Unemployment:
African community leaders
warn of social
unrest
MELBOURNE,
Nov 14: With levels of unemployment among
African migrants in Australia on the rise, the
leaders of the community have warned of a growing
social unrest, with many qualified professionals
unable to find jobs.
They warned that
the high rate joblessness among
African-Australian graduates could lead to social
unrest.
"There was a
brewing problem of social exclusion and that
helping people get meaningful work should be a
national priority," said member of
parliament Adam Bandt.
According to
‘The Age’ newspaper, unemployment rate
among Melbourne’s African communities was
pushing up to 90 per cent which stood at 26 per
cent in 2006 according to census.
Victorian Somali
community leader Abdurahman Osman warned that
extreme levels of unemployment among migrants
from the Horn of Africa could easily lead to
social unrest as occurred in Paris in 2005.
"Anyone
coming from Somalia will not get a job here
unless they go back to university or a special
class. But the problem is when they go to
university, they don’t get paid and everyone
has very big families that need to be fed. So in
order to survive, they decide to drive the
taxis," Osman said.
Commercial pilots,
doctors and other professionals who have migrated
from Africa were now driving Melbourne’s
cabs as a means to feed their family due to lack
of jobs.
There are at least
two commercial pilots and more than 30 doctors
from the Horn of Africa, who are now driving
taxis in the city.
Omar Farah from
the Carlton Neighbourhood Learning Centre, who
runs the Horn-Afrik Employment, Training and
Advocacy project, said that there was a wealth of
African graduates from universities who were
Australian citizens.
"We trained
them, we spent the money on them, thousands of
dollars, and they are now driving taxis … it
is not fair," Farah said.
It is claimed
younger Africans, who have studied in the country
find it hard to gain work because of racist
attitudes. (PTI)
Lawmakers have personal
stake in committee’s success
WASHINGTON,
Nov 14: Republican and Democratic US
lawmakers aim to present a dramatic show of
support this week for a congressional "super
committee" racing against the clock to agree
on a deficit-cutting plan.
The lawmakers,
worried about the political and economic
consequences of failure, are crossing party lines
and eschewing the trench warfare that has marred
debate over how to cut America’s deficit,
now topping more than 1 trillion dollar a year.
In a symbolic show
of unity that is rare in the polarized world of
modern Washington politics, as many as 150
members of Congress are expected to stand
together on the Capitol steps on Tuesday to
demonstrate solidarity with the committee.
"There’s
been plenty of speculation that the super
committee will fail. We’ll show we want them
to succeed," a senior Republican aide told
Reuters.
The nearly 150
lawmakers represent about half the
Democratic-controlled 100-member Senate and
roughly a quarter of the 435-member
Republican-dominated House of Representatives.
The unusual event
on the Capitol steps is likely to attract
widespread media attention. But it is unclear
what impact it will have on the committee members
who are struggling behind closed doors to
overcome deep ideological differences over taxes
hikes and cuts to government-run healthcare and
retirement programs.
The super
committee faces a November 23 deadline, now just
nine days away, to reach a deal to cut US
deficits by at least 1.2 trillion dollar over 10
years.
Success would send
a strong signal to credit ratings agencies and
global investors that the United States is taking
credible steps to lighten its debt burden.
Failure would trigger automatic spending cuts of
$1.2 trillion that would hit defense and domestic
spending.
But the panel has
shown few signs of progress. Negotiations are
complicated by the 2012 election campaign, in
which both parties want to convince voters they
will be the best stewards of an economy still
trying to recover from a deep recession.
Thirty-three
Senate seats and all House seats are up for
election.
Republican
committee member Senator Patrick Toomey told
"Fox News Sunday" the committee was
aware the "clock is running out," but
he was still hopeful of a deal. A Democratic
member, Representative James Clyburn, said a deal
was still possible, but he was not as confident
as he was 10 days ago.
Standard and
Poor’s downgraded the country’s AAA
credit rating in August, largely because it
viewed the differences between the two parties as
"extraordinarily difficult to bridge."
KEEPING UP THE
PRESSURE
Two months after
the super committee began talks, Republican
opposition to tax hikes and Democratic resistance
to big cuts to popular social programs remain key
hurdles.
Tuesday’s
event on Capitol Hill is aimed at pressing
committee members to compromise.
"We want to
encourage, nudge, cajole the committee to go
big," a Democratic aide said. The pressure
group wants the committee to agree on a
deficit-reduction deal of at least $3 trillion,
far more than its mandated target.
"We’ll
show there’s support in the House and
Senate, among Democrats and Republicans, for a
deal," the aide said.
The lawmakers
pushing for the super committee to strike a deal
say it is crucial to the country’s fiscal
health, but politicians also have a personal
stake in its success.
With
Congress’ approval rating already at a
record-low 9 percent, voters are likely to view
the committee’s failure as another example
of Washington’s inability to govern. That
could hurt both parties in 2012.
"If they
don’t get something done, it’s going to
be bad for incumbents," said John Feehery, a
former Republican aide turned political analyst.
Those set to come
together on the Capitol steps include many, if
not all, of the 103 House members (61 Democrats
and 42 Republicans) and 45 senators (23
Republicans and 22 Democrats) who recently wrote
letters to the super committee urging budget
savings of at least $3 trillion.
Ethan Siegal of
The Washington Exchange, which tracks Washington
for investors, is skeptical that the bipartisan
initiatives will translate into super committee
action.
"I’m not
sure that the bipartisan pressure has enough
political juice to make it happen," he said.
(agencies)
Pak
Taliban warns not to prosecute militants
ISLAMABAD,
Nov 14:
The Pakistani Taliban have warned that their
fighters were targeting civilians and government
employees who helped the prosecution of arrested
militants, according to a media report today.
Militant commander
Sirajuddin Ahmad, the spokesman for the Taliban
in Swat, said the militants had started targeting
civilians and government employees who wanted to
help the authorities and would become witnesses
in court against militants currently in custody
on terrorism charges.
Ahmad, who spoke
on phone to The News daily from somewhere in
Afghanistan, said Maulana Fazlullah, the former
Taliban commander in Swat, had directed his
fighters to eliminate political leaders and
government and military personnel who could
assist courts or become witnesses against
militants arrested during military operations.
He claimed a
political leader from the Kanju area of Swat was
attacked by the Taliban on Saturday for allegedly
suggesting to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police chief
Akbar Khan Hoti that detained militants should be
punished for their involvement terrorism and
violence.
Ahmad claimed the
informers of the Taliban were present in the
jirga (tribal council) that was held by the
provincial police chief at Mingora.
He said the police
chief, in response to the demands of the people
of Swat, said the government was unable to
prosecute and punish detained militants due to
lack of evidence and witnesses against them.
Ahmad further
claimed that the security forces had detained
2,500 Taliban fighters but had not so far
produced them in court as they had no evidence
against them.
Political leaders
were now suggesting that militants who had
surrendered should be made to testify in court
against the detained fighters, he said.
Hundreds of
Taliban fighters were killed or captured when the
Pakistan Army carried out an operation in Swat
valley, located 160 km from Islamabad, in 2009.
However, most of
the top militant commanders of the area managed
to escape to neighbouring Afghanistan. (PTI)
Now,
a new way to treat Parkinson’s!
WASHINGTON,
Nov 14: Scientists claim to have developed a
new way to treat Parkinson’s, using stem
cells to replace cells damaged in the disease. An
international team, led by the Florey
Neuroscience Institutes and the University of
Melbourne, says that the new technique could be
developed even for application in other
degenerative conditions.
In regards to
Parkinson’s disease, there is a progressive
and permanent loss of a group of
dopamine-producing brain cells that form an
essential pathway in the brain circuitry
controlling movement.
The first step of
the technique involves generating the dopamine
brain cells that are missing in Parkinson’s
disease, say the scientists.
"By following
what we know about brain development we have been
able to re-create an environment in the culture
dish that allows us to generate specific cell
types that may be therapeutic," Clare
Parish, who led the team, said.
"A limitation
of the procedure, however, is that it is
inefficient. This means that only around 30 per
cent of the cells become dopamine brain cells
while the others may remain as stem cells.
"This poses
significant risks in a transplantation setting
because the stem cells may continue to grow and
form tumours," she said.
The team is also
working on an innovative approach using a
state-of-the-art cell-sorting technology to solve
the problem, say the scientists.
"Overall we
have identified some interesting findings that
help us to isolate the dopamine brain cells and
discard the stem cells prior to transplantation.
It’s a strategy that we hope will bring us a
step closer to clinical trials for a stem cell
based treatment for Parkinson’s.
"The broader
significance is that this novel approach will
likely be applicable to the development of stem
cell- based treatments for other neurological
conditions such as stroke, motor neuron disease
and Huntington’s disease," Lachlan
Thompson, a team member, said. (PTI)
)
Pak
raises two squadrons equipped with
JF-17 Thunder jets
ISLAMABAD,
Nov 14: Pakistan has raised two squadrons
equipped with the JF-17 Thunder combat jet that
was developed jointly with China and plans to
have a third squadron by early next year.
Serial joint
production of the aircraft started in Pakistan in
2009 after extensive flight tests and the limited
production of eight jets in 2007.
So far, two
Pakistan Air Force squadrons have been equipped
with JF-17s while the "third is planned to
be raised by the beginning of next year", an
official statement said.
The co-production
of the jet is underway in "full swing"
at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex at Kamra in
Punjab.
The JF-17
programme was started by the two countries in
1998 and the detailed design was finalised in
September 2001.
The PAF showcased
the jet at the ongoing Dubai Air Show, which was
inaugurated yesterday. PAF chief Air Chief
Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman attended the inaugural
ceremony.
The JF-17 Thunder,
which is jointly produced by Pakistan
Aeronautical Complex and China Aero-Technology
Import Export Corporation, has been put on static
and aerial display in the air show.
Pakistan has been
plugging the JF-17 as a "cut price"
combat aircraft for developing countries.
"In the
present environment, when defence budgets are
shrinking and air forces face difficulties in
affording modern combat aircraft, the JF-17
offers a highly cost effective solution with
cutting edge capabilities," the statement
said.
The JF-17 is an
all weather, multi-role, light combat aircraft.
The jet is equipped with a digital fly-by-wire
flight control system, a complete glass cockpit
and self- protection suite that enhances its
combat potential.
The jets can be
armed with a range of conventional and smart
weapons, long range glide bombs, beyond visual
range and short range air-to-air missiles,
anti-ship missile and air-to-surface missiles.
The statement said
the JF-17 will soon have air-to-air refuelling
capability, which will enhance its range. (PTI)
-
Thousands
seek that special someone in Shanghai
SHANGHAI,
Nov 14: The odds favoured the men as
thousands gathered to look for love in Shanghai
at the eastern Chinese city’s largest-ever
matchmaking party, paying for the privilege of
searching for their other half.
Census data shows
a rise in the percentage of older single women
over the last decade, while the percentage of
older single men has fallen, according to the
China Daily—which experts said might be due
to increasingly choosy women unwilling to settle
for men with inferior education and living
standards.
Organisers said
there were three women for every two men, with
6,000 tickets sold to single woman and 4,000 to
men.
"These days,
girls are much more self-sufficient and
independent," said Zhou Juemin, president of
the Shanghai Matchmaking Association, which
organised the two-day event at the weekend.
"Also,
there’s a lot of work pressure in society
nowadays, so many girls are busy with their jobs
and perhaps tend to consider career advancement
above marriage—so some of them are no longer
young."
Long queues of
singles waited for their turn for five-minute
chats with the opposite sex in the ultimate
blind-date event.
"If your
standard of living is lower than mine in every
aspect, but if we can relate well to each other,
I wouldn’t mind—because if we relate
well, there would be good chemistry," said
27-year-old Zue Tianwei.
"Then the
issues of social order would no longer be a
problem. I guess it depends on how strong my
feelings are."
Many men, for
their part, said they were willing to shrug off
traditional thinking that once made marrying a
woman of higher educational and living standards
unacceptable.
"Regarding
girls who have a higher education level or
standard of living, I wouldn’t mind pursuing
them because this is a two-way thing," said
Li Jianxun, a 27-year-old native of central China
who has lived in Shanghai for two years.
"As long as
the feelings are mutual, it is still possible to
interact and get to know each other."
Hopefuls from
nearby provinces travelled to Shanghai to take
part, among them some who had already married and
divorced.
A few, bolder than
others, held up signs to distinguish themselves
from the crowd. One said, "I wanted to fall
in love early, but it’s already late."
Around 3,000
parents also tagged along, with organisers
allocating a special corner for them to advertise
information on their unmarried children. Some
kept an eye out for suitable future in-laws.
Qi Xiong, who
helped his son by taking pictures to keep track
of potential matches, said he still felt that men
should not look for wives with higher social
status than themselves.
"Generally
speaking, if you are a girl and your education
level or income is too high, we’re more
likely to oppose it," he said, noting that a
simple university degree was sufficient.
"A huge
difference in education levels would make it
difficult to communicate. If both parties begin
at the same starting line, and want to achieve
success in the future, they can work at it
together."
(agencies)
)
Relationship
with India growing stronger: US Commander
WASHINGTON,
Nov 14:
Noting that the United States has a special focus
area on its relationship with India, a top
Pentagon commander has said that the Indo-US ties
are growing stronger and stronger.
"Our
relationship is now strong and growing
stronger," Commander of the US Pacific
Command Admiral Robert Willard told reporters in
Honolulu, Hawaii, which is hosting the APEC
Summit.
Hawaii is the
headquarters of the Pacific Command, whose
jurisdiction starts from India and stretches to
entire Asia Pacific region.
"We engage
with the Indian armed forces across all the
services, and we contribute to issues such as
piracy in the Gulf of Aden and elsewhere in the
Indian Ocean region, and broader maritime
security throughout the region. And we look
forward to continuing to advance our Indian
partnership along the way," Willard said.
"We have a
special focus area on our relationship with India
- a strategic partnership that continues to grow,
both government-to-government and
military-to-military. India is the largest
democracy in South Asia. It’s the most
consequential military in the region," he
said.
"And it
operates in a fairly challenging neighborhood.
Our relationship with India is not very old. We
were not particularly close during the Cold War,
and when we did begin to reengage, those
relationships were interrupted following nuclear
tests in the last 1990s," he said.
"From a
military standpoint, we’ve been engaged with
India for only about seven or eight years. And
that’s not very long when you consider that
this is the largest democracy in the world and a
very large military," Willard said.
In South Asia,
around India, the Pacific Command, he said,
endeavor to contain Lashkar-e-Taiba, a
Pakistani-based extremist group that threatens
India, attacked Mumbai.
"We find
ourselves working with partners in Nepal,
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Maldives to build
their capacities to deal with this organization
independently," Willard said.
"We’ll
continue to deal with violent extremism and other
transnational challenges. And we’ll continue
to build our partnerships with India and with our
allies and partners overtime," he said.
Responding to
questions, Willard said that in the Indian Ocean,
Pacific Command is teaming up with India to
address the issue of piracy.
"In the
Indian Ocean region, due to the challenges that
we have with the Horn of Africa and Somalia, the
Somali pirates have driven merchant traffic
hundreds of miles into the Indian Ocean. So this
is a good illustration, given our earlier
conversation, on how any disruption to the sea
lines of communication can be costly," he
said.
"If you can
imagine now that merchant ships emanating from
the Gulf of Aden are swinging so far to the east
that they are entering Pacific Command area of
responsibility, in and around India’s
exclusive economic zone, in the Sri Lankan
economic exclusion zone, and that of the
Maldives," he said.
"So
we’re teaming now with India and those
nations to attempt to contain the piracy that is
reemerging in the Pacific Command AOR, due to the
effects of the Somali pirate challenge that
we’re faced with there," Willard said.
(PTI)
Toads
kill each other ‘for their own
survival’
MELBOURNE,
Nov 14: Cane toad tadpoles ensure their own
survival by launching chemical warfare against
other tadpoles in the pond, a new study has
found. Biologists at Sydney University have
discovered cane toad tadpoles (Bufo marinus)
communicate using chemicals excreted into the
water and kill each other for their own survival,
a finding that may help contain their population
in urban areas.
Lead biologist
Professor Rick Shine said: "Cane toads
produce chemicals that diffuse through the water
which other cane toad tadpoles pick up and make
all sorts of decisions based on."
The first of these
chemicals is an alarm pheromone that causes other
cane toad tadpoles to flee. Exposed to the
chemical too often, the tadpoles either die or
grow up as small, stunted toadlets with poor
survival prospects.
"If they
experience this chemical frequently while
developing, many of them die apparently from
stress," Prof Shine said.
The second is an
attractant emitted by freshly laid eggs enabling
existing Cane Toad tadpoles to seek out and kill
any eggs they sense. "The big benefit of
(the attractant chemical) is the removal of
future competitors, because a cane toad is
another cane toad’s worst enemy.
"If we can
find the attractant chemical, we can put it in
traps and attract cane toad tadpoles into them,
without attracting the native tadpoles," he
said.
If the tadpoles
are unable to destroy the eggs, they can also
emit another chemical that kills potential new
tadpoles before they hatch, or stunts their
growth if they do, say the biologists.
"(Because of
this) merely the presence of older cane toad
tadpoles in the water surrounding the eggs is
enough to wreck the development of the tadpoles
which emerge from new eggs.
"Most of
those die and the ones that end up turning into
baby toads do so in a miniature size simply
because of that very brief exposure to the
chemicals that the older tadpoles have produced.
Our idea is to try to take advantage of that and
turn the toads’ weapons against
themselves," he said. (PTI)
US
Republican candidate Cain’s wife defends him
WASHINGTON,
Nov 14:
Republican US presidential candidate Herman Cain
is not the type of person who would sexually
harass women, his wife Gloria Cain said in
excerpts of a Fox News Channel interview released
on Sunday.
Cain’s wife
of 43 years has remained largely hidden from
public view as her husband seeks the party’s
nomination to run against President Barack Obama
in 2012. She addressed the sexual harassment
allegations that have roiled her husband’s
campaign in a rare interview.
"To hear such
graphic allegations and know that that would have
been something that was totally disrespectful of
her as a woman and I know that’s not the
person he is. He totally respects women,"
Gloria Cain said in an interview to be aired on
Monday on the program "On the Record with
Greta Van Susteren."
Four women have
made allegations of sexually inappropriate
behavior by Cain, including two who settled
harassment claims while he was the head of the
National Restaurant Association.
Cain, a former
business executive who has never held public
office, has denied the sexual harassment
accusations.
A Reuters/Ipsos
poll last Thursday and Friday found Cain, with 20
percent support, was second to former
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who polled 28
percent, among Republican voters in the race for
the party’s presidential nomination.
(agencies)
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)
)
6.4-magnitude
quake hits off Indonesia’s Maluku
JAKARTA,
Nov 14: A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck
off Indonesia’s eastern North Maluku
province today, meteorologists said, but there
were no immediate reports of casualties or
damage, and no tsunami alert.
The quake occurred
at 11:05 am (0405 GMT) with an epicentre 69
kilometres southwest of Labuha city, the
Indonesian Meteorological and Geophysics Agency
said. It struck at a depth of 10 kilometres.
The US Geological
Survey recorded the quake’s magnitude at 6.6
and put the quake’s depth at 19 kilometres.
"We
haven’t received any reports of damage. The
tremor was also felt in the neighbouring city of
Ternate," the agency’s official Ajat
Sudrajat told, adding that there was no threat of
a tsunami.
A 6.0-magnitude
earthquake jolted the Indonesian resort island of
Bali last month, injuring dozens of people and
triggering panic as tourists fled violently
shaking buildings.
Indonesia sits on
the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where the
meeting of continental plates causes high
volcanic and seismic activity. (Agencies)
7
killed, 31 injured in explosion in China’s
restaurant
BEIJING,
Nov 14: At least seven people were killed
and 31 others injured today when an explosion
ripped through a fast food restaurant in
Xi’an, the capital of China’s
northwestern Shaanxi province.
The explosion
which was caused by a liquefied petroleum gas
leak shattered windows in nearby buildings, blew
away a bus stop sign and destroyed several cars
parked in the neighborhood, according to a
fireman at the scene, state-run Xinhua news
agency reported.
The restaurant was
located on the first floor of the Jiatian
International Mansion, a commercial building in
the Gaoxin district.
The fireman said
most of the victims were pedestrians walking by
the building, including children who were on
their way to school.
Rescue workers
rushed the injured to local hospitals, a
spokesman with the municipal government of
Xi’an said. (PTI)
Qatar
to help fill in UNESCO’s financial shortfall
DUBAI,
Nov 14: With America deciding to withhold
contributions to UNESCO, the wife of Qatar’s
Emir has pledged to increase her support to the
core education activities of the UN agency to
help it overcome its financial difficulties.
"Her Highness
(Moza Bin Nasser Al Misned) is particularly
concerned that the decision of some member states
to withhold contributions will have serious and
adverse consequences on UNESCO’s core
programmes and mark setbacks for sustainable
development and peace," said a statement
posted on the website of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO).
She has called
upon all partners to join her in this initiative
given the challenges ahead, four years short of
the 2015 target date for achieving the Millennium
Development Goals (MDG), and following the
commitment made by the heads of states at the MDG
Summit in New York in 2010, it said.
Moza is also the
UN Secretary-General’s special advocate for
MDG 2 on primary education.
Her move aims to
help fill a shortfall resulting from the decision
by the United States to withhold its
contributions following the admission of
Palestine to UNESCO last month.
The US decision
leaves Paris-based UN agency with a shortfall of
USD 65 million until the end of 2011 and a gap of
22 per cent in its USD 653 million budget for
2012-2013.
Israel also
withheld its contribution of USD 1.5 million (0.3
per cent of UNESCO’s budget) for 2012-2013.
"This marks a
very strong sign of her deep commitment to
education for all, which is the foundation for
building more peaceful and sustainable
societies," UNESCO’s Director-General
Irina Bokova said.
"UNESCO will
put every effort into ensuring that this support
translates into opening educational opportunities
for the most marginalized, improving the quality
of education systems in least developed
countries, and forging new partnerships,"
Bokova added. (PTI)
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