ILO conference to tackle global job crisis

The graphics shows unemployment in the 16-nation
eurozone rose to 9.2 percent of the workforce in April, the highest level
in this decade as the recession hit consumers and industry, according to
official EU data on June 2, 2009. (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun)
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GENEVA, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The International Labor
Organization (ILO) opened its annual conference on Wednesday with discussions
focused on ways and means to tackle the growing impact of the economic and
financial crisis on employment and social protection.

Between 3,000 and 4,000 representatives from most of
the ILO's 183 members are participating in the meeting, including more than 150
ministerial officials, said Kari Tapiola, spokesperson of this year's
conference.

The 17-day conference will feature on June 15-17 an
ILO Summit on the Global Jobs Crisis, which will be addressed by at least 10
heads of state or government, including Brazilian President Lula da Silva and
French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The agenda of the conference has been reorganized at
short notice in order to focus on the global jobs crisis, according to an ILO
statement.

Job losses have been massive in all regions, and
future forecasts predict continued job losses and high and persistent
unemployment and poverty well into 2010, the statement said.

The conference will discuss a range of measures and
policies to promote employment and enterprise development, and extend social and
other protection to persons affected.

Other issues to be discussed include HIV/AIDS, gender
equality in work places, forced labor, the situation of workers in the occupied
Palestinian territories.

The role of the annual conference is to adopt and
oversee compliance with international labor standards, establish the budget of
the organization and elect members of the ILO governing body.

Since 1919, the conference has served as a major
international forum for debate on social and labor questions of worldwide
importance.

Special Report:
Global Financial
Crisis

4th Conference of Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions kicks off in Damascus

DAMASCUS, June 1 (Xinhua) -- The 4th Conference of Islamic Banks and
Financial Institutions kicked off Monday in Syrian capital Damascus under the
theme "Islamic Banking Investment Opportunities and Competition Challenges."

The two-day conference is expected to address challenges facing the Islamic
financial industry in light of the recent global financial crisis which is
considered a good opportunity to give a push for the Islamic banking system.

The conference will also tackle the issues of liquidity management,
financing companies and individuals, solidarity, insurance, products standards,
regulations on e-banking operations, features of the Syrian Islamic banking
market, according to a statement published in the official website of Al Salam
for International Conferences and Exhibitions.

800 participants from 20 Arab and non-Arab countries, including presidents
of central, Islamic, investment and commercial banks along with businessmen and
investors, attend the conference.

Governor of the Central Bank of Syria Adeeb Miyalah said during the opening
session of the conference that efforts are on foot to establish a fair banking
system that is based on the Islamic Sharia.

Iraq's Kurdistan starts oil exports

BAGHDAD, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Iraq's autonomous region of Kurdistan started
Monday its first oil exports through the country's northern national pipelines.

In a ceremony attended by Iraq's President Jalal Talabani and president of
the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) Massud Barzani, the workers at Taq Taq oil
field in Arbil province turned on the pumps announcing the beginning of first
oil exports from the Kurdish region.

The Kurdish region is exporting the oil via Iraqi pipelines that convey the
Iraqi oil from the northern oilfields of Kirkuk to the Turkish Mediterranean
port of Ceyhan.

"It is a historic day. We are proud of this success, and this achievement
will serve the interests of all Iraqis, particularly the Kurds," Barzani said in
the ceremony.

Iraq's KRG has a large degree of self-rule and has a profound disagreement
with Iraq's central government in Baghdad over oil production deals signed by
the KRG.

However, Iraq has approved that the KRG to export crude oil through its
national pipelines to be marketed by Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization
(SOMO) and the revenue will be deposited to the federal Iraq account.

Earlier, the KRG said that around 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) will be
exported from the Tawke Field in Duhuk province, and that some 40,000 bpd will
be conveyed by tankers from Taq Taq oil field in Arbil province to the northern
national pipelines.

Khalid Salih, a KRG spokesman, said Monday that his regional government
hopes that it would produce 250,000 bpd by mid-2010 and up to 1 million bpd
within the next two or three years.

SCO, BRIC summits to focus on global financial crisis: Russian analysts

MOSCOW, May 28 (Xinhua) -- The summits of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO) and the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China)
scheduled for next month in Russia will provide the participants with a platform
to discuss measures to tackle the global financial crisis, Russian analysts said
on Wednesday.

The SCO member states should further enhance coordination in working out
policies and measures amid the global economic downturn, Mihail Delyagin,
director of the Russian Institute for Globalization Problems, told Xinhua.

Russia, among other countries, proposed the creation of new international
reserve currencies during the G20 summit in London in early April, Delyagin
said.

The sides could discuss the proposal within a bilateral or multilateral
framework at the upcoming summit, which will also be conducive to preparation
for the next G20 summit, said the expert.

Discussion about the merits and flaws of the measures adopted to deal with
the financial crisis should be given priority at the BRIC summit, said Igor
Nikolayev, director of FBK Strategic Analysis Department.

The BRIC countries have many topics to talk about against the trend towards
world multipolarizaiton, Nikolayev said.

Special Report:
Global Financial
Crisis

International diamond watchdog due in Zimbabwe

HARARE, May 27 (Xinhua) -- A team from the Kimberley Process, an international diamond trade watchdog, is due in Zimbabwe shortly to audit operations of the local industry, officials said on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe's diamond industry has come under international spotlight in recent years, in particular over suspected illegal mining and smuggling of the precious gems at Chiadzwa in Marange, according to local media New Ziana.

There were also suspicions and allegations that security forces deployed in Marange to secure the diamond deposits had killed scores of illegal panners, heightening calls for an international probing into the local industry.

Government critics joined the fray, and tried to prod the Kimberley Process to order a ban on Zimbabwe diamond trade. Officials said it was against this background that the team from the Kimberley Process, drawn from countries such as Canada, Namibia, South Africa and the United States, was visiting Zimbabwe.

But earlier claims of diamond smuggling at River Ranch Mine inBeitbridge were dismissed by another Kimberley Process team in 2007.

The new team, which is expected in Zimbabwe either later this week or next week, was expected to visit all the country's three diamond mines - River Ranch, Murowa and Chiadzwa to inspect their operations.

"We are ready for them. This will put all the speculation to rest," an official, who declined to be named on account of the sensitivity of the issue, was quoted as saying.

Zimbabwean diamond industry has in recent years become a major component of the local mining sector, with experts predicting thatthe precious mineral and platinum will become the top foreign currency earners for the country in the near future.

The Chiadzwa deposits, for example, are the largest concentrated reserves in the world. The reserves remain largely unexploited, and the area around Chiadzwa is still to be fully explored to ascertain the extent of the deposits.

Industry sources said more diamond deposits have been found elsewhere in the country, sparking intense jostling for mining rights among local and international players.