Growing tensions between Israel and the United States are eroding Israeli support for peace moves with the Palestinians. Amid strong U.S. pressure for a freeze on Jewish settlement construction, there is growing skepticism among Israelis about the peace process.
Posts Tagged ‘pressure’
Scientists develop potentially safer general anaesthetic
July 24th, 2009 |
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A novel general anaesthetic developed by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) physicians may be safer for critically ill patients, says a report.
Published in the journal Anesthesiology, the article describes the drug called MOC-etomidate as a chemically altered version of an exiting anaesthetic that does not cause the sudden drop in blood pressure seen with most [...]
No personal vendetta in Supreme Court summoning Musharraf
July 24th, 2009 |
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Pakistan Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar has said there is no personal vendetta in the Supreme Court’s decision to summon the former President General Pervez Musharraf.
Talking to media persons in Gujrat, Mukhtar said the government has already clarified that it has nothing to do with the case against Musharraf, and that it would not become [...]
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand: Help Me Fight for a Public Option
July 23rd, 2009 |
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I feel that opening up a Medicare For All type system to everyone would lower costs and increase efficiency by injecting some much needed competition into the market.
Clinton keeps up pressure on North Korea at Asia meeting
July 23rd, 2009 |
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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Asia’s biggest security community on Thursday to keep the pressure on North Korea to end its nuclear program. She also called for UN sanctions to be enforced against the reclusive state.
Kasab not hurdle in Indo-Pak ties: Qureshi
July 23rd, 2009 |
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Confessions made by Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving 26/11 gunman, before a Mumbai court would not affect Indo-Pak ties, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Memhood Qureshi has said.
Pakistani media reported Qureshi, as saying: “Kasab is not a hurdle in Indo-Pak ties.â€
Referring to the November 2008 terror strike, Qureshi admitted the incident had [...]
UN faces $5bn aid gap in recession
July 22nd, 2009 |
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Half-yearly report says members countries have less funds to spare while poverty is on the increase in developing world
The United Nations is warning of a $4.8bn (£2.9bn) shortfall in funding to tackle humanitarian crises in the world’s poorest countries, as the credit crunch leaves developed world governments with little cash to spare.
Delivering its half-yearly update about emergency fund-raising, John Holmes, of the UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said that while the UN’s emergency appeals had received more funds than at the same time last year, the economic crisis was exacerbating poverty and increasing need.
“It is clear that the global recession puts pressure on the aid budgets of all donor governments, but of course it puts immeasurably more pressure on crises-stricken people in poor countries,” he said.
The UN has raised a total of $4.6bn over the past six months for its humanitarian appeals – but Holmes said it had identified $4.8bn of “unmet needs” – the biggest gap ever.
Holmes compared the shortfall in funding for the world’s poorest people with the vast sums spent by the US, UK and other developed countries on bailing out their banking sectors.
“If just a fraction of the hundreds of billions of dollars recently committed by governments to private financial institutions were allocated to humanitarian action, these appeals could already be fully funded, and those in need could be getting the best available protection and assistance, on time,” Holmes said.
He singled out Kenya, Palestine and Zimbabwe as states whose financing needs have become more severe over the past six months, and said the UN is keen to raise more resources during the rest of the year.
Holmes said humanitarian needs in just one country, Somalia, had decreased recently – but only because a food aid project had been cancelled due to rising insecurity for the staff working on the ground.
Aid agencies have repeatedly sounded the alarm since the global downturn began last year about the disproportionate impact on poor countries, which often rely heavily on export earnings.
World trade volumes have collapsed over the past six months, and unlike their richer counterparts, governments in the developing world find it hard to raise funds on international capital markets. Only a small proportion of the funding pledged at the G20 summit in London earlier this year to combat the impact of the crisis was targeted at the world’s poor.
Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi came under international pressure in the run-up to the G8 summit he hosted in L’Aquila earlier this month, after cutting Italy’s aid budget.
At a recent conference in New York, organised by the president of the UN general assembly, member-states pledged to offer extra aid, but little has so far been forthcoming.
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Mumbai suspect makes guilty plea
July 21st, 2009 |
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• Lone surviving terrorist denies pressure to confess
• Description of siege is greeted with scepticism
The lone surviving gunman of the Mumbai terrorist attacks today stunned a courtroom by changing his plea to guilty and giving a blow-by-blow account of his part in the siege in which 166 people were killed, in November last year.
Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab took everyone by surprise — including his own lawyer — when he told the judge, in Urdu: “Sir, I plead guilty to my crime.”
Denying that pressure had been put on him to confess, the teenager described how the 10 gunmen travelled to India by boat from Pakistan and how he and a colleague threw hand grenades and opened fire on members of the public at Mumbai’s main railway station.
His confession came two days after the government of Pakistan filed charges against five people it claims masterminded the attacks and identified Kasab as a Pakistani national. In a dossier handed to India, it blamed the attacks on the Laskhar-e-Taiba terrorist group under the direction of its operations chief, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.
In court Kasab said he had decided to change his plea because of the change of heart by the government in Islamabad. But his volte face was greeted with scepticism both in India and Pakistan.
Ujwal Nikam, the special public prosecutor in the Mumbai court, suggested that Kasab may be trying to secure a lighter sentence and that he was covering up the involvement of others. He said the prosecution was examining what parts of the plot Kasab might have suppressed.
Chaudhary Mukhtar, Pakistan’s defence minister, claimed the confession did not amount to evidence and said Islamabad would not act on the word of one man. “The statements are one-sided and they were made by a person who is under the custody of Indian jail authorities. If he has stood up and given this statement I don’t know what pressure he was under,” he said.
Kasab’s own lawyer, Abbas Kazam, said his client had given no advance warning of his decision to change his plea.
Kasab’s detailed confession included the first suggestion of Indian involvement. He claimed that the terrorists had been coached in Hindi by an Indian national, who he named as Abu Jundal.
With the other nine gunmen dead, it was the first opportunity to hear in public from one of those who carried out the attacks.
He claimed that he was recruited after quitting his job as a shop assistant in Jhelum town, in Pakistan, because the wages were too low. He and a colleague, named Muzzafar, travelled to Rawalpindi intending to become robbers.
He said they approached some men with long beards at a festival in the city, guessing that they were Islamic radicals who could supply weapons, and the men put them in touch with Lashkar-e-Taiba. He said they received weapons training from the group.
Kasab claimed he lived in a house in Karachi with 10 other men for a month and a half before the attacks. They were then moved to another address before leaving Pakistan by boat.
On the boat, he said, they met their four handlers, one of them the Indian national, and received their instructions.
He said four different boats were involved in the voyage before they landed in the Colaba area of Mumbai in an inflatable dingy on the evening of 26 November. Once on dry land, they hailed taxis and headed for their targets. He and another gunman, Abu Ismail, made for the Chhatrapati Shivaji terminus.
In the railway station they went into a public toilet to attach a timer to a bomb, he said, then they launched their attack.
“I was firing and Abu was hurling hand grenades. I was in front of Abu who had taken such a position that no one could see him. I fired at a policeman after which there was no firing from the police’s side,” he said.
They escaped on foot and headed for the Cama hospital and Kasab gave details of the encounter in which three senior anti-terrorist officers were shot dead.
The two terrorists then jumped over the wall of the hospital and he said his colleague told him to wait. “After sometime Abu came back and asked me to come inside. Inside near the gate there was a dead body,” he said.
They were finally arrested by police who had set up a road block. The attacks ended when troops stormed the Taj Mahal hotel, where the remaining gunmen were holding out.
The trial continues.
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Sandra Bullock feels under pressure to get pregnant
July 20th, 2009 |
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Sandra Bullock says that she’s frustrated people keep asking why she hasn”t had children of her own.
”The Proposal” star – who is married motorbike enthusiast Jesse James in 2005 and is step-mother to his three children, Chandler, 15, Jesse Jr, 12 and Sunny, five – is tired of people asking her why she hasn”t had [...]
Indian PM under pressure after Pakistan meeting
July 18th, 2009 |
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A rare meeting between the Indian and Pakistani premiers this week ended with a pledge to cooperate on terrorism that has triggered anger and consternation back in New Delhi. Sections of the Indian media, opposition parties and numerous analysts joined ranks to slam what they saw as major
Schuyler Brown: “Not a Big Fan of TV”: Is an Organic Information Revolution on the Horizon?
July 16th, 2009 |
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I’ve been noticing a trend in conversations with consumers. There’s a growing awareness that our media diets are killing us, and an accompanying resistance to do anything about it.
University Of Illinois Trustees Testify On Blagojevich Pressure, Influence
July 15th, 2009 |
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As two of the longest-serving University of Illinois trustees appeared Tuesday before a state panel investigating clout in admissions, the questioning quickly focused on Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s behind-the-scenes influence.
One board member rem…
Recession blamed for pressure on school places
July 15th, 2009 |
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Rising birth rates and fewer parents opting for private education because of the economy are putting pressure on school places
Ministers are expected to announce an extra £200 million to fund more primary school places today with the recession blamed for increasing pressure on those available – particularly for four and five-year-olds.
The funding is to plug shortages in certain areas of England, but there are fears it will not be enough with rising birth rates and fewer parents opting for private education because of the recession.
London Councils, which represents the 33 local authorities in the capital, estimates it needs up to four times the amount expected to be announced today over the next five years in order to meet demand.
It says that £260million is needed in London alone in the current spending review period, which ends in 2011.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) has said it is aware that some authorities are dealing with “unanticipated rises in demand” for reception places.
London and Birmingham, as well as Bristol and Bradford are among those areas that have been the hardest hit.
The funding is likely to go towards helping to build and refurbish classrooms and expand primary schools.
A London Councils spokesman said the money was a “welcome start”.
“As London faces severe pressure, it is vital that the capital is awarded its fair share of this funding,” he said.
“However, this problem clearly won’t be fixed here. We estimate that the capital needs £260 million in the current spending review period alone – and almost four times this amount over the next five years.
“We also need to explore some long-term changes to the way local authorities are funded to prevent a situation like this occurring again.”
A survey of local authorities last month found that as many as one in 10 five-year-olds are missing out on their family’s first choice of primary school.
In Birmingham and Kent, which are among the largest local authorities, more than 1,600 had not been allocated a place at their first choice, meaning that around one in eight children in the areas were missing out.
A report published earlier this year by London Councils revealed a shortfall of 2,250 places this financial year.
That will rise to 18,300 by 2014, the report said. Official figures show that there has been a 3.3% rise in reception-aged pupils nationally.
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July 10, 1999: Reddi-wip Inventor Sputters Out
July 10th, 2009 |
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1999: Aaron S. “Bunny” Lapin, the inventor of pressure-can whipped cream, dies at age 85. His invention lives on.
Lapin started out as a clothing salesman, but saw some opportunity during World War II food rationing, when heavy cream for whipping was hard to get. He mixed light cream and vegetable oil to concoct Sta-Whip as [...]
Arguments the left has to win
We must settle our differences on issues from nuclear weapons to healthcare if we are to exert pressure on the policy makers
This week James Purnell launched a Demos project, Open Left, which is asking what it means to be on the left today. To understand the difficulties that face the left you have to start way back. For almost 10 years a consensus has developed within the three main parties inspired by the Thatcher counter-revolution, which argued that government should keep out of industry and leave everything to the market.
It was that very policy that led to the present economic crisis and which has had a dramatic effect on the level of Labour support in two ways: a falling turnout for Labour and the emergence of the BNP.
The present government has many achievements of which we can be proud, not least on the environment, but the party is seen as offering management rather than representation. Policies worked out on the sofas in Whitehall will not, in my opinion, make much of a contribution to the rebuilding of confidence among the voters.
Nor indeed will sectarian strife on the left help.
More and more people worldwide now see that the basic conflict is between the majority who create the wealth and the handful who own it and want jobs and homes, good healthcare and education, decent pensions and peace.
From where I see it now, outside parliament, the reconstruction of a strong left has to begin by developing powerful campaigns centred on the issues that concern people, which can bring in support from across the whole political spectrum.
The Stop the War movement, which has been one of the most successful in my lifetime, enjoyed the backing of conservatives, liberals, greens, as well as those on the left, and will ultimately win a majority for a policy of withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Now some generals are coming out against nuclear weapons at the moment when we are being told we may have to spend billions to upgrade them. This project is the most obvious candidate for a cut in public expenditure.
Housing is another example. We see a long housing waiting list and unemployed builders who cannot be financed because the money is going to the bankers, some of whom are getting huge bonuses, paid for by taxation.
Similarly there is great anxiety about the deliberate privatisation of the public services – which we have seen in academies and the private financing of hospital building – which leaves them outside any democratic control.
It is the same with civil liberties that have been eroded and state pensions which are still dropping behind the earnings with which they were once linked.
Then there is taxation – where the modest increase announced for wealthier people has been denounced by the City but it is nothing compared to the highest level when Churchill left office in 1945 – 95%, justified on the grounds that the money was needed to fight the war and that the rich should share the burdens that others had to bear. These arguments apply to the present economic crisis.
We have to win these arguments if we are to retain power next year.
And that means there has to be much more pressure from below on the policy makers in Downing Street. Out of such pressure will come a revitalised left renewing its commitment to serve those it has always sought to represent.
For the first time in my life the public is more progressive on all these issues than New Labour.
Democracy is the buckle that links the streets to the statute book and to renew the left, democracy must be strengthened in a world increasingly dominated by forces we do not control.
Letters to my Grandchildren, by Tony Benn, will be published in October by Hutchinson