The United States and Russia are in agreement on how to deal with the Iranian nuclear threat, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told BBC News, saying that Russian leaders were ready to act if Tehran did not meet its obligations. “We are in total agreement,” Clinton said, referring to cooperative actions, including economic sanctions, that may be necessary if diplomacy fails. Secretary Clinton said that Russia had “moved tremendously” in the last six months to acknowledge that the nuclear program, which Iran claims is solely for civilian nuclear energy, could be a serious threat. However, speaking in China on Wednesday, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said it’s too early to talk about economic sanctions, saying it could derail negotiations with Iran. This comes after Secretary Clinton noted the United States would continue to support and train Georgia’s military, after objections from Russia. Georgia is supplying troops in Afghanistan, and Secretary Clinton said the United States would continue to help “the Georgian people feel like they can protect themselves.”
China’s declines in exports and imports slowed sharply in September, suggesting improvement in global economic demand and renewed strength for Chinese exporters. According to Chinese authorities, exports fell 15.2 percent in September compared to the same month last year, to $115.9 billion. But this is the smallest fall in nine months; in August, the decline was around 23.4 percent. The improvement was even more striking in imports, which only dropped 3.5 percent in September compared to 17 percent the month before. “A small uptick in consumption in the U.S. and Germany combined with expectations of higher orders for the Christmas season had raised hopes of a return to life for China’s export sector,” said Tom Orlik, an economist at Stone & McCarthy in Shanghai. “Today’s figure suggests the recovery is now under way.” But The New York Times points out that as China’s share of world trade continues to grow, so too could frictions between the European Union and the United States and their trading partners.
For more on China’s economic recovery, check back soon for this week’s “The Big Question” on the World Policy Blog.
The combination of food and economic crises led to a sharp spike in global hunger this year, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) found in its annual report. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2009, released in advance of World Food Day on October 16, estimated that more than one billion people—a sixth of the world’s population and the highest number since 1970—is undernourished. The report noted that greater international effort will be crucial if the Millennium Development Goal of halving the amount of hungry people across the globe by 2015 is to be met. “World leaders have reacted forcefully to the financial and economic crisis and succeeded in mobilizing billions of dollars in a short time period,” said Jacques Diouf, director-general of the FAO. “The same strong action is needed now to combat hunger and poverty.” The number of hungry had been in steady decline for nearly a decade—before the financial crisis. But the downturn exacerbated matters by reducing foreign aid and investment in poorer countries and cutting remittances from those working abroad. The FAO report urges governments to increase their investments in agriculture and economic safety nets for poorer countries, despite ongoing financial constraints. “In the fight against hunger the focus should be on increasing food production,” said Diouf. “No nation is immune and, as usual, it is the poorest countries—and the poorest people—that are suffering the most.” He will present a “toolbox” of strategies for countries to help fight hunger on Thursday.
The final hurdle for EU reform treaty—Czech approval—could trip up hopes for European unity. The Czech Republic’s eurosceptic president, Vaclav Klaus, said he would not drop objections to the Lisbon reform treaty despite Poland’s recent approval, leaving his country the last to sign. “I explained that I fear, and I am not the only person to fear, a deepening of European Union integration,” said Klaus, after talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. On Saturday, Poland’s president, Lech Kaczynski, signed the treaty—though he previously refused to approve it following last year’s resounding “no” vote in the Irish referendum. After the Irish finally approved the treaty last week, Kaczynski said he did not want Poland to be the obstacle to European integration. If all 27 member states approve it, the Lisbon treaty would streamline the way the EU operates and would create a new full-time president and foreign minister. The European Commission chief, Jose Manuel Barroso, has called on the Czech president to quit stalling. VIDEO: Czech president Vaclav Klaus comments on the Lisbon Treaty.
After a hostage siege inside the Pakistani army headquarters last weekend, hundreds of thousands of civilians in the tribal area of South Waziristan are fleeing the region fearing a Pakistani offensive against Taliban militants. It is estimated that some 200,000 people have left the area near the Afghan border since August. The Pakistani military has been threatening an offensive for months, but the latest actions by the Taliban seem to finally have pushed the military to act. The Pakistani Taliban recently has escalated attacks, following the death of their leader Baitullah Mehsud in a U.S. drone strike in August. The new leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, said in an interview with Sky News that bombings inside Pakistan would stop if the country rejected the United States. He also promised to send Taliban soldiers to fight India once an Islamic state is established in Pakistan.