Domestic food production hit by bad weather and disease leave more than 6 million people in urgent need of aid Aid agencies working in North Korea have issued a rare joint appeal for increased food donations, warning that millions of vulnerable citizens are living on a knife edge. The groups, which include Save the Children and the Swiss government’s relief agency, say bad weather and livestock disease have hampered domestic production, while high global food and fuel prices are making it harder to import supplies. They fear that unless aid is increased now, it will be too late to support people who are already chronically malnourished through the lean season that begins in May. Their warning comes days after a United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) assessment found the country was ” highly vulnerable to a food crisis “, with more than 6 million people in urgent need of international food aid. Today’s joint statement highlighted the needs of children and mothers, the elderly, disabled and sickand pointed to a need for healthcare, water and sanitation as well as food. “We fear there is donor fatigue with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” said Katharina Zellweger, country director for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. “So much with the DPRK boils down to political issues and then you forget the humanitarian principles,” she said. The North has been beset by chronic food problems since the famine that killed hundreds of thousands of its citizens in the 1990s, leaving it heavily reliant on aid. However, a change of government in the South saw an end to Seoul’s “sunshine policy” of freeflowing aid and other countries have become more reluctant to give because of the North’s nuclear and missile tests, the shelling of a southern island and the sinking of a southern warship. The North denies attacking the vessel. Andy Featherstone, the region’s director of strategy for Save the Children, said: “We would hope [donors] would review decisions they have taken and be more generous in meeting the appeal [following the WFP assessment].” Ireland’s Concern Worldwide, Belgium’s Handicap International and France’s Triangle Generation Humanitaire also signed the statement. The existing WFP scheme has only a third of the funding it needs, and groups say it must be scaled up in any case. The assessment issued last week said heavy rains during last autumn’s harvest, a bitter and prolonged winter and a foot and mouth outbreak had damaged food supplies. Other experts say botched currency and economic reforms have exacerbated the problems. Some critics have also suggested the country could be stockpiling food for next year, because Pyongyang has vowed the North will be fully established as a strong and prosperous nation in 2012. North Korea Aid United Nations Tania Branigan guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Domestic food production hit by bad weather and disease leave more than 6 million people in urgent need of aid Aid agencies working in North Korea have issued a rare joint appeal for increased food donations, warning that millions of vulnerable citizens are living on a knife edge. The groups, which include Save the Children and the Swiss government’s relief agency, say bad weather and livestock disease have hampered domestic production, while high global food and fuel prices are making it harder to import supplies. They fear that unless aid is increased now, it will be too late to support people who are already chronically malnourished through the lean season that begins in May. Their warning comes days after a United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) assessment found the country was ” highly vulnerable to a food crisis “, with more than 6 million people in urgent need of international food aid. Today’s joint statement highlighted the needs of children and mothers, the elderly, disabled and sickand pointed to a need for healthcare, water and sanitation as well as food. “We fear there is donor fatigue with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” said Katharina Zellweger, country director for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. “So much with the DPRK boils down to political issues and then you forget the humanitarian principles,” she said. The North has been beset by chronic food problems since the famine that killed hundreds of thousands of its citizens in the 1990s, leaving it heavily reliant on aid. However, a change of government in the South saw an end to Seoul’s “sunshine policy” of freeflowing aid and other countries have become more reluctant to give because of the North’s nuclear and missile tests, the shelling of a southern island and the sinking of a southern warship. The North denies attacking the vessel. Andy Featherstone, the region’s director of strategy for Save the Children, said: “We would hope [donors] would review decisions they have taken and be more generous in meeting the appeal [following the WFP assessment].” Ireland’s Concern Worldwide, Belgium’s Handicap International and France’s Triangle Generation Humanitaire also signed the statement. The existing WFP scheme has only a third of the funding it needs, and groups say it must be scaled up in any case. The assessment issued last week said heavy rains during last autumn’s harvest, a bitter and prolonged winter and a foot and mouth outbreak had damaged food supplies. Other experts say botched currency and economic reforms have exacerbated the problems. Some critics have also suggested the country could be stockpiling food for next year, because Pyongyang has vowed the North will be fully established as a strong and prosperous nation in 2012. North Korea Aid United Nations Tania Branigan guardian.co.uk
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Labour survey claims the government’s demand for 20% spending reduction will mean the loss of many of the most experienced officers in England and Wales More than 2,000 of the most experienced police officers will be made to retire by 2015 as forces across England and Wales try to find 20% budget cuts, a Labour survey has claimed. A series of Freedom of Information Act requests by the shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has disclosed that over the next four years 13 of the 43 forces intend to use an obscure regulation to compulsorily retire 1,138 officers who have more than 30 years of service. Labour estimates that a further 986 officers could be affected if some of the remaining 30 forces also decide to use the same regulation to find budget savings. Cooper said that it was “deeply worrying” that 13 forces had already decided to use the A19 regulation to compulsorily retire some of the most experienced officers in the force. “Some of these officers are experts in their fields and internationally respected for what they do in the fight against crime,” she said. “The home secretary must realise that you cannot make 20% front-loaded cuts to the police without losing the very crime fighters we need. The home secretary is taking unacceptable risks with public safety and the continued fight against crime.” As fully sworn officers of the crown rather than employees, policemen and women cannot be made redundant under existing rules. However, the A19 regulation can forcibly retire officers with more than 30 years’ service on not less than two-thirds pension on the grounds of the efficiency of the force. The experienced officers who have already left or are leaving the police this week include: • An inspector with 33 years’ service who is the longest serving specialist in crime reduction and crime prevention in England and Wales. He advises architects and builders on “designing out” crime in new buildings, especially on council estates. • A neighbourhood sergeant who, at 48, is one of the youngest to be forcibly retired. He manages a team of officers and liaises with the local community on anti-social behaviour. • A 55-year-old frontline roads policing officer who has spent the last 20 years responding to motorway incidents. The latest Labour survey of police authority current plans shows that the jobs of 12,500 officers are to be lost over the next four years in addition to a further 15,000 police staff jobs, confirming the estimate of 28,000 jobs made by the Association of Chief Police Officers. The Home Office estimated in November that 3,200 officers in England and Wales could be affected if all the 43 forces decided to enforce the compulsorily retirement rule. The Labour survey suggests that a total of 2,200 are likely to be forced out through this route by 2015, indicating that deeper cuts in police staff numbers or other measures may be required. Police forces froze their recruitment last year, which saw 2,500 jobs go through natural wastage. Home Office minsters say that forces should be able to identify sufficient savings to ensure that the budget cuts have no effect on the level of service the public receive. The police minister, Nick Herbert, said there were currently “immense opportunities” to make savings without hitting the frontline. Police Budget Budget 2011 Spending review 2010 Labour Yvette Cooper Alan Travis guardian.co.uk
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Labour survey claims the government’s demand for 20% spending reduction will mean the loss of many of the most experienced officers in England and Wales More than 2,000 of the most experienced police officers will be made to retire by 2015 as forces across England and Wales try to find 20% budget cuts, a Labour survey has claimed. A series of Freedom of Information Act requests by the shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has disclosed that over the next four years 13 of the 43 forces intend to use an obscure regulation to compulsorily retire 1,138 officers who have more than 30 years of service. Labour estimates that a further 986 officers could be affected if some of the remaining 30 forces also decide to use the same regulation to find budget savings. Cooper said that it was “deeply worrying” that 13 forces had already decided to use the A19 regulation to compulsorily retire some of the most experienced officers in the force. “Some of these officers are experts in their fields and internationally respected for what they do in the fight against crime,” she said. “The home secretary must realise that you cannot make 20% front-loaded cuts to the police without losing the very crime fighters we need. The home secretary is taking unacceptable risks with public safety and the continued fight against crime.” As fully sworn officers of the crown rather than employees, policemen and women cannot be made redundant under existing rules. However, the A19 regulation can forcibly retire officers with more than 30 years’ service on not less than two-thirds pension on the grounds of the efficiency of the force. The experienced officers who have already left or are leaving the police this week include: • An inspector with 33 years’ service who is the longest serving specialist in crime reduction and crime prevention in England and Wales. He advises architects and builders on “designing out” crime in new buildings, especially on council estates. • A neighbourhood sergeant who, at 48, is one of the youngest to be forcibly retired. He manages a team of officers and liaises with the local community on anti-social behaviour. • A 55-year-old frontline roads policing officer who has spent the last 20 years responding to motorway incidents. The latest Labour survey of police authority current plans shows that the jobs of 12,500 officers are to be lost over the next four years in addition to a further 15,000 police staff jobs, confirming the estimate of 28,000 jobs made by the Association of Chief Police Officers. The Home Office estimated in November that 3,200 officers in England and Wales could be affected if all the 43 forces decided to enforce the compulsorily retirement rule. The Labour survey suggests that a total of 2,200 are likely to be forced out through this route by 2015, indicating that deeper cuts in police staff numbers or other measures may be required. Police forces froze their recruitment last year, which saw 2,500 jobs go through natural wastage. Home Office minsters say that forces should be able to identify sufficient savings to ensure that the budget cuts have no effect on the level of service the public receive. The police minister, Nick Herbert, said there were currently “immense opportunities” to make savings without hitting the frontline. Police Budget Budget 2011 Spending review 2010 Labour Yvette Cooper Alan Travis guardian.co.uk
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enlarge America has had a lot of “So it’s come to this…” moments over the past decade and the headline from this Fortune article gives us year another one: Unpaid jobs: The new normal? Yes, America, we’ve reached a point where our major business publications are asking whether it will soon become “normal” to work for absolutely no compensation whatsoever. The article itself is a tragically hilarious exposé of corporate greedheads who feel all tingly when they think about growing rich off of free labor. Just look at this: “People who work for free are far hungrier than anybody who has a salary, so they’re going to outperform, they’re going to try to please, they’re going to be creative,” says Kelly Fallis, chief executive of Remote Stylist, a Toronto and New York-based startup that provides Web-based interior design services. “From a cost savings perspective, to get something off the ground, it’s huge. Especially if you’re a small business.” In the last three years, Fallis has used about 50 unpaid interns for duties in marketing, editorial, advertising, sales, account management and public relations. She’s convinced it’s the wave of the future in human resources. “Ten years from now, this is going to be the norm,” she says. OK, so pick your jaw up off the floor and take a look at that first sentence again: “People who work for free are far hungrier than anybody who has a salary…” Well, yes. People who work for no money can’t afford to buy food and are generally hungrier. “…so they’re going to outperform, they’re going to try to please, they’re going to be creative…” “…this one guy, who redesigned my entire website for a bag of Doritos last week, I got him to literally lick my boot. He actually licked it! I thought that only happened in the movies!” Like others who have used unpaid labor, Remote Stylist’s Kelly Fallis recommends beginning with a very specific job description and conducting a thorough hiring process to screen out people who aren’t going to give their all for nothing. Candidates who respond to Fallis’ postings on Craigslist and Facebook must fill out a detailed email questionnaire and undergo two rounds of phone interviews and three in-person interviews. I can only imagine what these grueling tests consist of. My quess: Fallis has her two Doberman Pinschers take a ginormous dump on a silver plate. She then instructs job candidates to eat it. Those who swallow their pride (and a whole lot else!) will get the job. Those who refuse? BUH-BYE! Those who join Remote Stylist, whether they are students or out-of-work 20- or 30-somethings, must agree to a four-month run and sign a hiring contract. She asks interns to commit 30 hours a week; she has been burned in the past by people who were trying to juggle a paid job with their commitment to Remote Stylist. When you commit to Remote Stylist, you commit to living on the roof of a Taco Bell and to feeding only on pigeons and rats who get caught in the nearby heating ducts. Everything else must be sacrificed. John Lovejoy, managing director of multimedia fundraising company Nomadic Nation, received 300 responses for an editor position and 700 cameraman applications after only one week of advertising a project to drive from Germany to Cambodia in plastic cars. Not only were the positions unpaid, but successful candidates had to pay their own expenses. One editor and two cameramen ended up quitting before the end of the trek due to rough conditions and 16-hour workdays. In retrospect, Lovejoy says, “I would screen a little bit better and make sure they understood that this wasn’t a vacation.” Very true. Lots of people get paid while they’re on vacations, after all. This, then, is the Grand Future our corporate masters have in mind for the American worker: A bunch of poor suckers so desperate for any kind of work that they’ll agree to be modern-day serfs. And luckily for them, the GOP has decided to adopt their strategy by telling Americans that we should be willing to take massive pay cuts so that our corporate masters will deign to hire us again. Something tells me this won’t go over well in Real America once they figure out what’s really up.
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enlarge America has had a lot of “So it’s come to this…” moments over the past decade and the headline from this Fortune article gives us year another one: Unpaid jobs: The new normal? Yes, America, we’ve reached a point where our major business publications are asking whether it will soon become “normal” to work for absolutely no compensation whatsoever. The article itself is a tragically hilarious exposé of corporate greedheads who feel all tingly when they think about growing rich off of free labor. Just look at this: “People who work for free are far hungrier than anybody who has a salary, so they’re going to outperform, they’re going to try to please, they’re going to be creative,” says Kelly Fallis, chief executive of Remote Stylist, a Toronto and New York-based startup that provides Web-based interior design services. “From a cost savings perspective, to get something off the ground, it’s huge. Especially if you’re a small business.” In the last three years, Fallis has used about 50 unpaid interns for duties in marketing, editorial, advertising, sales, account management and public relations. She’s convinced it’s the wave of the future in human resources. “Ten years from now, this is going to be the norm,” she says. OK, so pick your jaw up off the floor and take a look at that first sentence again: “People who work for free are far hungrier than anybody who has a salary…” Well, yes. People who work for no money can’t afford to buy food and are generally hungrier. “…so they’re going to outperform, they’re going to try to please, they’re going to be creative…” “…this one guy, who redesigned my entire website for a bag of Doritos last week, I got him to literally lick my boot. He actually licked it! I thought that only happened in the movies!” Like others who have used unpaid labor, Remote Stylist’s Kelly Fallis recommends beginning with a very specific job description and conducting a thorough hiring process to screen out people who aren’t going to give their all for nothing. Candidates who respond to Fallis’ postings on Craigslist and Facebook must fill out a detailed email questionnaire and undergo two rounds of phone interviews and three in-person interviews. I can only imagine what these grueling tests consist of. My quess: Fallis has her two Doberman Pinschers take a ginormous dump on a silver plate. She then instructs job candidates to eat it. Those who swallow their pride (and a whole lot else!) will get the job. Those who refuse? BUH-BYE! Those who join Remote Stylist, whether they are students or out-of-work 20- or 30-somethings, must agree to a four-month run and sign a hiring contract. She asks interns to commit 30 hours a week; she has been burned in the past by people who were trying to juggle a paid job with their commitment to Remote Stylist. When you commit to Remote Stylist, you commit to living on the roof of a Taco Bell and to feeding only on pigeons and rats who get caught in the nearby heating ducts. Everything else must be sacrificed. John Lovejoy, managing director of multimedia fundraising company Nomadic Nation, received 300 responses for an editor position and 700 cameraman applications after only one week of advertising a project to drive from Germany to Cambodia in plastic cars. Not only were the positions unpaid, but successful candidates had to pay their own expenses. One editor and two cameramen ended up quitting before the end of the trek due to rough conditions and 16-hour workdays. In retrospect, Lovejoy says, “I would screen a little bit better and make sure they understood that this wasn’t a vacation.” Very true. Lots of people get paid while they’re on vacations, after all. This, then, is the Grand Future our corporate masters have in mind for the American worker: A bunch of poor suckers so desperate for any kind of work that they’ll agree to be modern-day serfs. And luckily for them, the GOP has decided to adopt their strategy by telling Americans that we should be willing to take massive pay cuts so that our corporate masters will deign to hire us again. Something tells me this won’t go over well in Real America once they figure out what’s really up.
Continue reading …India, Pakistan agree to boost cooperation on Mumbai terror attack investigation
March 29, 2011 No Comment
NEW DELHI – Pakistan has agreed to host Indian investigators looking into the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks blamed on Pakistan-based militants, the two countries announced Tuesday after talks aimed at building trust between the sides. The agreement in principal was seen a breakthrough after more than two years of impasse over the investigation. India had frozen discussions with Pakistan after the attack and accused Islamabad of not doing enough to crack down on militants, which Pakistan denied. The agreement was reached between the home secretaries of the rival nations after two days of talks in the Indian capital. Dates for the Indian visit have yet to be worked out, a statement from the home…
Continue reading …India, Pakistan agree to boost cooperation on Mumbai terror attack investigation
March 29, 2011 No Comment
NEW DELHI – Pakistan has agreed to host Indian investigators looking into the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks blamed on Pakistan-based militants, the two countries announced Tuesday after talks aimed at building trust between the sides. The agreement in principal was seen a breakthrough after more than two years of impasse over the investigation. India had frozen discussions with Pakistan after the attack and accused Islamabad of not doing enough to crack down on militants, which Pakistan denied. The agreement was reached between the home secretaries of the rival nations after two days of talks in the Indian capital. Dates for the Indian visit have yet to be worked out, a statement from the home…
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The self-styled guidos and guidettes of “Jersey Shore” are headed to Italy, but they may not receive much of a warm welcome. The hit MTV reality show, which features larger than life characters such as The Situation and Snooki, hard-partying twenty somethings proud of their mostly Italian genealogical and cultural heritage, has finally hit airwaves in Italy. And it’s being met with outrage. Roberto Del Bove, a columnist for a newspaper Rome, wrote that the show’s stars “embody the worst stereotypes of Italians, multiplied by thousands and Americanized,” according to the NY Post. A number of other columnists and editorials have slammed the show, as have viewers speaking out over the internet. The show received heavy criticism when it first came out in the United States in 2009; a national Italian-American organization, UNICO, called it “trash television.” The show’s cast will head to Italy to film the fourth season, which reignited UNICO’s anger. In January, they said, “People used to go to the circus to see the freak show – that is what this will be… It will not only hurt Italians but all Americans … their outrageous, reprehensible behavior will make us look like buffoons and bimbos.”
Continue reading …The self-styled guidos and guidettes of “Jersey Shore” are headed to Italy, but they may not receive much of a warm welcome. The hit MTV reality show, which features larger than life characters such as The Situation and Snooki, hard-partying twenty somethings proud of their mostly Italian genealogical and cultural heritage, has finally hit airwaves in Italy. And it’s being met with outrage. Roberto Del Bove, a columnist for a newspaper Rome, wrote that the show’s stars “embody the worst stereotypes of Italians, multiplied by thousands and Americanized,” according to the NY Post. A number of other columnists and editorials have slammed the show, as have viewers speaking out over the internet. The show received heavy criticism when it first came out in the United States in 2009; a national Italian-American organization, UNICO, called it “trash television.” The show’s cast will head to Italy to film the fourth season, which reignited UNICO’s anger. In January, they said, “People used to go to the circus to see the freak show – that is what this will be… It will not only hurt Italians but all Americans … their outrageous, reprehensible behavior will make us look like buffoons and bimbos.”
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