Informed initially by their own experiences, these Latinas galvanized efforts to effect societal change that produced results far beyond identity politics. Each could serve as a worthy role model for Latina and non-Latina professionals.
Posts Tagged ‘Brown’
Cameron: helicopter deficit is scandal
July 13th, 2009 |
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Conservative leader’s comments come as poll reveals backing for British involvement in war has grown
David Cameron today said it was a “scandal” that the British army did not have enough helicopters to transport troops around Afghanistan.
Speaking as a new poll suggested that the growing British casualty rate had not increased public hostility to the conflict, the Conservative leader said the government should deal with the helicopter problem “as a matter of urgency”.
Cameron will have the chance to challenge Gordon Brown on the issue when the prime minister makes a statement to the Commons, which will cover the latest deaths in Afghanistan, later today.
In a speech on international aid today, the Tory leader said the government should supply British troops with more equipment.
“Of course we must do that – it is a scandal in particular that they still lack enough helicopters to move around in Afghanistan,” he added.
“The government must deal with that issue as a matter of extreme urgency.”
Research carried out as news broke of the deaths of eight soldiers in 24 hours – taking the British death toll in Afghanistan to more than that in Iraq – revealed support for the war remained firm and backing for British involvement had grown.
The poll of 1,000 showed that people appear reluctant to turn against a conflict while soldiers are fighting and dying on the front line, and the increasingly high-profile nature of the war appears to have strengthened public backing.
Opposition to the war, at 47%, is just ahead of support, at 46%, according to the ICM poll for the Guardian and the BBC’s Newsnight.
Backing for Britain’s role in the conflict has grown since the last time an ICM poll was conducted on the subject in 2006.
It is up 15 points from 31%, while opposition has fallen over the same period by six points from 53%.
The poll also showed that 42% are in favour of the immediate withdrawal of British troops, and a further 14% want them home by the end of the year. These figures are almost identical to the results in 2006.
A further 36% want troops to stay as long as they are needed – again a similar proportion to 2006, when British casualties were lower.
The findings came as ministers drew up plans to devote more troops and resources to Afghanistan after dismissing repeated requests from defence chiefs for reinforcements.
The shift in approach follows the rising death toll, outspoken criticism from opposition politicians and the prospect of a long period of intense fighting against the Taliban.
Gordon Brown will today confirm that the number of British troops is increasing to 9,000 from a base of 8,300.
One favoured option, which has not been agreed, is for the number of troops to be kept at 9,000 after the next general election.
Today, Miliband told GMTV the government’s strategy in Afghanistan was clear.
“This is a mission that’s been developed with a very clear strategy: above all, to make us safer here because we know these areas of Afghanistan and its neighbour Pakistan are used to launch terrorism around the world,” he said. “So the mission for us is clear.”
Miliband admitted there had been a “terrible casualty toll” and paid tribute to those who were killed, but added that more helicopters alone were not the answer.
John Maples, the Tory deputy chairman, yesterday told the Guardian: “Increasingly, people are starting to ask whether this war is winnable and whether our military objectives are sensible given the number of troops and the amount of equipment we are prepared to commit.”
Lord Ashdown, the former Liberal Democrat leader who almost became the UN special representative in Afghanistan last year, was scathing about British and US conduct.
“The army were persuaded, for political reasons, to follow a Beau Geste strategy – putting our people out in forward forts largely because the politicians were persuaded by [Afghan president Hamid] Karzai that this was where his supporters and family lived,” he said.
“It led to a military error of major proportions. The army’s job in a war is to find and kill the enemy.”
After previously blocking requests by the chiefs of staff for 2,000 more troops to be deployed in southern Afghanistan, Brown has said in a letter to senior Commons committee chairmen: “We will of course continue to review our force levels based on the advice of commanders and discussions with our allies.”
The Treasury has previously blocked the defence chiefs’ request on the grounds of cost.
However, the chancellor, Alistair Darling, said over the weekend: “If [British troops] need equipment, whatever it is, to support them in the frontline then of course the government, through the Treasury, is ready to help.”
He told the BBC: “You can’t send troops into the frontline and not be prepared to see it through in terms of the … resources they need.”
Significantly, given the government’s past decisions to cap resources for Afghanistan, Darling added: “You’ve got to listen to what the chiefs of staff tell us.”
Commanders on the ground have made no secret of the fact that they want more helicopters and more British troops.
General Sir Richard Dannatt, the head of the army, was yesterday reported to have told a private dinner of MPs that too few troops and helicopters were available.
In an interview with the British Forces Broadcasting Service on Saturday, Brown paid tribute to the “sacrifice” of the 15 troops who have died since the start of the month in the bloodiest fighting Britain has seen in the Afghan campaign.
“I know that this has been a difficult summer – it is going to be a difficult summer,” he said.
The prime minister said he had been assured, in a lengthy briefing by commanders, that Operation Panther’s Claw to drive the Taliban from central Helmand province was making “considerable progress”.
Bob Ainsworth, the defence secretary, said troops were “attacking the Taliban in one of their heartland areas”.
“The reason they are standing and fighting is they know that what we are doing potentially hurts them seriously and strategically,” he said.
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Gordon Brown’s Climate Change Adviser Has Swine Flu
July 13th, 2009 |
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A key adviser to Prime Minister Gordon Brown has contracted swine flu and was banned from attending the G8 summit in Italy, reports said late Sunday.
More on Swine Flu
Swine flu strikes Downing Street adviser
July 13th, 2009 |
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The first case of swine flu has struck Downing Street and it nearly caused a diplomatic crisis.
Gordon Brown’s senior climate change adviser Michael Jacobs was banned from attending the G8 summit in Italy for fear he would pass the contagious disease to Barack Obama and other world leaders.
It is understood that Jacobs contracted the disease while involved in climate change talks in Mexico.
He had travelled to Rome for some preliminary negotiations on the draft of the G8 communique text, and was told by his personal doctor that he was no longer suffering from the disease. He then planned to travel to the conference site in L’Aquila, Italy, but was told by Brown that he could not risk him going.
The prime minister told Jacobs it would be diplomatically disastrous if Britain was responsible for infecting the G8′s leaders. Instead, Jacobs followed negotiations by phone.
A Downing Street source said there was no evidence that anyone else in Brown’s entourage has contracted swine flu and that if they had, proper procedures for decontamination will be followed.
Jacobs is seen as the one of the best informed climate change specialists in Britain and his absence from the talks was regarded as a significant loss. He made no mention of contracting the disease or the ban imposed on him when he sent out a circular to those interested in climate change setting out the outcome of the negotiations, and the problems that lie ahead in securing a deal at Copenhagen at the end of the year.
Jacobs, former general secretary of the Fabian Society, clearly did not regard his absence as fatal to the outcome of the summit since he pointed out in his email to green groups that five big achievements had been secured at the L’Aquila talks,
For the first time the G8 and developing nations agreed that the science demanded global average temperatures rise by only 2C on preindustrial levels.
“Until a few weeks ago, in fact in the case of the developing countries until a few days ago we did not believe we were going to get this agreement,” he said.
Secondly, the G8 agreed to cut its own emissions by 80% by 2050.
He also said it was now possible to see an agreement to cut global emissions by half at Copenhagen, the aim of the talks. The G8 meetings had seen developing countries for the first time accept the concept that their emissions were peaking, Jacobs said.
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Swine flu strikes Downing Street adviser
July 13th, 2009 |
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The first case of swine flu has struck Downing Street and it nearly caused a diplomatic crisis.
Gordon Brown’s senior climate change adviser Michael Jacobs was banned from attending the G8 summit in Italy for fear he would pass the contagious disease to Barack Obama and other world leaders.
It is understood that Jacobs contracted the disease while involved in climate change talks in Mexico.
He had travelled to Rome for some preliminary negotiations on the draft of the G8 communique text, and was told by his personal doctor that he was no longer suffering from the disease. He then planned to travel to the conference site in L’Aquila, Italy, but was told by Brown that he could not risk him going.
The prime minister told Jacobs it would be diplomatically disastrous if Britain was responsible for infecting the G8′s leaders. Instead, Jacobs followed negotiations by phone.
A Downing Street source said there was no evidence that anyone else in Brown’s entourage has contracted swine flu and that if they had, proper procedures for decontamination will be followed.
Jacobs is seen as the one of the best informed climate change specialists in Britain and his absence from the talks was regarded as a significant loss. He made no mention of contracting the disease or the ban imposed on him when he sent out a circular to those interested in climate change setting out the outcome of the negotiations, and the problems that lie ahead in securing a deal at Copenhagen at the end of the year.
Jacobs, former general secretary of the Fabian Society, clearly did not regard his absence as fatal to the outcome of the summit since he pointed out in his email to green groups that five big achievements had been secured at the L’Aquila talks,
For the first time the G8 and developing nations agreed that the science demanded global average temperatures rise by only 2C on preindustrial levels.
“Until a few weeks ago, in fact in the case of the developing countries until a few days ago we did not believe we were going to get this agreement,” he said.
Secondly, the G8 agreed to cut its own emissions by 80% by 2050.
He also said it was now possible to see an agreement to cut global emissions by half at Copenhagen, the aim of the talks. The G8 meetings had seen developing countries for the first time accept the concept that their emissions were peaking, Jacobs said.
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Gordon Brown: Green Revolution Will Power Britain’s Recovery
July 12th, 2009 |
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wo centuries ago, Britain was at the forefront of a new industrial age that transformed our small island into the workshop of the world and a global economic powerhouse.
Swine flu strikes Downing Street adviser
July 12th, 2009 |
No Comments
The first case of swine flu has struck Downing Street and it nearly caused a diplomatic crisis.
Gordon Brown’s senior climate change adviser Michael Jacobs was banned from attending the G8 summit in Italy for fear he would pass the contagious disease to Barack Obama and other world leaders.
It is understood that Jacobs contracted the disease while involved in climate change talks in Mexico.
He had travelled to Rome for some preliminary negotiations on the draft of the G8 communique text, and was told by his personal doctor that he was no longer suffering from the disease. He then planned to travel to the conference site in L’Aquila, Italy, but was told by Brown that he could not risk him going.
The prime minister told Jacobs it would be diplomatically disastrous if Britain was responsible for infecting the G8′s leaders. Instead, Jacobs followed negotiations by phone.
A Downing Street source said there was no evidence that anyone else in Brown’s entourage has contracted swine flu and that if they had, proper procedures for decontamination will be followed.
Jacobs is seen as the one of the best informed climate change specialists in Britain and his absence from the talks was regarded as a significant loss. He made no mention of contracting the disease or the ban imposed on him when he sent out a circular to those interested in climate change setting out the outcome of the negotiations, and the problems that lie ahead in securing a deal at Copenhagen at the end of the year.
Jacobs, former general secretary of the Fabian Society, clearly did not regard his absence as fatal to the outcome of the summit since he pointed out in his email to green groups that five big achievements had been secured at the L’Aquila talks,
For the first time the G8 and developing nations agreed that the science demanded global average temperatures rise by only 2C on preindustrial levels.
“Until a few weeks ago, in fact in the case of the developing countries until a few days ago we did not believe we were going to get this agreement,” he said.
Secondly, the G8 agreed to cut its own emissions by 80% by 2050.
He also said it was now possible to see an agreement to cut global emissions by half at Copenhagen, the aim of the talks. The G8 meetings had seen developing countries for the first time accept the concept that their emissions were peaking, Jacobs said.
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Afghan strategy ‘right’, Brown says
July 11th, 2009 |
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Gordon Brown has defended the government’s Afghanistan strategy, saying it is the right one despite a "dangerous battle" ahead.
Writing to the Commons Liaison Committee, the prime minister said the military operation was aimed at preventing terrorism coming to the UK.
There is mounting concern about the current offensive, with 15 British soldiers dying in the past 10 days.
Anti-war campaigners have claimed the conflict is "unwinnable".
The current major assault against the Taliban in Helmand aims to improve security ahead of next month’s Afghan elections. Many UK troops are fighting in the south under the auspices of Operation Panchai Palang or Panther’s Claw.
Heroin trade
Mr Brown, who will appear before this committee next week, said the Afghanistan-Pakistan border had emerged as "a new crucible of terrorism" linked to three-quarters of the most serious plots against the UK.
In the letter, he said: "So our purpose is clear: to prevent terrorism coming to the streets of Britain.
"Our security depends on strengthening the Pakistan and Afghan governments to defeat both al-Qaeda and also the Pakistan and Afghan Taliban."
He added that if the Taliban were allowed to "overwhelm Pakistan’s democracy", al-Qaeda would have "greater freedom from which to launch terrorist attacks across the world".
Mr Brown went on: "So this is a fight to clear terrorist networks from Afghanistan and Pakistan, to support the elected governments in both countries against the Taliban, to tackle the heroin trade which funds terrorism and the insurgency, and to build longer term stability."
He also paid tribute to "the fearless work of our troops" and added that despite the "tragic losses", morale remained high.
‘Nightmare’
The Stop the War coalition has announced an emergency protest in London on Monday, calling for British troops to be withdrawn from Afghanistan in light of the heavy losses.
HAVE YOUR SAY"The British soldiers must suspend all activities in Afghanistan and come home"
Kenneth, London
Send us your commentsA group spokesman said: "The troop surge which was meant to pacify Helmand province has become a nightmare for the British army.
"This unwinnable war must stop now."
One hundred and eighty-four service personnel have died in Afghanistan since 2001, more than the 179 who were killed during the war in Iraq.
On Friday in Helmand, five soldiers from the 2nd Battalion The Rifles were killed in two separate blasts near Sangin, while a member of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment died near Nad Ali.
A day earlier, a soldier from 4th Battalion The Rifles was killed in a blast near Nad Ali while another from Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, attached to 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, was killed fighting insurgent forces near Lashkar Gah.
BRITISHCASUALTIES IN AFGHANISTAN MARCH 2006 – JULY 2009- 1: Highest monthly toll with 19 dead including 12 killed when a RAF Nimrod crashes in Afghanistan.
- 2: British death toll reaches 100. Among the 13 fatalities in June is the first British female soldier.
- 3: British casualties surge as major offensive against Taliban begins in the south. Many are lost to powerful Improvised Explosive Devices.
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Eight British soldiers killed in Afghanistan in a day
July 11th, 2009 |
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• Eight UK soldiers killed in 24 hours
• Afghan death toll eclipses that in Iraq
• Brown warns of ‘very hard summer’
Ministers were bracing themselves for an increasingly bloody conflict in Afghanistan as it became clear that a further eight British soldiers have been killed in 24 hours, the worst combat death toll since the war began.
Five troops were killed in a single incident after they were caught in a bomb blast while on foot patrol. Officials confirmed that 15 troops have been killed in the last 10 days. With the government’s handling of the conflict under increasing scrutiny, Gordon Brown was forced to defend the Afghan mission as he left the G8 summit in Italy. Before heading directly to a private briefing at the military’s operational headquarters at Northwood, Middlesex, he warned of a “very hard summer … It’s not over”.
Speaking at a press conference at L’Aquila before the latest deaths had been announced, with his voice faltering Brown voiced his sympathy for the families of those who have died.
He said: “There is a chain of terror that runs from the mountains and towns of Afghanistan to the streets of Britain. Our resolution to complete the work we have started is undiminished.
“It is in tribute to the members of our forces who have given their lives that we should succeed in the efforts we have begun.”
Bob Ainsworth, the defence secretary, said the conflict was “winnable” but warned there would be no early end to the fighting. “I do believe that we are making progress and I do believe that this is winnable, but it is not winnable in the short term,” he told the BBC. “We are going to have to … get behind our armed forces who are doing the brave fighting.”
The daybegan with the confirmation of two deaths in Helmand province the previous day: one from 4th Battalion The Rifles by an explosion while on foot patrol; the second from the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, during a battle with insurgents near Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital. Later, a third soldier from the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment was confirmed as having been killed when the Viking armoured vehicle in which he was travelling was hit.
Then there was worse news as it was confirmed that five troops had died and others were injured in a bomb blast. The deaths took the total number of fatalities in Afghanistan to 184, five more than the total lost in the Iraq conflict.
As the death toll grew, there were poignant scenes at Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire as five coffins draped with the union flag arrived at RAF Lyneham and were met by sombre crowds on the town’s streets.
Relatives of lance corporal Dane Elson, 22, from Bridgend, south Wales, of The 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, wept as the hearse carrying his body passed.
His girlfriend, Claire Wells, 23, was ushered forward and placed two roses on the hearse carrying his coffin. Wells said she had planned to live the rest of her life with Elson. “Now I’ll never see him again, I can’t bear it,” she said. Wells added that she did not believe the troops ought to be in Afghanistan. “They are fighting a war that we cannot win,” she said. “There are too many of our lads dying.”
Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, who broke the consensus among party leaders this week when he criticised the government’s strategy in Afghanistan, said: “This tragic milestone must be a reminder to all of us of the huge sacrifices made day after day by our brave service men and women and their families. The courage and professionalism of our armed forces are second to none.”
Bernard Jenkin MP, a member of the Commons defence select committee, said: “It is astonishing that we are fighting high intensity operations the scale of Afghanistan on a peacetime budget without enough protection mobility and with fewer helicopters per head for armed forces than we had three years ago.”
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Afghan deaths match Iraq toll as three Britons killed
July 10th, 2009 |
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Afghan conflict has now claimed lives of as many British servicemen and women as that in Iraq after MoD announces third casualty in 24 hours
The conflict in Afghanistan has now claimed the lives of as many British servicemen and women as that in Iraq after the Ministry of Defence announced today that another soldier had been killed.
Ten servicemen have died within the last nine days and the casualty rate is as high as at any point since Afghanistan was invaded in 2001 in response to the 9/11 terror attacks on the US.
The latest casualty – the third to be announced today – was a soldier from the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment. He was killed in southern Afghanistan, the MoD said. Next of kin have been informed.
Officials said the soldier was killed in an explosion during an operation near Nad-e-Ali, in central Helmand province.
“The loss of this brave Tankie has hit us all deeply,” Lieutenant Colonel Nick Richardson, a spokesman for Task Force Helmand, said.
“We grieve for him at this very sad time. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and colleagues who feel the greatest loss. His loss has not been in vain.”
The death is likely to intensify the debate about whether the Afghanistan operation is worthwhile.
Ministers still strongly insist that the deployment is vital for British security, but the Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, this week questioned whether the government had “the will, strategy or tactics” to do the job properly.
Gordon Brown will go straight to the Northwood headquarters of the armed forces in Middlesex for a private briefing on Afghanistan with military chiefs when he returns to Britain from the G8 summit in Italy.
Speaking at the end the talks today, before the latest casualties were formally announced, the prime minister said that it was “vital” that the British mission succeeded.
He also robustly denied claims by General Lord Guthrie, the former head of the armed forces, that soldiers were dying because the military was short of money.
Earlier, the MoD announced that two soldiers had been killed in Afghanistan yesterday.
One of the men, from 4th Battalion the Rifles, was killed in an explosion while on a foot patrol near Nad-e-Ali.
The other, from the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment attached to 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, died from a gunshot wound following a battle with insurgents near Lashkar Gah, also in Helmand.
The latest casualties take the Afghanistan death toll to 179, equalling the total number killed in Iraq.
“This tragic milestone must be a reminder to all of us of the huge sacrifices made day after day by our brave servicemen and women and their families,” Clegg said.
“The courage and professionalism of our armed forces are second to none.
“We must never forget the massive debt we owe to those who have paid the ultimate price to ensure we can live in safety.”
The war in Afghanistan, where the British are fighting with other Nato countries to stop Taliban fundamentalists regaining control of the country, has had the backing of all the main political parties as well as the general support of the public.
But ministers are worried that, with the death toll rising and no prospect of an end to the campaign in sight, public opinion could turn.
Brown said: “This is a very hard summer, and it is not over yet.
“It is vital that we see this through. Our resolution to complete the work that we have started in Afghanistan and Pakistan is undiminished.
“It’s in tribute to the members of the armed forces that have given their lives that we should succeed in the efforts that we have begun.”
The prime minister said it was vital the Taliban were pushed back in Helmand province and al-Qaida thwarted across the border in Pakistan.
“We can’t allow the borders of Afghanistan to be lawless places,” he said. “The streets of Britain are safer places as a result of the armed forces’ work in Afghanistan.
“Our job is to secure a stable and democratic Afghanistan.”
Brown also spoke of the “sadness” he felt about young soldiers who were “incredibly professional” and “very courageous” losing their lives.
“My sympathy goes out to every one of the families who have suffered the pain of losing a loved one,” he said.
Bernard Jenkin, a member of the defence select committee, said: “It is astonishing that we are fighting high intensity operations the scale of Afghanistan on a peacetime budget without enough protection mobility and with fewer helicopters per head for armed forces than we had three years ago.”
Guthrie was quoted in the Mail today as saying the Treasury had spent “the minimum they could get away with” on defence.
He said fewer soldiers would be dying if commanders on the ground had more troops and more equipment.
“I spoke to an officer the other day who said that the Treasury had affected the operational safety of our soldiers, by preventing an uplift in our numbers,” Guthrie added.
“As far as helicopters are concerned, of course they need more helicopters. If they had more, it is very likely that fewer soldiers would have been killed by roadside bombs.”
Guthrie blamed Brown directly for the state of MoD funding.
“It is an indication of the unsympathetic view the chancellor of the day [Brown] and the Treasury had of defence when Britain went into southern Afghanistan in 2006,” he said.
“They were prepared to give very large amounts of money to other departments, but the minimum they could get away with to defence.”
When asked about Guthrie’s comments, Brown said the troops in Afghanistan had twice as much helicopter capacity as they did two years ago.
“We have spent over £1bn on vehicles,” he added.
News of the latest casualties came as the bodies of another five British servicemen killed in Afghanistan over the past week – four in Operation Panchai Palang – were returned to the UK.
Bob Ainsworth, the defence secretary, acknowledged this week that there was “gloom and worry” about the British fatalities and admitted more lives would be lost.
But he insisted morale was high in Afghanistan and said it would be a “good thing” for Clegg to talk to some UK troops.
Around 3,000 troops are involved in the British-led Operation Panchai Palang, which began on 19 June and has seen fierce fighting and significant casualties on both sides.
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Gaddafi demands Lockerbie bomber’s return
July 10th, 2009 |
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Prime minister tells Libyan leader at G8 summit that Megrahi case is matter for the Scottish courts
In his first face to face meeting with Gordon Brown, Muammar Gaddafi today demanded the return of the convicted Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi.
The Libyan leader was told by the prime minister that it was a matter for the Scottish courts.
Gaddafi, wearing a flowing black and white silken robe and protected by female bodyguards, is at the G8 summit in Italy as the rotating president of the African Union.
He has pitched a bedouin-style tent outside the G8 barracks in which world leaders are staying during the three-day summit.
In a 40-minute meeting between the two leaders, conducted in Arabic and English, Brown insisted he could not intervene in the Megrahi case.
Scottish judges this week delayed completing an appeal into Megrahi’s conviction until at least September, even though he has prostate cancer and faces a risk of dying in prison.
The bombing of flight Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie in 1988 killed 270 people on the aircraft and the ground.
Gaddafi’s demand for the return of Megrahi was countered by Brown urging him to do more to cooperate with the Metropolitan police investigation into the shooting of WPC Yvonne Fletcher in 1984.
Her murder led to the severing of diplomatic ties between the two countries for a decade, but Gaddafi subsequently worked to improve relations with the west, so much so that Tony Blair went to Tripoli to meet him in 2004.
The Libyans have admitted responsibility for Fletcher’s killing by embassy staff and have paid compensation, but Britain is complaining that Libya is not producing witnesses, meaning the inquiry has stalled for more than a year.
Brown also called on Gaddafi to help bring about the return of six-year-old Nadia Fawzi, who was abducted by her Libyan father in 2007.
Her English mother, Sarah Taylor, wants her daughter returned, and Gaddafi promised Brown that the Libyan courts were on course to reunite the two shortly.
More broadly, Brown – who was accompanied by three UK officials – also urged Gaddafi to use his influence to persuade Middle Eastern countries to renounce nuclear weapons.
It is not clear whether Gaddafi has any influence over the Iranian regime.
The 67-year-old leader, wearing dark glasses for much of the day and sporting long dark hair, resembled an ageing rock legend and was generally seen as the star of today’s meetings.
Brown praised him for abandoning his chemical weapons programme unilaterally in 2003, a move intended to bring about a normalisation of relations with the west.
The two leaders also agreed to work together to bring stability to the oil market, with Brown promising to use his influence to improve African representation on the boards of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
British officials admitted the meeting had started formally, but gradually warmed up as discussions continued.
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Open your soul – but keep it brief
April 20th, 2009 |
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As a Catholic I spent many a Saturday evening sitting sweating outside a confessional box preparing to tell all to a piece of purple silk, or at least to the priest waiting in judgement hidden behind it. As all Catholics know, the relief at getting the ordeal over, opening your dark side, being slapped with [...]