President-elect Barack Obama said yesterday that he has selected a “top-notch intelligence team” that would provide the “unvarnished” information his administration needs, rather than “what they think the president wants to hear.”
Blocked from claiming a Senate seat, a man who once said his success in politics was the result of “divine intervention” stood outside the Capitol yesterday and declared: “Members of the media, my name is Roland Burris, the junior senator from the state of Illinois.”
Even if the package of spending and tax cuts helps restore the nation’s immediate economic health, Obama said, the government is likely to be left with “trillion-dollar deficits for years to come” unless policymakers “make a change in the way that Washington does business.”
10:03pm UK, Tuesday January 06, 2009
Darren Little, Midlands correspondent
Oversupply means there is now a logjam on car production
In November, the industry saw a 36% fall in sales, and December’s figures are unlikely to be any better.
Thousands of new cars are now being stockpiled at airfields across the country, costing the companies even more money.
New cars are being stockpiled
The oversupply means there is a logjam on car production, with companies cutting back drastically - and that is effecting suppliers further down the chain.
Anvil in West Bromwich supply steel to component makers but their orders have dropped substantially.
All the firm’s employees have had to take a 20% pay cut.
Mike Brophy, from Anvil, told Sky News: “We’ve actually had it very good for the last seven-and-a-half years. We’ve been working unlimited overtime.
“Last October, everything came to a grinding halt and our orders have dropped 30%.”
Those representing the car industry are not optimistic about its prospects.
Paul Everitt, from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, told Sky: “The car sellers are suffering too - Britain’s biggest dealership group Pendragon has lost 95% of its value.”
(Pendragon’s rival) Inchcape has already announced almost 2,000 jobs losses worldwide.
Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ Paul Everitt
More than 800,000 UK jobs are dependant on the car industry.
Some car companies have already laid off staff or offered sabbaticals to employees.
The latest news is unlikely to lift the gloom at the start of a difficult year for the car industry and that will not help the wider economy.
Does this person have no morals???????Sacked she should hang her head in shame.Mind you that goes for all the goverment as well.pathetic people.
Posted By :Peter
Report This
Shoesmith is just following standard government advice..if anything goes wrong,just bluff it out,trying to blame it on some one else or say that your dept was operating within the standards set by the government…it has been done on a much grander scale than this in the last 11 years,even to cover up a war….and yes,it is wrong.
Posted By :Clive
Report This
Fair enough she’s allowed to appeal but in her role as the Children Services Chief, a child was tortured, beaten and died. That is totally unacceptable and should never ever be allowed again. Lets hope the appeal committee have some common sense and tell her exactly where to go.
Posted By :Craigy
Report This
I beleive here actions only highlight her real interest in child care. Its a pity that she wasn’t so quick to help Baby P.
Posted By :Scott
Report This
The death penalty should be brought back for the **** that tortured and killed baby P.
Posted By :alan o carroll
Report This
Disgraceful “woman”
Posted By :Dave
Report This
2:20am UK, Wednesday January 07, 2009
Global terror strikes…Mumbai, London, and New York
Jonathan Evans said extremists had been “chilled” by a succession of court cases where their former comrades pleaded guilty to involvement in plots.
In the first interview given by a serving head of MI5, he said they have been forced to “keep their heads down” following the 86 prosecutions in terror trials since January 2007.
Glasgow terror attack
However, he said the terror networks had not gone away, adding: “There is enough intelligence to show they have the intention to mount an attack here.
“There is a significant number of individuals in active sympathy. They are doing things like fund-raising, helping people to travel to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia.”
The security chief also predicted that the Israeli invasion of Gaza would see “extremists try to radicalise individuals for their own purposes”.
And he warned that the global economic crisis was bringing potential new dangers for the UK.
UK spymaster comes out of the shadows
“We have to maintain flexibility and respond to threats. The world will not stay the same,” Mr Evans said in an interview to mark the centenary of MI5.
Although he stressed there was no direct correlation between wealth and extremism, he said it was important to consider what would happen if the “West becomes less economically dominant”.
Mr Evans disclosed that the terrorists who caused the Mumbai massacre in November had indirect links to Britain.
And he stressed the importance of events in Pakistan and Afghanistan for the UK’s security, revealing that 75% of MI5’s investigations had connections with Pakistan.
A casualty is taken away from the UN school shelled by the Israelis
The UN Security Council has been meeting in New York to find a solution to the continuing war.
A ceasefire plan drawn up by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak attracted support from his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas.
And US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also gave US backing to the proposal.
“We need urgently to conclude a ceasefire that can endure and that can bring real security,” she said.
However, she added that US insisted on a ceasefire that was “durable and sustainable” and would not leave Israel vulnerable to further rocket attacks from militant fighters.
UN chief Ban Ki Moon said he would travel to Israel and the Palestinian territories next week and said it was vital to reach a ceasefire in Gaza before then.
Sky News foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall
Aid agencies have been warning of a crisis among the territory’s civilian population after Israel launched a ground invasion four days ago.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the “corridor” would see periodic access given to various areas of the territory to allow Palestinians to stock up on food, medicine and other vital supplies.
It is understood the first consignments of aid will go out later today.
Israel’s ground offensive has the stated aim of taking control of sites from which rockets are fired into Israel by militant group Hamas.
It has seen troops and tanks divide the territory and surround Gaza City, during which time more 635 Gazans have been killed, according to medical sources.
The worst single civilian loss of life took place when Israeli forces shelled a UN-run school where hundreds of people were sheltering from the onslaught on Tuesday.
At least 30 people were killed in the attack, which Israel said was in response to mortar fire from within the building.
Speaking from Jerusalem, Oxfam worker John Prideaux-Brune told Sky News there was a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“We have people with no food, no water, no electricity, no heating in the middle of winter,” she said.
“Numerous people have had to leave their homes because they have been destroyed or are too badly damaged to live in.”
Mr Prideaux-Brune also spoke of the difficulty of getting medical aid to those in need after ambulances have become caught up during air strikes.
British volunteer Eva Yeshewitz was in a Red Crescent vehicle that was hit.
She said: “Every day we risk this kind of thing - the medical staff, they’re the ones who are paying with their lives.”
US President-elect Barack Obama has said he is “deeply concerned” about the amount of civilians being killed.
While British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was “hopeful” the basis for an immediate ceasefire could be found, warning the Middle East was facing its “darkest” moment.
In contrast, al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al Zawahiri said the Israeli attacks were part of a Western crusade against Islam.
President-elect Barack Obama apparently plans a more aggressive approach than the Bush administration to helping friendly nations get better at fighting terrorism within their own borders, the State …
All that money you’re saving these days at the gas pump? You might want to put it in the bank.
The revenues of Azerbaijan`s communication and information technologies sector will be equal to those brought in by the oil sector by 2018, Minister of Communication and Information Technologies Ali Abbasov has said.
The minister said if the project on the establishment of regional innovation zones is implemented, this will give an impetus to the IT sector development in Azerbaijan. The tariff benefits envisaged in this regard will facilitate the development of small and medium-sized businesses.
The minister added that the average annual growth in the IT sector was 34-35% during the last five years. Over these years, Azerbaijan has expanded its IT potential 4.5 times.
Read full story from www.azernews.az