The Egyptian government is firing some 700 senior police officers linked to the killing of protesters as demonstrations surge against continued brutality and failure to clean up the security system. The move was a major concession to huge numbers of activists who have staged a 6-day sit-in at Cairo’s Tahrir…
Continue reading …Cities across India are on high alert as security forces search for the culprits behind yesterday’s deadly triple bombing in Mumbai that killed 21 people . No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which injured scores of people, the BBC reports. “All groups that have capacity to carry out such…
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The UK government will withhold £19m of aid to Malawi because of failures in economic management Britain has indefinitely suspended part of its aid programme, worth £19m, for Malawi over the country’s repeated failure to address concerns over economic management and governance. The money is used for general budget support, which helps governments deliver their own national strategies for poverty reduction against an agreed set of targets. The UK’s Department for International Development (DfID) said the decision is in line with international concern over Malawi’s current position. The World Bank, the EU, the African Development Bank, Germany and Norway have all suspended or ended general budget support to Malawi. “The UK provides development assistance in order to help communities lift themselves out of grinding poverty, whether that’s through getting children into school, ensuring women survive childbirth or helping farmers grow enough food to feed their families and communities,” said Andrew Mitchell, the international development secretary. “But poor people in Malawi and British taxpayers alike have been let down. In these circumstances I cannot justify the provision of general budget support for Malawi.” DfID said demonstrations in Malawi have been suppressed, civil society organisations intimidated and an injunctions bill passed that would make it easier for the government to place restrictions on opponents without legal challenge. The department, which has made aid effectiveness a priority, also expressed concern over Malawi’s overvalued exchange rate, which has created chronic foreign exchange shortages and which has badly hit the Malawian private sector. “There are now daily fuel queues, tobacco exports have deteriorated and Malawi is off-track with its IMF programme,” said DfID. Britain – Malawi’s main bilateral donor – is expected to spend £90m on aid on the landlocked country this year and an average of £93m a year in Malawi until 2015. The largest portion of Britain’s aid – 39% – goes on health . Malawi has enjoyed economic growth of about 7% in the last five years, with a peak of 9.7% in 2008, thanks to several bumper tobacco harvests. But Malawi remains one of Africa’s poorest countries, with 72% of Malawians on less than $2 a day. The decision to suspend aid for general budget support comes at a time of rocky relations between Britain and Malawi. In April, the former British colony expelled the British ambassador after he called the Malawian government autocratic in a leaked diplomatic cable. Fergus Cochrane-Dyet was quoted in a leaked message to London describing Malawi’s president Bingu wa Mutharika as “ever more autocratic and intolerant of criticism”. Cochrane-Dyet wrote to the foreign secretary, William Hague, saying that in Malawi the “governance situation continues to deteriorate in terms of media freedom, freedom of speech and minority rights”. The ambassador was summoned to Malawi’s foreign ministry in Lilongwe and ordered to leave the country within days. At the time, the Foreign Office insisted that declaring its man “persona non grata” would be unacceptable and warned that any such action would have “consequences”. Britain cut aid to Malawi by £3m last year after the purchase of a presidential jet that cost more than £8m. British officials said they had concerns about the purchase given the impoverished state of the nation and the fact that it relies on donor support for up to 40% of its development budget and the salaries of its 169,000 civil servants. Mutharika defended the new jet, saying it was cheaper to run it than hire an aircraft each time he wanted to travel abroad. Experts said the aid decision will hit the country hard at a time when it is short of foreign exchange and experiencing serious energy shortages. The country’s sole electricity provider, Electricity Supply Commission of Malawi (Escom), recently announced planned power cuts in its ageing power system that will see the whole of Malawi in darkness every day from 4pm to 10pm for the rest of this year. Aid Malawi Africa Mark Tran guardian.co.uk
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News International chief to face Commons committee, but Rupert Murdoch and James ‘not available’ for 19 July hearing Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, urged all three senior executives to “do the decent thing” and face MPs. “If they have any shred of sense of responsibility or accountability for their position of power then they should come and explain themselves to the select committee,” said Clegg. Rupert Murdoch wrote a letter to the committee, declining to give evidence in person to the evidence -giving session on 19 July. “Unfortunately, I am not available to attend the session you have planned next Tuesday,” he wrote. “However, I am fully prepared to give evidence to the forthcoming judge-led public inquiry and I will be taking steps to notify those conducting the inquiry of my willingness to do so. Having done this, I would be happy to discuss with you how best to give evidence to your committee.” His son James wrote a separate letter in which he said would not be available to attend the session planned for July 19, but would be “pleased” to give evidence to the committee on either the 10 or 11 August. “Naturally, if neither of these proves suitable I would be willing to consider any alternative dates you suggest,” he wrote. Only Brooks, a British citizen, bowed to pressure from parliament to take responsibility by attending the parliamentary committee to account for events that took place under her watch. In a letter confirming her attendance, she wrote: “As you are well aware, the Metropolitan police investigation into illegal voicemail interception continues and we are fully cooperating with that. Aspects of the work to which your committee may wish to refer are likely to be relevant to that investigation. Indeed, the police have already asked us specifically to provide information about those matters.” She went on: “I understand that various select committees have approached the police over time in relation to this and other cases. The police’s position has been to co-operate where this did not directly impact on the investigation in question. In those cases where it did potentially impact, the police have historically declined to comment at that stage. Our understanding is that this approach has not been challenged. Given that we are in the midst of an investigation, and we do not want to prejudice it, I hope you will understand why we feel it would not be appropriate to respond to such questions at present in order to be consistent with [the] police’s approach, and that as a result this may prevent me from discussing these matters in detail.” Rebekah Brooks Phone hacking Rupert Murdoch James Murdoch News International Nick Clegg Hélène Mulholland guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Date of Birth : 25 March 1989 (22 years old) Place of Birth : Kalifornien, USA Alyson Michalka is a young American actress/singer Alyson Michalka loves sushi and tacos. Alyson and her sister Amanda Michalka make up the popduo Aly & AJ. She plays Keely Teslow on the Disney show Phil of the Future. Alyson Michalka Photo’s :
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Russia reveals plan for capital to absorb woodland and holiday towns but critics warn of impending environmental disaster Russian officials have announced plans to more than double Moscow’s territory in a bid to alleviate the city’s crippling traffic and overcrowding, but critics worry the move could prove to be an environmental fiasco and leave thousands displaced. The plan to increase Moscow’s size from the current 264,000 acres to 620,000 acres was given initial approval on Monday by Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s president, in a meeting with the city’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, and Boris Gromov, governor of the surrounding Moscow region. The plan will see Moscow expanding to the south and south-west, taking in forestland, small communities and dachas or summerhouses. It foresees much of the heart of Moscow – its government offices and big businesses – moving to the new neighbourhood, forever changing the spirit of the city’s historic centre. The first to move are due to be the offices of the prime minister and cabinet, as well as the presidential administration, Sobyanin said in a meeting with the editors of Russia’s leading newspapers this week. Russian officials are looking at a 20-year timeline to complete the city’s growth. They have yet to announce a budget for the venture. The move is Moscow’s boldest attempt yet to deal with the notorious bottlenecks that often bring movement in the city to a standstill. It is part of Medvedev’s vision to turn Moscow into a global financial centre as the country seeks to attract investment and boost its international standing. He first floated the expansion idea during a speech to foreign investors during an international forum in St Petersburg last month. The plan, published on the Moscow city government website , says the city’s southern and south-western outskirts were chosen in part because they comprise “a relatively weakly urbanised sector of the Moscow region,” counting some 250,000 people. Alexei Yaroshenko, of Greenpeace Russia, said he believed the number was much higher. It also does not include those who maintain dachas in the region. “We don’t know the exact borders yet,” Yaroshenko said. “If it is moved this way or that, hundreds of thousands of people will be added.” The concern comes from precedent – locals in and around the Black Sea resort of Sochi, the site of the Winter Olympics, have protested over forced relocation as the government takes over prime real estate in the region. Five years ago residents of Butovo, a village on the outskirts of southern Moscow, had a face off with authorities for weeks as they attempted to fight the razing of houses to make way for construction. Residents of Khimki, in northern Moscow, continue to battle controversial plans to build a road through their forest. “They don’t care at all about the people,” Yaroshenko said. “The officials decide and then start to build and what people think makes no difference to them.” He worried that the lush forestland in the region would be the first affected, since it is federal property. Yet even critics like Yaroshenko admit something has to be done. Moscow’s population has grown by 200,000 a year since 2002, he noted, citing census results. Aside from the potential effects on residents and the forests that line Moscow’s southern outskirts, Yaroshenko worries that the expansion – which city officials say will add housing for 2 million Muscovites and more than 1m jobs – will only increase Moscow’s dominance over the country. While preliminary results from a 2010 census showed that the overall population of the country decreased by 1.2%, Moscow’s population increased from 10.4 million to 11.5 million. “The country is emptying and Moscow is growing,” he said. “All resources are going to Moscow – first money and then people follow.” Russia Miriam Elder guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Date of Birth : 26 February 1985 (26 years old) Place of Birth : New York, USA Ally Hilfiger is daughter to the famous designer Tommy Hilfiger. She gratduated from Professional Children’s School and seems to follow her father’s footsteps. She attended the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New york City and has her own vintage-accessories business. Ally Hilfiger Photo’s :
Continue reading …Date of Birth : 24 March 1974 (37 years old) Place of Birth : Washington, USA Nickname : Allycat Occupation : Actress Dated : Seth Green, Ginger Fish, Twiggy Ramirez, Alexis Denisof Alyson Hannigan is an American actress who´s most known for her part as the band geek Michelle Flaherty in the “American Pie” movies. Alyson Hannigan is also known for her part as Lily Aldrin in the sitcom “How I meet you Mother”. She´s dated Marilyn Manson´s drummer Ginger Fish. She married Alexis Denisof back in 2003 and they got their first child Satyana. She was born on Alyson´s 35th birthday march 24, 2009. Alyson Hannigan Photo’s :
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West Sussex residents report buildings shaking for few seconds in 3.9 magnitude earthquake An earthquake with a magnitude of 3.9 has struck in the middle of the Channel. Residents in parts of West Sussex reported buildings shaking for a few seconds at around 8am on Thursday. The British Geological Survey said the quake had a depth of 10km and its epicentre was south of Portsmouth, Hampshire. Official measurements showed it happened at 7.59am BST. Sussex police, the Solent coastguard and West Sussex fire and rescue service said they had not been called out to any incidents related to the quake. David Kerridge, from the British Geological Survey, said the earthquake was the largest in the area since a magnitude 4.5 quake in 1734. “Historically, there have been two other significant events nearby – a magnitude 5.0 earthquake in 1878 and a magnitude 4.3 earthquake in 1750,” he said. “In the UK, we experience an earthquake of this magnitude approximately every two years.” Several residents in Worthing, West Sussex, are reported to have felt the earthquake. The British Geological Survey is running an online questionnaire to collect information from members of the public. guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …West Sussex residents report buildings shaking for few seconds in 3.9 magnitude earthquake An earthquake with a magnitude of 3.9 has struck in the middle of the Channel. Residents in parts of West Sussex reported buildings shaking for a few seconds at around 8am on Thursday. The British Geological Survey said the quake had a depth of 10km and its epicentre was south of Portsmouth, Hampshire. Official measurements showed it happened at 7.59am BST. Sussex police, the Solent coastguard and West Sussex fire and rescue service said they had not been called out to any incidents related to the quake. David Kerridge, from the British Geological Survey, said the earthquake was the largest in the area since a magnitude 4.5 quake in 1734. “Historically, there have been two other significant events nearby – a magnitude 5.0 earthquake in 1878 and a magnitude 4.3 earthquake in 1750,” he said. “In the UK, we experience an earthquake of this magnitude approximately every two years.” Several residents in Worthing, West Sussex, are reported to have felt the earthquake. The British Geological Survey is running an online questionnaire to collect information from members of the public. guardian.co.uk
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