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March 12, 2011

Police in Yemen have attacked anti-government demonstrators in the centre of the capital, Sanaa, killing up to six people and injuring many more. Reports say hundreds of police moved in, using tear gas, water cannons and live bullets at a protest camp in Tahrir Square. The clashes came after the US urged opposition groups to take up President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s call for talks. Weeks of protest against his 32-year rule have left about 30 people dead. The protesters have been camping out in Sanaa’s Tahrir Square for weeks. Doctors in the camp said police were blocking medical teams from entering the area. One doctor told BBC Arabic that six people were dead and 1,250 injured – 250 of them seriously. “It felt like a massacre, there were police teams in official uniforms and plain clothes police and they were attacking the protesters,” one witness told the Reuters news agency. “They used tear gas and gunfire and chased some people out into the streets.” On Thursday, President Saleh announced plans to change the constitution to move to a parliamentary system.

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March 12, 2011

The Arab League has backed the idea of a no-fly zone over Libya, reports say, as rebels continue to be pushed back by Colonel Gaddafi’s forces. A special meeting in Cairo voted to ask the UN Security Council to impose the policy, diplomats told news agencies. The UK and France have pushed for the idea, but have failed so far to win firm backing from the EU or Nato. Libyan rebel forces have meanwhile suffered fresh setbacks including the loss of the key oil port of Ras Lanuf. Reports suggested that the rebel front line had been pushed back even further back, towards the town of Uqaylah. The Arab League vote for a no-fly zone was opposed only by Syria and Algeria, reports from the Cairo meeting said. Nato has previously cited regional support for the idea as a key plank before it could possibly go ahead.  Russia, which wields a veto on the UN Security Council, has expressed serious reservations on the issue. And the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, was quoted on Saturday as saying it was still not clear whether it was a wise policy. The policy would be aimed at preventing Col Gaddafi’s forces using warplanes to attack rebel positions, although no clear position has emerged on exactly how this would be achieved.

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Huge blast at Japan nuclear power plant

March 12, 2011

A massive explosion has struck a Japanese nuclear power plant after Friday’s devastating earthquake. A huge pall of smoke was seen coming from the plant at Fukushima and several workers were injured. Japanese officials fear a meltdown at one of the plant’s reactors after radioactive material was detected outside it. A huge relief operation is under way after the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami, which killed more than 600. Hundreds more people are missing and it is feared about 1,300 may have died. The offshore earthquake triggered a tsunami which wreaked havoc on Japan’s north-east coast, sweeping far inland and devastating a number of towns and villages. Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan declared a state of emergency at the Fukushima 1 and 2 power plants as engineers try to confirm whether a reactor at one of the stations has gone into meltdown. It is an automatic procedure after nuclear reactors shut down in the event of an earthquake, allowing officials to take rapid action.

March 11, 2011

The cooling system failed at three reactors of the quake-hit Fukushima No 2 [Daini] nuclear power plant Saturday, the operator Tokyo Electric Power Co said. The company, which has already scrambled to deal with radiation leaks at its Fukushima [Daiichi] No 1 plant, notified the industry ministry that the failsafe system at the No 2 plant stopped functioning as the temperature of coolant water has topped 100C.

3 nuclear reactors in trouble after Japan quake

March 11, 2011

TOKYO — Coolant systems failed at three quake-stricken Japanese nuclear reactors Saturday, sending radiation seeping outside one and temperatures rising out of control at two others. Radiation surged to around 1,000 times the normal level in the control room of the No. 1 reactor of the Fukushima Daichi plant, Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said. Radiation — it was not clear how much — had also seeped outside, prompting widening of an evacuation area to a six-mile radius from a two-mile radius around the plant. Earlier, 3,000 people had been urged to leave their homes. Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Saturday that the temperatures of its No.1 and No.2 reactors at its Fukushima Daini nuclear power station were rising, and it had lost control over pressure in the reactors.

Fukushima Daini station is the second nuclear power plant the company has in Fukushima prefecture in northeastern Japan, where the troubled Fukushima Daiichi plant is located. Tepco said at about 2:46 p.m. local time three of its six reactors shut following the earthquake. All are boiling water reactors. Tepco said the reactors shut due to the loss of offsite power due to the malfunction of one of two off-site power systems. That triggered emergency diesel generators to startup and provide backup power for plant systems. About an hour after the plant shut down, however, the emergency diesel generators stopped, leaving the units with no power for important cooling functions.

Nuclear plants need power to operate motors, valves and instruments that control the systems that provide cooling water to the radioactive core. Earlier, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said, “Residents are safe after those within a 3-kilometer (1.8-mile) radius were evacuated and those within a 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) radius are staying indoors, so we want people to be calm.” The country’s nuclear safety agency said pressure inside one of six boiling water reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant near Onahama, some 170 miles northeast of Tokyo, had risen to 1.5 times the level considered normal.

Japan warns of small radiation leak at nuclear plant

March 11, 2011

Japanese authorities have warned there could be a small radiation leak from a nuclear reactor whose cooling system was knocked out by the earthquake. Technicians at the Fukushima Daiichi plant are set to release vapour from the unit in question to lower the pressure and prevent a meltdown. This carries a risk that a “small” amount of radioactive material could leak, officials say. Around 3,000 people have been evacuated from the surrounding area. These are residents who were within a 3km (1.86 miles) radius of the plant.

But early on Saturday morning, local time, people living within 10km (6.2 miles) of the plant were asked to leave. Eleven reactors at four nuclear power stations automatically shut down when the earthquake hit on Friday, but officials say this one reactor’s cooling system failed to operate correctly. The prime minister declared a “nuclear emergency” – under Japanese law, an emergency must be declared if a cooling system fails, if there is a release of radiation, or if there is a dangerous level of water in the reactor. Japan’s nuclear safety agency said pressure inside one of six reactors at the plant, some 270km (170 miles) north east of Tokyo, was considerably higher than normal.

March 11, 2011

Hundreds of police have been deployed in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, ahead of anti-government rallies planned for after Friday prayers. Security forces have blocked roads and set up checkpoints, while reports suggest some protesters have begun to gather in the eastern town of Hofuf. On Thursday, police opened fire at a rally in the eastern city of Qatif, with at least one person being injured.

Activists have been inspired by a wave of popular revolt across the region. Analysts have warned that any violence could have a big impact on global oil prices. Protests are illegal in Saudi Arabia, which has had an absolute monarchy since its unification in the 1930s. Interior ministry spokesman General Mansor al-Turki has told the BBC that the situation is under control and police are not using excessive force.  Last month, the arrest of Shia cleric Sheikh Tawfiq al-Amer, detained reportedly for calling for a constitutional monarchy, sparked outrage and drew crowds on to the streets.

He was released last weekend, but relatively small-scale protests have continued in the Eastern Region, where much of the country’s crude oil is sourced. On Thursday, an interior ministry spokesman told reporters that police had fired over the heads of protesters during a rally in Qatif, while witnesses said police also beat demonstrators with batons. The ministry spokesman added that three people, including a policeman, had been injured.

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March 11, 2011

European leaders must show “political will” and unity in saying Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi must go, David Cameron has said in Brussels. Arriving for an emergency EU summit, Mr Cameron said he expected it to step up measures to isolate the Gaddafi regime. London and Paris are trying to build support for a UN resolution to authorise a no-fly zone in Libya. Meanwhile forces loyal to Col Gaddafi are reported to have made gains against rebels in Zawiya and Ras Lanuf. A special meeting of the European Council has been called in Brussels to discuss the crisis as pro-Gaddafi forces wrest back control of territory previously held by the opposition following a major military offensive. The UK has accused the Gaddafi regime of “waging war against their own people”, using aircraft and helicopters to mount attacks. Arriving at the summit on Friday, UK Prime Minister David Cameron said: “I think it’s important that the countries of Europe show political will, show ambition, show unity in being clear that Colonel Gaddafi must go and that his regime is illegitimate that what it is doing to his people is completely unacceptable. “We are going to step up today, in the European Council, measures to isolate that regime and measures to put pressure on that regime and we should plan for every eventuality as I’ve been arguing now for around two weeks, this is absolutely vital work.

>>> Continued on libya page <<<

Terms and conditions

“We are not responsible for how the information is used, how it is interpreted or what reliance is placed on it.”

February 19, 2011

People are being urged to boycott next month’s UK’s census because the US arms manufacturer responsible for Trident is involved in gathering the information. Protesters say they are willing to break the law and face a £1,000 fine and a criminal record by refusing to fill in the 32-page questionnaire. Resistance to the decennial census is growing as a coalition of anti-war groups, pacifists, religious organisations and digital activists begin raising public awareness about the role of Lockheed Martin, America’s largest arms manufacturer. The company, which makes Trident nuclear missiles, cluster bombs and F-16 fighter jets, won the £150m contract to run the census on behalf of the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

A spokesman for the Stop the War Coalition said: “We will certainly be calling for a boycott and telling people not co-operate with the warmongers.” The Green party has dropped its original opposition to Lockheed Martin’s lead role “because the census is extremely important and needs to be accurate”, but there is grassroots disquiet. A campaign to address the issue, bringing together religious groups, peace activists and digital data campaigners opposed to Lockheed Martin, is expected to emerge in the coming days. One of its organisers has told the Observer that a call for a boycott would be one of its major considerations. Siân Berry, a former Green party member who led the party’s 2008 campaign against Lockheed’s bid for the contract, said she was disappointed by the decision to support the census. “The really worrying thing is the fact that the information being collected in the next census – including new questions on sources of income and place of birth [to help monitor immigration] – would be ideal fodder for the kind of anti-terror analyses being carried out by Lockheed, and could lead to a faraway database identifying thousands of us as potential ‘threats’.”

Lockheed Martin – which does 80% of its work for the US defence department – assists more than two dozen American government agencies and is involved in surveillance and data processing for the CIA and FBI. It has controversially provided private contract interrogators to the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and Guantánamo Bay in Cuba. All US-based companies are subject to the Patriot Act, which allows the US government to have access to any data in the company’s possession. Campaigners have warned this could give the US government access to detailed and personal data on the UK’s entire population. But a spokesman for the ONS dismissed the fears. “No personal census data will be handled or seen by any American-owned company. No Lockheed Martin employees will see or handle any personal census data. The public can be reassured that their personal details from the census will be kept confidential and will remain so for 100 years,” he said. That assurance has failed to convince objectors. According to Geoff Meaden, a peace campaigner and former Green party parliamentary candidate, “we have no legal precedence as to whether, under the pretext of national security, this census information can be acquired by the US government. “The Office for National Statistics claims that our data will be safe but the UK government has demonstrated on several occasions that it cannot be trusted with managing digital data containing personal records.”

Simon Barrow, co-director of the Christian thinktank Ekklesia, which examines the role of religion, ethics and values in public life, said: “There are several reasons for concern over Lockheed Martin’s involvement in the census. The government may have endangered the census by granting the contract to a company whose involvement has triggered a boycott. “Many British people are likely to object to aiding the profits of a company that arms oppressive regimes and which has played a heavy role in the unpopular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is understandable that some will conscientiously object to participating in the census and will choose to boycott it.” Any boycott of the census could lead to further funding problems for local councils, who already fear they will miss out on hundreds of millions of pounds of funding from central government because hundreds of thousands of people will not be counted. The last census in 2001 has been accused of failing to count a million people and this time a number of major councils have expressed fears that lessons have not been learnt, a claim denied by the Office for National Statistics. Census statistics are used to allocate public money for local services including education, housing, transport and health. Over £100bn per year of public money is distributed nationally using population estimates.

LONDON, UK, 25 October, 2006

Lockheed Martin UK has today been named as one of two companies shortlisted to compete for the UK Census 2011 programme. Both companies will conduct a Field Test project in 2007 before the prime contract award, which will be decided by the end of next year. The government authorities organising the UK Census 2011 Programme, and who announced their down select teams for the field test, include the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales, the General Register Office for Scotland, and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Ian Stopps, Chief Executive of Lockheed Martin UK said: “This is an essential national initiative, and we are committed to delivering an efficient, modern and cost-effective UK Census in 2011. Our team’s talent and experience mean we will provide the highest levels of reliability, data privacy and security for this important project.”

Lockheed Martin, who successfully provided the data capture elements of the 2001 UK Census, has created a consortium of predominantly UK-based world-class companies with proven integrated census data collection, processing and analysis expertise to partner with the UK Census Authorities on the 2011 programme. Team members are Broadcasting Support Services (bss), LogicaCMG (UK) Limited, Pearson Government Solutions Ltd and Royal Mail Group PLC, all from London; Cable & Wireless UK of Berkshire; Polestar Group Limited of Milton Keynes; and Oracle Corporation UK Ltd and Xansa of Reading. Other companies supporting the programme proposal include Concensus, of Southampton, and T-Rex Consulting Corporation and Evolver from Reston, VA, in the United States. Working with the government authorities, the Lockheed Martin team will design, install and support an innovative enterprise-wide response system to execute an accurate and comprehensive British Census for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Lockheed Martin census solutions use state-of-the-art character recognition and colour processing. Based on a multiple channel, modular framework, the solutions allow for paper, telephone, Internet and person-to-person responses. Each system Lockheed Martin delivers is flexible, scalable, comprehensive, secure and accurate, and can be tailored to meet the customer’s needs. The consortium has a strong commitment to success through partnership. In addition to the 2001 UK Census, Lockheed Martin teams also have fielded successful census solutions for the United States and Canada. “Since 2001, we have continued to build upon our collective experience and capabilities, and have enhanced our breadth of census services for 2011,” emphasised Timothy Bradley, the executive director leading the bid for Lockheed Martin’s team.

“Our UK consortium members are experts in their chosen disciplines, and we are committed to working with the UK Census Authorities to provide the technologies and experienced personnel necessary to support a successful national rollout.” Lockheed Martin UK, a unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation, is a leader in systems integration working on major programmes spanning the aerospace, defence and civil sectors. Lockheed Martin works with more than 100 business partners and employs over 1,500 people at 15 sites across the UK. Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.

March 9, 2011

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republicans in the Wisconsin Senate voted Wednesday night to strip nearly all collective bargaining rights from public workers after discovering a way to bypass the chamber’s missing Democrats. All 14 Senate Democrats fled to Illinois nearly three weeks ago, preventing the chamber from having enough members present to consider Gov. Scott Walker’s so-called “budget repair bill” — a proposal introduced to plug a $137 million budget shortfall. The Senate requires a quorum to take up any measures that spend money. But Republicans on Wednesday split from the legislation the proposal to curtail union rights, which spends no money, and a special conference committee of state lawmakers approved the bill a short time later.

The lone Democrat present on the conference committee, Rep. Tony Barca, shouted that the surprise meeting was a violation of the state’s open meetings law but Republicans voted over his objections. The Senate then convened within minutes and passed it without discussion or debate. Spectators in the gallery screamed “You are cowards.” Before the sudden votes, Democratic Sens. Bob Jauch said if Republicans “chose to ram this bill through in this fashion, it will be to their political peril. They’re changing the rules. They will inflame a very frustrated public.”

March 9, 2011

On Monday, as a storm of bad publicity raged around him, Prince Andrew lobbied an MP to help increase British business with Azerbaijan, the central Asian autocracy accused of torturing protesters, it has been emerged. Despite growing concern over his willingness to establish business links with foreign dictatorships from the Middle East to central Asia, the Duke of York met Mark Field, Tory MP for Cities of London and Westminster and chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on Azerbaijan, at Buckingham Palace and asked for support in parliament and Whitehall for the benefits of British investment in Azerbaijan. “He wants to raise the profile of the all-party group and wants us to make the case in parliament and to the business secretary of the business opportunities out in Azerbaijan,” Field told the Guardian yesterday. “He feels it is a cinderella country that has tremendous opportunities.”

The duke, who acts as the UK’s special representative for international trade and investment, is understood to be planning a trade visit to Azerbaijan in June, his eighth since 2005. He has been there three times since 2008 in a private capacity and otherwise has travelled there on behalf of UK Trade and Investment, the government’s export promotion arm. He is often described as “the dear guest” by local media and his last visit in November, when he had dinner with President Ilham Aliyev, came just weeks after international criticism of the conduct of the country’s parliamentary elections. Amnesty International has called on the Aliyev regime to stop torturing activists demanding reform. Last year a coalition of human rights groups said Aliyev had achieved stability only by “a total crackdown on the political opposition, stifling the independent and opposition media, and curbing fundamental freedoms”.

Field said: “One of the things he [Andrew] talked about was his feeling that a place like Azerbaijan is somewhere of great opportunity, and the more British politicians and businesses engage themselves with their counterparts in Azerbaijan, there will be material benefits.” The duke’s apparent lobbying of MPs and peers through Field comes despite calls for him to stand down as UK trade envoy over his links to convicted the billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his decision to host Sakher el-Materi, the son-in-law of the deposed Tunisian leader, to lunch at Buckingham Palace just three months before the north African regime was toppled. It will raise fresh questions about whether Andrew is using his role to act in the interests of British business or in the interests of the foreign leaders the government pays hundreds of thousands of pounds a year for him to visit. Field said he did not think that the duke was acting in the interests of the Azerbaijan government during the meeting on Monday.

He saw the meeting as the prince gathering business opportunities for British companies. Andrew was “relaxed and in good humour”, he added, despite discussing “some of the headlines of the day”. Buckingham Palace also that denied the duke was in any way acting in the interests of the Azerbaijan government. “The job works in two ways,” said Andrew’s spokesman. “He tries to identify opportunities for British businesses in overseas markets. Equally it is to sometimes attract inward investment into the UK. “It is entirely appropriate that the Duke of York should try and identify business opportunities for British businesses in Azerbaijan, a country in which the British government operates.” The London Evening Standard quoted a royal source as saying the Queen had given Andrew, said to be her favourite son, her full backing.

Prime Ministers Questions

“References to the members of the Royal Family should be very rare, very sparing and very respecful”

March 9, 2011

Libyan government forces launched new air raids on the eastern oil city of Ras Lanuf, while the western town of Zawiya was engulfed in heavy fighting as Muammar Gaddafi’s forces attempted to retake it. Ras Lanuf was hit by rocket fire as fighter jets circled overhead, bombing the rebel frontline. The oil tanks at nearby Es Sider were also hit as opposition fighters fired back. Al-Arabiya TV reported heavy bombardment of Zawiya, 30 miles from Tripoli, with residents describing how Gaddafi’s forces pushed to regain control after using tanks and snipers to drive rebels out of their stronghold in the main square. Reuters said that at least 40 people, and probably more, had been killed during the day. There was no sign that Nato was likely to agree a no-fly zone to shoot down any planes loyal to the Libyan leader, in support of the rebels.

>>> Continued on Libya page <<<