Author: xaurav

Almost half of Gazans jobless – UN

A man carries Real wages have fallen 34% in the last five years in Gaza, the report says

Gaza’s unemployment rate was among the world’s highest, at 45.2% in late 2010, the UN has found, as Israel’s blockade of the territory enters its fifth year.

Real wages meanwhile fell by more than a third, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said.

The report says that private businesses have been hardest hit by the continuing ban on virtually all exports.

Israel imposed sanctions in 2006 after Gaza militants snatched Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

The blockade tightened a year later when Hamas ousted rival Palestinian organisation Fatah from the territory.

UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said of the report in a statement: “These are disturbing trends and the refugees, who make up two-thirds of Gaza’s 1.5 million population, were the worst hit.”

The unemployment figure, for the second half of 2010, was a slight improvement on the 45.7% jobless rate during the same period in 2009.

“If the aim of the blockade was to weaken Hamas, the employment numbers suggest this has failed”

Chris Gunness UNRWA

But it was an increase from the first half of 2010, when a temporary building boom boosted jobs.

The report says that while private businesses have suffered most, the Hamas-run public sector is one of the few areas where there has been economic growth, with the government employing tens of thousands of people.

Mr Gunness said the research had found that since 2007 Hamas had been able to increase public employment by at least one fifth.

“If the aim of the blockade policy was to weaken the Hamas administration, the public employment numbers suggest this has failed,” Mr Gunness added.

Israel says the measures against Gaza are necessary to stop weapons smuggling and to put pressure on Hamas, but the UN insists the restrictions amount to collective punishment of Gaza’s population.

The blockade was eased by Israel last year in response to international pressure, after nine Turkish activists were killed in an Israeli raid on a convoy of aid ships seeking to enter the territory.

Restrictions at Gaza’s border with Egypt have been eased since the ousting of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak this year.

A change of policy by Cairo has seen the southern border crossing at Rafah opened daily for civilian traffic, but not for trade.

Although Hamas won Palestinian legislative elections in January 2006, it refuses to recognise Israel or to renounce violence and is designated in the West as a terror organisation.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Nepal army clears final landmines

A Nepalese army soldier looks out for rebel movement during the civil warThe Nepalese army laid 53 minefields during the course of its bitter civil war

Five years after the end of the civil conflict in Nepal, the army has destroyed the last minefield in the country.

With this, Nepal becomes the second country in Asia after China to become mine-free.

Clearing the mines was a commitment of the 2006 comprehensive peace agreement.

Since the end of the conflict, mines have caused 473 casualties in Nepal – 78 of which were fatal.

With an explosion that shook the side of a mountain 2,000m (6,500ft) above the city of Kathmandu, the Nepalese army destroyed the last of 53 minefields it had been responsible for laying during the country’s 10-year Maoist insurgency.

However, the remote location of many of the fields meant that the task took far longer than the 60 days first anticipated.

The explosion is a symbolic end to this side of the conflict but Nepal’s political parties still have a long way to go before they secure peace.

In particular they need to agree on how to demobilise some 19,000 former Maoist soldiers.

Despite their commitment to clearing these mines, the Nepalese government is yet to sign the international Ottawa treaty banning all landmines.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Egypt ‘spy’ is US student: Israel

Ilan Grapel in hospital in Haifa (2006)Ilan Grapel was wounded fighting for Israel in the 2006 war with Lebanon

Israel’s foreign minister says a suspected Mossad spy detained in Egypt is actually a dual US-Israeli student.

Ilan Grapel, 27, is being questioned in Cairo after his arrest on Sunday. He is accused of trying to sabotage Egypt’s revolution by inciting sedition.

But Avigdor Lieberman told Israel’s Army Radio: “He has no connection to any intelligence apparatus, not in Israel, not in the US and not on Mars.”

“This is a mistake or strange behaviour by the Egyptians,” the minister said.

“They have received all the clarifications and I hope the whole story will end quickly,” he added.

On Monday, Egypt’s state prosecutor issued a statement saying that Ilan Grapel had posed as a foreign correspondent covering anti-government protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square earlier this year.

The statement said he tried to foment Muslim-Christian tension and turn the people against the army in the days following the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak.

Mr Grapel immigrated to Israel in 2005 from New York and served in its military in the 2006 Lebanon war, reports in the Israeli and Egyptian media said.

His mother said he was enrolled as a law student in the US but currently working for an NGO in Cairo, Saint Andrew’s Refugee Services.

The US embassy in Cairo said a consular officer visited Mr Grapel on Monday and found him in good health.

The arrest has set off fears in Israel that relations with Egypt will sour now that Mr Mubarak has been deposed.

The former president had generally co-operated with Israel on security matters and upheld the 1979 peace treaty between the two neighbours.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

‘Killing with love’

Libyan rape victims face death to save family ‘honour’

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Syria pressed to stop crackdown

Syria comes under further pressure from the US to halt its crackdown on anti-government protests as troops continue to pursue rebels in the north.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Hacking victims ‘not contacted’

A mobile phoneMobile phone company bosses were being grilled by MPs
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Two leading mobile phone networks have admitted they did not contact customers to warn them that their voicemails may have been hacked into.

Vodafone and Orange/T-Mobile told MPs the police had not instructed them to do so and they were worried about prejudicing any investigation.

The firms said there were 125 potential victims but details were unconfirmed.

Several public figures are taking civil action against the News of the World over alleged phone hacking.

Four alleged victims of phone hacking have already reached out-of-court settlements with the newspaper.

Earlier this month, it agreed to pay actress Sienna Miller £100,000 damages and costs and apologised for the “harassment and distress” it had caused by illegally accessing messages left on her phone.

The Metropolitan Police reopened its inquiry in January into claims that staff at the newspaper had hacked into the phone messages of public figures, including a number of MPs, following criticism of its previous enquiry dating back to 2006.

Several of those alleged to have been targeted, including former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott, have called for a public inquiry into the episode.

“From some of the conversations with the customers, it would lead you to believe that there were reasons why people may want to get their information”

Adrian Gorham 02

Giving evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee, representatives from four leading phone companies were asked about the earlier police investigation and what they had done upon learning that their customers may have had their messages hacked into.

The head of fraud prevention at Vodafone, the UK’s biggest mobile phone network, said it had written to customers in general to remind them of the importance of voicemail security but had not contacted the 40 individuals thought to be potential victims.

“We worked closely with the Metropolitan Police and, as in all cases, so as not to jeopardise the police inquiry, we did not contact our customers directly,” Julie Steele told MPs.

She said she had “no recollection” of the police ever asking Vodafone to inform its customers.

The company which owns Orange UK and T-Mobile – whose networks merged last year – said it had an “assumption” that it would not contact potential victims in such cases.

“We would never contact customers as part of a police investigation,” James Blendis, vice president of legal affairs at Everything Everywhere, said. “Our understanding is that there is a serious risk of prejudicing an investigation if we take an action like that.”

Mr Blendis said the operator could not be sure that the person it spoke to owned the phone as many celebrities’ phones were also used by assistants and PR people.

But O2 said it had contacted about 40 people which an internal investigation suggested may have been affected, believing there was an “obligation” to do so.

“We made a decision we would contact those customers and tell them the results of the investigation,” Adrian Gorham, the firm’s head of fraud and security, said.

“On none of the cases did ever I see any evidence they were definitely hacked. From some of the conversations with the customers, it would lead you to believe that there were reasons why people may want to get their information.”

Keith Vaz, the Labour MP who chairs the committee, said there had clearly been “confusion” among the companies about how to act and they needed to learn lessons.

“Isn’t this a bit of a complacent attitude?”, he asked Mr Blendis. “Here you find out your customers have been hacked, the police have told you they have been hacked, and your company does absolutely nothing.”

The companies said they had all co-operated with the police but had not been told the identities of individuals who may have been affected. They all said they had toughened up their safety procedures as a result of the hacking allegations.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Live – Royal Ascot

Sir Henry Cecil’s unbeaten three-year-old Frankel, running in the St James’s Palace Stakes, is the star of the show on the first day of action from this year’s Royal Ascot.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Man jailed for helping Raoul Moat

Scott RaisbeckScott Raisbeck had pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice
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A Northumberland man has been jailed for helping gunman Raoul Moat by hiding evidence.

Scott Raisbeck, 30, removed the van Moat used when he shot his ex-girlfriend and killed her new partner. He also hid some of the items from it.

The 50-year-old of Glebe Close, Blyth, had earlier pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and handling stolen goods.

The judge at Newcastle Crown Court sentenced him to 15 months in prison.

In March, two other men, Karl Ness and Qhuram Awan, were jailed for life for helping Moat in July last year.

During his rampage, Moat’s former girlfriend Samantha Stobbart was seriously injured and karate instructor Chris Brown was killed.

Moat also shot Pc David Rathband in the face, leaving him blind.

Following the shootings 37-year-old Moat went on the run for a week, sparking a major manhunt, and then shot himself in Rothbury, Northumberland.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

UK inflation holds steady at 4.5%

Shopping trolley in supermarket in BristolFood and fuel prices continued to be the main contributors to the high inflation rate

The UK Consumer Prices Index (CPI) annual rate of inflation held steady in May at 4.5%.

The Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation – which includes mortgage interest payments – was also unchanged at 5.2%, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Fuel and food prices continued to be the main contributors, with both components up 1.3% from April.

Air transport costs fell sharply in the month as Easter peak fares ended.

However, over the course of the past 12 months, alcoholic beverages and tobacco recorded a 9.8% increase – the highest year-on-year rise on record – thanks in part to the VAT rise.

Fuel prices also accelerated, up 13.7% compared with a year ago.

The overall inflation figure was in line with market expectations.

It follows a rise to 4.5% in April – the highest inflation rate since October 2008 – from 4% in March.

The Bank of England expects CPI inflation to rise above 5% in the next three months, well above its 2% target.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Facebook denies losing users

Facebook has hit back at figures which suggest it is bleeding users in the US and UK.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

VIDEO: Sir Terry Pratchett on assisted suicide

Sir Terry Pratchett has said witnessing a man being helped to die for a controversial BBC film has not affected his support for assisted suicide.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

VIDEO: Vintage WWII bomber crashes

An American B-17 bomber used for exhibition flights has caught fire and crashed in a field outside Chicago.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.