With West Africa at crossroads UN envoy urges coordinated efforts to tackle instability

U.N. - Top Stories Wednesday 10th July, 2013

"The West African sub-region continues to face multiple political and security challenges mainly linked to transnational organized crime, piracy and terrorist activities as well as election-related tensions in some countries," said the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa, Said Djinnit, adding that commitment from Governments, regional organizations and the international community as a whole is needed to tackle these challenges.

In his briefing to the Council, Mr. Djinnit pointed to three main zones where there is instability: the Sahel region, the Gulf of Guinea and the Mano River.

In the Sahel, Mr. Djinnit said the UN Office for West Africa (UNOWA) has been working closely with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the UN Office in Mali and the now defunct African-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA), to promote political dialogue to resolve the conflict in the northern part of the country, where a rebellion of ethnic Tuareg groups in early 2012 displaced hundreds of thousands of people and prompted the Government to request assistance from France to halt the southward march of extremists.

Mr. Djinnit underlined that in addition to the crisis in Mali, the Sahel is suffering from serious environmental degradation, desertification, food insecurity and drug trafficking and terrorism.

"This vulnerability of the Sahel underscores the need for a UN integrated strategy for the Sahel which shall complement efforts by countries of the region and regional organization to address the root causes of instability in the Sahel-Sahara belt, and its consequences," he said.

Turning to the Gulf of Guinea, Mr. Djinnit said piracy continues to be a threat, negatively affecting international maritime trade routes and taking a toll on economic progress in both coastal and landlocked countries.

However, he said he was encouraged by the resolve of West African leaders during the Summit of the Gulf of Guinea Heads of State and Government on maritime safety and security held last month in Cameroon, to establish an effective framework to combat piracy and armed robbery at sea.

Mr. Djinnit noted that election-related tensions also continue to affect the region, and said UNOWA remains committed to promote common grounds and understandings through its good offices, as in the case of Guinea in the Manor River region, where earlier this month the Government and opposition parties - with the support of the UN - agreed to hold legislative elections in late September.

The agreement "has paved the way for the holding of free and transparent and inclusive legislative elections that will allow, at last, all the energies of the Government and the people of that country to be geared towards socio-economic transformation and development," Mr. Djinnit said.

"While the situation in West Africa remains at a crossroads, I am committed to building on the excellent cooperation and partnership forged with the UN entities in West Africa, the ECOWAS, other regional organizations including the African Union and the Mano River Union as well as other stakeholders," he added.

Source: http://www.sierraleonenews.net/index.php/sid/215755336/scat/c1ab2109a5bf37ec

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India Bridal Fashion Week heads to London in 2014

New Delhi: The India Bridal Fashion Week (IBFW), an exposition of Indian couture and bridal lines, will woo international patrons with its first ever international edition in 2014. It will be held in London, organiser Vijay Singh announced here Wednesday.
?We`re going to London next year. I believe that any specific industry requires a new market. If you look at the Indian fashion industry, every designer is a name in outside countries as well. So why not (go international),? Singh, managing director, Fashion One International, said here.

The event has so far been held in Mumbai. It will open in the capital for the first time July 23. Scheduled to take place at The Grand hotel in south Delhi, the extravaganza will have a mix of bridal and couture collections by a range of the country`s designers.

Participating designers at the six-day event are JJ Valaya, Tarun Tahiliani, Raghavendra Rathore, Shantanu and Nikhil, Falguni and Shane Peacock, Rohit Bal, Suneet Varma, Ashima Leena, Meera and Muzaffar Ali, Adarsh Gill, Jyotsana Tiwari and Rina Dhaka.

While Valaya is the opening designer, Tahiliani will present the closing collection.

There will also be a bridal expo - The Bridal Luxury Couture Exposition - which will run simultaneous with the IBFW. It will feature 65 top designers and creative wedding planners who will interact directly with the customers.

IANS

First Published: Wednesday, July 10, 2013, 19:38

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Dancer asked to leave Royal Ballet in Canada after appearing in gay porn film

A ballet dancer with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in Canada has had to leave after appearing in a gay porn film.

Danish born Jeppe Hansen says he was asked to sign a letter saying he had voluntarily withdrawn from the institution.

The RWB wouldn?t comment on the allegations but said the school?s code of conduct didn?t allow students to perform outside the school without permission.

22-year-old Hansen, who has previously danced for the Queen of Denmark and who beat thousands of hopefuls to win a scholarship at the ballet company, says the school has unfairly defined what constitutes art.

?I wanted to express myself in a different way, artistically in a different way than what I can do in the classical ballet form. And I also wanted to explore myself and my sexuality,? Hansen said.

Jeppe says he hopes one day to be able to return to his first love of ballet but for now is pursuing a full-time career in ?adult entertainment? in New York under the name Jett Black.

More about: Canada, Dance, Denmark, Gay rights

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Fed Chairman Bernanke should not testify in AIG bailout lawsuit: U.S.

(Reuters) - The Federal Reserve chairman should not testify in the lawsuit by American International Group Inc's former chief Maurice "Hank" Greenberg against the United States over the insurer's 2008 bailout, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

In a Monday filing with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the government said Greenberg's Starr International Co failed to show the "extraordinary circumstances" needed to justify a deposition of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke in the multibillion-dollar lawsuit.

The government said information about Bernanke's role in the bailout of AIG can be obtained elsewhere, such as minutes of the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors or interviews of other officials.

It said this obviated any need for a deposition that Starr wants to hold on August 16, and added that high-ranking government officials like Bernanke in general cannot be deposed over the reasons that they took official actions.

David Boies, a partner at Boies, Schiller & Flexner representing Starr, said in an email: "We believe Mr. Bernanke has important testimony to give in this case."

Last month, Court of Claims Judge Thomas Wheeler said Starr may pursue claims over the government's taking of a 79.9 percent stake in AIG in September 2008 and a separate 1-for-20 reverse stock split in June 2009.

A trial could begin late next year. AIG's board decided in January not to join Starr's lawsuit after a public backlash, including from Congress.

Starr once held a 12 percent stake in AIG, which had been the world's largest insurer by market value prior to the financial crisis and a $182.3 billion federal bailout.

Greenberg, 88, led AIG for nearly four decades before his 2005 ouster. Starr is appealing another judge's dismissal of a related lawsuit against the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The case is Starr International Co. v. U.S., U.S. Court of Federal Claims, No. 11-00779.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fed-chairman-bernanke-not-testify-aig-bailout-lawsuit-225726431.html

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ASUS Fonepad review

Take a 7-inch ASUS Android tablet, add an earpiece and a dialer, and what comes out is the Fonepad. 

The ASUS Fonepad — mainly tablet, but also part phone. And ASUS is definitely marketing this as something you would use to make phone calls — just check out their official marketing videos for proof. But it's also a 7-inch Android tablet, with Intel internals and a competitive price point. It's a device with a pretty specific use case, but for the kind of person who might put the Fonepad to good use, it could be invaluable. But is it any good as a phone, or a tablet, or either? Let's take a look. 

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Prosecution: Zimmerman witness may have showed up too early

NBC News

On the left, John Donnelly appears seated in gallery of the George Zimmerman trial courtroom on June 25. On the right, Donnelly testifies on the stand on July 8

By Jamie Novogrod, Rob Rivas, and Andrew Rafferty, NBC News

A witness who testified in the George Zimmerman trial may have been present during court proceedings weeks before he took the stand ? violating a Florida law that bars witnesses in a criminal trial from being in the courtroom before they testify, prosecutors have asserted.

An NBC News review of tapes from the trial shows John Donnelly, who was called as a witness for the defense?on Monday, appearing to be seated in court on Tuesday, June 25 -- the second day of testimony in the trial.

On June 24, Judge Debra Nelson had invoked Florida's so-called "rule of sequestration," which called for all witnesses except Trayvon Martin's parents to leave the courtroom.

John Donnelly, a retired physician's assistant, then testified on Monday, telling the court that he donated to Zimmerman's defense fund, paid for Zimmerman's court clothing, and believes the screaming voice captured on a 911 call is his friend's.

But later that day, prosecuting attorney Richard Mantei told the judge he had reason to believe that Donnelly had been present in the courtroom last month.

"I haven't been able to verify it yet, but there have been some individuals who have indicated that Mr. Donnelly may have actually been present in court at some point last week during part of this trial," Mantei said.

As Mantei?s remarks came during a hearing on discovery violations, Nelson responded that this issue was unrelated.?On Tuesday, she said that the court would take up the Donnelly issue?Wednesday?morning.

Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder for the? Feb. 26, 2012 shooting death of Martin. Zimmerman said he was acting in self-defense when the 17-year-old attacked him in Sanford, Fla.

Editor's note: George Zimmerman has sued NBC Universal for defamation. The company strongly denies the allegation.

?

This story was originally published on Tue Jul 9, 2013 11:32 PM EDT

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Owner of collapsed building captured in Bangladesh

SAVAR, Bangladesh (AP) -- The fugitive owner of an illegally constructed building that collapsed and killed at least 377 people was captured Sunday by a commando force as he tried to flee into India. At the disaster site, meanwhile, fire broke out in the wreckage and forced authorities to suspend the search for survivors temporarily.

Mohammed Sohel Rana was arrested in the western Bangladesh border town of Benapole, said Jahangir Kabir Nanak, junior minister for local government. Rana was brought back by helicopter to the capital of Dhaka where he faced charges of negligence.

Rana's capture was announced by loudspeaker at the disaster site, drawing cheers and applause from those awaiting the outcome of a continuing search-and-rescue operation for survivors of Wednesday's collapse.

Many of those killed were workers at clothing factories in the building, known as the Rana Plaza, and the collapse was the deadliest disaster to hit the garment industry in Bangladesh that is worth $20 billion annually and is a mainstay of the economy.

The fire that broke out late Sunday night sent smoke pouring from the piles of shattered concrete and halted some of the rescue efforts ? including a bid to free a woman who was found trapped in the rubble.

The blaze was caused by sparks as rescuers tried to cut through a steel rod to reach the woman, said a volunteer, Syed Al-Amin Roman. At least three rescuers were injured in the fire, he said. It forced them to retreat while firefighters frantically hosed down the flames.

Officials believe the fire is likely to have killed the trapped woman, said army spokesman Shahinul Islam. Rescue workers had delayed the use of heavy equipment for several hours in the hope that she could be extricated from the rubble first. But with the woman presumed dead, they began using heavy equipment around midnight.

An exhausted and disheveled Rana was brought before reporters briefly at the Dhaka headquarters of the commando team, the Rapid Action Battalion.

Wearing a printed shirt, Rana was sweating as two security officers held him by his arms. A security official helped him to drink water after he gestured he was thirsty. He did not speak during the 10-minute appearance, and he is likely to be handed over to police, who will have to charge him and produce him in court within 24 hours.

A small-time politician from the ruling Awami League party, Rana had been on the run since the building collapsed Wednesday. He last appeared in public Tuesday in front of the Rana Plaza after huge cracks appeared in the building. Witnesses said he assured tenants, including five garment factories, that the building was safe.

A bank and some shops on the first floor closed Wednesday after police ordered an evacuation, but managers of the garment factories on the upper floor told workers to continue their shifts.

Hours later, the Rana Plaza was reduced to rubble, crushing most victims under massive blocks of concrete.

Rana's arrest was ordered by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is also the Awami League leader.

On Saturday, police arrested three owners of two factories. Also detained were Rana's wife and two government engineers who were involved in giving approval for the building design. Local TV stations reported that the Bangladesh High Court has frozen the bank accounts of the owners of all five garment factories in the Rana Plaza.

Three floors of the eight-story building apparently were built illegally.

A garment manufacturers' group said the factories in the building employed 3,122 workers, but it was not clear how many were inside when it fell. About 2,500 survivors have been accounted for.

Army Maj. Gen. Chowdhury Hasan Suhrawardy, the coordinator of the rescue operations, said the next phase of the search involved the heavy equipment such as hydraulic cranes that were brought to the disaster site Sunday. Searchers had been manually shifting concrete blocks with the help of light equipment such as pickaxes and shovels, he said.

The work will be carried out carefully so as not to mutilate bodies, he said. "We have engaged many private sector companies which supplied us equipment, even some heavy ones," Suhrawardy said.

In a rare bit of good news, a female worker was pulled out alive Sunday. Rescuer Hasan Akbari said when he tried to extricate a man next to the woman, "he said his body was being torn apart. So I had to let go. But God willing, we will be able to rescue him with more help very soon."

The collapse and previous disasters in garment factories have focused attention on the poor working conditions of workers who toil for as little as $38 a month to produce clothing for top international brands.

The death toll surpassed a fire five months ago that killed 112 people and brought widespread pledges to improve worker-safety standards. But since then, very little has changed in Bangladesh.

Its garment industry was the third-largest in the world in 2011, after China and Italy, having grown rapidly in the past decade.

Among the garment makers in the building were Phantom Apparels, Phantom Tac, Ether Tex, New Wave Style and New Wave Bottoms. Altogether, they produced several million shirts, pants and other garments a year.

The New Wave companies, according to their website, make clothing for several major North American and European retailers.

Britain's Primark acknowledged it was using a factory in Rana Plaza, but many other retailers distanced themselves from the disaster, saying they were not involved with the factories at the time of the collapse or had not recently ordered garments from them.

Wal-Mart said none of its clothing had been authorized to be made in the facility, but it is investigating whether there was any unauthorized production.

__

AP writers Farid Hossain and Gillian Wong in Dhaka contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/owner-collapsed-building-captured-bangladesh-184621056.html

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