www.globeandmail.ca By JEFF GRAY Globe and Mail Update

For the second year in a row, Vancouver has finished second in a study ranking quality of life in 215 world cities.

The study, from Mercer Human Resource Consulting — a firm with offices in 40 countries — takes into account public safety, political stability, economics, culture, personal freedom, schools, transit and other public services.

Vancouver finished first in the same rankings two years ago, but slipped to second last year because of "traffic congestion" — leaving the top spot to Zurich. The Swiss city ranked first again this year.

In this year's survey, Toronto ranked 12th, tied with Brussels and the German city of Düsseldorf and up from 18th the year before. Ottawa was 20th, up five spots from last year. Montreal was 23rd, a two-spot improvement. Calgary was 26th, up from 31st.

Mercer said Scandinavian cities — which usually rank quite high on such surveys — were re-evaluated this year "on the basis of evidence relating to seasonal affective disorders caused by shorter daylight hours."

Some of their rankings appeared to slip as a result.

Helsinki dropped to 26th from sixth, while Oslo sank from 15th to 31st.

Many of the world's most-visited and most-romanticized cities rank quite low on the quality-of-life scale.

London ranked 39th, tied with Boston, Portland, the French city of Lyon and North Carolina's Winston-Salem. At 31st, Paris ranks behind Calgary, on par with the Australian cities of Brisbane and Adelaide and with Yokohama, Japan. New York ranked 44th.

The worst place in the world to live was Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo. It ranked 215th. Many African cities were clustered at the bottom of the scale, but the Iraqi capital of Baghdad was third-last.

Mercer said the rankings were accurate as of November, 2002, but could be re-evaluated, especially if events in the Middle East warrant.

Ranked on public safety alone, Canada's cities are the safest in North America, the study says, "due to strict law enforcement and low crime rates."

All five cities tied for 25th in the world on this measure.

In the U.S., Honolulu, Houston and San Francisco were the safest, tying for 40th place worldwide. Washington, D.C., was North America's most dangerous city, ranking 107th.

Luxembourg was the safest city in the world; Bangui, in the Central African Republic, was deemed the most dangerous.

Caracas, 140

For the whole list: www.globeandmail.com

news.xinhuanet.com Xinhuanet 2003-03-04 11:31:13

°°°°MEXICO CITY, March 3 (Xinhuanet) -- Visiting Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz warned on Monday that if his country falls, so could Venezuela and Mexico as they also have petroleum.

°°°°"If (US President) George W. Bush succeeds in removing the Government of Iraq, it would not be the only one to fall. Like Iraq, Mexico and Venezuela also have oil," Aziz told the Mexican daily La Jornada.

°°°°The United States imports 15 percent of its oil consumption from each of the four countries, Mexico, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Canada.

°°°°Aziz hoped Chile and Mexico, both non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, would remain firm on their opposition to a US-led attack on Iraq. Otherwise, he stressed, "Venezuela could be militarily threatened."

°°°°Aziz said Mexico is a friendly country to Iraq and there is no reason for it to take a negative stance on the Iraq issue.

°°°°Iraq met a Saturday deadline to begin destroying its Al-Samoud 2 missiles, banned because its range may be slightly longer than allowed under UN resolutions.

°°°°Iraq agreed to destroy the missiles because it wants to cooperate with governments such as those of France and Mexico, which are aware that it is necessary to stop the United States from launching a war, Aziz said.

°°°°Reiterating that the Iraqis do not want war, Aziz said that if Iraq and all those groups all over the world that oppose war could coordinate their positions, they might stop a possible attack on his country. Enditem

www.vheadline.com Posted: Tuesday, March 04, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Opposition Alianza Bravo Pueblo (ABP) political party leader and former Libertador Mayor Antonio Ledezma has called on President Hugo Chavez Frias to cut out the mystery and publish the names of the persons or groups allegedly behind the bombs that exploded outside the Colombian consulate and Spanish Embassy last week in Caracas.

“If the President knows who placed the bombs, he should present the evidence and reveal their identities … otherwise, the matter will be shelved as other cases.”

Ledezma recalls the discovery of an alleged sniper in Ciudad Bolivar hired to assassinate the President or the group that allegedly had allegedly planned to launch a rocket attack on the Presidential airplane, as it was approaching Simon Bolivar international airport at Maiquetia.

“Those cases were not followed up and we suspect that those who planted the bombs were the same people who have attacked media HQs and that this case will be shelved as well."

www.vheadline.com Posted: Tuesday, March 04, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Interior & Justice (MIJ) Minister, General (ret.) Lucas Rincon Romero says the police believe that the Maracaibo car bomb has more to do with an age-old vendetta between the Melean and Semprun families than anything else. 

Zulia State Police Detective Branch (CICPC) director, Idelfonso Urdaneta suggests that the car bomb may have been aimed at Rancher kingpin, Antonio Melean. The two rancher familes are said to be a law unto themselves in Zulia ... both families have suffered death from assassinations.

However, opposition groups continue to claim that it was a government-inspired attack to eliminate Melean, who had been a leading light in the anti-government national stoppage and the new Lands Law. 

The police will interrogate Melean today on the car bomb episode.

Meanwhile in Caracas, there has been growing speculation regarding a CCTV video showing persons, who allegedly planted the bomb in front of the Colombian consulate.

 MIJ Minister Rincon Romero says Venezuelan security forces have not reported knowledge of the video and has asked the Colombians to supply the video, if indeed it exists.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Tuesday, March 04, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

PROVEA human rights group has been reviewing the state of the right to health in Venezuela and paints a dismal picture. Medicine stocks and medicines in hospitals are at an all-time low, tenders to supply, maintain and update medical equipment are at a standstill, salaries payments have been placed on the backburner of several months ... there is a generalized suspension of surgical operations, and organ transplants.

The closure of medical consultations and critical drop in blood bank reserves, especially for HIV cases, have reduced hospital capacity to guarantee services, especially in emergency centers.

PROVEA admits that political and economic causes have had a negative influence but insists that it is up to the Health & Social Development (MSDS) Ministry to adopt appropriate measures to meet the crisis, whether by implementing extreme measures, such as declaring the sector in a state of emergency or intermediate measures to re-establish conditions for normal functioning throughout the entire health assistance system.

The group calls on the State to speed up dollar exchange red tape to purchase medicines and medical supplies, and to send decentralized State Governments money to pay off accumulated debts to health sector suppliers, as well as pending sector wages, salaries and benefits.

PROVEA calls on the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) to issue a ruling on a protection recourse introduced last year by the College of Caracas Medical Doctors asking for the removal of VAT on medical and dentist surgical and hospital services in private clinics.

The Ministry, PROVEA suggests, should convene  a table of dialogue between public sector health services representatives, social sectors and NGOs involved in health care aimed at setting up a consultation process to deal with problems facing the sector.