DTN News: President Barack Obama Receives Hero's Welcome On Ghana Visit

DTN News: President Barack Obama Receives Hero's Welcome On Ghana Visit

*Source: DTN News

(NSI News Source Info) ACCRA, Ghana - July 11, 2009: Barack Obama said Ghana could be a model of success for other African countries as he arrived today after the G8 summit for a visit meant to show that "Africa is not separate from world affairs". President Barack Obama does a pass and review of members of the Ghanaian military at the Presidential Palace in Accra, Ghana, Saturday, July 11, 2009. In his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa since taking office, President Barack Obama is seeking to lift up the continent of his ancestors while keeping its emotions in check. On his first trip to Africa since taking office, the US president was given a hero's welcome in the country's capital, Accra. Thousands of people wearing Obama T-shirts thronged the streets, cheering and waving as his motorcade swept past. Walls and utility poles were plastered with posters of Obama and John Atta Mills, the country's president, as well as the word "change" – the mantra of Obama's presidential election campaign. Other posters showed the president and his wife, Michelle, with the greeting "Ghana loves you". Obama and his family arrived late last night from the G8 summit in Italy, where the world's richest nations agreed on a $20bn (£12.4bn) food security plan to help poor nations feed themselves during the global recession. Speaking in Italy before he left, Obama said: "There is no reason why Africa cannot be self-sufficient when it comes to food." Today, Obama is to address Ghana's parliament with a speech that is expected to emphasise that the key to prosperity is democratic, accountable government. Last night, Obama portrayed Ghana as a success in a continent beset by corruption and poor governance. "Part of the reason that we're travelling to Ghana is because you've got a functioning democracy, a president who's serious about reducing corruption and you've seen significant economic growth," he said. The Obamas will visit Gold Coast Castle, a former British slave trading post. Michelle Obama is a great-great granddaughter of slaves. John Atta Mills, the president of Ghana, walks alongside US President Barack Obama upon arrival at the Presidential Castle in Accra, Ghana, on July 11, 2009. The visit marks Obama's first to subsaharan Africa as president. Obama, who will address parliament Saturday, said before the trip that he had chosen Ghana as his first trip to sub-Saharan Africa because it was an example of a "functioning democracy" in the conflict-scarred continent. The visit comes as the US plans a much more assertive policy in Africa, using both diplomacy and the threat of force to end the protracted conflicts in Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria, which are seen as two of the main obstacles to the continent's progress. "This is both a special and an important visit for him personally as president, but also for our country to articulate a vision for Africa," said Robert Gibbs, the White House spokesman. Despite the enthusiastic reception from ordinary Ghanians, no major public events have been planned during Obama's 21-hour visit, for fear it could cause a celebratory stampede, as almost happened during a 1998 stop by Bill Clinton.

DTN News: G8 Summit In Italy Ends With Food Aid Pledge To Poor Nations

DTN News: G8 Summit In Italy Ends With Food Aid Pledge To Poor Nations

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) L'Aquila, Italy - July 10, 2009: Leaders of the G8 developed nations wound up talks in Italy Friday with a pledge of $20 billion to boost food supplies in poor nations. Commitments to food security and to stem global warming were among the highlights of the meeting. U.S. President Barack Obama said this was a summit of consensus - on dealing with the global economic crisis, climate change, on nuclear non-proliferation, on Iran - and a pledge to help achieve food security for the poorest countries.

U.S. President Barack Obama, right, shares a word with India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during a round table meeting at the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy on Friday, July 10, 2009. World leaders will meet with leaders of African nations ahead of an expected announcement of a new food security proposal that could represent a fundamental shift in the way the West tackles world hunger.

"We have committed $20 billion in food security, agricultural development programs to help fight world hunger. This is in addition to emergency humanitarian aid that we provide," he said.The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization welcomed the announcement, as an "encouraging policy shift to help the poor and hungry.

Many international aid organizations are cautiously positive. Development activist Kumi Naido of the Global Campaign Against Hunger, remains skeptical until more details of the plan become clear.

"We would see this as a belated small step in the right direction. How much of it is in the right direction will depend on the details because one of the favorite pastimes of the G8 is recycling old commitments and one of the things our researchers are looking at now is whether this is in fact a restating of old commitments," said Naido.

Aid organizations have been calling on the G8 to live up to past pledges of food and development assistance. The L'Aquila summit also focused on climate change. G8 leaders and partners from major emerging economies, including India, China and Brazil, agreed that global temperatures should not rise by more than an average of two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

G8 members also pledged to work toward an 80 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050. While developing nations have committed themselves to negotiating cuts, they have not yet agreed on specifics.

President Obama called it a historic consensus, but acknowledged it was only a first step with major work still ahead.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the 2050 targets are too far in the future and that more needs to be done sooner. Many aid and environmental groups also say progress is too little and too slow.

Meredith Alexander of the international group, ActionAid, says developed nations can and should do more."It's nice that they referenced the 2-degree figure in their statement, but it's really not enough. G8 leaders and other rich countries need to be putting more money on the table and they need to be accepting much deeper cuts," said Alexander. G8 and G5 leaders in L'Aquila, Italy, 9 July 2009 ~ Left to right: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Manmohan Singh, Barack Obama, Gordon Brown, Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel, Stephen Harper, Silvio Berlusconi, Taro Aso, Dmitry Medvedev, Fredrik Reinfeldt, Felipe Calderon. G8website/Ansa photo by: Massimo Percossi

This G8 summit took place, not in a major world capital or plush resort, but rather in central Italy, in an area devastated by a powerful earthquake just three months ago, in which nearly 300 people were killed. Many of the world leaders visited some of the worst hit areas.

And, there was much talk about the continued relevance of the G8 - a group originally established in 1975 to include then the world's six most developed economies. Some of the leaders here in L'Aquila, including President Obama agreed that other nations must be brought in and reforms made. Many say it has become evident that while the G8 still represents some of the world's most powerful countries, they alone cannot solve global problems - not without the help of others.

DTN News: Libyan Leader Colonel Muammar Meets Prime Minister Gordon Brown And Greets President Barack Obama At The G8 Summit In L'Aquila, Italy

DTN News: Libyan Leader Colonel Muammar Meets Prime Minister Gordon Brown And Greets President Barack Obama At The G8 Summit In L'Aquila, Italy

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) L'Aquila, Italy - July 10, 2009: The talks, behind closed doors, are believed to be the first time Mr Brown has met Muammar Gaddafi, who was an international pariah for many years after the Lockerbie bombing, for which Libya was blamed. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown holds a bilateral meeting with Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi on the morning of the third day of the G8 summit on July 10, 2009 in L'Aquila, Italy. The talks are being held close to the site of a devastating earthquake in April of this year. The leaders are expected to discuss climate change, global security and the global recession. A Downing Street spokesman told Sky News the meeting lasted 40 minutes and was "good and businesslike". The pair began by discussing the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and went on to talk about the economy, Africa's representation on the world stage and the Lockerbie bombing. "Gordon Brown expressed admiration for the brave decision Col Gaddafi had taken on Libya's nuclear programmes," the spokesman said. He added it was "important that we find ways for other countries to follow Libya's example". The African country eliminated all of its nuclear materials, equipment and programmes in 2003-2004 with US and British supervision. Sky's Alex Rossi, in L'Aquila, said: "Although nothing is likely to come out of this particular meeting, it is a very significant step. U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi before a dinner at the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy, July 9, 2009. Leaders of the Group of Eight major industrial nations and the main developing economies are meeting in the central Italian city of L'Aquila until Friday to discuss issues ranging from global economic stimulus to climate change and oil prices. "The overall message now is that Libya has not only been brought in from the cold, but it also shows how far Libya has travelled from international pariah to what the Government is now calling a strategic partner." In 2004, Mr Brown's predecessor Tony Blair flew to Libya for talks in Mr Gaddafi's tent, after the Libyan leader had given up his country's weapons of mass destruction and accepted responsibility for Lockerbie. Britain severed relations with Libya for two decades after shots fired from the Libyan embassy in London killed WPC Yvonne Fletcher, who was policing a demonstration. On Thursday, Col Gaddafi also shook hands with US President Barack Obama at the summit, breaking a long history of hostility between the two countries. Mr Obama was the first US president the Libyan leader has met after relations broke down between Libya and America over the African nation's support for terrorist groups. America designated Libya a "state sponsor of terrorism" in 1979 and President Ronald Reagan ordered Libyan assets in the US to be frozen in January 1986. Relations sank further when Libya was blamed by the US for the deadly bombing of a Berlin disco frequented by American military personnel. Libyan Leader Moamer Kadhafi arrives for a meeting of the Group of Eight (G8) and participating African countries at the G8 summit in L'Aquila, in central Italy, on July 10, 2009. Kadhafi held talks early today with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown who told him that richer nations should not renege on their commitments just because times were getting tougher, according to a Downing Street spokesman. G8 leaders, including an Africa-bound Barack Obama, vowed today to stand by the world's poor despite the downturn, unveiling a 15 billion dollar boost for food production. In retaliation, US aircraft bombed Tripoli, Benghazi and Mr Gaddafi's home in April 1986, killing his adopted infant daughter. Two years later, Libya was blamed for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Scotland that killed 270 people.

DTN News: China Says Urumqi 'Under Control' After Show Of Force / Ethnic Violence Continues In Urumqi Despite Chinese Show Of Force

DTN News: China Says Urumqi 'Under Control' After Show Of Force / Ethnic Violence Continues In Urumqi Despite Chinese Show Of Force

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) BEIJING, China - July 9, 2009: Authorities said the restive Chinese city of Urumqi was "under control" Wednesday following sporadic violence as mobs wielding makeshift weapons roamed despite a massive security presence. Chinese soldiers wearing riot gear sit in the back of a military truck as they patrol the streets of Urumqi, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, in China July 6, 2009. At least 140 people have been killed in rioting in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang, with the government blaming exiled separatists for the Muslim area's worst case of unrest in years. Hundreds of rioters have been arrested, the official Xinhua news agency reported, after rock-throwing Uighur people took to the streets of the regional capital on Sunday, some burning and smashing vehicles and confronting ranks of anti-riot police. President Hu Jintao abandoned a Group of Eight summit in Italy, in what observers said was an unprecedented move, to tackle one of China's worst spikes in ethnic tensions in decades. In Urumqi, the capital of the remote northwest Xinjiang region where 156 people died in unrest on Sunday, army helicopters circled overhead as thousands of soldiers and riot police filled the city shouting out "protect the people". "We support this," said a 45-year-old Han Chinese as he watched the troops roll by in trucks. "But they should have got here sooner. It took them three days to do this. Why so long?" After authorities blamed Muslim Uighurs for Sunday's unrest that also left more than 1,000 people injured, Han Chinese took to the streets Tuesday with shovels, meat cleavers and other makeshift weapons vowing to defend themselves. After a night-time curfew was declared on Tuesday, Chinese authorities appeared determined to show they were able to maintain order. Thousands of riot police wearing helmets and carrying shields lined up on a main road in Urumqi dividing the city centre from a Uighur district, with columns of soldiers behind them. The security build-up had an impact with fewer people wielding weapons taking to the streets, and Urumqi mayor Jerla Isamudin told reporters in the late afternoon that the situation in the city was "under control". He also warned that anyone found guilty of murder in connection to the unrest would be given the death penalty. Official news agency Xinhua said late Wednesday that the city "appeared to be calm" but added "sporadic standoffs and clashes were still reported." Tensions remained high, with some Han Chinese and Uighurs continuing to arm themselves with sticks, poles, knives and other weapons, leading to confrontations and violence, according to AFP reporters. In one of two attacks witnessed by AFP reporters, about 20 Han Chinese men armed with wooden bats attacked a Uighur man in central Urumqi. The beating stopped after about one minute when security forces moved in to disperse the mob, the AFP reporter said, while a local Han Chinese woman said the victim was a Uighur man. The extent of the man's injuries was unclear, as he was quickly taken away. In the second incident, a group of Han Chinese saw three Uighurs at an intersection and chased them. Two of the Uighurs escaped, but a third was caught by some of the crowd and he was assaulted for around 30 seconds, before police took him away. AFP reporters said he had blood on his face after the beating. In another incident, about 200 Uighurs armed with sticks, pipes and rocks began protesting directly in front of a police cordon that was dividing their neighbourhood from a Han-populated area, an AFP reporter witnessed. A Chinese military helicopter is seen circling the city of Urumqi, western China's Xinjiang province, Wednesday, July 8, 2009. Sobbing Muslim women scuffled with riot police, and Chinese men wielding steel pipes, meat cleavers and sticks rampaged through the streets Tuesday as ethnic tensions worsened in China's oil-rich Xinjiang territory, forcing officials to declare a curfew. The crowd of Uighurs grew after a helicopter dropped leaflets blaming Sunday's unrest on exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, but they also claimed police had overnight allowed Han Chinese to freely attack Muslim areas. In a BBC interview on Wednesday, Kadeer blamed Chinese policies for the violent unrest and claimed the death toll from riots was "much higher" than the 156 stated by Beijing. Xinhua late Wednesday reported government sources as saying they had evidence the riot was "instigated and masterminded" by Kadeer, citing "recordings of calls" which referred to unrest ahead of the rioting. China's state media said Wednesday over 100 people "killed by rioters" in the initial violence had been identified, providing the first partial breakdown of the death toll. Highlighting the severity of the crisis, the government announced President Hu had cut short his trip to Italy for the G8 summit. "I have never seen a Chinese president shorten a trip abroad before... there is clear concern," said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, professor of political science at Hong Kong Baptist University. Xinjiang's eight million Uighurs make up nearly half the population of the region, a vast area of deserts and mountains rich in natural resources that borders Central Asia. The Turkic-speaking people have long complained of repression and discrimination under Chinese rule, but Beijing insists it has brought economic prosperity to the region.

DTN News: 2009 G8 Summit Being Held In L'Aquila, Italy

DTN News: 2009 G8 Summit Being Held In L'Aquila, Italy *Source: DTN News / G8 Summit (NSI News Source Info) ROME, Italy - July 8, 2009: The 2009 G8 Summit is to be held in L'Aquila, Italy -- the country that currently holds the G8 Presidency -- from 8 to 10 July.

The G8 group's member countries are Canada, the Russian Federation, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States, together with the European Union represented by the European Council's duty President and by the President of the European Commission.

The annual Leaders' Summit is the highest-profile and most important event in the G8 process, but that process does in fact cover the whole year, with meetings at the ministerial and ranking functionary levels.

This handout photo provided by G8/ANSA shows the participants the Group of Eight (G8) (L to R) Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, US President Barack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, and Head of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso posing for a family photo during the G8 summit in L'Aquila, central Italy, on July 8, 2009. Group of Eight leaders kick off talks today on issues ranging from the global financial crisis to climate change to the situations in Iran and Xinjiang, China.*

The main issues on the Italian Presidency's agenda are: a response to the global economic and financial crisis; the restoration of grassroots confidence and a boost to growth on a more solid and balanced basis, also through the definition of new, shared ground rules for economic activities; a focus on the social aspect of employment, to help the weaker sectors of society both in the industrially advanced countries and in the poorer countries; the struggle against protectionism and the deregulation of world trade for everyone's benefit; the resolution of regional crises; food security and safety; and the struggle against climate changes.

To debate these issues, the Italian Presidency has organized a G8 Summit which will be unique in terms of the number of countries attending, comprising as it will both the emerging countries, Africa and the main International Organizations. Some 90% of the world's economy will be represented at the Summit in the expanded working sessions. G5 leaders (L to R) Manmohan Singh, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, South African President Jacob Zuma and Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo pose for a family photo during the Group of Eight (G8) summit in L'Aquila, central Italy, on July 8, 2009. Group of Eight leaders kick off talks today on issues ranging from the global financial crisis to climate change to the situations in Iran and Xinjiang, China. Summit Proceedings: G8 Statement on the Global Economy, Climate Change, Development and Africa ~ With the publication of the "Proceedings" page, the G8 website nears completion and gets set to host the Chair's Summary on the 2009 Summit at the end of the three-day event. The "Summit Proceedings" page will carry the "G8 Statement on the Global Economy, Climate Change, Development and Africa" at the end of the 8 July session devoted to the International Economy.