African Union Summit ends in Accra

Wednesday, July 4, 2007The 9th summit of the Assembly of the African Union ended in Accra, Ghana just before midnight yesterday. The three day summit, which was scheduled to last until the afternoon of July 3 overran, ending just before midnight.

The main issue discussed was the call for the setting up of a Pan-African government. The Libyan leader, Muamar al-Gaddafi, and the Senegalese President, Abdoulaye Wade, were advocates for its establishment as soon as possible. Gaddafi was in favor of a single African army, foreign policy and government. Others such as Robert Mugabe and Thabo Mbeki were more inclined to a more gradual process of integration. Yoweri Museveni, of Uganda, preferred more economic integration to political union, as he felt Africa was too diverse to be under one government.

The African leaders put out a unanimous declaration agreeing to set up a Ministerial Committee to examine the relationship between an African Union government and the various national governments. The committee would also be expected to look at the impact on the sovereignty of member states and to provide a time frame and road map for the process.

The idea of a continental government was first advocated by Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana in the mid fifties and sixties when he was the Ghanaian president. It however received very little support at the time.

The host of the summit, John Kufuor of Ghana, Chairman of the Union, said there had been no winners or losers and that the debate had been characterised by tolerance and mutual respect. He said Africa’s union was not being modelled on that of the USA nor the European Union but rather on model that would be unique to the continent. He was also keen on the rationalization of the various Regional Economic Commissions towards the realization of an African Economic Commission.

The next summit is scheduled for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2008.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Scientists have discovered a new species of venomous dart frog in Colombia.

The new species, dubbed the ‘golden frog of Supatá’, is 2cm (0.8 inch) long and has a range of just 50 acres (20 hectares), which is believed to be the reason why the frog remained undiscovered until now.

The frog was found in February during an expedition arranged by the Conservation Leadership Program (CLP), a nonprofit organization, but the discovery has only just been announced.

However, according to Giovanni Chaves, a biologist from the CLP, the frog is in imminent danger. “This frog exists in a little fragment of cloud forest that is under intense {{w|anthropogenic]] pressure, mainly the destruction of the forest for cattle-raising and agriculture,” he said.

“This discovery allows us to know a little more about the ecology of these beautiful animals, and it will also allow us to use it as a symbol to carry out campaigns of environmental education in this area, to show the need to protect and to conserve the fauna and flora of this region of Colombia.”

Colombia has one of the richest diversities of amphibians in the world, with more than 583 known species.

Monday, November 2, 2020

The following is the sixth and final edition of a monthly series chronicling the 2020 United States presidential election. It features original material compiled throughout the previous month after an overview of the month’s biggest stories.

This month’s spotlight on the campaign trail: the Free and Equal Elections Foundation holds two presidential debates, three candidates who did not participate in those debates give their final pleas to voters, and three political pundits give their predictions on the outcome of the election.

Friday, December 31, 2004

New York City — Actor Jerry Orbach died in his home in Manhattan at age 69. Orbach was a staple of American cinema, stage and television, with his most recent role being in the NBC police drama “Law and Order.”

Orbach is survived by his wife of 25 years, Elaine Cancilla, and his two sons Anthony and Christopher.

Orbach was born in the tough Bronx borough of New York City in 1935 to a family of entertainers. His father Leon Orbach was an vaudeville actor and his mother Emily Orbach was a radio singer and greeting card writer.

The family moved often to keep up with travelling Vaudeville acts, but eventually settled in Waukegan Illinois where Orbach played football at the local high school. After graduation, Orbach got a summer job at the Chevy Chase Country Club in Wheeling doing odd jobs ranging from stagecraft to small acting parts in plays.

He then studied drama at the University of Illinois before transferring to Northwestern where he studied the Stanislavsky Method of drama acting. In 1955, Orbach dropped out of college and moved to New York City where he got a job as an understudy in The Threepenny Opera.

Orbach continued to work in theater, eventually earning roles in broadway musicals, but by 1961 had grown dissatisfied with being typecast as a musical actor. He tried briefly to break into film without success, and eventually returned to broadway where he earned numerous accolades for his roles in such musicals as “Guys and Dolls” and “Chicago“.

Orbach finally broke into television in the 1980s as a recurring character in shows such as the mystery-drama “Murder She Wrote” and the hit sitcom “Golden Girls“.

He earned the lead role as the title character in his own short-lived series “The Law and Harry McGraw”, a spinoff of “Murder She Wrote”. Orbach also scored key roles in a few Hollywood films, including the action thriller “F/X”, and the dance-musical hit “Dirty Dancing”, but continued to find his mainstay in television crime dramas.

In 1990, he picked up a role in the new NBC crime drama “Law and Order” as the acerbic-witted Lennie Briscoe, a role which soon become a regular job. Orbach continued in this role in addition to movie roles and occasional musical appearances until his death this last week.

Orbach was diagnosed with Prostate cancer in Spring of 2004, a fact he kept private until November when he checked into New York’s Memorial Sloan-Ketting Cancer Center for treatment. In spite of the aggressive nature of the treatment, he died on the evening of December 28.

Monday, June 25, 2018

On Saturday, the plastic ban in the Indian state of Maharashtra came into force. In an attempt to minimise pollution, the state government has introduced a ban on single-use plastics.

The leader of the Yuya Sena political party, Aaditya Thackeray, said on Twitter, “The ban on single use disposable plastic cups, plastic bags, plastic straws, plastic plates and cutlery, styrofoam cutlery and non woven bags”. He added, “these are global issues now and we have taken a step to combat it”.

Plastic pollution has led to the choking of drains, marine pollution and a risk of animals consuming plastics. This year, India’s motto for World Environment Day — June 5 — was “Beat Plastic Pollution”. People violating the plastic ban are to face a fine of 5,000 Indian Rupees (INR) for the first offence. For the second offence, the fine is INR 10,000 and the third time offence is INR 25,000 and a three-month prison term. Deputy municipal commissioner Nidhi Choudhary said, “To weed out corruption, we plan to give inspectors payment gadgets for electronic receipts of the fines”.

The Maharashtra government has given a 90-day period for manufacturers to dispose of existing polyethylene terephthalate (PET/PETE) plastic spoons and plates, while shopkeepers and citizens in general have six months to dispose of plastics. However, the ban does not prohibit plastic usage for wrapping medicines or milk cartons thicker than 50 microns.

The state government had announced the decision for the plastic ban on March 23. According to NDTV’s report, Maharashtra is the eighteenth Indian state to enforce a state-wide plastic ban. Aaditya Thackeray also said, “I congratulate the citizens for making this into a movement, even before the ban was enforceable, giving up single use disposable plastic.”

Saturday, October 18, 2008

The Indian aviation sector looks set to shrink amid financial turmoil, with the nation’s air carriers in schemes to try and ride out the problems and domestic air traffic at a five year low.

Air traffic has fallen by 19% in September, the fourth month in a row of negative growth. The news comes as a joint result of the current financial crisis and high jet fuel prices, with Indian airlines in debt to the tune of Rs1,800 crore after surpassing their credit limits with oil companies, who are themselves making losses due to government controls on the price of jet fuel.

Kingfisher Red – originally known as Air Deccan, India’s first budget carrier, until Kingfisher Airlines bought the company out – suffered the biggest drop in passenger numbers at 20% of their load factor. Flag carrier Air India is running at 53% of capacity after a 10% fall, and the average for airlines is now 55% as opposed to 65% this time last year.

Kingfisher Airlines has decided to enter an alliance with Jet Airlines that will see them collectively control half the Indian aviation market. Both airlines are in debt over fuel payments with Jet owing Rs850 crore while Kingfisher refused to disclose the amount they needed to pay. The money is owed mainly to the Indian Oil Corporation, with the rest owed to the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and the Bharat Petroleum Corporation. 45% of costs for Indian carriers is fuel, which is 70% more expensive than abroad due to multiple taxes.

Air India’s head Raghu Menon expressed concern about what the Kingfisher-Jet alliance meant for his own airline. “We were competing with both these airlines separately. Now we’ll be competing with them perhaps as one entity. It’ll be a challenge,” he said.

Kingfisher have cancelled an order for three A340 aircraft from European airframer Airbus. Airbus executive John Leahy said that Airbus had discussed the issue with Kingfisher before the choice was made and that this was the only cancellation from India. He also maintains that India will be an important area for Airbus, with the firm predicting Indian aviation growth will be at 9.7% compared to a global rate of 5.4%. Airbus predict that 1,000 new aircraft will increase the Indian fleet fivefold by 2026. Airbus have also welcomed the partnership between Jet and Kingfisher, saying it will help consolidate the carriers.

Airlines are cutting capacity to reduce costs, with around 20% gone already. Average flight movements are down to 8,000 a week compared to 10,500 in the period from April to June. The aviation industry in India is expected to post a collective loss of US$2 billion.

One executive at Boeing, Dinesh Keskar , predicted the downfall to be brief. “The current downturn in the sector is temporary and may not prolong for more than 6 to 9 months,” he said. Airlines, however, feel that the risk is very much immediate; Jet and Kingfisher are requesting a government bailout package worth Rs 40.7 billion. They are currently losing a combined US$1.3 billion.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown have promised new sanctions on Iran if the Gulf country continues to enrich weapons-grade uranium.

At a joint press conference in London today, Brown announced that “today we will urge Europe – and Europe will agree – to take further sanctions against Iran.” Britain is pressuring the European Union to freeze the overseas assets of Iran’s Bank Melli, which the United States accuses of supporting Iran’s missile programs. European Union spokesperson Cristina Gallach says that Europe is prepared to take action.

Iran denies its enrichment program is aimed at the creation of nuclear weapons, insisting that they will use the technology to generate electricity. In response, Brown announced that during weekend negotiations, “we put our enhanced offer on the table – including political and economic partnership and help with nuclear technology for civilian use. We await the Iranian response and will do everything possible to maintain the dialogue.”

In response to the announcement, Iran has withdrawn approximately $75 billion of its European foreign assets. “Part of Iran’s assets in European banks have been converted to gold and shares” said Iranian deputy foreign minister Mohsen Talaie, “and another part has been transferred to Asian banks.” The Iranian government gauges its foreign exchange reserves at $80 billion.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

A hacker who has claimed to be loosely associated with internet group Anonymous managed to hack into the email account of Alaskan Governor and Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin in the early morning hours of Wednesday, September 16.

Partial contents of her email account – including two family photos, email messages and contact lists – were subsequently hosted online at Wikileaks.org, a website that anonymously hosts leaked government and corporate documents. Anonymous, who were responsible for attacks on Scientology in the past, have claimed credit for the intrusion. The email account has been used by Palin for conducting government business and communication, circumventing transparency laws.

The hacker gained access to Palin’s account by answering Yahoo!’s security questions, finding the answers on websites like Wikipedia.org. The hacker was apparently careless and frightened, and posted the new password on 4chan.org as well as a few hasty screenshots. In the screenshots were proxy data, which Ctunnel.com owner Gabriel Ramuglia plans to use to help with FBI investigations.

“White hat” hackers, however, have discovered that the hacker’s online identity was linked to the email address of David Kernell, the son of Democratic Tennessee state representative Mike Kernell. When confronted, Kernell made no confirmation of that. While 4chan has deleted all images of the email account, the screenshots have quickly spread to blogs and news websites online.