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20 December 2012
The World News Headlines This Week Iraq president suffers stroke
Jalal Talabani, the Iraqi president, is in “stable condition” having suffered a stroke and a hardening of his arteries this morning, Iraqi state television says. Talabani is being treated in the intensive care unit of a Baghdad hospital after being rushed there on Tuesday morning, a statement from his office said. “Tests show that his bodily functions are normal and his excellency’s condition is stable,” the statement said. “He is under intensive medical supervision.”
Aid workers shot dead Japanese commuters, particularly those living in Tokyo, know what it’s like being packed like sardines on trains, but congestion on the Bangladesh transport system is somewhat worse
Japan to finance metro system in Bangladesh Japan has agreed to provide the majority of the funding requirements of a new metro rail service in Bangladesh
T
he Bangladesh government on Tuesday approved the overland metro rail service project – Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line-6 – involving Tk 219.85 billion to ease
the city’s cluttered traffic. The approval was given at the meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) with the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair. She is the ECNEC’s Chairperson. Briefing reporters after the meeting, Member of the Planning Commission Abdul Mannan Hawlader said that the much-talked-about Dhaka Metro project would be implemented with the financial assistance from the Japanese government.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Of the total cost, the Japan International Cooperation Agency will provide Tk
165.95 billion while the Bangladesh Government will take care of the remaining funds. The Japanese had funded the Kolkata Metro Rail project in the 1990s. The 20-kilometer MRT Line-6 will begin from Uttara Third Phase and pass through Pallabi, the west side of Rokeya Square and Farmgate, Hotel Sonargaon, Ruposhi Bangla, TSC of Dhaka University, Doel Intersection, Topkhana Road and Bangladesh Bank. Later, the route will be
extended up to Saidabad from Bangladesh Bank point through Atish Dipankar Road. Hawlader said that the present design of the metro rail would not cause affect the parliament complex when the project is implemented. “The Roads and Highways Division has its own land beside the Parliament Complex. The metro rail service will pass through its area. But this will not affect the main design of the Parliament that was done by Louis Kahn,” he said.
Unemployment disproportionately affecting local Bangladeshis
T
he economic downturn is affecting almost every part of society to a greater or lesser degree, but as always, it is the poorest groups that are having to cope with the worst pressures. The Bangladeshi community in the UK – long believed to be one of the most economically deprived – is facing particular difficulties and there seems no end to the downturn. And the recent labour figures have shown no signs of any improvement in the employment market. Responding to the latest labour market figures, Rushanara
Ali, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, which has a high Bangladeshi population, condemned the failure of the Conservativeled Government’s Work Programme to tackle long term unemployment in Bethnal Green and Bow. She said: “Here in my constituency, long term unemployment has gone up by 26% over the past year, and long term youth unemployment has increased by 55% over the same period. But the government’s Work Programme is comprehensively failing to help my constituents. “Last month we found out
Rushanara Ali MP that the Work Programme is getting fewer people into jobs than if the Government did nothing at all. Only 2% of people referred onto to the Work Programme
have been placed into jobs in Bethnal Green and Bow. “While I welcome the overall recent fall in unemployment, this Government is failing to create jobs and growth, and is failing on the deficit. The coalition must wake up to this crisis, take action now and they should start with Labour’s Real Jobs Guarantee to get our young people back to work.” At Prime Minister’s Questions last week, Rushanara Ali exposed the Government’s economic failure by highlighting that the Autumn statement revealed that borrowing is now £212 bil-
lion more than previously planned. Tower Hamlets is one of the most multicultural boroughs in UK, with more than 50% of residents considered to be non-white British. A recent report by London Centre for Social Impact indicated that the Bangladesh community has the highest number of unemployed adults not in paid work by ethnic origin in London. “As we know that Bangladeshi community is the biggest local ethic group, these two facts lead us to conclude that the Bangladeshi community contribute largely to the local unemployment rate,” the report said.
Gunmen in Pakistan have shot dead six health workers associated with an anti-polio campaign in a string of attacks, officials say. It was not clear who was behind the shootings in the southern city of Karachi and northern city of Peshawar on Tuesday, but Taliban fighters have repeatedly denounced the anti-polio campaign as a “Western plot”. The government’s immunisation campaign against the crippling disease was suspended in Karachi following the attacks.
Syrians surround refugees
Syrian troops have surrounded a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus a day after air raids killed at least eight people sheltering in a mosque there. Many residents on Monday fled the area amid clashes between Palestinian factions loyal to and opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Rasim Abu Thawra, an activist who lives close to Yarmouk, said the neighbourhood has been bombarded again on Monday.
Egypt opposition rallies
Egypt’s opposition has called for mass protests in Cairo and elsewhere on Tuesday over alleged polling violations during the first round of a referendum on the country’s draft constitution. The National Salvation Front (NSF), the opposition coalition, urged Egyptians to “take to the streets on Tuesday to defend their freedoms, prevent fraud and reject the draft constitution”.
Messi to stay at Barcelona
Lionel Messi has agreed a new contract with Barcelona, keeping him at the Spanish club until 2018. The Argentina international, 25, has enjoyed a record-breaking year for club and country, scoring 90 goals so far in 2012.