isolating or pressuring countries.
The OAS chief tried to keep the issue of RCTV off the agenda during the annual assembly, which was called to address energy concerns across the region. However, delegates from several countries issued comments on the matter and Panamanian journalists organized a protest to reject restrictions on press freedom.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Bush Visits Europe
President Bush heads to Europe Monday for the annual meeting of the leaders of the world's major industrialized nations, the G8 summit. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns previews Mr. Bush's trip.
The president's first stop is Prague, where he will meet with Czech leaders to discuss their contributions to Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as U.S. plans for a missile defense system in Europe.
That system is likely to be one of the most controversial topics of the president's trip. Russian President Vladimir Putin says Mr. Bush's plans to deploy the system signal the beginning of another arms race and Russia will not be left behind.
U.S. National Security Adviser Steve Hadley says the Bush Administration has repeatedly sought to reassure Moscow that the missile defense system is not about Russia.
"The systems we would deploy do not have capability of any significant character against Russian ICBMs destined for the - that are aimed at the United States. Just doesn't have any capability. It's a very limited capability about other states, like Iran, who are developing ballistic missiles and potentially the weapons of mass destruction that those missiles could deliver," he said. "So it's all about Iran."
Hadley says U.S. officials have been trying to convince Moscow for at least 18 years that they should view missile defense as an element of long-term security and an area of productive cooperation with the United States.
After Prague, President Bush goes to Germany Wednesday, where he will meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of a reception for the heads of state attending the annual Group of Eight summit of leading industrialized nations. The meeting will be held in the northern German city of Heiligendamm, a seaside resort on the Baltic Sea.
That summit formally gets under way Thursday with G8 leaders expected to discuss, among other topics, climate change and global trade talks. They will also meet with several African heads of state and leaders of the so-called G8 outreach countries: Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa.
While at the summit, President Bush will hold private meetings with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Nicholas Sarkozy, and President Putin.
Along with missile defense, the meeting with Mr. Putin is also expected to focus on the future of Kosovo. It will be President Bush's last formal meeting with Prime Minister Blair before he steps down later this month and his first with President Sarkozy since the new French leader took office.
President Bush then makes a brief stop in Poland, where he will discuss plans for the missile defense system before flying on to Rome to meet with Italian leaders for talks about Afghanistan, the Balkans, Lebanon, Kosovo, and Iran.
During the stop in Rome, the president and first lady will meet for the first time with Pope Benedict.
Mr. and Mrs. Bush then travel to Tirana, where he will be the first sitting U.S. President to make an official visit to Albania. National Security Adviser Hadley says Mr. Bush, in addition to meeting with Albanian leaders, will also hold talks with the prime ministers of Croatia and Macedonia. Hadley says the president plans to focus in his talks on the future of Kosovo and the desire of Albania to join NATO.
"He shares the dream of Albania as a vital part of a Europe that is whole, free, and at peace, and as a full-fledged member of the transatlantic community," said Hadley. "The president appreciates Albania's partnership in the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, and is grateful for Albania's constructive support for the Kosovo process and the Ahtisaari plan, and for the positive role it plays in the region."
The president's last stop is Bulgaria, which is now part of NATO and the European Union. Hadley says it is one of the strongest U.S. allies in the region and the president will express his gratitude for Bulgaria's support in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Charles Taylor Boycotts His War Crimes Trial in The Hague
The trial of Charles Taylor opened without the accused in the dock Monday in The Hague, as the former Liberian President boycotted the proceeding he called a "charade." The first African head of state to face international war crimes charges, Mr. Taylor is charged with 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in orchestrating the brutal 11-year civil war in neighboring Sierra Leone. VOA's Lauren Comiteau is following the trial from Amsterdam and files this report. 
Prosecutors and clerks in Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague, the Netherlands, 04 Jun 2007
It was supposed to be a historic opening to the trial of the former Liberian leader who prosecutors paint as a ruthless autocrat who caused death and destruction in Sierra Leone for his own benefit. But things turned dramatic as Mr. Taylor's lawyer, Karim Khan, tried to read out a letter from his client explaining why he thinks he won't get a fair trial and would therefore not attend.
"I cannot participate in a charade that does injustice to the people of Sierra Leone and Liberia and the people of Africa, and to the international community, in whose name this court claims to speak," he read. "I cannot, I choose not to be a figleaf of legitimacy for this process."
Mr. Taylor claims he has nowhere near the resources that prosecutors have. He has decided to defend himself, and he fired his lawyer. Mr. Khan then walked out of court, despite being ordered by the presiding judge to continue representing Mr. Taylor for the day. The judge then ruled the trial would go on with Mr. Khan's assistant representing Mr. Taylor, and she gave the floor to prosecutor Stephen Rapp.
He said Mr. Taylor was thumbing his nose at the court (was being disrespectful to the court), that just as he ignored the suffering of the people of Sierra Leone, he is now trying to ignore hearing the evidence of the crimes he committed. Prosecutor Rapp called the alleged crimes some of the "ugliest scenes of viciousness in recent memory" - crimes he said that were incomprehensible to the rest of the world.
"Human beings, young and old, mutilated. Rebels chopping off arms and legs, gouging out eyes, chopping at ears. Girls and women enslaved and sexually violated. Children committing some of the most awful crimes. The exploitation of the resources of Sierra Leone used, not for the benefit of its citizens, but to maim and kill its citizens. The very worst that human beings are capable of doing to one another," said Rapp.
Mr. Rapp says the evidence will show that Charles Taylor devised and executed the plan to take control of neighboring Sierra Leone in order to exploit its diamond wealth and install a friendlier, subordinate government to help him do it. He listed the names of those who helped Mr. Taylor achieve his goal, men the prosecution alleges were later ordered killed by Charles Taylor so they could not turn against him. Prosecutors expect to call some 140 witnesses and hope for an 18-month long trial. Things are already complicated by the fact that the trial is taking place in The Hague instead of in Freetown because of security concerns.
The trial will adjourn Monday until the end of the month to give Mr. Taylor more time to prepare his defense - a defense whose shape remains to be seen.
Summit of American Nations Opens to Address Energy Concerns
 |
| UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, left, and Jose Miguel Insulza, Secretary General of the Organization of American States, OAS, aplaude during the opening ceremony of the 37th OAS General Assembly in Panama City, Sunday, 3 June 2007 |
Delegates from the 34 member nations of the Organization of American States gathered in the national theater in Panama City for the opening session of the annual general assembly.
Speaking to delegates, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon welcomed plans to discuss the role stable energy supplies have in sustaining economic development and alleviating poverty.
He said the Americas region has emerged as a world leader in the development of biofuels, which are mainly produced in Brazil and the United States. Mr. Ban also praised efforts to boost energy efficiency and environmental sustainability, especially amid growing concerns about the impacts of climate change.
The U.N. chief warned that climate change may prevent countries from fulfilling Millennium Development goals of cutting poverty and ensuring environmental sustainability by the target date of 2015.
"We have arrived at a tipping point. Global warming could seriously impair our ability to reach the goals and even reverse achievements in human development," Mr. Ban said.
Mr. Ban said the United Nations has been working closely with the OAS on energy issues, as well as peace-building and electoral projects around the region.
OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza also spoke to delegates, to address concerns over poverty, crime and corruption. He said one key fear is the growing influence of money from organized crime and drug trafficking on politics in some nations.
Mr. Insulza says leaders must pay attention to political financing not only to avoid inequality, but to ensure that crime and politics do not become a threat to the region's democracies.
Meetings of foreign ministers and other OAS delegates are to continue over the next two days before officials release the final declaration of the assembly.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is to attend meetings Monday in Panama City, where officials say she will discuss U.S.-led alternative energy projects and pending free trade agreements with Latin American nations.
Brazil President Visits India to Boost Trade Ties
Brazil's President and a delegation of more than 100 Brazilian business executives are in India to boost trade ties. As VOA's Steve Herman reports from New Delhi, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, says the two countries should use their rapidly increasing clout to exert more influence over world economics and politics.
Brazil's president,
 |
| Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva |
The three-day state visit comes as Brazil and India have both become trillion dollar economies. After Mr. da Silva met Monday with Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh, the two leaders witnessed their trade officials sign a number of economic cooperation agreements, including one giving Brazil's Petrobras a share of three oil exploration blocks on India's eastern coast.
The burgeoning relationship between the two countries goes beyond business. Speaking to corporate leaders here, Mr. da Silva called on India to join Brazil to use their combined clout to lead the G20 alliance of developing nations.
He says the time has passed for either India or Brazil to use physical distance to justify disinterest. He added that the United States and the European Union could no longer negotiate agreements with the developing world unless they contend with India and Brazil.
The two nations are key players in the stalled Doha Round of world trade talks - putting up a formidable barrier to positions being advanced by the U.S. and European Union.
India and Brazil also advocate restructuring the United Nations Security Council with both countries saying they deserve a permanent seat at that table.
This visit's focus is on trade however, and India's minister of state for external affairs, Anand Sharma, announced that chief executive officers have pledged to quadruple the value of Indian-Brazilian commerce by 2010.
 |
| Anand Sharma |
India hopes to take advantage of technology Brazil has acquired as an agriculture superpower while Brazil desires Indian know-how in the pharmaceutical sector.
India, with dire energy requirements, hopes to make up for some of its shortfalls by tapping Brazilian uranium reserves - the world's largest - and the South American nation's bio-fuels capacity.
New Analysis Shows Dramatic Link Between Smoking and Asthma
 |
| As rates of cigarette smoking increase, study shows a corresponding rise in asthma |
But epidemiologist Rene Goodwin from Columbia University in New York says there are only four things proven to cause the onset of asthma. "There's a family history of asthma, there's a family history of allergies, and then there's the exposure to cockroach allergen, and then there's exposure to environmental tobacco smoke."
Goodwin examined trends of smoking in the United States and compared them to reported rates of asthma. She took data from a study that followed 4,500 children for 15 years. "We took the rates of asthma in each age group under 18 and graphed that," she explains. "And then the US Department of Agriculture provides data on cigarette tobacco consumption from 1900 to 2000 and we took that information and graphed that as well."
As rates of cigarette smoking increased, Goodwin saw a corresponding rise in asthma. She also found that asthma rates were 2.5 times greater in children whose mothers smoked a half a pack a day indoors than in those children whose mothers smoked fewer cigarettes.
She says that while rates of smoking have been dropping across the United States, they're not dropping uniformly. "I found data that suggests that the same populations where you see asthma rising the most you see smoking continuing to rise… young women are the biggest group of new smokers. And also, while there are some declines in smoking overall, the decline is most steep in men."
Goodwin says environmental tobacco smoke is becoming more prevalent in developing countries where cigarette manufacturers are looking for new markets, and advertising heavily. She urges epidemiologists to start tracking the incidence of asthma in those countries to see if it rises along with rates of smoking.
Goodwin's research appears in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
1Q07 Top Semiconductor sales leaders
IC Insights' May update to The McClean Report describes the big shakeup in the 1Q07 top 20 semiconductor supplier ranking (Figure 1).
The first quarter inventory correction in the IC industry helped cause a great deal of movement up and down the list in 1Q07 as compared to the full-year 2006 rankings. A summary of the changes that took place in the 1Q07 ranking, as compared to 2006, are shown below:
• Sony, Hynix, and Toshiba each gained two positions in 1Q07. Spurred by increasing internal transfers for its PS3 game machines, Sony moved into the top 10 ranking and currently resides in 9th place. Hynix moved from 7th to 5th while Toshiba jumped past TI and ST to secure the number 3 ranking.
• In spite of early 2007 DRAM pricing weakness, Micron jumped three places to become the 11th largest semiconductor supplier, only $19 million behind 10th-ranked NXP.
• Another big DRAM supplier, Elpida, gained five positions in the ranking, rising from being ranked 23rd in 2006 to 18th in 1Q07.
• Other companies climbing in the ranking include Qimonda and Qualcomm, each moving up two positions.
• The companies that fell in the 1Q07 ranking include TI, ST, TSMC, Freescale, NEC, AMD, IBM, and Fujitsu. Of these eight companies, AMD fell the furthest and went from being ranked 13th in 2006 to 17th in 1Q07.
IC Insights expects to see continued DRAM and flash memory pricing volatility over the next eight months, the end of most of the major IC inventory adjustments by the end of June, and a seasonal rebound in overall IC demand beginning in August. Together, these three factors are likely to continue to cause significant movement in the top 20 semiconductor ranking throughout 2007.
• Sony, Hynix, and Toshiba each gained two positions in 1Q07. Spurred by increasing internal transfers for its PS3 game machines, Sony moved into the top 10 ranking and currently resides in 9th place. Hynix moved from 7th to 5th while Toshiba jumped past TI and ST to secure the number 3 ranking.
• In spite of early 2007 DRAM pricing weakness, Micron jumped three places to become the 11th largest semiconductor supplier, only $19 million behind 10th-ranked NXP.
• Another big DRAM supplier, Elpida, gained five positions in the ranking, rising from being ranked 23rd in 2006 to 18th in 1Q07.
• Other companies climbing in the ranking include Qimonda and Qualcomm, each moving up two positions.
• The companies that fell in the 1Q07 ranking include TI, ST, TSMC, Freescale, NEC, AMD, IBM, and Fujitsu. Of these eight companies, AMD fell the furthest and went from being ranked 13th in 2006 to 17th in 1Q07.
IC Insights expects to see continued DRAM and flash memory pricing volatility over the next eight months, the end of most of the major IC inventory adjustments by the end of June, and a seasonal rebound in overall IC demand beginning in August. Together, these three factors are likely to continue to cause significant movement in the top 20 semiconductor ranking throughout 2007.
South Korea in Danger of losing DRAM Domination, iSuppli CEO Warns
South Korean companies, which long have been the dominant force in the global DRAM industry, are in danger of losing their unit production lead to foreign rivals within the next three years, according to Derek Lidow, president and chief executive officer of the market-research firm iSuppli Corp.
Speaking here today at the Seoul Digital Forum, Lidow said South Korea's DRAM manufacturers remain the leading players in the global market for now. The major South Korean DRAM makers, Samsung Electronic Co. Ltd. and Hynix Semiconductor Inc., controlled 45 percent of global DRAM revenue in 2006, compared to 17 percent for Taiwanese/Chinese companies. In terms of unit production, the market shares are very different.
Lidow predicted that South Korean companies in 2007 will account for 47 percent of total DRAM unit production, compared to 31 percent for Taiwan/China and 22 percent for other regions.
However, this gap will begin to close in 2008, as Taiwanese/Chinese manufacturers increase their DRAM unit output by 4 percentage points to 35 percent, and the South Koreans' share declines to 46 percent.
"South Korean companies are adding DRAM manufacturing capacity, but this is contributing significantly to the collapse in pricing for the memory this year," Lidow said in an address to event attendees. "These price declines will cause South Korean manufacturers to reduce DRAM output growth next year. Meanwhile, Taiwanese/Chinese suppliers will increase their output, and may surpass the South Korean manufacturers in DRAM manufacturing capacity by 2010."
The attached figure presents iSuppli's estimate and forecast of global DRAM production by region.
This potential shift in the regional balance of power in DRAM reflects a major turn in market conditions, Lidow said.
"The DRAM market has grown because of added manufacturing capacity, but this has required
DRAM suppliers to drastically cut prices in order to sell their output," Lidow said. "Prices now are below cash production costs for many suppliers. Annual DRAM revenue growth peaked in March, and is in the midst of a deceleration that will continue until March 2008."
DRAM makers are already feeling the pain, with the industry as a whole expected to suffering double-digit negative DRAM Operating Profit Margins (OPM) in the second quarter. Profitability is likely to hit bottom at the end of June or in early July.
With prices for DRAM at extremely low levels, PC OEMs have begun accumulating inventory.
Fortunately for the South Korean companies, the market for the other major variety of memory they supply—NAND-type flash—reached its low point in the first quarter and profits now are beginning to recover.
On the positive side for the South Korean manufacturers, the decline of their DRAM domination may translate directly into increasing their lead in NAND.
"The South Korean DRAM suppliers will shift capacity away from DRAM and toward NAND, which
is expected to be more profitable over time," Lidow said.
Korean suppliers are not in danger of losing their brand leadership because much of the Taiwan/China production is private-label and destined to be sold under other brand names, such as Qimonda and Elpida.
"The challenge is faced by Korea as a strategic manufacturing location, because there are many more Taiwanese and Chinese companies that can invest in such capital-intensive industries than there are Korean memory suppliers," Lidow said. "Korea's manufacturing and investment base is highly concentrated and this makes it very challenging for the nation to maintain long-term leadership in capital-intensive areas, in spite of its superior technology and operational excellence."
Global DRAM revenue will rise to $45.7 billion in 2010, up 35 percent from $33.9 billion in 2006. NAND flash revenue will increase to $21.5 billion in 2010, up 74 percent from $12.4 billion in 2006.
Korean suppliers still are dominating the DRAM and NAND markets. However, it will be very challenging for them to keep their lead in both spaces. Beyond Taiwanese/Chinese sales growth, more memory suppliers are forming partnerships to compete against the Korean firms.
Lidow predicted that South Korean companies in 2007 will account for 47 percent of total DRAM unit production, compared to 31 percent for Taiwan/China and 22 percent for other regions.
However, this gap will begin to close in 2008, as Taiwanese/Chinese manufacturers increase their DRAM unit output by 4 percentage points to 35 percent, and the South Koreans' share declines to 46 percent.
"South Korean companies are adding DRAM manufacturing capacity, but this is contributing significantly to the collapse in pricing for the memory this year," Lidow said in an address to event attendees. "These price declines will cause South Korean manufacturers to reduce DRAM output growth next year. Meanwhile, Taiwanese/Chinese suppliers will increase their output, and may surpass the South Korean manufacturers in DRAM manufacturing capacity by 2010."
The attached figure presents iSuppli's estimate and forecast of global DRAM production by region.
This potential shift in the regional balance of power in DRAM reflects a major turn in market conditions, Lidow said.
"The DRAM market has grown because of added manufacturing capacity, but this has required
DRAM suppliers to drastically cut prices in order to sell their output," Lidow said. "Prices now are below cash production costs for many suppliers. Annual DRAM revenue growth peaked in March, and is in the midst of a deceleration that will continue until March 2008."
DRAM makers are already feeling the pain, with the industry as a whole expected to suffering double-digit negative DRAM Operating Profit Margins (OPM) in the second quarter. Profitability is likely to hit bottom at the end of June or in early July.
With prices for DRAM at extremely low levels, PC OEMs have begun accumulating inventory.
Fortunately for the South Korean companies, the market for the other major variety of memory they supply—NAND-type flash—reached its low point in the first quarter and profits now are beginning to recover.
On the positive side for the South Korean manufacturers, the decline of their DRAM domination may translate directly into increasing their lead in NAND.
"The South Korean DRAM suppliers will shift capacity away from DRAM and toward NAND, which
is expected to be more profitable over time," Lidow said.
Korean suppliers are not in danger of losing their brand leadership because much of the Taiwan/China production is private-label and destined to be sold under other brand names, such as Qimonda and Elpida.
"The challenge is faced by Korea as a strategic manufacturing location, because there are many more Taiwanese and Chinese companies that can invest in such capital-intensive industries than there are Korean memory suppliers," Lidow said. "Korea's manufacturing and investment base is highly concentrated and this makes it very challenging for the nation to maintain long-term leadership in capital-intensive areas, in spite of its superior technology and operational excellence."
Global DRAM revenue will rise to $45.7 billion in 2010, up 35 percent from $33.9 billion in 2006. NAND flash revenue will increase to $21.5 billion in 2010, up 74 percent from $12.4 billion in 2006.
Korean suppliers still are dominating the DRAM and NAND markets. However, it will be very challenging for them to keep their lead in both spaces. Beyond Taiwanese/Chinese sales growth, more memory suppliers are forming partnerships to compete against the Korean firms.
Samsung reportedly suspends DRAM shipments to PC OEMs amid weak pricing
A persistent seasonal weakness in demand is still weighing on memory chipmakers, prompting Samsung Electronics to suspend its supply to PC OEMs, including Dell and Hewlett-Packard (HP), according to industry sources. Hynix Semiconductor and Nanya Technology, on the other hand, have grabbed this chance to increase their supply to these PC OEMs, the sources added.
Since demand for memory is still weak at the moment, PC OEMs are aggressively requesting for lower quotes. They are now requesting prices of US$14 and US$28 for 512MB and 1GB DDR2 modules, respectively. According to DRAMeXchange, contract prices for 512MB DDR2-533 and a 1GB DDR2-667 modules were US$17.50 and US$35, respectively, in the second half of May.
With some DRAM makers already seeing prices being eroded below production costs, Samsung took the lead in rejecting such low prices by suspending its supply, the sources noted. However, rivals Hynix and Nanya have utilized this chance to increase their supply to PC OEMs.
Local DRAM module makers are already seeing their suppliers tending to be cautious about supply these days. When the spot price of DRAM edged to US$1.30 earlier, some DRAM makers started holding their stock to prevent further losses while having their capacity allocated to other products to compensate the lost from DRAM production.
According to Transcend Information, the recent price rebound seen in the spot market is a reflection of DRAM makers' suspended supply to the market, though the price rebound is coming at a relatively rapid pace. Kingmax Semiconductor observes a similar trend, and hopes that a healthier price trend will be seen after mid-June.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
President Bush Seeks Extension of AIDS Relief Program
United States President, George Bush Wednesday asked Congress to provide an additional 30 billion dollars to be used to fight the worldwide HIV/AIDS epidemic for the next five years. The money is expected to extend the mandate of the President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief, which is due to expire in September 2008. Mr. Bush also announced his intention to double the initial 15 billion dollar commitment, already considered the largest international health initiative dedicated to a specific disease.
Ambassador Mark Dybul is the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator. From the Washington D.C. he talked with VOA about the significance of President Bush's announcement.
"The significance of President Bush's announcement is that the American people will stand with the people around the world to fight against HIV/AIDS for at least a ten-year period, a decade of compassion generosity and hope. That we will continue to support the expansion of services and continue the services of those receiving them, it means individuals and communities would be transformed. And we are going to do it in way that it continues to support their effort to tackle their efforts that build hope, that creates the environment of hope," Ambassador Dybul said.
He called on the rest of the world to join the United States efforts in fighting the deadly HIV/AIDS disease.
"What we need is for the rest of the world to respond in similar way. With this massive commitment of resources, it is still not enough. We need the rest of the world, both developed and developing countries, particularly middle-income countries to do the same. If they all respond in the same way that the president has done on behalf of the American people, we can tackle this epidemic," he said.
Ambassador Dybul said President Bush's announcement would go a long way in reaching out and helping those living with the disease.
"As President Bush pointed out, we would be able to expand from supporting treatment for two million to two point five million. In fact he announced today (Wednesday) currently, the American people are supporting treatment for one point one million people. So from this point forward it would more than double the number of people receiving therapy. They would support prevention for 12 million new infections and support care for 10 million, including five million orphans and vulnerable children," he said.
He reiterated the president's initiative would give hope to people living with the HIV/AIDS.
"What that means is will prevent infections so that the parents can stay alive to take care of their children, will take care of people who are suffering from this epidemic and who would otherwise die. HIV/AIDS is a death sentence without care and treatment, what it means is communities will remain whole. What it means is communities would have hope and would continue to tackle not only HIV, but also other problems in their communities… the American people have been there to support people on the ground," he pointed out.
Ambassador Dybul said the president's initiative would be expanding the successes it has so far achieved.
"The president outlined new goals for preventing care and treatment programs and what would we be doing is expanding the great success so far… but that success is working in countries with folks in country from all sectors… to support their efforts to tackle their epidemic, have the American people partner with other people in the world, so that they own their epidemic, and they own their response and have hope because of that," he said.
Ambassador Dybul explained some of the achievements the president had chalked with his initiative.
"President bush has doubled development over all and quadrupled development resources for Africa in his tenure. And so we are going to be connecting with all of the programs that the president has been expanding," he said.
Uganda Govt Proposes Traditional Justice System for LRA Rebels
Another round of peace talks between the Ugandan government and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels aimed at ending almost twenty years of the rebels insurgency begins today (Thursday) in the Southern Sudanese capital, Juba. On the eve of the talks, the government Wednesday advocated the use of the traditional clan-based justice systems as an alternative to jail sentences in dealing with rebel war crimes. The ritual involves a murderer facing relatives of the victim and admitting his crime before both drink a bitter brew made from a tree root mixed with sheep's blood. But the LRA rebels insist they would refuse to sign any deal unless the International Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrants against its top leadership are withdrawn.
Major Felix Kulayigye is the spokesman for Uganda's ministry of defense. From the capital, Kampala he told VOA that the government is responding to the wish of the victims of the rebels.
"The government is responding to the people's wishes, the people in northern Uganda who have indeed appealed to the government to offer an opportunity to the rebels under the traditional justice mechanism, which not only attends to impunity, but also heals the wounds of the victims," Kulayigye said.
He said the ICC would only consider lifting the arrest warrants against the rebels' leadership only if the ongoing peace talks are successfully concluded.
"Once the talks are successful and they accept to subject themselves to the traditional system, the ICC is willing to give that chance. But minus offering themselves to the traditional system, then the ICC would have no conviction that indeed that impunity, justice and accountability would be addressed," he pointed out.
Kulayigye reiterated the Uganda government has very little influence on the ICC-issued arrest warrants against the rebel leadership.
"Of course you know the ICC warrants indeed are controlled by the ICC, not the government of Uganda. I'm saying that whereas the referral was made by the government of Uganda the powers to withdraw or even suspend the ICC warrants rests with the International Criminals Court itself. The government can only engage the ICC when it has a package that would act as an alternative. Minus that package, there is nothing the government can do. Actually, the ICC wouldn't understand the government," Kulayigye noted.
He chided the LRA's second in command Vincent Otti for saying that the rebels would rather continue fighting if the ICC warrants are not lifted.
"Otti's statement is actually not in good faith because the issue of the ICC warrants were highly explained by the experts who by the way happened to come from the same place as the indicted. So they explained the spirit, the operation and the workings of the ICC. And indeed the government can only engage the ICC, once there is a package that is convincing enough to prove that impunity would be addressed at the same time the victims would be reconciled with the perpetrators," Kulayigye said.
President Mbeki's Zimbabwe Mediation Criticized
South African President Thabo Mbeki's role as a mediator between Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe and the opposition MDC is being criticized. Mbeki is mandated by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to mediate between the government and the opposition. But some opposition members of South Africa's parliament say President Mbeki has shown leniency and even favoritism toward President Mugabe.
Wetshotsile Seremane is the spokesman on African affairs for the opposition Democratic Alliance. He explained to VOA why the opposition in South Africa is not pleased with President Mbeki's mediation role.
"The reason is that they are putting conditions for the opposition that they must cease being violent; they must accept that it is a legitimate government. This is very wrong. When you mediate, you don't take sides. You try to equalize the situation. You ask all parties that they must not be violent against each other. But in this case when you tell the victims that they must not be violent, and at the same time they must change their opinion in terms of whether they regard the unfair election that were not free as fraudulent, it is being unfair," he said.
Seremane said the South African opposition perceives President Mbeki's mediation strategy as favoring President Mugabe of Zimbabwe.
"We are not passing judgment. We are saying whatever you do, do it on an even-handed manner. To use the old idiom, what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Don't try and be careless as though you have got a certain bias to others and not to others too," Seremane said.
South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dllamini-Zuma had reportedly told critics to stop taking a war approach to President Mbeki's mediation efforts.
But Seremane described the minister's comments as those of a pseudo-democrat who does not want to use the tenets of democracy.
"What she is doing, she's being very reckless and childish in a sense that people are dying there. You can report me as saying that it is absolute nonsense and irresponsibility to say all is well let's forget about it. The people are suffering in Zimbabwe, and they are transferring over here. And if we fold our hands, there's going to be trouble in South Africa and the whole southern Africa area will burn," he said.
Seremane said President Mugabe's criticism that some MDC members had been getting training in South Africa to cause trouble in Zimbabwe is typical of most dictators.
"If you look at all dictators, that's cheap propaganda they have been using. Sometime I think that everywhere there is a tonic, it must be an enemy of Africa. As I pointed out, there is a prophetic composer. He said our problem that is in Africa, we keep on complaining that we are suffering. But if we look deep into ourselves, we are our own creator of this suffering because we are afraid to confront each other," Seremane said.
He said it is a figment of President Mugabe's own imagination that Britain or the opposition in South Africa is seeking his overthrow.
"The opposition in South Africa wants Zimbabwe to succeed as it has the potential to be some country that we can be proud of. But power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Now we can say the police have gone out of their minds. If you just say the government is doing this which is wrong, you 're dead. Our Bantustans were just like that," Seremane said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
