Speculators blamed for driving up price of basic foods as 100 million face severe hunger

By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor
Sunday, 4 May 2008

Giant agribusinesses are enjoying soaring earnings and profits out of the world food crisis which is driving millions of people towards starvation, The Independent on Sunday can reveal. And speculation is helping to drive the prices of basic foodstuffs out of the reach of the hungry. The prices of wheat, corn and rice have soared over the past year driving the world's poor – who already spend about 80 per cent of their income on food – into hunger and destitution.

The World Bank says that 100 million more people are facing severe hunger. Yet some of the world's richest food companies are making record profits. Monsanto last month reported that its net income for the three months up to the end of February this year had more than doubled over the same period in 2007, from $543m (£275m) to $1.12bn. Its profits increased from $1.44bn to $2.22bn.

By: Philip Bowring    
29 March 2008 

The cracks in Malaysia’s ruling coalition and biggest party are widening after the shock of the March elections

The March 8 national elections in Malaysia have left politics in such a state of flux that one could construct about as many scenarios as there are politicians in the country over the future of the just-elected parliament.  With the opposition for the first time strong enough to mount a serious challenge to the Barisan Nasional, or the ruling coalition of ethnic parties, the country appears to have been forced by the elections to embark on a bout of democracy.

Just how messy things have become, at least for the United Malays National Organisation, is shown by the success of the Sultan of Terengganu, who also happens to be the King at present, in getting his preference accepted as Mentri Besar (chief minister) rather than the nominee of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

By John Burton in Kuala Lumpur (ft.com)

Anwar Ibrahim would have been dismissed a few weeks ago as the Al Gore of Malaysia: a statesman respected abroad but with a fading political future at home.

His People's Justice party (PKR) had only one seat in the outgoing 219-member parliament and his chances of achieving his ambition of becoming prime minister were seen as virtually nil.

But the shock results of the recent general elections, which delivered the biggest setback to the National Front government in its 50-year history, have significantly improved the odds of Mr Anwar’s leading the south-east Asian nation.

By Mark Bendeich and Jalil Hamid

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia votes on Saturday and the ruling coalition is virtually assured of victory, but there are signs a few painful surprises could still be in store.

The campaign has been dull even by standards of Malaysian democracy, which has never seen a change of government. But this does not necessarily portend another easy victory for the Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition, political experts said on Thursday.

A sharply reduced majority could threaten Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's leadership and lead to a purge of Barisan, its cabinet line-up and policy platform, they said.

"Every party in the Barisan, especially the key component parties, will face a reckoning as a result of this election," said political scientist Bridget Welsh, of Johns Hopkins University, who is in Malaysia for the election.