Monthly Archives: August 2008
PRESIDENT Dmitry Medvedev said in Moscow yesterday that he had ordered an end to the ‘peace enforcement’ operation in Georgia, after five days of fighting. ‘I have made a decision to end the operation to force Georgian authorities to peace,’ Medvedev said at a meeting with the Defence Minister...
YESTERDAY’S soaring inflation figures led trade union leaders to warn the government that members are demanding action against the wage-cutting three-year pay settlements. The Consumer Prices Index inflation rate hit 4.4% in July, its highest level since records began in 1997, while inflation as measured by the Retail Prices Index...
THE Russian government and armed forces have turned the tables on the imperialist powers and their surrogates who launched the vicious surprise attack on South Ossetia, using troops, who were well equipped by all of the NATO states, and well trained by US and Israeli instructors. The attacking force acted...
ISRAEL’S tactic in the ongoing ‘peace talks’ with the Palestine National Authority has been to carry on stalling, for the last ten years, agreeing to nothing serious, to the point where even the PNA negotiators are saying that the ‘two state solution’ is no solution. Further, the delaying tactic has...
Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin yesterday accused the US of trying to disrupt the Russian military operation in South Ossetia by transporting Georgian troops from Iraq into the ‘conflict zone’. Directly referring to the US flights of Georgian troops, Putin said: ‘I regret that some of our partners are not...
SOUTHWARK Council denied that it had started eviction proceedings yesterday against tenants of the Heygate Estate in Elephant and Castle, south London. A council spokesman told News Line this was ‘incorrect’. But a statement from a council spokesperson said: ‘The council issued Notice of seeking possession to the remaining...
TAMILNET reports that on Saturday Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers attacked a populated village, known as ‘Redd Barna’ settlement, in Visuvamadu after targeting an irrigation tank in the area. A 40-year-old civilian, who was working at his paddy field, was killed and six civilians were wounded, according to...
GEORGIA’S latest actions are aimed at ousting Russian peacekeepers from South Ossetia and bringing a NATO police force there, Col-Gen Leonid Ivashov, former chief of General directorate for international military cooperation of the Russian Defence Ministry, stated in Moscow last Saturday. ‘I’m convinced that Georgia’s latest actions have been aimed...
THE United States has warned Russia that its ‘disproportionate and dangerous escalation’ of the conflict in South Ossetia could harm bilateral relations, the White House said yesterday. ‘We have made it clear to the Russians that if the disproportionate and dangerous escalation on the Russian side continues, that this will...
THE correct intervention of the Russian army to defend the people of South Ossetia against the onslaught of the Georgian army has initially been very successful. It is a fact that, with a large number of US instructors training the Georgian army, the US government knew all about Georgia’s intention...
AS the Russian government explained yesterday, the attack by Georgia on South Ossetia was expected, was well prepared and was a declaration of war, for which Russia will retaliate. Currently, the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, is under a coordinated attack from both the land and the air, and there have...
The Royal Bank of Scotland yesterday revealed a half-year net loss of £802 million, the second biggest in British banking history. This was after making a £5.1 billion profit for the same period last year. RBS, the second-biggest British bank, admitted being humbled by exposure to the subprime crisis, in...
By Irish political journalist JOHN COULTER IRISH republicans must re-negotiate their political relationship with unionists, the president of the North’s largest nationalist party, Sinn Fein, has urged. The plea came from Gerry Adams, who is also an MP and Assembly member for West Belfast, one of the North’s most republican constituencies....
The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) yesterday kept interest rates on hold at 5% as the central bank struggles to deal with the declining economy and spiralling inflation. The Bank said: ‘The Committee’s latest inflation and output projections will appear in the Inflation Report to be published...
The Jewish settler pogrom against Palestinians must be stopped now, says Khalid Amayreh. He writes: ‘Nazi-like Jewish settlers have of late stepped up their indiscriminate attacks on Palestinian civilians and their property throughout the West Bank. ‘In some areas, like in the Hebron region, settler attacks have assumed pogrom-like proportions. ‘What...
LABOUR MP Bob Marshall Andrews, recently called the Labour Foreign Secretary David Miliband a ‘duplicitous traitor’, after Miliband published an article in the Guardian about the next election, without mentioning the Prime Minister Gordon Brown, making it clear that Miliband was in favour of ditching Brown. Marshall Andrews called for...
ROYAL MAIL, acting on its brief from the government has announced the closure of major automated sorting centres which will affect Liverpool. Oldham, Bolton, Stockport and Crewe. The response of the CWU leadership is to condemn the Royal Mail closure announcement as ‘irresponsible.’ Dave Ward, deputy general secretary, does not oppose...
Putin’s attack on a mining company has given Medvedev a chance to show who’s boss, Russian Gazeta.ru news website said last weekend, looking to see a division emerge in the ruling bureaucracy. Gazeta.ru is a website owned by pro-Kremlin and Gazprom-linked businessman Usmanov, but still often critical of the...
Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) leaders yesterday condemned Royal Mail’s announcement of major automated sorting centre closures affecting Liverpool, Oldham, Bolton, Stockport and Crewe as ‘irresponsible’. Responding to the news, Eastern No.6 Branch secretary Paul Odden called for national strike action as ‘across the country, Royal Mail are planning to...
The government is to inject another £3bn into Northern Rock, Chancellor Darling said yesterday. As the nationalised bank announced a loss of £585.4m in the six months to June 30, Darling told the BBC’s Today programme that Northern Rock, like other banks, found itself in a ‘very difficult situation’. Much of...
THE Northern Rock bank, recently nationalised by the government has made a £585m loss for the first six months of the year, but the Labour government is to reward it with a further gift of £3bn from the taxpayer to provide it with working capital. This government-owned...
On an AFL-CIO Solidarity Center-sponsored exchange visit, Florida AFL-CIO Vice-President Mike Williams learned about Colombian workers’ constant struggle for social and economic justice – and why US workers need to hear their story. In July 2008, as part of a Solidarity Center exchange programme, a six-member labour delegation made a weeklong...
THE HSBC bank has just declared a 28 per cent, $3.9bn fall in half year profits. It has written off another $3.7 billion of its dodgy mortgages, and its US arm has made a $2.8 bn loss. The HSBC has issued a warning that the outlook for the banks...
Lebanese Information Minister Tariq Mitri has announced that the committee tasked with the job of preparing the draft policy statement that will guide the new government has completed the job without any dissension. In a statement, Mitri said: ‘The drafting committee has finalised its task of preparing the draft...
AT the crack of dawn bailiffs once again invaded the Wembley Park Sports Ground. No legal notice had been given to the G.R.A.S.S occupiers who had moved onto the fields last Sunday. Amidst security more reminiscent of animal experiment laboratories the first step was made to start the most hotly...
OFFICIALS of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Vanni told TamilNet on Saturday that their defensive formations at Mallaavi had thwarted on Friday a three-pronged Sri Lanka Army (SLA) offensive. This was launched from Vavunikku’lam and Paalaiyadi targeting Mallaavi. At least 30 SLA soldiers were killed and more...
JUST three members of the Labour cabinet put out a statement on Saturday supporting their leader Gordon Brown. Chancellor Darling, deputy leader Harman and skills secretary Denham said that the Prime Minister was the only one who ‘has a profound understanding of what this country needs.’ These three musketeers were responding...
A group of doctors has challenged the UK government over plans to deny GP care to failed asylum seekers, saying they breach medical ethics and are illegal. Doctors say they should be concentrating on giving appropriate health care and not worrying about policing the UK borders, says an article...
A group from ‘Tent City’ occupation in Wembley occupied the London headquarters of ARK (Actual Return for Kids) the proposed sponsors of the Wembley academy. They gained entry, with a media camera crew and journalists in tow, by carrying a large bouquet of roses and naming a member of the...
SIXTEEN US troops were killed in Afghanistan in July, more than were killed in Iraq! In fact, NATO casualties are mounting rapidly as the war with the Taleban intensifies. So far, 113 British troops have been killed and many hundreds have been very seriously wounded. It is expected...
A group from ‘Tent City’ occupation in Wembley occupied the London headquarters of ARK (Actual Return for Kids) the proposed sponsors of the Wembley academy. They gained entry, with a media camera crew and journalists in tow, by carrying a large bouquet of roses and naming a member of the...
‘The welfare of cats and dogs will come before the fall-out from any terrorist attack in London under the capital’s new poison strategy’, warns the Unite trade union. It said that the closure of the Guy’s and St Thomas’ Poisons Information Service at the end of last month (July) will...
ISRAEL’S Prime Minister Olmert said on Wednesday he would step down after a September party leadership vote and tried to insist that he was innocent of graft allegations that have dogged his premiership. ‘After the election of my successor I will step down to allow a government to be...
JUST a few months ago the UNISON leadership accepted the government’s below inflation wage cutting deal over three years. Now the union has had to announce that due to the massive rises in gas, oil, food and electricity prices it is seeking to renegotiate the same sell-out deal, after...