Prime Minister John Howard wants to reform the United Nations, saying the presence of France as a permanent member of the Security Council "distorts" the council.
He wants Japan, a South American country and India to be represented on the Security Council. France was there only because it was a global power at the end of World War II, he said.
Asking France or any other permanent member of the Security Council to voluntarily surrender their seat was "a major undertaking", he conceded.
His comments risk the ire of France before the first visit to Australia by President Jacques Chirac, who is due in the country in July. France angered the war coalition nations with its strong opposition to a second UN resolution backing military action. Once the troops went into Iraq, President Chirac was a vocal opponent of the war. rest of story
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A "what's wrong with this picture?" alert:
Former United States President Bill Clinton joins an Uber heavy weight team in kicking off a conference on Corporate Social Responsibility. [Think he'll mention his buds at Global Crossing, Enron, Tyson, etc., etc.?] Meeting in New York today at a “kick off” lunch to address CSR, the former President will be joined by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer; New York Stock Exchange President Richard Grasso; Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker; AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney; Arianna Huffington; Walter H. Shorenstein, founder of the Shorenstein Company; Alan G. Hevesi, New York State Comptroller; David Gergen, and others. source
On the topic of x42's lunch plans:
Dan Rather can't make his lunch in New York today. But Bill Clinton will be there to take his place. The CBS newsman had been scheduled to be the lunchtime speaker at the Conference Board's "Restoring Corporate Integrity and Public Trust" symposium. But he is busy in Baghdad and told the group on Thursday that he would not make it.
Fortunately, Clinton was free. The former president stepped up at the last minute to address the gathering of business leaders. Granted the Conference Board's work is respected, but how did it ever get Clinton on such short notice?
"It's Walter [Shorenstein]'s doing," Randy Poe, head of public relations, told Observer. "It happened all at once. We have no idea what [Clinton's] going to speak about."
Reached at his hotel room in New York, Shorenstein, the property mogul and philanthropist, explained all. "When it appeared that Dan Rather wasn't going to be available, we looked for someone who would be a suitable alternative," he said, [and ideological twin?] adding he has known Clinton since his first presidential campaign.
But does he know what Clinton is going to talk about? "We usually give him the latitude of speaking about what he thinks is appropriate." source