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Biyernes, Marso 30, 2012
South Wales Evening Post published Hospital cuts plan gets the silent treatment
HUNDREDS of campaigners lined the entrance to Llanelli's Prince Philip Hospital as efforts to protect health services in the town...
France anti-terrorism raids net 19 suspects, say police
Toulouse, scene of shootings by Mohamed Merah, among cities in dawn commando swoops on suspected Islamist militants
French police commandos have arrested 19 people in dawn raids across France as part of what the government described as a crackdown on suspected Islamist militants.
The swoop came amid tension following a spate of killings in southern France by Mohamed Merah, a 23-year-old from Toulouse who claimed inspiration from al-Qaida. Seven were killed in Merah's shooting spree, including children at a Jewish school. He was shot dead by police last week after a 32-hour siege at his apartment.
The arrests around Paris, Toulouse, Marseille, Nantes and Lyon were not directly related to the Merah case and the interior ministry said there was no known link between the Toulouse gunman and those detained.
But the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, had ordered a crackdown on radical Islamists following public outrage at the Merah killings. Sarkozy confirmed the arrests on a morning radio appearance and said similar operations would follow to get rid of "people who have no business in this country".
The president compared the "traumatism" that France had suffered from the Toulouse shootings to the "traumatism" experienced in the US and New York after 11 September 2001.
Sarkozy officially suspended his bruising battle for re-election at the time of the shooting and one poll showed 70% of French people approved of his stance in the aftermath of the killings. Now back on the campaign trail, he has stressed the importance of security and the fight against terrorism.
The raids were filmed by TV crews and shown on breakfast news, with anti-terrorist squads knocking down doors and shouting "police", smashing windows and taking away suspects handcuffed with their faces covered.
The interior minister, Claude Gueant, dismissed suggestions the raids had been carried out in response to charges that the intelligence services had failed to monitor and track down Merah quickly enough. Asked if the raids were a media stunt, he said the arrests were a "judicial decision" by the French legal system and involved suspects who claimed "an extremist radical ideology, an ideology of combat".
He said five rifles, three Kalashnikovs, four handguns and a bulletproof vest were seized. Police sources said several of those arrested were believed to be close to the radical Islamist group Forsane Alizza ("Knights of Pride"), banned in France in February after Gueant accused it of preparing its supporters for armed struggle. The interior ministry said the group's leader, Mohammed Achamlane, had been arrested in Nantes.
Founded in 2010, Forsane Alizza came to prominence after calling that year for a boycott of McDonald's in Limoges, accusing the American fast-food chain of serving Israel. Achamlane told the daily Lib�ration in January that the group could not exclude launching an armed struggle "if Islamophobia continues to intensify day by day".
The government is keen to show it is cracking down on what it called radical Islamism. This week several international Muslim clerics, of Palestinian, Egyptian and Saudi origin, were banned from entering France.
Marine Le Pen, of the extreme-right Front National, seized on the dawn raids to continue her attacks on immigration and accuse the government of closing its eyes to what she said were extremists in the poor suburbs of all French big towns.
"Of course there's a clear link between the rise of fundamentalism in our country and immigration," she said.
Religious leaders have warned the public against scapegoating or wrongly equating Islam with terrorism after the Merah case.
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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/30/france-raids-terror-suspects-toulouse
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Manu steel beats the Blues
By Aigaletaule?ale?a F. Tauafiafi
Samoa Observer. NZ
OPINION: The Waikato Chiefs emphatic win over the Auckland Blues last week had the insignia of Manu Samoa steel embossed all over it. From Tom Coventry?s forward tactical nous, the leadership and execution by Mahonri Schwalger overshadowing Keven Mealamu to Kane Thompson?s muscular pile driving at No.8, it was curtains for Pat Lam?s Blues from the word go.
Not long after the opening whistle, Mahonri Schwalger?s pin-point line-out throw and combined drive with Tanerau Latimer, led to the Chief?s first try. A few minutes after the re-start, a Mahonri smothering tackle and steal over the hapless Rudi Wulf gained a penalty which Aaron Cruden?s boot calmly slotted to claim a 10-point lead.
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Senate warns Labaran Maku *FRSC, Police bicker at hearing
Information minister Labaran Maku got a rebuke from the Senate yesterday for making ?unguarded statements? on the resolutions of the National Assembly regarding the controversial new vehicle licencing policy. Maku was reported to have said on March 8 that the resolutions passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives stopping the issuance of new vehicle registration numbers had no force of law. At a public hearing on the same issues in Abuja yesterday, chairman of the Senate committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Dahiru Awesu Kuta, warned Maku never to make such comments about decisions taken by the legislature.
?The Minister of Information, the spokesman and image-maker of the Federal Government, is advised to desist from making unguarded statements on the resolutions of the National Assembly on the new number plates and other issues,? Kuta said, referring to Maku?s comments made at a public lecture organised by the FRSC in Abuja.
?Making such unguarded statements is ill-timed, pre-emptive, unfortunate, insensitive, inciting and uncalled for.
?In advanced democracies, resolutions of the legislature are taken seriously and serve as a guide to the executive. After all, we are not at war with the executive, and we do not intend to be at war with any arm of government.
?The well-being and welfare of the people is the main concern of this administration. Therefore, all our actions must be in the best interest of the Nigerian masses,? he added.
The two chambers of the National Assembly passed separate resolutions asking the Federal Road Safety Commission to suspend the issuance of new vehicle registration numbers and driver?s licences pending investigations.
But Maku, in answer to a question at a lecture organised by the FRSC on March 8, said, ?National Assembly resolutions are not laws and so the executive will always apply them as exigencies as circumstances permit. But when there are Acts of the National Assembly, they are compulsory and must be implemented.?
Police, FRSC bicker over vehicle licensing
During the lag-leg of the Senate committee hearing yesterday, FRSC and Police officials sparred over which agency is statutorily empowered to register and keep vehicles database.
Speaking, Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Information and Communication Technology, Mr. Olajide Akano, said ?no section of the National Road Traffic Regulations of 2004 empowers the FRSC to register vehicles and maintain database.
?It is the Motor Licencing Authority of each state of the federation that is statutorily empowered to register vehicles; while the Police Act 2004 empowers the police to maintain vehicle statistics.
?Our position in the Nigeria Police is that the Motor Licencing Authority should be concerned about the problems associated with the production of old number plates and vehicle registration. This is not the responsibility of the FRSC.?
He also said it would not cost the Police more than N3,500 to produce a number plate for clean vehicles and N5,000 for tinted ones, as against the FRSC?s claim that N7, 590 was required to produce a number plate.
In a riposte, FRSC Corps Marshall Mr. Osita Chidoka told the committee that the police had been stripped of the right to register and keep vehicle database since 2003.
He said the Joint Tax Board (JTB), at a meeting in 2003, indicted the Police ?for issuing un-receipted Enhanced Central Motor Registry (ECMR) to Nigerians.?
?The communique issued at the end of the 104th meeting of the Joint Tax Board (JTB) held in 2003 in Nasarawa State noted that road taxes are the responsibility of the states. The communiqu� also highlighted that the ECMR are un-receipted by the Police.
?The meeting agreed that the function of keeping motor vehicle records is kept statutorily by the FRSC. The Joint Tax Board has said that the Central Motor Registry, as it is currently put, is illegal,? Chidoka said.
In his closing remarks at the end of the two-day public hearing, Senator Kuta assured that the committee would, based on the submissions by the various stakeholders, consider the interest of Nigerians in coming up with its recommendations on the new driver?s licence and number plate scheme.
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UK is back in recession, OECD says
The OECD says UK output will decline 0.4% in the first three months of 2012 on an annualised basis
The UK is heading back into recession and will be among the slowest of the world's largest economies to recover in the first half of this year, according to a study by the Paris-based thinktank, the OECD.
Only Italy will struggle over a longer period to return to growth, highlighting the difficult situation confronting the British government as it battles to boost confidence and get the economy back on track.
In recent weeks surveys have shown the business and consumer sentiment falling back after an initial boost earlier this year.
The Office for National Statistics added to the gloomy prognosis for the economy on Wednesday when it reported a bigger fall in output in the final three months of 2011 than first estimated. It said a previous 0.2% drop in output had underestimated the size of the fall, which further analysis found to be 0.3%.
The OECD, which produces quarterly figures showing year-on-year growth, said that UK output declined at an annual rate of 1.2% in the final quarter of 2011 and will decline at an annual rate of 0.4% in the first three months of 2012.
The OECD also warned that the eurozone remained in a fragile state and would struggle to grow for the rest of the year.
Germany and France will race ahead of the UK in the first half of the year but are forecast to slow down as the year ends.
Consumer and business confidence surveys of the eurozone on Thursday showed a decline that economists described as a blow to hopes of a recovery during 2012.
Sentiment was mixed among individual countries in March. Confidence suffered a relapse in Germany and Spain, while it picked up slightly in France and Italy.
The OECD has criticised Brussels for its failure to build a sufficient firewall of guarantees and insurances to protect against a sovereign collapse.
In a report last week the OECD said the EU should commit at least ?1 trillion to safeguard Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland against collapse after Brussels put forward plans that limited the rescue fund to ?700bn (�580bn).
One of the worst hit industries in the UK is construction, which is a traditional driver of growth after a recession but has barely recovered from the crash.
Balfour Beatty, one of the UK's largest building firms, said it needs to make cuts among its 12,000 services staff.
It warned that reduced public sector spending on infrastructure and maintenance coupled with low levels of commercial property development were hitting profit margins.
Hundreds of construction firms and architecture practices are known to have laid off staff after a rehiring programme in 2010.
Unemployment in the UK has risen for the last year, in contrast to the US, which has maintained several large scale public spending programmes to promote employment and maintain consumer and business confidence.
The US economy is expected to grow at 2.9% in the first quarter and maintain that level of growth through the summer months, according to the OECD.
guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/mar/29/uk-back-in-recession-oecd
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Samoa swimmers set their sights on Fiji
Seven swimmers have been selected from the Tanifa O Le Vai swim club to attend the Fiji Age Nationals over Easter Weekend. The swimmers have been tirelessly training at the Aquatic Center to prepare for this regional event.
?We are really excited to go? the competition will be tough but we are ready? says team co-captain Jamal Tamasese, a year 11 student at CCWS Pesega. To prepare, these swimmers enrolled in 2 intensive summer swim camps in December 2011 and January 2012 which included daily 4 hour sessions as well as open water sessions at Piula.
When the school year started, the team trains up to 6 hours per week and are encouraged to attend additional sessions at the gym.
Training isn?t the only preparation these athletes must focus on.
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Huwebes, Marso 29, 2012
Wall St falls at open after GDP, claims data
US stocks opened lower, putting the S&P 500 on track for its third straight decline as jobless claims data failed to meet heightened market expectations.
|||US stocks opened lower on Thursday, putting the S&P 500 on track for its third straight decline as jobless claims data failed to meet heightened market expectations.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 35.11 points, or 0.27 percent, at 13,091.10. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 4.91 points, or 0.35 percent, at 1,400.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 17.52 points, or 0.56 percent, at 3,087.44. - Reuters
Source: http://www.iol.co.za/wall-st-falls-at-open-after-gdp-claims-data-1.1266832
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