runawaymule/Chris

From the page: "Lord Browne, the ex BP boss once said to be Prime Minister Tony Blair,s favourite captain of industry, returned to the public spotlight today" just two years after dramatically quitting as head of the oil giant after admitting lying to a court. He accepted the high profile job of chairman of the government inquiry into university tuition fees. Lord Browne,s appointment was widely welcomed today although there was flak for ministers who were accused of a conspiracy to put higher fees on the back burner until after the election. Lord Browne of Madingley was appointed by Business Secretary Peter Mandelson two years after admitting lying in court in an attempt to block revelations about his private life. He said at the time it was a matter of great regret that he lied over how he had first met his partner of four years, Jeff Chevalier. Yesterday he was appointed as head of a seven-man panel to carry out the review. The team also includes former student leader Rajay Naik,... - runawaymule/Chris

From the page: "Last year, despite the world recession, China-Africa trade leapt to $107 billion " a rise of 45 per cent in one year and even beating African trade with the US. Direct Chinese investment in Africa grew from $491 million in 2003 to $7.8 billion in 2008. The results are visible everywhere. Chinese workers are building roads, ports, dams, railways, football stadiums, hotels and office blocks. China angrily rebuts suggestions that it wants a neocolonial-style expansion but knows that it can count on the votes of African states whenever it faces possible censure over human rights abuses at home or controversial issues such as Tibet. The Vice-Minister of Commerce, Chen Jian, said this week: China's aid to Africa is based on Africa's needs without imposing any political pre-conditions." - runawaymule/Chris

From the page: "Concern is increasing among judges and magistrates that thousands of cautions are being handed out by police or prosecutors for violent assaults that should come before courts. Keir Starmer, QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions, has told The Times that no offence above the level of common assault should be dealt with â€oeout of court”. He has called for data from all prosecuting areas in England and Wales to find out if this was happening. " - runawaymule/Chris

From the page: "Too many violent criminals are being let off with the equivalent of a "parking ticket", the Metropolitan Police Commissioner has warned. Sir Paul Stephenson said there had been an almost "uncontrollable" increase in soft penalties such as cautions and on-the-spot fines. His comments came as official figures showed a steep rise in the number of offenders issued with multiple cautions. In an interview with The Sunday Times, Sir Paul said efforts to ease pressure on the courts and prison system have led to officers being expected to hand out punishments, distracting them from their traditional policing role of preventing and detecting crime. He said: "The outcome of that has been an almost uncontrollable increase in cautions and the introduction of the fixed penalty ticket, which in the public's mind equates to a parking ticket, which should not be (the case) with theft and thuggery. "It's put the police in the correctional business, instead of what we should be in, the... - runawaymule/Chris

From the page: "WASHINGTON - November 6 - Following a statement on the Floor of the House of Representative, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today made the following statement: "Why is it we have finite resources for health care but unlimited money for war? "The inequities in our economy are piling up: trillions for war, trillions for Wall Street and tens of billions for the insurance companies. Banks and other corporations are sitting on piles of cash of taxpayer's money while firing workers, cutting pay and denying small businesses money to survive. "People are losing their homes, their jobs, their health, their investments, their retirement security; yet there is unlimited money for war, Wall Street and insurance companies, but very little money for jobs on Main Street. "Unlimited money to blow up things in Iraq and Afghanistan, and relatively little money to build things in the US. "The Administration may soon bring to Congress a request for an additional $50 billion for war. I... - runawaymule/Chris

From the page: Could there be a more accurate description of the Obama-Brown message of congratulations to the fraudulently elected Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan? First the Palestinians held fair elections in 2006, voted for Hamas and were brutally punished for it - they still are - and then the Iranians held fraudulent elections in June which put back the weird Mahmoud Ahmadinejad whom everyone outside Iran (and a lot inside) regard as a dictator. But now we have the venal, corrupt, sectarian Karzai in power after a poll far more ambitiously rigged than the Iranian version, and - yup, we love him dearly and accept his totally fraudulent election. And now we are still trying to persuade his opponent to join a national unity government, an administration led by the man whose vote-stuffing was the very reason that same leader of the opposition - the good pseudo-Pashtun Abdullah Abdullah - refused to run in a second round of elections. And Karzai got his fawning congrats from the... - runawaymule/Chris