Why China wants to become the world's banker

Why China wants to become the world's banker

The International Monetary Fund is meant to be the firefighter of the world economy. Recently, though, it is China that has responded to the ringing of alarms.

First, it lent Argentina cash to replenish its dwindling foreign-exchange reserves. Next, with the rouble crashing, China offered credit to Russia.

Then Venezuela begged for funds to stave off a default. Strategic interests dictate where China points its financial hose: these countries supply it with oil and food. But if a government anywhere goes bust, it now has an alternative to the IMF.

In the past six months China has also invaded the development patch of the other great Bretton Woods institution, the World Bank. First, China--along with Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa--established the New Development Bank.

Then it unveiled the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Finally it launched the Silk Road Fund, backed by yet another development bank. None has started operating, but China has pledged more than $140 billion to these new institutions.

China's clout should not be exaggerated. The yuan is not yet fully convertible and will not be for several years, which limits its influence. But the country's leaders are clearly marshalling the cash and the strategy to become a banker to the world. This is at once welcome and worrying.

Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

China's Finance Minister Lou Jiwei (L) talks with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing 

Director Christine Lagarde during the China Development Forum in Beijing March 23, 2014.

It is welcome because it is in everyone's interest to have China's vast savings, stashed away for too long in low-yielding American government bonds, diverted to more useful causes. For poor countries that need better roads and ports, Chinese capital could be a godsend.

The worries relate to how China may wield its power. The World Bank and the IMF have been criticised for attaching too many conditions to loans. China, by contrast, is undemanding, worryingly so. The $50 billion that Chinese banks have lent to Venezuela since 2007 bought that country's leaders time to wreck the economy, as well as allowing them to continue to thumb their noses at America.

The fear is that, as international use of the yuan grows, China will start to provide pariah states with a means to evade Western financial sanctions, thus subverting the diplomatic order as well as the financial one.

In fact the evidence suggests China's goals are less sinister. It is not seeking to displace established multilateral institutions, but to gain the power befitting an economy of its size. Moreover, its activism is partly a response to America's reprehensible failure to ratify reforms to give big emerging markets greater say at the World Bank and the IMF (see page 69).

America has lobbied allies to steer clear of China's new infrastructure bank. It would be more sensible for the Obama administration to try to integrate China into the existing institutions than to try to thwart its ambitions altogether.

Andy Wong/Pool/Reuters

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro (front R) walks with 

China's President Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony at 

the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, January 7, 2015.

The great gall of China

As for its no-strings-attached policy, the country to which China's reckless lending poses the greatest danger is China itself. It has cultivated an image as a champion of the developing world. Financial distress in countries that receive its largesse undermines that.

It is also a waste of national treasure. The original point of getting into development finance was to make better use of its currency reserves, not to fritter them away in corrupt nations. The saving grace for China is that its errors are already evident. It has time to fix things before truly becoming a banker to the world. Hewing closer to the model of the Bretton Woods institutions is the right place to start.

Italian Newspaper: 173rd Airborne Brigade Heading to Ukraine to Train Forces

Italian Newspaper: 173rd Airborne Brigade Heading to Ukraine to Train Forces

American soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade at Camp Ederle in Vicenza, Italy, are expected to be leaving the base once again soon to head to Ukraine to help train soldiers for their fight against Russia, an Italian newspaper reports.

The operation will be part of a project outlined by Lt. Gen. Gen. Ben Hodges, the head of U.S. Army Europe, earlier this month, reports the newspaper, Il Giornale, will involve the same division that traveled to Ukraine last September for another NATO exercise, Rapid Trident, according to a translation of the Italian newspaper report.

The same newspaper earlier this week suggesting that American soldiers may already be on the ground in Ukraine and helping the government of Kiev.

In a post that covers a purported Jan. 24 attack on the Black Sea port city of Mariupol by troops from the People's Republic of Donetsk, a Ukrainian reporter questions a soldier wearing a Ukrainian uniform, and claimed he used perfect English when he told the reporter to leave him alone.

Meanwhile Hodges, making his first visit to Kiev earlier this month, said the number of troops that will head to the Yavoriv Training area, located about 40 miles from the Polish border, has not yet been determined, reports Defense News.

The mission is part of a State Department plan to "assist Ukraine in strengthening its law enforcement capabilities, conduct internal defense, and maintain rule of law" Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. Vanessa Hillman said.

During his visit, Hodges met with Ukrainian Armed Forces Lt. Gen. Anatoliy Pushnyakov and acting commander of the National Guard Lt. Gen. Oleksandr Kryvyenko, and said he was "impressed by the readiness of both military and civil leadership to change and reform."

The Ukrainian government requested the training to help reform their police forces and establish a newly formed National Guard.

According to Defense News, the initiative funding is coming from the Global Security Contingency Fund, and was requested by the Obama administration for this fiscal year to help and train allied forces.

Already, the United States has $19 million earmarked to help Ukraine set up its National Guard.

Derek Chollet, who left his post as assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs on Jan. 17, told Defense News that he does not expect the training mission "will require significant U.S. presence."

The mission is being planned among fears from Eastern European countries that Russia will step up its aggression in Ukraine. The fighting has continued in Donetsk, Ukraine, between government forces and separatist rebels, and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko this month claimed Russia sent 9,000 troops into his country to back up the rebels.

Chollet told Defense Times that the incursions are refocusing American attention onto the region.

In addition to training forces, Washington this month delivered a prototype of an armored Kozak vehicle for the Ukrainian border guard, according to a U.S. Embassy report.

The vehicle, which costs about $189,000, has an armored hull that protects it against mines and bombs, and is just one piece of equipment sent by the United States, said the embassy, which noted "the United States has delivered dozens of armored pickup trucks and vans to the Ukrainian Border Guard Service. The Kozak is larger and offers a higher level of protection."

Attack on IDF Vehicle Might Have Been Field Test for New Iranian Missile

Attack on IDF Vehicle Might Have Been Field Test for New Iranian Missile

Iranian troops are testing a missile designed in 2012 that could potentially hamper Israeli efforts to fight Hezbollah in the future, Armin Rosen of Business Insider reported Wednesday.

The Dehlaviyeh’s actual capabilities haven’t been proven on the battlefield yet. Iran has a history of over-hyping its weapons advances, most notoriously with the stealth fighter mock-up that Iran attempted to debut as a finished plane in February of 2013.

But Iranian troops test-fired the Dehlaviyeh during maneuvers inside Iran in recent weeks. Regime media released photos of the missile being fired during exercises in southern Iran which took during the first half of December.

Rosen notes that while it is uncertain that the Dehlaviyeh functions as well as Iran has boasted, if it turns out that it was the weapon fired at the IDF yesterday, “it means that Hezbollah can supplement its most effective battlefield tactic with an even more advanced anti-tank system.” That would mean that Hezbollah could “end up dictating Israel’s options in how it will respond” to future attacks.

Iranian exports of arms to Hezbollah would violate not only United Nations Security CouncilResolution 1701, demanding an end to transferring arms to any Lebanese entity other than the government, but also various resolutions prohibiting Iran from exporting arms at all.

[Photo: Iran Military Videos / YouTube ]

Calls to reform police mount

CUF national chairman, Prof Ibrahim Lipumba addresses a rally yesterday at Manzese in Dar es Salaam.PHOTO|FILE

Dar es Salaam. Police brutality is in the spotlight as independent political analysts and human right activists join hands with opposition lawmakers in calling for reforms in the force.

The call follows police action here on Tuesday targeting the Civic United Front (CUF) national chairman, Prof Ibrahim Lipumba, and his supporters. CUF members were holding a demonstration to commemorate 14 years of the killings of 21 of its supporters in Zanzibar in post-election protests in 2001. Police brutality has been on the rise in recent times and they have been condemned both inside and outside the country.

London-based human rights organisation Amnesty International has for three consecutive years (2011-2013) given Tanzanian police a negative score in human rights protection. The 2011 and 2012 Amnesty International annual reports condemned impunity in the force. In 2012, Amnesty cited the deaths of more than 20 people from gunshot wounds after police used lethal force to quell demonstrations or to prevent illegal access to mining areas. Three people were killed in Arusha in January after police used live ammunition to disperse opposition supporters who were protesting the election of a CCM candidate to the local mayoral seat.

The organisation noted that no meaningful investigations into these killings had been carried out by the end of the year and those responsible had not been brought to justice.

“Throughout the year (2011) there were reports of unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment by the police and other law enforcement officials in the course of security operations in different parts of the country,” The Amnesty report says. “No investigations into these allegations were carried out and those responsible were not brought to justice.” The entity also reports that police and other security forces used excessive force to disperse protesters in 2013.

According to a political science lecturer at the Open University of Tanzania, Dr Emmanuel Mallya, the problem starts with police training.

He explains: “They are not trained well on respecting and protecting human rights. I watched the video clip of how Prof Lipumba and his supporters were abused. It is so sad to see police severely beating people they have arrested. Why beat them when they are already in their custody? That shows that they have little or no idea of the concept of human rights.” There are constitutional gaps in protection of human rights vis-à-vis the powers of security organs, it would appear. “Kenya has constitutionally defended its people against excessive force from security organs,” Dr Mallya said. “The current constitution does not address the issue and, sadly, it was one of crucial matter which was sidelined in the making of the proposed constitution.”

There have been calls for national dialogue involving all stakeholders--and soon--to address the situation and work out the reforms required in the police force. According to the executive director of the Legal and Human Rights Centre, Dr Hellen Kijo-Bisimba, the problem keeps recurring because those who commit the offences are not dealt with. “In 2012, Iringa-based journalist Daudi Mwangosi was killed by police as he was covering an opposition demonstration,” she said. “The regional police commander was promoted instead of being sacked and taken to court.”

Such conduct, she adds, gives police the confidence to aggressively crack down on the people because, at the end of the day, they know they are untouchable. If the situation is not reversed, she cautioned, the country will find itself in serious trouble. “It will get to a time that Tanzanians will not be afraid to stand up to police because they will have no other way to go since the place that was expected to provide them with justice is the one perpetuating injustice.”

According to Prof Kitila Mkumbo of the University of Dar es Salaam, the police have treated opposition parties unfairly since the establishment of multiparty democracy. He accused the force of allowing itself to be used by the ruling party CCM to serve its cause, “Whenever CCM faces stiff competition, the police are used to disrupt the opposition,” he said.

“The unfortunate reality is that we are going to experience many more cases of excessive force from police this election year because CCM is going to face the stiffest competition ever from the opposition.”

ISIS: Japanese hostage beheaded

ISIS: Japanese hostage beheaded

(CNN) A newly distributed ISIS release appears to show the decapitated body of captive Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, after an English-language lecture is given by masked ISIS member "Jihadi John" to the people of Japan.

The video, 67 seconds long, was released Saturday as others before it, by ISIS media wing Al Furqan Media, and cannot be authenticated by CNN.

"We are deeply saddened by this despicable and horrendous act of terrorism and we denounce it in the strongest terms," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in Tokyo, according to broadcaster NHK. "To the terrorists, we will never, never forgive them for this act."

Kenji Goto in Aleppo, Syria, on October 24, 2014.

He said that Japan will continue to provide humanitarian aid to countries affected by the bloody fight against ISIS.

Goto's mother, Junko Ishido, said he wanted to help create a world without wars.

"I'm shedding tears of sorrow, I just can't think of any words to say. But I don't want this sorrow to create a chain of hatred," she said, NHK reported.

The video opens with a black slate that reads, "A Message to Japan." The video then shows a kneeling Goto wearing an orange outfit. The man known as "Jihadi John" is standing behind him.

The terrorist speaks while holding a knife in his left hand.

"Abe, because of your reckless decision to take part in an unwinnable war, this knife will not only slaughter Kenji, but will also carry on and cause carnage wherever your people are found. So let the nightmare for Japan begin," the man says.

The video cuts to black as the militant puts the knife to Goto's throat. It then shows the apparent result of the decapitation. It's not clear who conducted the apparent killing.

The knife-wielding masked man with a London accent, nicknamed "Jihadi John," has issued threats and overseen the beheadings of other captives. He has appeared in at least six videos with hostages.

New questions raised about 'Jihadi John'

The fate of a Jordanian pilot captured by ISIS in Syria, Muath al-Kaseasbeh, was unclear. He is not mentioned in the video.

ISIS had been demanding that Jordan exchange a convicted terrorist, Sajida al-Rishawi, for the pilot. If there was no swap, ISIS said it would kill al-Kaseasbeh first, then Goto.

Goto would be the second Japanese hostage to be killed by ISIS recently. A video file posted online a week ago by a known ISIS supporter shows an image of Goto holding a photo of what appeared to be the corpse of his fellow captive, Haruna Yukawa.

U.S. President Barack Obama called the act a "heinous murder."

"We stand today in solidarity with Prime Minister Abe and the Japanese people in denouncing this barbaric act," the President said in a written statement. "We applaud Japan's steadfast commitment to advancing peace and prosperity in the Middle East and globally, including its generous assistance for innocent people affected by the conflicts in the region."

The 47-year-old Goto left Japan last fall, when his youngest daughter was 3 weeks old. His wife, Rinko, first heard from his captors December 2.

Jordanian officials have said they are willing to swap al-Rishawi -- a female jihadist imprisoned in Jordan for her role in a 2005 suicide bombing at a wedding reception that killed dozens -- for the pilot. But Jordan's key condition is proof that al-Kaseasbeh is still alive.

Al-Kaseasbeh was captured after he ejected from his F-16 jet last month near Raqqa, the extremist group's de facto capital in Syria.

Fahed al-Kaseasbeh, an uncle of the pilot, told CNN: "I am sad and devastated to hear this news, regardless of the nationality of the person. I am sad about this act of the beheading of any human. Also, I am very worried about the well-being of the son of my brother, my nephew."

CNN's Kareem Khadder, Ali Younes and Jennifer Deaton contributed to this report.

OPEC Sees Oil Prices Exploding to $200 a Barrel

Right now the oil market is totally focused on finding a bottom for oil prices. However, according to OPEC's Secretary-General Abdulla al-Badri we've already hit bottom. Not only that, but he sees a real possibility that oil prices could explode higher to upwards of $200 per barrel in the future. He's far from the only one that sees a return of triple-digit oil prices.

Source: Flicker User Spino73. 

Finding a bottom

According to the Secretary-General, the oil market doesn't need to look for oil prices to bottom as the market has already bottomed. Instead, he offered quite bullish comments by saying, "Now the prices are around $45-$55, and I think maybe they [have] reached the bottom and we [will] see some rebound very soon." Now, normally that type of remark would be just another layer of noise, but this is coming from OPEC's Secretary-General so it comes with a lot of weight behind it.

That said, he's not saying that OPEC will come in and rescue the oil market by reversing itsprevious decision to hold steady on production. Instead, he sees the signs that the oil market is self-correcting as oil companies have made deep cuts to spending, which will eventually lead to lower production growth. Further, the rig count in the U.S. is plunging, which is usually a key to a bottom in oil prices. However, in the midst of cutting back as the industry works through the current oversupply the Secretary-General is now warning that the industry is putting future oil supplies at risk by under investing today.

Underinvestment leads to a shortage

The Secretary-General said that, "if you don't invest in oil and gas, you will see more than $200" when it comes to future oil prices. While he didn't give a timeframe, he did note the correlation between investment and future production. This is because oil production naturally declines and oil companies need to invest in new production to not only replace this decline in production from legacy oil fields but to add new production to meet growing demand. However, oil companies are reluctant to invest in new production as their cash flows decline. 

Over time this could become a problem as oil fields around the world naturally decline by an average of about 5% per year. As we see in this chart from a Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX  ) investor presentation, in order to overcome this decline oil companies need to develop about 200 billion barrels of oil supplies over the next decade and a half just to meet demand.

Source: Chevron Corporation Investor Presentation. 

These supplies will require the industry to invest $7-$10 trillion. However, with the big capital budget reductions oil companies have announced this year it could make it harder for the industry to meet future supply needs. In fact, the industry might defer up to $150 billion oil projects this year due to the collapse in crude prices. Many of these investments, however, wouldn't have yielded actual production for a couple of years due to the long lead time of major projects.

As an example, Chevron delivered first oil on two of its Gulf of Mexico projects late last year after beginning construction on the fields in 2011. Meanwhile, another $6 billion project it just sanctioned at the end of last year won't produce any oil until 2018. It's these long lead time projects that are being delayed, which is setting the world up for higher oil prices in the future as an under investment today has the potential to lead to a constriction in future supplies. 

Investor takeaway

OPEC's Secretary-General is calling the bottom in oil prices. While he's not the first to call a bottom, he does lead the organization that currently controls the oil market so his comments do have a lot of weight. Further, he's also suggesting that the cuts that oil companies are making could have a dramatic impact on future oil prices as the under investment has the potential to cause oil prices to rocket higher if demand grows faster than future supplies. That, however, would all be part of OPEC's plan as it purposely pushed for lower oil prices now so it could control market share once oil prices surged in the future. It's willing to endure short-term pain for the potential of a big long-term gain. 

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The Soviet Union wanted to use this bizarre plane to hunt American nuclear submarines

Throughout the Cold War the Soviet Union and the United States were constantly trying to check each other's military power. This drive for each country to outdo the other led to some truly bizarre pieces of military hardware.

One of the most astounding Soviet creations was the Bartini Beriev VVA-14. The plane, whose pontoons give it the bizarre look of a bomber airframe strapped to two Star Trek-like nacelles, was the work of Italian designer Robert Bartini.

It was envisioned as a vertical-take-off amphibious aircraft designed to act as a defense against US nuclear submarines. It was supposed to be able to skim the surface of the water, allowing it to have eyes on underwater targets while keeping it safe from sub attacks.

Only two Bartini Beriev VVA-14 prototypes were built, and the project was eventually scrapped.

The sole remaining prototype is on display outside at the Russian Air Force Museum in Monino, outside of Moscow.

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The Bartini Beriev VVA-14 had a three-person crew. 

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The plane's first flight was held on Sept. 4, 1972. At the time, the prototype had yet to be outfitted with its pontoons for aquatic landings. The addition of the pontoons allowed the VVA-14 to land at sea. 

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In addition, the plane could efficiently hover along the surface of the water.  The VVA-14 had two turbojet engines in addition to 12 turbofan engines that provided lift. 

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The plane logged a total of 103 flight hours over 107 flights before the project was canceled following Bartini's death.

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Putin Just Sent Nuclear Bombers Over the English Channel, Seriously

It’s no secret Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to turn back the clock to a time when the Soviet Union strutted on the world’s stage, the only superpower offering a true counterweight to the U.S. On Thursday, though, Russia took steps – some alarming, some weird – that seemed aimed at reigniting the Cold War.

On the same day, a Russian lawmaker proposed legislation that would condemn the reunification of East and West Germany in 1989 after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The proposal, supported by Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin, a close Putin ally, would declare the reunification an illegal “annexation” of East Germany by West Germany.The U.K.’s Royal Air Force scrambled fighter jets on Thursday after a pair of nuclear-capable Russian bombers flew across a busy civilian air traffic corridor above the English Channel. The bombers had their transponders turned off, British officials said, making them invisible to many air traffic control systems. The incident disrupted multiple flights – and ended with the U.K. government demanding the Russian ambassador appear at the Foreign Office to explain the actions.

The thinking in the Kremlin appears to be that the criticism of Russia for sending troops into Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula last year, and then – with foreign troops still occupying the country – holding a referendum on the Crimea joining Russia, is unfair. The proposal is meant to be a sort of protest vote. The reunification of Germany, they say, was a fait accompli prior to an actual vote by the citizens of East Germany.

Not mentioned in coverage by Russian-owned media is that the East Germans had been fenced in at all border crossings for a generation – while Ukrainians in Crimea had the ability to travel outside the country without restrictions if they so chose.

It’s possible that Thursday’s events were related to the European Union’s vote to extend economic sanctions against Russia for six months. The sanctions were originally imposed because of Russia’s invasion of Crimea and its support of violent separatists in eastern Ukraine. The EU voted to extend the sanction regime in a week when violence has further flared in Ukraine’s Donbas region – and when evidence of Russia’s military support of the rebels has mounted.

Russian officials have consistently denied any military involvement in the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, which has now claimed more than 5,000 lives.

Talk of a new Cold War has been commonplace in recent months, but on Thursday Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union and someone who can legitimately be said to have helped end the Cold War, struck a distinctly pessimistic tone in comments to Interfax, the Russian news service.

The U.S. and Russia, he said, are already in a new Cold War. “Unfortunately I cannot say for sure that a cold war won't lead to a ‘hot’ one,” Mr. Gorbachev was quoted as saying. “I fear they could take the risk.”

Hamas no longer accepts Egypt as Israel mediator, source close to group says

Hamas members at an anti-Israel rally in Rafah in southern Gaza, November 13, 2014. . (photo credit:REUTERS)

 The Egyptian Court banned the armed wing of Palestinian group Hamas and listed it as a terrorist organization, a ruling in keeping with a systematic crackdown on Islamists by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Sisi said on Saturday Egypt faces a tough, prolonged campaign against militancy. "(It) will be difficult, strong, evil and will take a long time," he said in comments broadcast on state television after meeting top military officers.

Hamas is an offshoot of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, which the authorities have also declared a terrorist group and repressed thoroughly since the army ousted one of its leaders, Mohamed Mursi, from the presidency in 2013.

"We reject the Egyptian court's decision against Qassam Brigades. It is a political, dangerous decision that serves only the Zionist occupation," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, referring to Israel's control over Palestinian territories.

The ruling came days after Egypt was hit with some of the bloodiest Islamist militant attacks on security forces in years.

"The court ruled to ban the (Hamas) Qassam Brigades and to list it as a terrorist group," said Judge Mohamed al-Sayid of the special Cairo court which deals with urgent cases.

The case was based on allegations that the Qassam Brigades staged terrorist attacks to support the Brotherhood, and carried out a bombing and shooting operation which killed 33 security personnel in the Sinai Peninsula in October of 2014.

A source close to Hamas' armed wing signaled the group would no longer accept Egypt as a broker between it and Israel. "After the court's decision Egypt is no longer a mediator in Palestinian-Israeli matters," the source told Reuters.

Cairo has for many years played a central role in engineering cease-fires between Israel and Hamas, which dominates the Gaza Strip, including a truce reached between the sides in August that ended a 50-day Gaza war.

Egyptian officials say that weapons are smuggled from Gaza into Egypt where they end up with militant groups fighting to topple the Western-backed Cairo government.

Islamist militants based in Egypt's Sinai region, which borders on Gaza, have killed hundreds of police and soldiers since Mursi's political demise. The insurgency has spread to other parts of Egypt, the most populous Arab country.

MPs uproar over runaway corruption in government

CCM Special Seats MP Esther Bulaya debates the Public Accounts Committee and Local Authorities Accounts Committee reports in Bunge in Dodoma yesterday. PHOTO | EDWIN MJWAHUZI 

Dodoma. A week after President Jakaya Kikwete reshuffled cabinet and swore in new ministers, Members of Parliament have started to bay for blood of two other ministers after oversight committees revealed massive embezzlement, corruption and theft of public money.

Debating the reports yesterday, MPs from both camps of the House called for accountability from Finance minister Saada Mkuya after a Budget Committee report showed that her ministry had spent ring fenced money running into billions of shillings for purposes other than what it was intended for.

The report shows that the ministry diverted money meant for Rural Energy Agency (Rea) and the Road Fund.

Quoting Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), the committee shows that between July and November 2014 petroleum levy collected amounted to Sh180.7 billion.

According to the law, all this money was supposed to be forwarded to Rea for distribution of power in the rural areas, but as of this month the remitted money amounted to only Sh144.2 billion. On the other hand, Sh19.6 billion meant for Rea was realised from customs processing fee but only Sh12.2 billion was remitted. The total amount of money that the ministry diverted from Rea is Sh43.9 billion. The House also wants the minister out after the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) revealed massive loss of public money through tax exemptions, grand corruption in major projects as well as embezzlement of public funds in a number of areas.

Lawmakers also demanded immediate sacking of the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Government), Ms Hawa Ghasia, owing to the revelation of financial mess ups in local authorities.

 Mr Tundu Lissu (Singida East – Chadema) insisted on the need to make the two ministers accountable in order to put a stop to the growing trend where people have become insensitive to massive theft of public money.

“The problem is not bad people or poor leaders but impunity. Each year Parliament is treated to such massive theft and corruption such that we have become insensitive to bad news. Unfortunately, nothing tangible has been done to arrest this situation.

“We must decide now as Parliament. If we decide to condone the tendency let us continue with business as usual. But if we want to be accountable, let us start now by coming up with formal resolutions over these two ministers as a starter,” he said.

Mr Lissu said it was unfortunate that impunity has been the order of the day in the government. He even castigated President Jakaya Kikwete for sidestepping his constitutional duty of taking action against judges implicated in the Tegeta escrow account scandal.

However, this statement attracted a rebuttal from the Attorney general, Mr George Masaju, who noted that according to the Constitution, the President has no powers to directly discipline the judges.

“According to article 113 of the Constitution, the President can take measures against judges.

Debating the reports earlier, Ms Asumpta Mshama (Nkenge – CCM), said it was unfortunate that the Finance minister has decided to divert funds meant for rural electrification and road improvement to other uses without first obtaining permission from the Parliament.

“In fact, in doing so the minister has violated the law because these funds are ring fenced. We enacted a law to make sure that monies meant for Rea and Road Fund are not used for other purposes. Where had the minister obtained permission to divert these funds?” she asked.

She also wondered how council executives have been reporting of paying ghost workers. “How can they pay workers who are not there?” she queried. Mr Godbless Lema (Arusha Urban – Chadema) likened Tanzania to a ghetto where people live without rules or regulations. “Looking at the way people have been stealing public money while those responsible with taking them to task failing to do so, Tanzania is no different from a ghetto where rogue youths may decide to eat food before it is served on the table,” he said. “If leaders were innovative, this country could earn a lot from the tourism sector alone. But, given the speed of misuse of the funds, even if we collect Sh1 trillion a month, we will not achieve anything,” he said. Ms Esther Bulaya (Special Seats – CCM) said in diverting the ring fenced money the Finance minister had not only violated the law but the Constitution as well. She cited Articles 135 and 136 of the Constitution which put in place conditions for management of money for special purposes noting that for this the minister does not deserve chance to resign but should be fired and charged immediately.

Nasrallah: “We will not hesitate to go to war, the assassination was pre-planned by Israel”

Secretary General of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah referred for the first time to the assassination of Jihad Mornia upon Quneitra region, attributed to Israel and the reaction that followed it; “Israel has to know that those who fire first are taking into account the worst-case; we have no rules”

Secretary General of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah Channel 2 News/ Reuters

"If the Israelis think they can deter us, I say to you today: We are not afraid and will not hesitate to wage a war if you force us to - we will win" Hassan Nasrallah said today (Friday), two days after the terror organization's responsded to the air-strike, attributed to Israel by foreign media sources, aimed at Hezbollah convoy where senior terrorist Jihad Mugnhiyah was killed along with Iranian General.

Nasrallah conveyed the Israelis that they simply cannot expect that killing militants under his command will be answered peacefully. Perhaps the Israeli government supposed Hezbollah will not retaliate due to his heavy fighting in Syria, or rather accept Israel’s new rules of war but reality showed aggressive aspect of the Lebanese organization.

“I’ll tell you”, said Nasrallah to his constituency, “shortly after the assassination it was clear to us that we must retaliate. We did not take UN Resolution 1701 into our considerations; this is something we need to sacrifice for, even if it means we have to go all the way.”  

One of the jeeps that were damaged in the attack of Hezbollah, 2 days ago.Channel 2 News

“Israel has to know that those who fire first are taking into account the worst-case; we have no rules” added Nasrallah and continued to slam Israel’s ability to deter his organization: “we carried out the attack while Israel was highly prepared for us; there wasn’t one tiny ant that wasn’t followed along the border.”

However, according to Hezbollah Secretary General “they (Israel) didn’t manage to grasp exactly how we did it – from the beginning of the attack to its swift end.”

During his speech, Nasrallah also referred to the outcomes of the attack, claiming his organization conducted an eye for an eye retaliation: “They have killed our soldiers at a day time, and we did the same – more or less at the same hour. Two cars against two cars; missiles against missiles”