NEWS,13.11.2012

Latin America's middle class now rivals poor, study finds

Rapid economic growth and more inclusive social policies in Latin America in the last decade have lifted 50 million people into the middle class, which for the first time rivals the poor in number, the World Bank has said in a new study.Rising income levels have also created a 'vulnerable' class, which at 38% makes up the largest income group.These people hover just above poverty, living on a daily income between $US4 and $US10 per person."As poverty fell and the middle class rose... the most common Latin American family is in a state of vulnerability," the World Bank, the global development lender, said in a report looking at the middle class and economic mobility in Latin America and the Caribbean . The World Bank measures the middle class as people who have economic security, facing less than a 10% chance of falling back into poverty.For the region, that translates into a daily income of $US10 to $US50 ($12 and $61) per person.Roughly 30% of the population now falls into that category, equal to the third of people still in poverty a remarkable shift in a continent that has been known for its vast income inequalities, dominated by the poor and a narrow slice of the rich.With global economic expansion, and redistributive policies in some countries, at least 40 percent of the region's population has moved to a higher economic class between 1995 and 2010.In Brazil, the region's largest nation and the world's sixth biggest economy, booming commodity-led growth and conditional cash transfers helped pull 30 million people out of poverty under left-leaning former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.Across the region, the rise of the middle class has had clear effects, helping countries like Brazil become less reliant on foreign assistance and less amenable to foreign pressure.Latin America is now the only region in the world with narrowing income inequality, the World Bank said in a report last month, though the rich-poor divide remains higher than in most developed countries.It has nudged some countries toward greater democracy, and raised hopes for businesses eager to take advantage of the growing consumer tastes for everything from the Internet to financial services.The question is whether this rapid rise can continue, especially with the global slowdown.While families have improved their situation in the last decade, children are often still bound by the incomes and education of their parents, meaning mobility between generations remains low, the World Bank said.It is unclear whether the middle class's rising expectations can by themselves create a society of more equal opportunities.Traditionally in Latin America the middle class has opted out of public services like education and health if they can afford to do so, creating a fragmented society where the poorest members are stuck with subpar social protection. Low taxation has also exacerbated the problem of low-quality services, the World Bank said."The middle classes may not automatically become the much-hoped-for catalytic agents for reforms," the Bank said.

US re-elected to UN Human Rights Council

The United States was re-elected on Monday to another three-year term on the UN Human Rights Council in the only contested election for the organisation's top human rights body.The US was competing with four countries for three open seats belonging to the Western Group on the council. Germany and Ireland were also elected by the 193-member General Assembly. Greece and Sweden lost out.US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said her country was "pleased and proud to have been re-elected to a second three-year term"."I'm proud to say that, today, the Obama administration's leadership of the Human Rights Council has delivered real results. Today's vote affirms that active US leadership in the Human Rights Council and throughout the United Nations system will continue to pay real dividends for Americans and for the rest of the world," Rice said following the voteGermany's UN Ambassador Peter Wittig also praised the vote, thanking member states for their support."It was a good sign that we had a healthy competition at least in the Western Group, we could explain and promote our human rights agenda and we believe this also should also be an example for other regional groups," Wittig said.African, Asian, Eastern European and Latin American countries put forward uncontested slates, meaning candidates were virtually certain of winning one of the 18 open seats up for grabs in this year's election on the 47-member council.Several human rights groups have criticised a number of the candidates as unqualified, including Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Venezuela.On Monday, Venezuela's UN Ambassador Jorge Valero said his country's efforts to become a member of the council had "unleashed a truly unusual campaign"."It's important to emphasise that Venezuela has committed itself to defend the sovereignty and liberty of people," Valerio said in an apparent allusion to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's comments that Venezuela would oppose any actions or aggressions against allied countries such as Syria or Cuba.The five Western nations competing for seats were all deemed qualified by the rights groups as was Estonia, which was elected from the Eastern Europe groupAlso elected on Monday were Argentina, Brazil, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gabon, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Montenegro, Pakistan, South Korea, Sierra Leone and the United Arab Emirates. They begin three-year terms on 1 January 2013.Jamil Dakwar, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Human Rights Programme, welcomed the US re-election to the council."Despite an imperfect human rights record, US membership on the council helped turn the tide on key issues, especially in the area of LGBT [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender] rights, freedom of speech and association, and women's rights," Dakwar said in a statement. "Now that the Obama administration has won a second term, human rights at home and abroad should be a high priority." The Human Rights Council was created in March 2006 to replace the UN's widely discredited and highly politicised Human Rights Commission. But the council has also been widely criticised for failing to change many of the commission's practices, including putting much more emphasis on Israel than on any other country and electing candidates accused of serious human rights violations.Former President George W Bush's administration boycotted the council when it was established because of its repeated criticism of Israel and its refusal to cite flagrant rights abuses in Sudan and elsewhere. But in 2009, then newly elected President Barack Obama sought to join the council, saying the US wanted to help make it more effective. Rice said Obama's decision was vindicated on Monday when the US was re-elected to serve on the council with 131 votes."The United States is clearly of the view that the Human Rights Council clearly has its flaws ... including its excessive focus on Israel, but it is also a body that is increasingly proving its value and we've been proud to contribute to some of what we think are some of the finer moments of the Human Rights Council it's approach to Syria, it's approach to Sudan, it's approach he situation in Libya with the commission of inquiry."

Satellite shows N Korea missile activity

Satellite imagery indicates North Korea has been testing rocket engines, a sign it continues to develop its long-range ballistic missiles, a US academic institute said on Monday.The analysis provided to The Associated Press is based on satellite images taken as recently as late September of the Sohae site on the secretive country's northwest coast. In April, the North launched a rocket from there in a failed attempt to propel a satellite into space in defiance of a UN ban.The analysis on the website of the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, which is called "38 North", said it remains unclear whether the North is preparing another rocket launch but predicted it may embark on new rocket and nuclear tests in the first half of 2013.The analysis underscores the challenges posed by the North's weapons programmes to the United States and its allies as President Barack Obama heads into his second term. Washington's most recent attempt to negotiate a freeze in the North's nuclear programme and a test moratorium in exchange for food aid collapsed with the April launch that the US regarded as a cover for testing ballistic missile technology.In 2009, North Korea tested a long-range missile and its second nuclear weapon within months of Obama taking office, and the 38 North analysis says North Korea may conduct new tests in the aftermath of presidential elections recently completed in US and due in December in South Korea. That could be viewed as a tactic to exert more pressure on the close allies as the North seeks recognition as a nuclear power.Last month, Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said North Korea continues to prepare for such tests, and the North, angered by Washington's recent agreement to let Seoul possess missiles capable of hitting all of its territory, has recently claimed that the US mainland is within range of its missiles.According to South Korea's Defence Ministry, North Korean missiles are believed to have a range of up to about 6 696km, putting parts of Alaska within reach. But the North is not believed to have mastered the technology needed to hit a distant target and miniaturise a nuclear warhead to mount on a missile. The North has a spotty record in test launches, raising doubts about whether it is truly capable of a long-distance attack.The 38 North analysis concludes that since the failed launch on 13 April of the Unha-3 rocket that disintegrated shortly after takeoff, the North has conducted at least two, and possibly more, tests of large rocket motors at a test site less than a kilometre away. The tests are critical for the development of new rockets."Pyongyang's large motor tests are another clear sign that its missile programme is moving forward. Whether there will be another long-range missile test this spring remains unclear but is a distinct possibility," said Joel Wit, a former US State Department official and editor of 38 North.A 9 April satellite image shows what appear to be dozens of fuel tanks near a stand used for conducting tests of rocket engines. A 17 September image shows the tanks are no longer there, and a flame trench has been stained orange and surrounding vegetation has been burned from the exhaust of an engine. An image from 28 September indicates a further test has taken place.The analysis was written by Nick Hansen, a retired expert in imagery technology with a 43-year experience in national intelligence.He concludes the tests were likely of the first-stage engines of the Unha-3 or the new, bigger KN-08 long-range missile first viewed in a military parade in Pyongyang shortly after the April launch attempt.The capabilities of the KN-08 and whether it could pose a potential threat to the continental United States remains unclear. Some analysts have also questioned whether the half-dozen of KN-08 missiles shown at that parade were genuine or just rigged up for show.The analysis by 38 North says the 28 September images also show construction work on the upper platform of a launch tower at Sohae to enable it to accommodate even larger rockets than the Unha-3 or KN-08.