Dr. Frederik Polak, a Dutch psychiatrist asked a simple question from Mr. Antonio Maria Costa, the head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime: why the level of cannabis use is lower in the Netherlands, where cannabis is legally available for adults, than in many other countries with more restrictive drug policies?
No support in pre-budget report for software sector, despite it being larger than the state-backed film industry
Calls from video game developers for government support are understood to have fallen on deaf ears, with chancellor Alistair Darling expected to reject the idea of a tax break for the industry in the pre-budget report.
The news will be a massive setback for a sector that contributes more to the UK economy than the film industry, which does get financial help from the Treasury, and has spawned a string of worldwide hits including Tomb Raider and, more controversially, the Grand Theft Auto franchise. British game designers are battling to retain talent in the face of fierce competition from countries such as Canada and South Korea, who are using subsidies to lure developers.
In his final Digital Britain report in June, the then communications minister, Lord Carter, proposed a so-called 'cultural tax break' for computer games companies and there has been intense lobbying since then to get the idea approved by the Treasury. Richard Wilson, chief executive of the videogame trade association Tiga, said not coming to the aid of the industry would be 'a colossal mistake and a failure of imagination on behalf of the government'.
'We have provided concrete, substantive and compelling evidence to support the case for a games tax relief, which our research shows would more than pay for itself,' he said. 'We are convinced that the games industry has the potential to be one of the UK's leading digital industries as we emerge from the recession, so we will redouble our efforts to convince government and policymakers of the need to back our sector.'
Tiga had proposed support that it reckoned would cost the Treasury £192m – roughly equivalent to three days' worth of interest payments on the burgeoning national debt – over a five-year period. That cash, it argued, would safeguard £415m in tax receipts and encourage £450m of investment by the industry, creating more jobs.
Games companies provide employment across the UK, from Realtime Worlds in Dundee and Rockstar North in Edinburgh to Frontier in Cambridge and Rebellion Developments in Oxford.
For three decades, Britain had the third largest videogames industry in the world, behind the United States and Japan. But tax incentives in other countries have seen that ranking slip in recent years and by some estimates the UK is now fourth or fifth, behind Canada and South Korea, with France also gaining strongly.
British game developers will now be hoping that a change of administration might produce an improvement in their fortunes. Shadow culture minister Ed Vaizey has already stated that he is 'actively considering' a tax break for the industry.
Separately, shares in Game Group dropped almost 20% today after the computer games retailer shocked investors by saying total sales fell 10.8% over the 44 weeks to 5 December, with the slide accelerating over the final 18 weeks. While blockbuster game releases such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Fifa 2010 Football did very well, they could not make up for weak sales of other new releases. Revenues were also depressed by the decisions of both Sony and Microsoft to cut the price of their PlayStation and Xbox consoles earlier in the year.
Competition is also growing from the supermarkets, Game admitted, and it is trying to counter their influence by offering more 'bundles' to consumers – adding games and accessories packages to its consoles.
Game does about a quarter of its business in the last eight weeks of its financial year, which includes Christmas and the January sales, and it is hoping to attract customers who might formerly have gone to now-bankrupt Woolworths and Zavvi to buy their gaming presents.
Italian archaeologists have discovered the remains of an ancient Roman city submerged off the coast of Libya.
The remains of the city date back to the 2nd century A.D. and were found by archaeologists and experts from Sicily and the University Suor Orsola Benincasa of Naples, involved in the ArCoLibia archaeology project.
The discovery took place on the Cape of Ras Eteen on the western side of Libya’s Gulf of Bumbah, as archaeologists were searching the area for shipwrecks and the remains of ancient ports.
Archaeologists instead found walls, streets, and the remains of buildings and ancient tombs. After a careful analysis, the experts realised the area extended for over a hectare.
Experts also said that the city could have been destroyed by a strong tsunami after an earthquake which struck the eastern coastal region of Cyrenaica in 365 A.D.
According to a statement released by Sicilian authorities, the city flourished through the manufacture of imperial dye, a purple pigment used to colour the clothing of the Roman elite.
The dye was very expensive in Roman times.
Press TV
Sat, 28 Nov 2009 08:38 EST
UGLOVKA, Russia (AP) — Russian news agencies are reporting that investigators have found traces of explosives among the wreckage of a train that derailed, killing at least 26 people.
The reported discovery appears to buttress initial fears that the deadly derailment on the Moscow-St.
" Sideways News | Report: 22 dead in Russia train derailment The Associated Press MOSCOW — A Russian news agency has reported that 22 people have been killed and dozens injured in the derailment of a passenger train headed from Moscow to St. Petersburg. The state-run railway company, meanwhile, says the derailment Friday could have ... Ten Feared Dead in Russia Railway CrashNew York Times Nine dead, 55 hurt in Russia train crash: reportsAFP Dozens feared dead in Russian train derailmentTelegraph.co.uk Aljazeera.net -Reuters -RIA Novosti all 309 news articles » |
Dilemma for Merkel over extra troops as cover-up of civilian deaths claims third high-profile figure
The future of Germany's mission in Afghanistan was thrown into doubt today after a government minister resigned under growing pressure to admit his involvement in a campaign of misinformation over an air raid in which civilians were killed.
Franz Josef Jung, defence minister at the time, quit as labour minister a day after the army's chief of staff, Wolfgang Schneiderhan, resigned over the incident with the deputy defence minister, Peter Wichert.
Jung said his decision followed 'detailed consideration' and that he accepted 'political responsibility for the internal information policy' in his ministry.
With an estimated two-thirds of the German public already against involvement, the defence ministry's admission that it effectively lied by initially denying there were civilian casualties when two petrol tankers were bombed in September has left Angela Merkel's recently re-elected centre-right government in a state of uncertainty over how to proceed in the region.
Merkel had largely kept out of the row but received Jung in the chancellery this morning when both were said to have agreed his resignation was necessary.
Video footage emerged yesterdayof the botched air raid ordered by the German commander, Colonel Georg Klein, on the basis of a single piece of intelligence from an Afghan informant who was unable to see the vehicles. The video, leaked to the tabloid Bild, possibly in an attempt to influence a parliamentary decision on extending the German troop presence, prompted Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, the new defence minister, to admit his ministry had at best withheld information and at worst lied about the deaths.
The German government is coming under American pressure to increase its presence in the region – it has 4,500 troops there – and to prove it means to stay the course, without aggravating an already very negative public mood. Barrack Obama is expected to announce an increase in US troop numbers next week on the understanding that his allies will do the same.
According to Nico Fried, a commentator with the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, it is becoming increasingly difficult to justify the mission. 'The reason for dispatching several thousand people to Afghanistan, which has to be based on trust in the political and military leadership, is crumbling.'
The strike in Kunduz, in which Nato says 142 insurgents and an unknown number of civilians were killed after the Taliban seized the two tankers, reinforced the German public belief that their troops have been waging war, and not, as their politicians argue, working as a stabilising force.
The €785 million a year (£712m) mission is Germany's biggest overseas deployment since the second world war. The fallout over the Kunduz incident could prove to be hugely damaging, said Ulrich Kirsch, the chairman of the German army association, saying that attempts to mislead the public and politicians had 'returned to the government benches like a boomerang'. He called for more transparency,
The mission is repeatedly referred to as 'the German engagement at the Hindu Kush', a phrase that critics say is deliberately meant to convey the impression of adventure, an impression that is dissipating fast thanks to the Kunduz incident.
'Lies and deception are now overshadowing a mission that has always been difficult and is getting more so,' said Fried. Questions were now being asked more forcefully than ever before as to 'why Germany should continue its involvement in Afghanistan after eight years'.
Despite this week's resignations the row is far from over. The state prosecutor has started an investigation and if it is decided that the airstrike broke international law it could be tried in a German court as a war crime.
It was shortly after midnight on 4 September that a commander ordered what would turn out to be the most significant military action involving Germany since the second world war. Militants had seized two tankers delivering jet fuel to Nato forces in the northern province of Kunduz, where international military operations are led by Germany. Fearing the fuel could be used in attacks, German officers called in an air strike, even though the trucks were surrounded by civilians at the time. 'Based on information available at the scene, the commanders believed they were insurgents,' a Nato spokesman said. It soon became clear this was not the case. The Taliban said after one of the trucks became stuck in mud the militants emptied them, and many of those nearby had been local people seeking to get some of the fuel. Whatever the truth, the final death toll remains unclear. According to an Afghan government inquiry, 30 of 100 casualties were civilians. The independent Afghanistan Rights Monitor group said 70 civilians died.
For several days after the attack Franz Josef Jung, the then-defence minister, said there was no evidence of civilian deaths, despite apparently having access to military reports saying precisely the contrary.
Peter Walker
In 140-character takes, Roger Avary has built up a vivid portrait of life in Ventura county jail where he is being held
When Roger Avary, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Pulp Fiction, was last month sentenced to a year behind bars for his role in a fatal car crash, it seemed that a promising writing career had come to an abrupt end.
But a string of posts on social networking site Twitter has revealed that he is apparently still chronicling the underbelly of American culture.
In a series of 140-character takes, Avary has built up a vivid portrait of life in Ventura county jail where he is currently being held. 'Sickness spreads throughout the facility like brush fires,' he writes in his latest tweet from November 22, 'and #34 [his identification number in prison] is helpless to avoid the outbreak and inevitable infection.'
Though there has been no official confirmation that the Twitter feed is Avary's, there are various clues to its authenticity, including the fact that his professional website avary.com links to it.
The film-maker was sentenced in September to a year in jail and five years probation after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter for his role in a fatal crash in January. Prosecutors said he had driven while drunk at speeds over 100mph, eventually hitting a telephone pole.
Andreas Zini, 34, who was visiting California on his honeymoon, was killed, and Avary's wife was seriously injured.
The crash appeared to have put an end to Avary's Hollywood career. In 1995 he won an Oscar with Tarantino for the script they wrote for Pulp Fiction. He also directed Killing Zoe and The Rules of Adaptation, and co-wrote and produced Robert Zemeckis's Beowulf (2007).
His time inside has been hard, judging from his tweets. He admits to having been 'so afraid' at the start, and intimidated by the guards. 'Nightly, every few hours like clockwork, a guard's flashlight beam strikes #34's face, perhaps to ensure lack of proper rest and exhaustion.'
The 'clean' sheets reek of the sweat of a thousand men, breakfast porridge is made with oats from sacks with a picture of a horse on them labeled 'Not intended for human consumption', the windows let in little light and he is subjected to random strip-down and cavity searches by a 'leering, rotund officer'.
On the upside, there is the kindness of his cellmates, occasional books to read and lessons from other inmates in how to slimjim and hotwire a car.
Night is the worst. 'Night falls, and the only real activity is an endless recounting of the terrible and pointless events that brought us all to this sad place.'
The puzzle is how Avary is managing to update his Twitter feed from jail. The Los Angeles Times points out that most of the entries are through a Web browser, suggesting he may have regular computer access, while others are through Twitterific, an iPhone app.
Another theory is that he is reading out his 140 characters down the phone to a friend, who is updating Twitter for him.
In an interview Wednesday with columnist Roland S. Martin, Gen. Colin Powell said that on the issue of sending additional troops to Afghanistan he had advised President Obama to 'take your time' and 'not be rushed into a decision.'
'This one is the decision that will have consequences for years to come,' Powell said he'd told the president. 'If you decide to send more troops ... make sure you have good understanding of what those troops are going to be doing and some assurance that the additional troops will be successful.'
'You've got to make sure that you are putting this commitment on a solid base,' continued Powell, 'and the base is a little soft right now. ... Karzai's been told he's got to do something about this [corruption], and he's got to do something about the drug problem, and he's got to start pulling the Afghan people together.'
'So Mr. President, don't get pressed by the left to do nothing, don't get pushed by the right to do everything,' Powell concluded. :You take your time and you figure it out. You're the commander in chief and this is what you're elected for.'
A new CNN poll shows that Americans are almost evenly divided over whether Obama is taking too long to reach a decision on Afghanistan, with men agreeing that he is and women saying he should be given more time. A majority of those polled, however, oppose a buildup and even more are against the war itself.
Despite some recent claims that President Obama has already decided on a substantial troop increase, the White House insists that no such decision has been made. When British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, for example, stated that he expected Obama 'to announce in a few days what his numbers for Afghanistan will be,' a White House spokesman responded that the decision was still weeks away.
An article in Tuesday's New York Times indicates that Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen have all been pressing for a substantial troop increase, but Vice President Joe Biden and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel 'remained skeptical of the value of a buildup.' The president himself was described by the Times as being 'unsatisfied' with answers he has received on 'how vigorously the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan would help execute a new strategy.'
(Via blackamericaweb.com)
The following audio is Tom Joyner Morning Show, broadcast on Nov. 11, 2009.
Guards ejected an accredited Canadian commentator from the United Nations after she denounced a controversial report that focuses heavily on alleged Israeli war crimes.
"These new weblogs deal with science/technology, travel/transportation, and business.
1) Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) Blog (Dept. of Energy)
In the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) blog, members of the OSTI community discuss personal perspectives, national impacts, OSTI products and content, and technology.
2) TSA Blog
This blog is sponsored by the Transportation Security Administration to facilitate an ongoing dialogue on innovations in security, technology and the checkpoint screening process.
3) Fast Lane
This blog from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) provides a forum for discussing the nation’s transportation system and making announcements about future projects. Contributors will include Secretary LaHood, other senior officials from DOT, and guest bloggers.
Help complying with business laws and regulations from Business.gov.
5) In the Loop
Information about Business.gov’s plans and status.
The official word on small business grants, loans, and finance from Business.gov.
This blog from Business.gov provides information about a range of small and home business issues.
This blog brings together a lineup of notable small business professionals to share their small-business expertise with the Business.gov community.
Source: USA.gov
"Human rights group claims South African subsidiary of BAE Systems sold Mamba vehicles, used to quell demonstrations
Recent brutal attacks on demonstrators in the west African state of Guinea have involved British-supplied armoured cars, Amnesty International alleged today.
The human rights organisation is calling for a freeze on all ammunition and riot gear exports to the military junta in Guinea, where a junior officer, Captain Dadis Camara, seized power last December. Soldiers subsequently fired on unarmed demonstrators at a football stadium in the capital, Conakry, killing an estimated 150 people.
European Union foreign ministers are expected to confirm an arms embargo when they meet this week in Brussels. Last week, the Economic Community for West African States (Ecowas) banned the sale of arms to Guinea.
Amnesty published links to footage which, it said, showed the use of Mamba armoured cars against protesters. Ten Mambas were sold to Guinea by a South Africa-based manufacturer which was a subsidiary of the British arms firm Alvis. The firm, Alvis OMC, was subsequently taken over by the British arms giant BAE Systems. According to Amnesty, Alvis OMC stated at that time of the 2003 sale that the vehicles were for border control.
The pictures are reported to show the use of the armoured personnel carriers by Guinea's security forces during attacks on demonstrators. The UN security council and the African Union strongly condemned the attacks.
The campaigners said photographs taken on 1 October showed security officers patrolling Conakry in a Mamba and video footage showed security forces arriving in these vehicles to suppress a demonstration in the city on 28 September.
Further footage of a funeral for victims showed Mambas arriving with security forces who fired teargas at people gathered at Conakry's main mosque, campaigners said.
Amnesty's UK's arms programme director, Oliver Sprague, said: 'The transfer of supplies should stop until the Guinean government has taken steps to prevent these violations from recurring and has brought to justice those responsible for the recent brutal attacks.
'The EU should immediately freeze all arms transfers to Guinea and BAE Systems must ensure that its companies do not supply any spare parts, repairs or follow-on equipment.'
In a previous report, Amnesty documented Mambas being driven into crowds of peaceful demonstrators in Conakry in January 2007. The rights group says the French government may also have authorised the recent supply of teargas and anti-riot grenades to Guinean security forces.
France, Portugal and Spain have reported to the UN Comtrade customs database that between 2006 and 2008 they made more than $5m (£3.1m) of exports to Guinea in categories covering ammunition and cartridges. France has insisted it has not authorised the supply of 'lethal' ammunition to Guinea since 2004.
The latest government review of UK arms export controls rejected calls from Amnesty and other organisations for UK-owned subsidiary companies operating overseas to be regulated by UK arms export controls. It said talks were taking place at the UN general assembly in New York on a proposed arms trade treaty that would be robust enough to stop irresponsible arms transfers.
Sprague said: 'An arms trade treaty that does not prevent supplies to those with a persistent record of grave human rights violations like Guinea's security forces will be a worthless gesture.'
The current arms trade treaty resolution tabled on 15 October by the UK and six other countries says formal negotiations for a treaty should be concluded by 2012. However, the resolution requires that the final negotiating conference in 2012 must take decisions on the basis of consensus: a procedure that could allow any single country to block decisions.
For many sitting in the pews of Saint Augustine's Anglican church in north London it was a particularly special Sunday. There were three confirmations and one man received his first communion.
But amid the applause and smart outfits there was another sense of occasion, with people coming to terms with one of the biggest developments in Christendom since the Reformation.
Last week's decree from Pope Benedict, announcing the creation of a special section in the Roman Catholic church for ex-Anglican communities, has aroused strong opinions among traditionalist clergy. It has cast doubt on the authority of the archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and the future of the Anglican Communion.
And the impact of the announcement is beginning to dawn on rank and file members of the Church of England.
'I've been a member of this congregation for years and this is exciting news, it's really hopeful for us,' said Rachel Graham, a parishioner at St Augustine's in Kilburn. 'We appreciate that we are able to have worshipful integrity here. When this church was built there was a hope for unity with Rome. We're not here by mistake.'
It was too early to make a decision about the pope's decree – which would allow Anglicans to move to the Catholic church, but keep their own liturgy and married priests – she said. The Vatican has released no further details about the decree, an apostolic constitution, but its very existence has given Graham and other parishioners plenty to think about.
'We hope we can all come together and be looked after by the bishop of Rome.'
Graham, a mother of five, is not in a minority at Saint Augustine's. Before the general synod meeting in July 2008 – 'when it all went wrong', she said, and the Church of England's governing body threw out all concession to traditionalists – a petition was circulated among the parish's female members objecting to the introduction of women bishops. Only four did not sign.
'My problem with women [clergy] is that they don't understand it's not about discrimination, but the church,' Graham said. 'They take offence at being seen as not good enough, but there's no tradition of women in the priesthood. There's nothing in scripture. It's not reasonable that women stand as priests.' There were many other roles that women could play in the life of the church, she added.
Her friend and fellow parishioner Cecilia Anim also spoke of her support for the pope's initiative. 'It reaffirms our belief that the holy father is putting us in the direction we want to go in to keep the sacrament sacred.'
'We're sending man to the moon, but you can't change God's word or the Bible. Jesus chose 12 men as his apostles.'
Saint Augustine's has sought alternative oversight from the bishop of Fulham, the Right Rev John Broadhurst, and will not accept a female priest as an incumbent or team vicar.
While feelings on the subject vary, the congregation generally sticks to the ABC line, according to the Rev Canon Anthony Yates, who said the pope's decree had not distracted him or the rest of the Saint Augustine team from their daily business. 'At the back of the church is the Vatican statement and we're going to consider it.
'We had hoped unity [between Rome and the Anglican church] might be reached, but that's not possible because of recent events,' he said.
There was a significant group within the Anglican Communion who would be happy to move to Catholicism if some provision were made for them, he said, before adding: 'We think of group or groups, rather than the whole Anglican Communion.' We do welcome the pope's response. I'm not one to criticise it.'
Broadhurst, the bishop of Fulham, who was the principal celebrant and preacher at today'smass, would not say whether he would move to Catholicism.
As chair of Forward in Faith, the group pushing hardest at the Vatican's door, he said he would consider the question with his members. 'The pope's offer is very impressive and very generous and, in a sense, it has taken the initiative and will force us to consider our future together.'
He did not share the feelings voiced yesterday by the former archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, that the Vatican had behaved inexcusably towards Williams for not informing him of the decree until two weeks before its publication.
Nor did he believe the decree's arrival was the fault of Williams. 'You can't have a secret document and share it with everybody. The trouble with Rowan is his heart is conservative Catholic, but his brain is liberal progressive. There's a spat between the two sides of a very interesting man.'
The Right Rev Andrew Burnham, bishop of Ebbsfleet
Looks after parishes and congregations opposed to women clergy; asked the Vatican last year to help him and like-minded congregations leave the Anglican communion; said in 2008 he would leave if provision were made
The Right Rev Keith Newton, bishop of Richborough
Also cares for flocks opposed to women clergy; met with Vatican officials last year to discuss defection
The Right Rev John Broadhurst, bishop of Fulham
Chair of Anglo-Catholic movement, Forward in Faith; married with four children, one called Benedict; was confirmed as a Catholic when younger
The Right Rev John Hind, bishop of Chichester
Signed letter opposing ordination of a gay bishop in 2003; said he may convert over the issue of women bishops
The Right Rev Michael Nazir-Ali,
bishop of Rochester
Used to worship as a Catholic; does not oppose ordination of women and has ordained them in the past; leading light among conservative evangelicals; has said he would not rule conversion 'in or out'.
The diplomatic relationship between Iran and Venezuela go back nearly 50 years ago and until recently accounted little more than the mere exchange of diplomats. The ties were dramatically strengthened in 2005 with the election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran.
The Wall Street Journal reports that, "today, Mr. Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez have created a cozy financial, political and military partnership rooted in a shared anti-American animus. Now is the time to develop policies on this country to ensure this partnership produces no pisonous fruit."
"
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On September 8th, 2009, I watched President Obama give his speech. Some kids got a note from their parents and got to do fun stuff instead. I was very jealous. I listened to him talk about school and how it was the first day of school (although it wasn't) and other boring stuff for FIFTEEN MINUTES! To a kid that's a looong time in school."
During the speech, my friend and her friend were talking, and my teacher said they were being very disrespectful to the president, the leader of our armed forces (blah, blah, blah and some other stuff).
Later, in the library, a kid in my class said that he was very happy that Obama beat McCain. I asked him why. He said (and this is the funny part) that he would bring back slavery and raise taxes! I said how do you know that? He said, "Because I watched the news" and I said "You don't watch the news if you think that!" and it was basically back and forth from there. But when he said he said HE knew more than MY MOM, it was a fight worthy of a war. I was so mad I broke my pencil and later, my crayon.
AP - Americans would be fined up to $3,800 for failing to buy health insurance under a plan that circulated in Congress on Tuesday as divisions among Democrats undercut President Barack Obama's effort to regain traction on his health care overhaul.
The US freezes the assets of two North Korea companies as sanctions tighten over Pyongyang's nuclear programme.
"A fierce storm kills at least 14 people and injures dozens more in northern Argentina and southern Brazil.
"
