Posted: Thursday, February 27, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

The Inter American Human Rights Court (IAHRC) has stated that the Venezuelan State has not fully complied with the provisional measures the Court issued on November 27 to protect the lives of Luis Enrique Uzcategui (Falcon), 8 Cofavic defense attorneys (Liliana Ortega, Yris Medina Cova, Hilda Paez, Maritza Romero, Aura Liscano, Alicia de Gonzalez and Carmen Alicia Mendoza) and 5 Radio Caracas TV (RCTV).

• The Court has given the Venezuelan government until March 22 to reply.

State representative, Jorge Duarte has replied that in the case of Cofavic, the State has expressed concern for their safety and the basic problem has been one of implementation delayed by "disorder and interruptions proper to the bureaucratic nature of the State nad Venezuelan idiosyncracy."

www.upi.com By Sam Vaknin UPI Senior Business Correspondent From the Business & Economics Desk Published 2/27/2003 1:34 PM

SKOPJE, Macedonia, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- The "Arab Human Development Report 2002," published last June by the U.N. Development Program, was composed entirely by Arab scholars. It charts the predictably dismal landscape: one in five inhabitants survives on less than $2 a day; annual growth in income per capita over the last 20 years, at 0.5 percent, exceeded only sub-Saharan Africa's; one in six is unemployed.

The region's three "deficits", laments the report, are freedom, knowledge and labor. Arab polities and societies are autocratic and intolerant.

Illiteracy is still rampant and education poor. Women -- half the workforce -- are ill-treated and excluded. Pervasive Islamization replaced earlier militant ideologies in stifling creativity and growth.

In an article titled "Middle East Economies: A Survey of Current Problems and Issues," published in the September 1999 issue of the Middle East Review of International Affairs, Ali Abootalebi, assistant professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, concluded: "The Middle East is second only to Africa as the least developed region in the world.

"It has already lost much of its strategic importance since the Soviet Union's demise ... Most Middle Eastern states ... probably do, possess the necessary technocratic and professional personnel to run state affairs in an efficient and modern manner ... (but not) willingness or ability of the elites in charge to disengage the old coalitional interests that dominate governments in these countries."

The looming war with Iraq will change all that. This is the fervent hope of intellectuals throughout the region, even those viscerally opposed to America's high-handed hegemony. But this might well be only another false dawn in many. The inevitable massive postwar damage to the area's fragile economies will spawn added oppression rather than enhance democracy.

According to The Economist, the military build-up has already injected $2 billion into Kuwait's economy, equal to 6 percent of its gross domestic product. Prices of everything -- from real estate to cars -- are rising fast. The stock exchange index has soared by one third.

American largesse extends to Turkey -- the recipient of $5 billion in grants, $1 billion in oil and $10 billion in loan guarantees. Egypt and Jordan will reap $1 billion apiece and, possibly, subsidized Saudi oil as well. Israel will abscond with $8 billion in collateral and billions in cash.

But the party might be short-lived, especially if the war proves to be as decisive and nippy as the Americans foresee.

Stratfor, the strategic forecasting consultancy, correctly observes that the United States is likely to encourage American oil companies to boost Iraq's post-bellum production. With Venezuela back on line and global tensions eased, deteriorating crude prices might adversely affect oil-dependent countries from Iran to Algeria.

The resulting social and political unrest -- coupled with violent, though typically impotent, protests against the war, America and the political leadership -- is unlikely to convince panicky tottering regimes to offer greater political openness and participatory democracy.

War will traumatize tourism, another major regional foreign exchange earner. Egypt alone collects $4 billion a year from eager pyramid-gazers -- about one-ninth of its GDP. Add to that the effects of armed conflict on traffic in the Suez Canal, on investments and on expat remittances -- and the country could well become the war's greatest victim.

In a recent economic conference of the Arab League, Egyptian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Faiza Abu el-Naga, pegged the immediate losses to her country at $6 billion to $8 billion. More than 200,000 jobs will be lost in tourism alone.

Egypt's Information and Decision Support Center distributed a study predicting $900 million in damage to the Jordanian economy and billions more to be incurred by oil-rich Saudi Arabia.

The Arab Bank Federation foresees banking losses of up to $60 billion due to contraction in economic activity both during the war and in its aftermath. This might be too pessimistic.

But even the optimists talk of $30 billion in lost revenues. The reconstruction of Iraq could revitalize the banking sector -- but U.S. and European banks will probably monopolize the lucrative opportunity.

War is likely to have a stultifying effect on the investment climate.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt each attract around $1 billion a year in foreign direct investment -- double Iran's rising rate. But global FDI halved in the last two years. This year, flows will revert to 1998 levels. This implosion is likely to affect even increasingly attractive or resurgent destinations such as Israel, Turkey, Iraq and Iran.

Foreign investors will be deterred not only by the fighting but also by a mounting wave of virulent and increasingly violent xenophobia. Consumer boycotts are a traditional weapon in the Arab political arsenal. Coca-Cola's sales in these parched lands have plummeted by 10 percent last year. Pepsi's overseas sales flattened due to Arabs shunning its elixirs. American-franchised fast food outlets saw their business halved. McDonald's had to close some of its restaurants in Jordan.

Foreign business premises have been vandalized even in the Gulf countries. According to The Economist, "in the past year overall business at Western fast-food and drinks firms has dropped by 40 percent in Arab countries. Trade in American branded goods has shrunk by a quarter."

This is bad news. Multinationals are sizable employers. Coca-Cola alone is responsible for 220,000 jobs in the Middle East. Procter & Gamble invested $100 million in Egypt. Foreign enterprises pay well and transfer technology and management skills to their local joint venture partners.

Nor is foreign involvement confined to retail. The $35 billion Middle Eastern petrochemicals sector is reliant on the kindness of strangers: Indian, Canadian, South Korean and, lately, Chinese.

Singapore and Malaysia are eyeing the tourism industry, especially in the Gulf. Their withdrawal from the indigenous economies might prove disastrous. Nor will these battered nations be saved by geopolitical benefactors.

The economies of the Middle East are off the radar screen of the Bush administration, says Edward Gresser of the Progressive Policy Institute in a recently published report titled "Blank Spot on the Map: How Trade Policy is Working Against the War on Terror".

Egypt and most other Moslem countries are heavily dependent on textile and agricultural exports to the West. But, by 2015, they will face tough competition from nations with contractual trade advantages granted them by the United States, he says.

Still, the fault is shared by entrenched economic interest groups in the Middle East. Petrified by the daunting prospect of reforms and the ensuing competitive environment, they block free trade, liberalization and deregulation.

Consider the Persian Gulf, a corner of the world which subsists on trading with partners overseas. Not surprisingly, most of the members of the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council joined the World Trade Organization a while back. But their citizens are unlikely to enjoy the benefits at least until 2010 due to obstruction by the club's all-powerful and tentacular business families, international bankers and economists told the Times of Oman.

The rigidity and malignant self-centeredness of the political and economic elite and the confluence of oppression and profiteering are the crux of the region's problems. No external shock -- not even war in Iraq -- comes close to having the same pernicious and prolonged effects. -0- Part 1 of this analysis appeared Wednesday. Send your comments to: svaknin@upi.com.

www.newswire.ca

MONTREAL, Feb. 27 /CNW Telbec/ - The L'OREAL-UNESCO program FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE today honored twenty women scientists from all corners of the globe.

The Awards, presented by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of L'OREAL, Lindsay Owen-Jones, and Director-General of UNESCO, Koichiro Matsuura, recognized five Laureates working in the field of Material Sciences in addition to fifteen Fellows in the Life Sciences at a ceremony held at UNESCO's Paris Headquarters. This year's Awards bring to 71 the number of women, from 45 countries, who have been honored by the program.

The L'OREAL-UNESCO FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE program aims to improve the position of women in science by recognizing outstanding women researchers who have contributed to scientific progress (L'OREAL-UNESCO Awards of $100,000 each), and young women scientists engaged in exemplary and promising projects (UNESCO-L'OREAL Fellowships of $20,000 each).

The L'OREAL-UNESCO Award distinguishes five remarkable women researchers representing the five continents: Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America. Often, these women's exceptional careers have opened up new and revolutionary ways of improving conditions of life and well being.

Professor Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, Nobel Prize in Physics 1991, presided over an international jury of ten eminent scientists. ("see list of 2003 Award Laureates below"). Speaking at the ceremony, Mr. Lindsay Owen-Jones said: "The discoveries that you make push forward the boundaries of science. You are emblems who are a great source of hope; attracting new young women to your fields of research and inspiring a great calling that ensures the future of science." Koichiro Matsuura added: "You are the role models for today's young girls, opening a door to freedom and adventure that has been forbidden them for too long. In today's knowledge societies, women must contribute to scientific research, and mark it with their vision of the world and its development." The expansion of the Awards to include the discipline of the Material Sciences, coupled with a significant increase in their monetary value, demonstrates the commitment of the Award partners to ensure that the L'OREAL- UNESCO FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE program finds its place alongside the world's leading international awards programs.

The UNESCO-L'OREAL Fellowships encourage young women scientists to pursue their research projects in the laboratory of their choice. This year, fifteen women from five regions were rewarded. By fostering young researchers and their hopes, the FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE program works to reinforce the vocation of women in scientific disciplines. Since the creation of the Fellowships in 2000, the program has distinguished a total of 45 young scientists. ("see list of 2003 Fellows below")

LOCAL INITIATIVES The annual international Award ceremony is the highlight of an increasingly full program of local initiatives being organized worldwide; including in Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Finland, Germany, Italy, Republic of Korea, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey and the United Kingdom. These initiatives ensure that women in science benefit even further from the partnership forged between L'OREAL and UNESCO.

In Canada a national program called "Mentorship for Science" is being developed jointly between L'Oréal Canada, the Canadian Commission for UNESCO and Actua, a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the scientific and technical literacy of young Canadians. This mentorship program, which is set to be launched later this spring, will partner leading women scientists, such as the FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE laureates, with young Canadian girls in order to stimulate and encourage these young girls to pursue careers in science.

Note to Editors:

• Life Sciences and Material Sciences both contribute to the scientific success of L'OREAL. In twelve research centers in France, Asia and America, more than 2,700 scientists are responsible for the registration of hundreds of patents annually. 55% of these scientists are women - a percentage unmatched elsewhere in the industry.

• L'OREAL is the world's number one cosmetics company, present in 140 countries. For more details, visit www.loreal.com - UNESCO is an intergovernmental organisation. It currently has 188 Member States. The main objective of UNESCO is to contribute to peace and security in the world by promoting collaboration among nations through education, science, culture and communication.

THE 2003 AWARD LAUREATES

Karimat EL-SAYED (Egypt), Professor of Solid State Physics, Ain Shams University, Cairo, has specialized in the detection of impurities in materials relevant to industrial metallurgy and semi-conducting materials.

Fang-Hua LI (China), Professor, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, is a specialist of electron microscopy. Her work has pushed back the limits of observation of crystalline structures through the elimination of interference.

Ayse ERZAN (Turkey), Professor of Physics, Istanbul Technical University, has used the concepts of fractal geometry to study the collective phenomena of percolation, in which the interactions of simple constituents translate to behavior at large scale or over long periods.

Mariana WEISSMANN (Argentina), Senior Researcher, Argentine National Research Council, Buenos Aires, has helped to move our understanding of quantum solids from a qualitative view to quantitative predictions. She has also been a pioneer in the use of computers to study the properties of solids.

Johanna M. H. LEVELT SENGERS (USA), Scientist Emeritus, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, has contributed to a better definition of water and steam properties for scientific applications. Her work has aided industry in its search for cleaner and safer ways to dispose of hazardous and toxic waste.

THE 2003 FELLOWS

Africa Côte d'Ivoire: Ahou Edwige SIRANSY - Physiology Nigeria: Sodangi Abdulkarim LUKA GESINDE - Parasitology South Africa: Karin JACOBS - Mycology

Arab States Palestinian Authority: Mary George KAILEH - Molecular Biology Syria: Darie ALIKAJ -Virology Tunisia: Samia REJIBA - Molecular Biology

Asia-Pacific Australia: Devi STUART-FOX - Ecology/Evolutionary Biology Iran: Shiva SEYED FOROOTAN - Molecular Biology ("The third Asia-Pacific Fellowship Recipient will be announced in the coming weeks.")

Europe/North America Israel: Victoria YAVELSKY - Molecular Biology/Immunology Romania: Adriana JALBA - Plant Biology Turkey: Ahu ALTINKUT UNCUOGLU - Molecular Biology

Latin America/Caribbean Argentina: Maria Gabriela PALOMO - Marine Ecology Peru: Dionicia GAMBOA VILELA - Molecular Biology Venezuela: Rocio DIAZ-BENJUMEA BENAVIDES - Parasitology/ Biology

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For further information: Teresa Menna, Corporate Communications, L'Oréal Canada, (514) 287-4613, tmenna@ca.loreal.com; www.forwomeninscience.com

L'OREAL CANADA INC., UNESCO has 3 releases in this database.

www.heraldtribune.com By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN Associated Press Writer

Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Thursday ordered state officials to begin regular surveys of gasoline prices around the state in an effort to stop gouging. Under the executive order, the state will give consumers pricing information, and any possibly unfair prices will be reported to the attorney general. Granholm, who became governor last month, said she wanted to prevent a recurrence of apparent gouging prompted by fears about national security after Sept. 11, 2001. "The anxiety felt by consumers in those difficult days has begun to reappear in recent weeks as gas prices have increased dramatically," she said in a statement. AAA Michigan said Monday that the state's average price for self-serve regular gasoline last week was $1.70 a gallon, 56 cents higher than a year ago. The governor acknowledged that prices have been volatile in part because of uncertainty over war in Iraq and a slowdown in oil imports from Venezuela but said they still bear watching. Granholm urged passage of bills by two Democrats that would expressly ban price gouging during states of emergency declared by the governor. The law now contains no specific ban on gasoline price gouging. While attorney general, Granholm took action against 48 service stations that had raised prices sharply in the days after the Sept. 11 terrorism. The stations were required to refund more than $100,000 in overcharges to consumers and to pay about $30,000 in civil penalties to the state, Granholm said.

www.canada.com Vito Pilieci CanWest News Service Thursday, February 27, 2003

The Canadian Petroleum Products Institute says the continuing rise and fall of gas prices at the pump is not the product of collusion in the industry, but the result of a healthy competitive market.

"People don't understand and it's almost impossible to explain," said Alain Perez, president of the institute, an association of Canadian companies involved in the refining, distribution and marketing of petroleum products. "How do you convince people that you are actually losing money?"

Many motorists are quick to suggest a conspiracy when pump prices jump by several cents -- almost simultaneously -- at gas stations.

But Perez said the reason the prices rise is because competing gas stations, who are at war with one another for customers, continuously chip away at their prices, driving them downward over the course of a few days.

The prices continue to fall until the selling price of the gas is lower than what the gas station paid for it.

"(Consumers) think, 'Why am I driving in the morning and it's at 72.9 cents and coming back in the afternoon and seeing 79.9 cents?' " he said. "At 72.9 cents, people are actually losing money."

When the price reaches the money-losing level, one of the gas stations will raise its prices, usually by several cents, to offset losses, and all of the competing gas stations in the area quickly follow suit.

Then the cycle starts all over again.

"I cannot stop that, nobody can stop that," said Perez. "If we were able to stop that, we would be colluding."

The institute's statements come at a time when gas prices are soaring due to the threat of war in Iraq, economic strife in Venezuela and a long and very cold winter in Eastern Canada.

The statements were made in reaction to plans by a House of Commons committee, which wants to question Canadian oil industry executives about high gasoline prices over the next few weeks.

Canadian oil companies argue that aside from geopolitical events occurring around the world, high Canadian gas taxes are one of the most significant reasons that prices are soaring at the pumps. Taxes account for about 31.2 cents of the price of a litre of gasoline.