Innovative sources of development finance | Development Policy Blog

There has for decades been concern to find ways of supplementing ODA with more reliable and preferably automatic forms of financial transfer to developing countries, for their needs for external additions to revenue are often great.

The term ?innovative sources of funding? entered the UN lexicon at the 24th special session of the General Assembly on social development held in Geneva in June 2000 (for which I had substantive responsibility).? The Canadians proposed the term as a compromise which would maintain their proposal for study of a Tobin tax while avoiding provoking opposition from the US which was opposed to such a tax.? The special session decided in Paragraph 142 to:

Promote, through international action, the mobilization of new and additional resources for social development, inter alia, by:

(g) Conducting a rigorous analysis of advantages, disadvantages and other implications of proposals for developing new and innovative sources of funding, both public and private, for dedication to social development and poverty eradication programmes;

The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs commissioned the World Institute for Development Economic Research to make the required study and Sir Anthony Atkinson, then Warden of Nuffield College at Oxford, agreed to lead the project.? He edited the resulting book, entitled New Sources of Development Finance, published in 2005 by OUP.? The book includes chapters on environment taxes, a tax on currency transactions, Special Drawing Rights, the International Finance Facility proposed by the UK, a global lottery and global premium bond, philanthropy, and migrants? remittances.? That book is an authoritative foundational document for this issue.

The term was locked into UN prose at the International Conference on Finance for Development in Monterrey in March 2002.? Paragraph 44 of the Monterrey Consensus said ?We recognise the value of exploring innovative sources of finance provided that those sources do not unduly burden developing countries?.? That form of words has been repeated in several other conference outcomes.? The innovative source which was explicitly discussed at Monterrey was the proposal to use SDR allocations for development purposes.

A small conference which was explicitly on the subject of innovative sources was held at Pocantico in May 2003. ?That meeting classified innovative sources in two categories: soft targets for inter-government action ? realizable quickly, such as increasing philanthropy, creation and disposition of SDRs, improved international tax cooperation to reduce evasion; and the UK proposal for an International Finance Facility. The second category was those which might be politically acceptable in five or ten years? time and included internationally coordinated taxes for global use such as a currency transaction tax, and upgrading of the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee on International Cooperation on Tax Matters.

At the time of the UN World Summit in September 2005, 79 countries endorsed the New York Declaration on Innovative Sources of Financing for Development, co-sponsored by Algeria, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany and Spain. With their support the Summit outcome recognized ?the value of developing innovative sources of financing, provided those sources do not unduly burden developing countries? in paragraph 23.? It also took note of the international efforts, contributions and discussions which by then were under way, including proposals from the Action against Hunger and Poverty; launching of the International Finance Facility for immunization; collecting contributions though airline tickets, and other initiatives in the health sector. The Global Summit fully entrenched the political legitimacy of the innovative sources approach in international discourse.? Early in 2006 France convened the Leading Group on Solidarity Levies to Fund Development, which tasked itself with exploring such issues and which gave further political momentum to the proposals.

Membership of the Leading Group quickly grew steadily to include over 60 states, the main international organisations and NGOs involved in the area.? In October 2009 12 member countries of the Leading Group gathered a Taskforce to evaluate the feasibility of contributing to financing for development from a tax on international financial transactions.? The Taskforce concluded that [pdf] a Currency Transaction Tax collected at the point of settlement is technically and legally feasible and that the proceeds should be paid into a dedicated Global Solidarity Fund to finance global public goods.

The Secretary-General?s (SG) background report for the High-level Dialogue in the UN General Assembly on 7 and 8 December describes in detail programs which have been established under this political umbrella and which either the OECD or the World Bank or both define as innovative sources.?The OECD defines innovative sources as ?mechanisms of raising funds or stimulating actions in support of international development that go beyond traditional spending approaches ??? and estimates that selected mechanisms have generated $37 billion between 2002 and 2011, of which $28 billion was from trading carbon emissions.? Yet in the health sector, which has the largest number of operational mechanisms, only $200 million of the total estimated revenues of $5.5 billion raised by identified innovative mechanisms between 2002 and 2010 were reported as ?additional to ODA? based on OECD classification, so $5.3 billion of that revenue cannot be regarded as innovative (Source).

The World Bank includes financing generated by tapping new funding sources or by engaging new partners and identifies $57 billion in 2000-2008, but this includes $10.8 billion of ODA from donors outside the DAC and $40 billion of local currency bonds issued by multilateral development banks (Source: IBID 2011, p. 3).?So there are wide differences between the two organizations? conception of innovative mechanisms.?? It does however seem reasonable to regard new mechanisms which add to ODA as potentially innovative provided they are in fact additional and do not simply replace some other form of ODA.

Economic and social development is not the only purpose for which advocates have suggested using innovative sources of financing.? When developed countries committed themselves to mobilizing $100 billion a year by 2020 to climate change mitigation and adaptation, a search which had been underway for several years to identify additional sources of financing received stronger motivation.? The SG?s High-level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing considered a new issue of Special Drawing Rights and a tax on financial transactions as potential sources of finance, but thought there were too many political and technical impediments to their adoption.

There have been a number of other scholarly studies, studies by the European Commission and other multilateral organisations including the IMF into various types of innovative sources of financing.

Characteristics of innovative sources of finance often include:

  • Additionality to existing sources of ODA
  • That they are initiated through inter-governmental action and require international cooperation
  • Many have become feasible because of the growth of international markets
  • They are generally focused on taxing what is damaging ? the ?bads? ? or supporting what is constructive ? funding public ?goods?.
  • The public resistance to them is often relatively low, though interest groups such as banks or pharmaceutical companies are likely to be hostile
  • The revenue can be hypothecated ? to achieve a particular end in health or education ? which increases political acceptability
  • Governance is often multipartite including representatives of donor and recipient governments, philanthropists, business and civil society

Since there are great differences in the characteristics of sources classified as generating innovative finance the concept has become difficult to define.? In any case, once a new means of generating an additional form of finance has become established it is clearly no longer innovative.

So is the term useful?? One answer to that question is to simply regard ?innovative finance for development? as a disguise which had a political value at the time it was introduced ? and which perhaps still does ? but which is never likely to be defined to everyone?s satisfaction because those who use it have such different interests and frameworks.

The essential requirement in this discussion is that it be in the context of commitment to generation of the additional revenue which is essential to coping with the two major global chronic crises ? that a sixth of the global population lives in absolute poverty, and that all humankind is threatened with the destructive consequences of greenhouse gas emissions.? Achievement of the MDGs and of effective climate change mitigation and adaptation are necessary for the wellbeing of all people.

Professor John Langmore is attending the High-level Dialogue as a representative of the Academic Council for the UN System.? He was Director of the UN Division for Social Policy and Development at the time of the special session of the General Assembly for social development in June 2000.

Related posts:

  1. Cancun Conclusions on Climate Finance
  2. Climate Finance: Cancun update
  3. Climate finance: getting to $100 billion a year by 2020
  4. Make Climate Finance Transparent
  5. A reflection on climate change finance after Cancun
  6. Climate finance: An insider's account
  7. Buzz: MDG progress | Aid Review | Development blogging
-->

Source: http://devpolicy.org/innovative-sources-of-development-finance/

yale harvard dan henderson oregon ducks oregon ducks oregon football lana turner donald glover

Five Screen Racing Simulator Includes an iPhone For Performance Stats [Video]

Powered by an AMD Radeon HD 6870 graphics card, Chad Smith's five screen racing simulator looks like it provides almost the same thrills as the military's simulators, without requiring the military's budget. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/IsG9guNuFwo/five-screen-racing-simulator-includes-an-iphone-for-performance-stats

marzieh vafamehr lady liberty lady liberty the rum diary addams family in time statue of liberty

Why This ER Doctor Decided That Business Is Way Better Than ...

Image: MIT

Christine Tsien Silvers

After several years as an ER doctor, Christine Tsien Silvers decided to quit clinical medicine to become the Chief Medical Officer of a small company and, therefore, leave behind the days of having to see an "average number of patients per hour."

Her recent guest post on Philip Greenspun's blog says:

Let's be honest: leaving clinical medicine had crossed my mind before ? for example, at Hour 24 of pained wakefulness during Emergency Medicine (EM) Residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital. Later, while working in the community, I would sometimes sigh, proud and privileged to be able to help patients, yet nostalgic for less harried work. Those belligerent types yelling profanities, or the guy tired of waiting five hours and promising to sue everyone, those towering chart piles of could-be-critical yet still waiting-to-be-seen patients, the hallways littered with ticking-time-bomb, semi-stable admitted patients awaiting inpatient rooms... such moments, unfortunately not infrequent, definitely gave me pause.

Five-digit medical malpractice insurance premiums also meant that for my first twentysome per diem shifts each year, I was paying to treat patients. My independent consultant work in my MIT dissertation area of "multivariate trend analysis," such as used in developing improved patient monitors, in stark contrast was not only rewarding but also accommodating?teleconferences could be scheduled between school drop-off and pickup, for example. Moreover, nobody was pressuring me to sacrifice my desire to be thorough in order to be faster...as my maternity leave too rapidly drew to a close, I felt increasingly convinced that perhaps I should hang up my stethoscope.

Unfortunately, practitioners turning their backs on medicine leave us wondering what will happen to the nation's medical field in a time when America is already behind in science. Reuters reported that "national studies show that at the elementary level, science is barely being taught" especially when compared to English and Math.?

And we're all left wondering, "Who will take care of us when we are injured or ill?"

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/emergency-room-stress-doctor-leave-medicine-science--christine-tsien-silvers-2011-12

oklahoma state plane crash syracuse university best buy black friday 2011 ads broncos jets jessie james clayton kershaw osu basketball

Golden Globe nominations for actor in a TV drama (AP)

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. ? The 69th annual Golden Globe nominations for best actor in a television drama series have been announced in Beverly Hills, Calif., by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

The category's nominees announced Thursday morning include: Steve Buscemi, "Boardwalk Empire"; Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad"; Kelsey Grammer, "Boss"; Jeremy Irons, "The Borgias"; and Damian Lewis, "Homeland."

The Golden Globes will be presented Jan. 15 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, televised live by NBC and hosted by Ricky Gervais.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111215/ap_en_ot/us_golden_globes_tv_drama_actor

los angeles angels los angeles angels lindsay lohan’s playboy cover leaked online lindsay lohan’s playboy cover leaked online kevin martin va tech shooting 2011 cj wilson

The end of noisy commercials? (The Week)

New York ? Bowing to consumer complaints, the FCC mandates that TV companies must stop blasting advertisements louder than the shows they interrupt

Hate loud TV commercials? Well, you're not alone and you're in luck. The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday announced new rules requiring cable and TV companies to keep volume levels constant, instead of blaring ads to make them stand out from the quieter programs they interrupt. Here's what you should know:

How big of a problem is this?
Among consumer complaints to the FCC, gripes about loud ads have long ranked highly, earning a top spot in 21 of the 25 quarterly reports the agency has released since 2002. The problem got so bad that last year, Congress approved the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act, or CALM Act, calling for FCC regulations to protect viewers' ears. "I never characterized this as saving the Union," Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.)?tells USA Today. "But consumers have been asking for it. We may not have peace in the world, but we may have more peaceful homes."

SEE ALSO: Should Ryan Seacrest replace Matt Lauer on Today?

?

When will commercials get quieter?
The new rules take effect Dec. 13, 2012. That gives cable companies a year to buy new equipment to control volume, as mandated by the CALM Act. But it will be worth the wait, FCC Commissioner Mignon Clybourn tells ABC News, because consumers will finally get relief from years of "what sometimes were frightening decibel levels that resulted in considerable alarm, anger, and spilled popcorn."

How have TV companies reacted?
They're balking. The devices they'll need to regulate volume can cost up to $20,000 a pop, and the Congressional Budget Office estimates that cable operators and TV stations will have to collectively spend "tens of millions" of dollars to comply with the new rules. The National Cable & Telecommunications Association, a trade group whose members include cable giant Comcast, said cable operators shouldn't be responsible for commercials inserted by the networks that produce the shows.

SEE ALSO: Will New Year's Eve's poor box office kill ensemble rom-coms?

?

Sources: ABC News, Bloomberg, Hollywood Reporter, USA Today

View this article on TheWeek.com
Get 4 Free Issues of The Week

Other stories from this section:

Like on Facebook?-?Follow on Twitter?-?Sign-up for Daily Newsletter

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oped/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/theweek/20111214/cm_theweek/222461

danica patrick david garrard indy car kinder morgan zachary quinto zachary quinto ashley judd

The Pillars Of Gaming: Defining Purpose @PSFK

PSFK?s Future Of Gaming report is intended to provide a current snapshot into the innovative ways that games are being used within the broader marketplace, examine their expanding role in effecting change on an individual and societal level, and highlight the new technologies that are making these experiences possible. Pattern recognition performed against our research yielded 17 key trends organized around three core aspects of game design ? Purpose Behind the Game, Mechanics That Drive People To Action and Game Functionality and Systems.

The Purpose Of Gaming

Developers are taking the idea of gaming beyond the realms of pure entertainment, employing the structured play and challenging aspects behind the most successful games and using them to achieve specific goals. Whether teaching new skills and understanding or encouraging players to help solve larger social issues, these games are helping inspire change on both a personal and societal level.

Trends Within ?Purpose Of Gaming?

To Solve The Unsolvable

To Spread The Word

To Leverage Collective Manpower

To Embed Knowledge

To Teach People New Skills

To Improve Everyday Behavior

To Promote Fundraising

Key?Implications

  • Build games around causes or campaigns that encourage players to explore and discover. incorporating a social element enables influential players to organically spread the message to a wider audience.
  • Link in-game actions with the needs of charitable organizations, allowing players to donate their earnings to support their favorite causes.
  • Design games around real world problems, allowing players to work together and compete to solve these challenges. Making related data sets open source can increase the likelihood of achieving common goals.
  • Create games that seamlessly integrate educational component elements into compelling in-game story lines and challenges, helping maintain sustained player interest and engagement.
  • Design games that compel players to gain practical knowledge and avoid the frustrations of failure through increasingly complex challenges that build on recently learned skills.
  • Create games that sync with daily routines to help players track and analyze their personal behaviors. Linking real world actions with relevant incentives can encourage players to show improvement over time.
  • Build games that let players of any skill level donate their time towards achieving a bigger goal. Enabling players to earn personal rewards while contributing to a larger effort can encourage sustained participation.

To learn more about what?s going on in the gaming space today, order a copy of PSFK?s Future of Gaming report.

future-of-gaming-banner

Source: http://www.psfk.com/2011/12/the-pillars-of-gaming-defining-purpose.html

garmin nuvi 1450 amzn tommy john surgery colorado weather alcohol poisoning alcohol poisoning mark ingram

A 'fantastic voyage' through the body -- with precision control

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 15-Dec-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: George Hunka
ghunka@aftau.org
212-742-9070
American Friends of Tel Aviv University

Tel Aviv University researcher develops capsule endoscope controlled by MRI to investigate digestive system

Endoscopes small cameras or optic fibres that are usually attached to flexible tubing designed to investigate the interior of the body can be dangerously invasive. Procedures often require sedative medications and some recovery time. Now a researcher at Tel Aviv University is developing a "capsule endoscope" that can move through the digestive tract to detect problems independent of any attachments.

According to Dr. Gabor Kosa of TAU's School of Mechanical Engineering, the project is inspired by an endoscopic capsule designed for use in the small intestine. But unlike the existing capsule, which travels at random and snaps pictures every half second to give doctors an overall view of the intestines, the new "wireless" capsules will use the magnetic field of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine and electronic signals manipulated by those operating the capsule to forge a more precise and deliberate path.

It's a less invasive and more accurate way for doctors to get an important look at the digestive tract, where difficult-to-diagnose tumors or wounds may be hidden, or allow for treatments such as biopsies or local drug delivery. The technology, which was recently reported in Biomedical Microdevices, was developed in collaboration with Peter Jakab, an engineer from the Surgical Planning Laboratory at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, affiliated with Harvard Medical School.

Swimming with the current

What sets this endoscope apart is its ability to actively explore the digestive tract under the direction of a doctor. To do this, the device relies on the magnetic field of the MRI machine as a "driving force," says Dr. Kosa. "An MRI has a very large constant magnetic field," he explains. "The capsule needs to navigate according to this field, like a sailboat sailing with the wind."

In order to help the capsules "swim" with the magnetic current, the researchers have given them "tails," a combination of copper coils and flexible polymer. The magnetic field creates a vibration in the tail which allows for movement, and electronics and microsensors embedded in the capsule allow the capsule's operator to manipulate the magnetic field that guides the movement of the device. The use of copper, a non-ferro magnetic material, circumvents other diagnostic challenges posed by MRI, Dr. Kosa adds. While most magnets interfere with MRI by obscuring the picture, copper appears as only a minor blot on otherwise clear film.

The ability to drive the capsule, Dr. Kosa says, will not only lead to better diagnosis capabilities, but patients will experience a less invasive procedure in a fraction of the time.

Microrobotics of the future

In the lab at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dr. Kosa and his fellow researchers have tested the driving mechanism of the capsule in an aquarium inside the MRI. The results have shown that the capsule can successfully be manipulated using a magnetic field. Moving forward, the researchers are hoping to further develop the capsule's endoscopic and signalling functions.

According to Dr. Kosa, a new faculty recruit to TAU, this project is part of a bright future for the field of microrobotics. At the university, his new research lab, called RBM2S, focuses on microsystems and robotics for biomedical applications, and an educational robotics lab, ERL, will teach future robotics experts studying at TAU's School of Mechanical Engineering.

###

American Friends of Tel Aviv University (http://www.aftau.org) supports Israel's leading, most comprehensive and most sought-after center of higher learning. Independently ranked 94th among the world's top universities for the impact of its research, TAU's innovations and discoveries are cited more often by the global scientific community than all but 10 other universities.

Internationally recognized for the scope and groundbreaking nature of its research and scholarship, Tel Aviv University consistently produces work with profound implications for the future.



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 15-Dec-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: George Hunka
ghunka@aftau.org
212-742-9070
American Friends of Tel Aviv University

Tel Aviv University researcher develops capsule endoscope controlled by MRI to investigate digestive system

Endoscopes small cameras or optic fibres that are usually attached to flexible tubing designed to investigate the interior of the body can be dangerously invasive. Procedures often require sedative medications and some recovery time. Now a researcher at Tel Aviv University is developing a "capsule endoscope" that can move through the digestive tract to detect problems independent of any attachments.

According to Dr. Gabor Kosa of TAU's School of Mechanical Engineering, the project is inspired by an endoscopic capsule designed for use in the small intestine. But unlike the existing capsule, which travels at random and snaps pictures every half second to give doctors an overall view of the intestines, the new "wireless" capsules will use the magnetic field of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine and electronic signals manipulated by those operating the capsule to forge a more precise and deliberate path.

It's a less invasive and more accurate way for doctors to get an important look at the digestive tract, where difficult-to-diagnose tumors or wounds may be hidden, or allow for treatments such as biopsies or local drug delivery. The technology, which was recently reported in Biomedical Microdevices, was developed in collaboration with Peter Jakab, an engineer from the Surgical Planning Laboratory at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, affiliated with Harvard Medical School.

Swimming with the current

What sets this endoscope apart is its ability to actively explore the digestive tract under the direction of a doctor. To do this, the device relies on the magnetic field of the MRI machine as a "driving force," says Dr. Kosa. "An MRI has a very large constant magnetic field," he explains. "The capsule needs to navigate according to this field, like a sailboat sailing with the wind."

In order to help the capsules "swim" with the magnetic current, the researchers have given them "tails," a combination of copper coils and flexible polymer. The magnetic field creates a vibration in the tail which allows for movement, and electronics and microsensors embedded in the capsule allow the capsule's operator to manipulate the magnetic field that guides the movement of the device. The use of copper, a non-ferro magnetic material, circumvents other diagnostic challenges posed by MRI, Dr. Kosa adds. While most magnets interfere with MRI by obscuring the picture, copper appears as only a minor blot on otherwise clear film.

The ability to drive the capsule, Dr. Kosa says, will not only lead to better diagnosis capabilities, but patients will experience a less invasive procedure in a fraction of the time.

Microrobotics of the future

In the lab at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dr. Kosa and his fellow researchers have tested the driving mechanism of the capsule in an aquarium inside the MRI. The results have shown that the capsule can successfully be manipulated using a magnetic field. Moving forward, the researchers are hoping to further develop the capsule's endoscopic and signalling functions.

According to Dr. Kosa, a new faculty recruit to TAU, this project is part of a bright future for the field of microrobotics. At the university, his new research lab, called RBM2S, focuses on microsystems and robotics for biomedical applications, and an educational robotics lab, ERL, will teach future robotics experts studying at TAU's School of Mechanical Engineering.

###

American Friends of Tel Aviv University (http://www.aftau.org) supports Israel's leading, most comprehensive and most sought-after center of higher learning. Independently ranked 94th among the world's top universities for the impact of its research, TAU's innovations and discoveries are cited more often by the global scientific community than all but 10 other universities.

Internationally recognized for the scope and groundbreaking nature of its research and scholarship, Tel Aviv University consistently produces work with profound implications for the future.



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/afot-av121511.php

james arthur ray james arthur ray elisabeth shue avastin avastin robert wagner robert wagner

US and North Korea hold food aid talks in Beijing

(AP) ? U.S. officials say food aid to North Korea could resume depending on whether Pyongyang can provide the necessary monitoring assurances in talks between the sides that began Thursday in Beijing.

The United Nations and U.S. charities say aid is badly needed, but the U.S. government is concerned that North Korea, which has plowed resources into a nuclear weapons program, could divert food aid to political elites and its vast military.

U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues Robert King and senior U.S. aid official Jon Brause met Thursday with North Korea's director-general for American affairs, Ri Gun.

The talks are expected to last at least two days and are to focus on strict monitoring mechanisms should the U.S. decide to give aid.

The last U.S. food handouts ended in March 2009, when North Korea expelled U.S. aid groups that were monitoring the distribution. That occurred shortly before the North conducted long-range rocket and nuclear tests that drew stiff international sanctions.

North Korea has appealed for food aid, but its state media has not commented on the talks.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Wednesday that the aid could include vitamin supplements and high-protein biscuits for malnourished people in addition to regular food.

Such items would be unlikely to end up "on some leader's banquet table," Nuland said.

"They (North Korean officials) know that we were obviously deeply dissatisfied with the way this went before and that we need more discussions about it," Nuland told a news conference.

Some aid groups also have urged that flour be provided rather than more desirable rice, which they say is routinely siphoned off and provided to the regime's most loyal backers in the cities.

The U.N. reported last month that North Korea had an improved harvest this year despite a harsh winter and summer floods, but that malnutrition among children has increased. It said nearly 3 million people will continue to require food assistance next year.

North Korea has suffered chronic food shortages for the past two decades because of a combination of economic and agricultural mismanagement and natural disasters. It suffered a famine in the 1990s that killed hundreds of thousands of people.

King visited North Korea in May accompanied by a food assessment team from the U.S. Agency for International Development. The findings of the mission were not made public.

This week's aid discussions come as expectations grow that the U.S. could hold a new round of talks with North Korea on its nuclear program. There have been two rounds since July, a possible prelude to a resumption of China-sponsored six-nation disarmament-for-aid talks that have been in limbo since 2009.

In Beijing for talks with Chinese officials, new U.S. envoy on North Korean affairs Glyn Davies said it was up to North Korea to create the conditions for new bilateral discussions.

"We need them to provide the right assurances, the right signals, at which point, and it could be at some point soon, I'm not certain, no crystal ball, we'll be able to get back to them for a third round," Davies told reporters following his meetings.

He said his talks with Chinese officials centered on how to restart the six-nation talks in a way that produces solid progress "so that we don't find ourselves in a situation similar to what we've had before where we've gone into talks and they haven't ultimately borne fruit."

North Korea says it is willing to restart the six-nation talks without preconditions, but the U.S. and its allies want the North to first take concrete action to show it is sincere, such as by freezing uranium enrichment and allowing in international monitors.

Last week, Davies said the United States is "not interested in talks for talks' sake." He didn't elaborate.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-15-US-NKorea-Food-Aid/id-6650da9d6ecd4715b46832374b6266b3

amr jack del rio fired jack del rio fired made in america made in america icam patrice o neal.