Security Council demands Liberia do more to freeze assets of alleged war criminals

While welcoming progress made by the Liberian Government in rebuilding the war-shattered country, the Security Council today demanded it “make all necessary efforts to fulfil its obligations” to freeze the assets of alleged war criminals and others, and urged it to tighten controls against so-called “blood diamonds” used to finance conflict.

Zimbabwe Vice-President Mujuru Discusses Impact of Western Sanctions

Mujuru hits out at sanctions

Herald Reporter

ACTING President Joice Mujuru yesterday lamented sustained illegal sanctions by Britain, the USA and their Western allies, which continue to affect ordinary Zimbabweans.

Speaking after receiving donations of goods worth over US$10 000 from the Iranian Embassy at her Munhumutapa Building office, the Acting President hailed relations between Zimbabwe and Iran.

“Relations between our two countries date back to the days of our liberation struggle and I am happy to note that this is not the first time that Iran has donated goods to our people.

“However, there are other countries that have imposed illegal sanctions that are affecting the ordinary people of Zimbabwe,” she said.

The Acting President said Iran has assisted Zimbabwe in various fields such as health and education, among others.

Among the goods that will be distributed to vulnerable groups in Bindura are medicines, food hampers and sports uniforms.

The goods will be handed over through the Bindura Mayor’s Christmas Cheer Fund.

In an interview after the handover, Iranian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Rasoul Momeni said the 90th donation from his country to the people of Zimbabwe was a symbolic gesture of solidarity between the two countries.

“We are also going to start a programme for an Islamic Charity Centre in Bindura while the Iranian embassy will also introduce an outreach clinic for the town,” he said.

Mashonaland Central Governor and Resident Minister Martin Dinha commended efforts by Iran to assist the people of Zimbabwe.

“The donation shows that the Iranians are our true friends who share with us a common ideology against imperialism and American hegemony.

“This gesture shows that our relations are deeper. We are going to hand over these goods to the Bindura Municipality as a sign of inclusivity and for the benefit of the people.

“I would also like to urge the local authority to give the goods across the political divide and help the elderly, orphans, the disabled and vulnerable members of the community,” he said.

Governor Dinha paid tribute to the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs in Zimbabwe through its leader, Sheikh Ishmael Duwa, for sourcing the goods.

Mujuru launches Indo-Zim Project II

Herald Reporter

Acting President Joice Mujuru yesterday urged entrepreneurs to make use of the state-of-the-art machinery donated by India under the Indo-Zimbabwe Training Project to enhance productivity.

She was speaking at the official launch of the second phase of the Indo-Zimbabwe Training Project in Harare yesterday.

The training centre, located at the Harare Institute of Technology provides entrepreneurs an opportunity to receive training in technology-related programmes.

“We therefore call upon all our industrialists that the technology is now available in Zimbabwe, here at the Indo-Zimbabwe Technology Centre,” she said.

“Let’s have our personnel trained in this skill. You should maximise the usage of these machines to grow the economy and create wealth for yourselves and for the country,” said the Acting President.

She said the training centre would enable small and medium entrepreneurs to enhance skills and knowledge at affordable fees.

“This centre provides facilities in high technology precision machining areas, which are not affordable to individual SME’s due to high cost.

“Small and medium enterprises will have access to this technology at this centre for a small fee,” she said.

The machinery has the capacity to make essential tools used in small to medium enterprises.

Acting President Mujuru said the coming in of latest technology would help the SME sector to improve quality of locally produced products.

It would also create employment opportunities for many college graduates.

The Acting President said this new technology has come at the right time since the SME sector was facing growth and competition challenges from the global market.

“As the world becomes a fiercely competitive global market place, the dynamics of small scale industry have become more challenging.

“Technological innovation has diversified in the global market and demands that SMEs provide quality products and service,” she said.

Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development Minister Sithembiso Nyoni said the Indo-Zimbabwe project was poised to propel the growth of SMEs through promotion of new technologies provided by the Indian government.

She said the future of the country’s economy was on SMEs and urged all to support the sector.

“The growth of our economy hinges on the vibrancy of the SME sector. The world over, the SME sector is recognised for its dynamism resulting in the significant generation of employment and wealth creation,” said Minister Nyoni.

She said through the partnership with India, the SME sector would emerge stronger as it would gain skills to improve local industries.

The Indo-Zimbabwe Training Project seeks to promote technology transfer through introduction of computer numerically controlled machines and equipment.

Under the project, India has sent a team of experts to provide practical training and ensure smooth transfer of technology to the Zimbabwean industrialists.

UN agencies respond to deadly outbreak of cholera in north-western Kenya

United Nations humanitarian agencies are providing emergency supplies and other forms of assistance to Kenyan Government officials as they respond to an outbreak of cholera in the northwest of the country that has left at least 26 people dead.

Security Council extends UN mission in Burundi for another year as elections loom

The Security Council today extended for another year the United Nations political mission in Burundi, calling for full support for next year’s elections in the war-scarred African country while voicing concern at continuing human rights violations, sexual and gender-based violence, restrictions on civil liberties and political violence.

Afghanistan, Iraq War Funding by US Imperialism Approved by Congress

December 17, 2009 http://detnews.com/article/20091217/NATION/912170388

Afghan, Iraq war funding approved

House passes $636B defense bill, raises U.S. borrowing limit

CARL HULSE
New York Times

Washington — In a rare show of bipartisanship Wednesday, the House easily approved a $636 billion Pentagon spending measure, and narrowly approved a short-term, $290 billion increase in federal borrowing power, setting the stage for a major fight over national fiscal policy in 2010.

The Pentagon measure, which passed on a vote of 395-34, pays for continuing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. It also included short extensions of the USA Patriot Act, the anti-terrorism legislation enacted after Sept. 11, and several other expiring laws and programs as well as two more months in jobless pay and health care for the unemployed.

The interlude of legislative cooperation was brief.

Members of the House and Senate failed to come to terms on extending the federal estate tax, which is scheduled to be repealed entirely for 2010 before being reinstated at a lower threshold in 2011. Lawmakers hope to work out a more orderly transition when they return in January.

In what House members hope was their last significant vote of an eventful year, a $174 billion measure intended to create jobs was approved on a surprisingly close party-line vote of 217-212. The measure would redirect $75 billion from the Wall Street bailout fund to a variety of construction and employment programs, but no similar measure is expected to be considered in the Senate until next year.

Lawmakers quickly returned to partisan sniping before voting 218-214 to raise the federal debt limit, with each party blaming the other for running up the national debt over the last decade. Both the debt increase and the Pentagon measure must still be approved by the Senate, which is locked in its health care debate.

The Treasury Department had sought the debt increase, saying the federal government was in danger of exceeding the legal debt limit of $12.1 trillion by Dec. 31, putting it in jeopardy of defaulting and threatening its ability to operate.

Republicans said the need to increase the debt reflected excessive Democratic spending and called on Congress to reduce spending instead. “Give the gift that America deserves, a responsible federal budget,” said Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev. “Merry Christmas to everyone.”

Democrats countered that Republicans presided over deficit spending during most of the decade as the federal government turned a surplus at the end of the Clinton administration into a deficit under President George W. Bush. They said Republicans recklessly cut taxes while adding the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the deficit.

Surveillance to increase

The U.S. military is adding more drones and expanding its video surveillance in the skies over Afghanistan to meet the needs of American forces as 30,000 more troops head into the war zone, a top Air Force general said Wednesday. The bolstered eyes in the sky will come from a mix of manned and unmanned aircraft and added technology that allows each MQ-9 Reaper drone to collect 10 video transmissions and beam them back to 10 different users on the ground, Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula told reporters.

Western Saharan Activist Sent to Hospital

Saharan activist sent to hospital

A Western Sahara independence activist who has been on hunger strike for more than a month has been taken to hospital on the Spanish Canary Islands.

Aminatou Haidar, 42, had been fasting at Lanzarote Airport in protest after Moroccan authorities expelled her.

They denied her entry to the disputed region of Western Sahara and confiscated her passport, saying she had rejected her Moroccan nationality.

Morocco controls the Western Sahara but many there want self-determination.

The mother-of-two was returning to Laayoune, Western Sahara’s main town, after accepting a human rights award in the US when she was stopped by the authorities.

She has turned down Spain’s offer of citizenship or political asylum.

She is reported to be suffering from severe stomach and abdominal pains and vomiting, but refusing to be force-fed.

“The treatment she is receiving is just to relieve and calm the pain and Aminatou will continue her hunger strike,” her lawyer Ines Miranda is quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.

Ms Haidar’s protest at her treatment has won the support of many prominent Spaniards including actor Javier Bardem and film director Pedro Almodovar - giving it a high profile.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/8417841.stm
Published: 2009/12/17 10:00:37 GMT

UN-backed meeting calls on world to support Somalia’s Government

An international meeting on Somalia, chaired by the United Nations, today called on the world community to offer practical and, where possible, direct support to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) as it battles extremists in a country that has had no central government for almost two decades.

US Military Drone Raid Kills Many Civilians in Pakistan

Thursday, December 17, 2009
20:31 Mecca time, 17:31 GMT

‘Drone raid’ kills many in Pakistan

Suspected US drone attacks have sparked public anger for inflicting civilian casualties

Suspected US missile strikes have killed at least 17 people in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal region along the border with Afghanistan.

Pakistani intelligence officials said missiles from the suspected US drone struck twice on Thursday in two nearby areas of the country’s north west.

In the deadliest incident, ten missiles hit two compounds in the Ambarshaga area of the North Waziristan tribal region, killing 15 people, The Associated Press news agency reporting, citing officials.

Officials said at least seven of the dead were “foreign” fighters, a term Pakistani officials use to refer to al-Qaeda recruits operating in the tribal regions.

‘Militant base’

Earlier, two people were killed in a missile strike on two houses close to the main district town of Miranshah.

“The American drone fired two missiles, killing two militants and badly damaging a house and an attached guest portion. A car was completely destroyed,” the AFP news agency quoted a security official based in Miranshah as saying.

“The militants rented out this house and were using it as a base.”

Unmanned drones are often the weapon of choice for the United States as it targets the Taliban and al-Qaeda in remote, rugged areas along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan. But the US military has rarely confirmed the attacks.

The use of so-called Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), which allow the military to operate in highly dangerous areas, is expected to grow in the coming years with the US defence department expected to buy 700 next year alone.

But the long-distance, remote-controlled warfare has sparked public anger for inflicting heavy civilian casualties.

The US government has called on Islamabad to step up its efforts against Taliban- and al-Qaeda-linked fighters who cross over into Afghanistan.

The Pakistani army recently completed an offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan, which borders North Waziristan.

But Pakistani authorities say the military may soon pursue similar operations in other parts of the lawless tribal belt along the Afghan border.

Source: Agencies

Togo Release Squad Headed for Africa Cup in Angola

Togo release squad for Angola

Togo’s entire squad for January’s Africa Cup of Nations in Angola play their football outside the country.

Manchester City’s Emmanuel Adebayor is the biggest name in the squad named by French coach Hubert Velud.

The rest of the squad play in leagues around the world including Brazil, Libya and Moldova.

Togo begin their Nations Cup campaign against Ghana on 11 January before games against Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.

Togo squad:

Goalkeepers: Kossi Agassa (Istres, France), Baba Tchagouni (Dijon, France), Kodjovi Obilale (Pontivy, France)

Defenders: Assimiou Toure (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany), Gafar Mamah (Sheriff, Moldova), Eric Akoto (Maccabi Ahi, Israel), Boussari Akinsola (Enugu Rangers, Nigeria), Pereira Hamilton (Sport Recife, Brazil), Kakla Eninful (US Monastir, Tunisia), Richmond Forson (Thouars FC, France), Emmanuel Mathias (Hapoel Pekta, Israel), Serge Akakpo (Vaslui FC, Romania)

Midfielders: Floyd Ayite (Nancy, France), Alaixys Romao (Grenoble, France), Komlan Améwou (Stromgodset, Norway), Guillaume Brenner (Alki FC, Cyprus), Moustapha Salifou (Aston Villa, England), Serge Gakpe (Monaco, France), Razak Boukari (Lens, France), Sapool Mani (Al Ittihad, Libya), Thomas Dossevi (Nantes, France), Junior Yao Seneya (Dibaa Al Hisn, UAE)

Forwards: Jonathan Ayite (Nimes, France), Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City, England), Serge Nyuiadzi (Nice, France)

Story from BBC SPORT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport2/hi/football/africa/8418618.stm
Published: 2009/12/17 13:31:00 GMT

UN-backed meeting calls on world to support Somalia’s transitional Government

An international meeting on Somalia, chaired by the United Nations, today called on the world community to offer practical and, where possible, direct support to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) as it battles extremists in a country that has had no central government for almost two decades.