The US could lose up to $1bn (£610m) in airline ticket taxes, officials say, amid an impasse in Congress over the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The agency has been forced into partial shutdown after its operating authority expired on 23 July.

The government has already lost more than $200m because airlines are unable to collect taxes on ticket sales. Some 4,000 FAA staff are on unpaid leave.

Lawmakers are not due back from their annual leave until September.

One wonders just what kind of mentality would obstruct a process that would provide something on the order of a billion dollars in revenue (through a source of taxation that is already in place and was never discussed during the debt ceiling debate). Note, also, that these are only the first few paragraphs of the story. Try reading the whole thing and see whether or not your blood is starting to boil.

With all of my fulminating over Max Weber’s “loss of meaning” concept, I seem to have lost track of one of the most important phrases of American life to have the meaning sucked out of it: “elected representative.”

Posted by Stephen Smoliar

Net News Publisher for World News

This quiet revolution from below, in rejecting the Monroe Doctrine, first enunciated in 1823 whereby the U.S. essentially barred European powers from influence in Latin America, has essentially for nearly 200 years served as an ideological platform for countless U.S. interventions south of the border but has yet to register on the radar the politicians in Washington.

From Ecuador to Paraguay, Venezuela to Brazil, governments increasingly composed of representatives of the indigenous people, are more and more rebuffing Washington’s advice as they seek to determine their countries’ futures without undue interference from their giant North American neighbor.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Brazil, which after suffering decades of corrupt government and intermittent military dictatorship in 2003 elected Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as president, who’s adroit and progressive policies until he relinquished the proposed last year have laid the foundations for the dramatic rise of Brazil’s economy.

President Lula focused on social equality and improving the lot of the nation’s poor, and that and other policies such as reining in the rampant inflation that ravaged the country when he took office, saw him leave the presidency with an approval rating of 80 percent, a political achievement unmatched in any other country.

Lula put Brazil’s economic interests first and foremost, and spoke his mind prior to a G20 summit in March 2009, when in Brasilia, with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown squirming uncomfortably beside him, he addressed the issue of the global recession which had begun the previous year by telling reporters, “This crisis was caused by no black man or woman or by no indigenous person or by no poor person. This crisis was fostered and boosted by irrational behavior of some people that are white, blue-eyed. Before the crisis they looked like they knew everything about economics, and they have demonstrated they know nothing about economics.” Challenged about his claims, Lula responded: “I only record what I see in the press. I am not acquainted with a single black banker.”

Indirectly addressing the West’s and in particular the United States’ obsession with security against terrorism in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, Lula continued, “We do not have the right to allow this crisis to continue for long. We are determined to make sure the world financial system is vigorously regulated. You go to a shopping mall and you are filmed. You go to the airport and you are watched. I can’t imagine that only the financial system has no surveillance at all.”

Last July while visiting Zambia Lula noted, “We had a debt of $30 billion to the International Monetary Fund but when I took office, we repaid the IMF and we don’t owe anymore to the IMF. On the contrary, the IMF owes us $14 billion. We have $250 billion in our currency reserves.”

Now the crown jewel in Brazil’s economy, the government-managed Petrobras energy company is to build on Lula’s sound fiscal foundation and stated that it intends to double its output within the next four years. Furthermore, echoing Lula’s reluctance to rely on foreign financial funding, Petrobras said that its plan to more than double oil output will boost the company’s cash flow and eliminate the need to tap debt markets in less than a decade, as profits from oil sales will be enough to cover both operating and debt costs, according to Petrobras Chief Financial Officer Almir Barbassa.

Earlier this week Petrobras announced its plans to invest $224.7 billion in increasing production through 2015, more than any other major oil producer in the world, as it develops some of the world’s largest discoveries in three decades outside of the Caspian basin.

Barbassa said modestly, “Cash flow will be enough to pay debt amortizations and the investments we will have. Few companies in the world can say this.”

A government focused both on social reform and prudent economic policy while the country’s largest company purchases a policy of minimizing foreign borrowing through a pay-as-you-go policy – what radical concepts.

It would seem that the future of Petrobras is quite bright, and if Washington bothers to listen to its rising southern economic superpower hemispheric neighbor it might even learn a few things about fiscal accountability, if the Republicans in Congress can be momentarily dissuaded from their efforts to drive America’s international credit ratings over a cliff.

By. John C.K. Daly of OilPrice

Source: OilPrice.com

NetNewsPublisher.com for World News

“Congress needs to stop playing games, work out its differences, and pass a clean FAA bill immediately. There is no excuse for not getting this done,” said Secretary LaHood. “Important programs and construction projects are at stake. This stalemate must be resolved.”

Secretary LaHood also said, “I want to reassure the flying public that, during this period, safety will not be compromised.”

“We are going to be forced to furlough valuable FAA employees unless this situation is resolved quickly,” said FAA Administrator Babbitt. “These employees do everything from getting money out the door for airport construction projects, to airport safety planning and NextGen research. We need them at work.”

If Congress does not extend the FAA’s authorities approximately 4,000 employees will be furloughed beginning Saturday July 23, 2011. Without the appropriate authority, taxes will not be deposited into the Trust Fund to pay some FAA employees. Employees who are paid out of the Trust Fund handle a variety of functions including: airport safety and engineering standards; airport safety planning; the Airport Improvement Program, which administers construction project grants to airports; and Research, Engineering, and Development, which includes NextGen research and testing.

Congress has extended the FAA’s authorization 20 separate times.

Without a full year extension, FAA will be unable to move forward on more than $600 million in airport construction projects that include good paying jobs for local communities across the country.

Additionally, during each of the previous 20 short term extensions, the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program has only received small portions of its $3.5 billion in grant money.

As a result, states and airports have been left waiting to plan projects or begin construction since the total amount available is unknown. Some projects that are already underway are being constructed in stages and the total cost of the project will likely be higher as a result of that approach.

For example, in Wisconsin, the state has delayed accepting construction bids until officials know how much federal funding is available. Unless the FAA receives a longer extension, projects in Wisconsin could be delayed into next year since the construction season will start to wind down at the end of the summer.

Source: FAA

Net News Publisher for Aviation News

The NDC is holding congress in Sunyani on July 8- 10  to elect a flag bearer for the 2012 presidential elections. The two candidates are incumbent President John Atta and former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings.

Johnson Assiedu Nketiah said the party was also putting up a national headquarters in Accra and that the building would be ready by the middle of next year while offices for youth and women’s wings were being constructed across the country.

Assiedu Nketiah, who is known in political circles in Ghana as “General Mosquito”, told delegates at Sunyani Congress that the party was receiving assistance from the Labour Party in Britain, SPL Party in Germany and Socialist Party in China among others for the construction of the school and other structures.

According to him, the party has also set up a “Heroes’ Fund” to cater for party members who have suffered in the course of serving the party, and that funds would be disbursed in six months to prospective members.

He said the party also support biometric registration by the Electoral Commission for the next year’s elections.

The party Chairman Dr Kwabena Adjei said the congress had strengthened the party towards 2012 elections.

Source African Press Agency

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A $50,000 grant will underwrite work by The Bancroft’s Regional Oral History Office (ROHO) to find Japanese Americans who were interned during the war and conduct audio and video interviews with them. The interviews will be posted on the ROHO website, supplementing the office’s existing World War II Homefront interview series.

Meanwhile, a $220,493 grant will further The Bancroft’s efforts to digitize and make available online the library’s extensive Japanese American internment materials, and to integrate the resources into a new digital archive that will serve as a central resource for students of the Japanese-American evacuation and resettlement.

“The internment of Japanese Americans during World War II is an unfortunate part of the story of our nation’s journey, but it is a part that needs to be told,” said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar in announcing the grants. More than 110,000 Japanese Americans – two-thirds of whom were American citizens – were incarcerated after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

The oral history project is already searching for interviewees with first-hand accounts to share, said Samuel Redman, lead interviewer for the Rosie the Riveter segment of ROHO’s World War II Homefront series.

“We will prioritize individuals willing to sit down for audio and video interviews in California, but will also consider phone interviews with individuals elsewhere in the country,” Redman said, asking anyone with interview suggestions to contact him at rtr@lists.berkeley.edu.

The Bancroft’s three-phased, six-year plan to create a comprehensive virtual archive on the Japanese American internment will begin with the scanning of more than 99,000 documents in the Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Study Records that date back to 1930.

The documents will be added to the Online Archives of California (OAC), and a thematic website will lead users to the data through such tools as GIS tagging and interactive maps. The project’s second phase will involve digitizing still more holdings, including five hours of moving-image film, 1,500 photos, maps, broadsides and drawings, and 21 hours of audio and video oral history interviews. The third phase will concentrate on digitizing 185,250 records kept in the National Archives holdings of the War Relocation Authority.

“We intend to create a comprehensive virtual archive of this important period of our nation’s history,” said David de Lorenzo, The Bancroft’s associate director. “At The Bancroft, we have built many mechanisms to assure the digital surrogates are authentic surrogates of the original analog record. As one of our nation’s premier research universities, by presenting these documents on the university’s website, we bring an authority of authenticity for future generations of users.”

In 2009, UC Berkeley issued belated diplomas to approximately 500 Japanese American students whose educations were interrupted by World War II, as many of them were sent to internment camps. Details about their ceremony and an accompanying video are online.

Congress has allocated a total of $38 million for this effort. The Interior Department is distributing in this round $2.9 million in 2:1 matching federal funds that being distributed in 24 grants to projects in 11 states via its Japanese American Confinement Sites program.

A sampling of other projects include restoration of an internment camp cemetery, production and distribution of a documentary on jazz bands at internment camps, and the preservation, matting and framing of internees’ artwork at the Rohwer Relocation Center in Arkansas.

The Bancroft Library is urging anyone with suggestions for interviews with Japanese Americans with first-hand experience relating to the internment to contact interviewer Samuel Redman at rtr@lists.berkeley.edu.

Source: UC Berkeley

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The White House said in a report to Congress Wednesday that the U.S. military action in Libya does not require congressional authorization because American forces are playing a “limited, supporting” role.

But Boehner, speaking to reporters Thursday, said the U.S. is spending $10 million a day on efforts that include drone attacks and bombing compounds of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. He said it does not pass the test, in his view, that the United States is not in the midst of hostilities.

He and other lawmakers, both Democrats and fellow Republicans, have criticized the president for not seeking congressional approval for the mission. Boehner said Thursday that the House has options, including voting on U.S. spending for the NATO-led operation. He said lawmakers may be prepared to take steps next week.

The administration says President Barack Obama did not exceed his powers in ordering the action and is operating consistent with the 1973 War Powers Act, which requires U.S. forces to withdraw from military operations by the 90-day mark, absent congressional authorization.

Boehner has warned Obama that he will violate the War Powers Act unless U.S. operations in Libya end by Sunday – the 90-day mark – or he asks for and receives congressional approval to continue the mission.

Obama informed Congress in March of his decision to take military action in Libya, but did not seek congressional approval. On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of 10 House lawmakers filed a legal challenge to the involvement.

Obama administration officials originally described the U.S. military commitment as an emergency move to protect civilians from the Libyan government’s violent suppression of an opposition uprising.

The U.S. has had a key support role in the operation, including aerial refueling of warplanes and providing intelligence and surveillance.

The House passed a resolution this month demanding a report from Congress on the Libya military operation.

Source: VOA

Middle East News from NetNewsPublisher.com

The event, which has been described as the world’s premier meeting of space industry companies and space professionals by Cabinet spokesperson Jimmy Manyi, is to be held in Cape Town from October 3 – 7th 2011.

The IAC is expected to draw over 3,500 conference participants and exhibitors.

Speaking at a post-Cabinet briefing today, Manyi said: “This is the ‘FIFA Cup’ of space meetings and will be attended by heads and top executives of the world’s leading space agencies.”

The IAC is an annual meeting of actors in the discipline of space, and consists of plenary sessions, lectures and meetings. In addition, there is a large exhibition running concurrently.

Also expected to attend are academics, researchers, industry and commerce executives, students and young professionals.

Source: BUA News

African News from NetNewsPublisher.com

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The most important paragraph, which comes near the end of the piece, is the following:

In the end, what this document tells us is that the Obama 2012 presidential campaign has begun. Unfortunately, the political priorities addressed here do not coincide with what is best for the economy. Federal stimulus is running out and the economic recovery could weaken again. Additional stimulus by Congress could have taken pressure off the Federal Reserve, which is now bearing the burden of doing its own stimulus through quantitative easing, involving purchasing up to $600 billion in Treasury bills from large banks. Down the road that could lead to inflation.

That first sentence is then reinforced by two sentences about Barack Obama in the final paragraph:

He is now doing what he seems to do best. He is campaigning for the 2012 election.

Ultimately, the lesson of the 2010 elections is that the economic future of our country will not be determined by the best rational analysis that economists and other social scientists can offer (not that we ever assumed it would be).  Rather, it will be decided by which campaigns best appeal to the emotional frustration of an electorate that has been robbed of any viable future for themselves and their children.  In other words those who will vote in 2012 currently find themselves in the same boat as those currently protesting in the Middle East (at least according to my own take on Fareed Zakaria’s recent analysis on the Time.com Web site).

Can we recover our sense of the future?  The prospect is not good, considering the opposition we face.  On the one hand we have the consciousness industry controlled by businesses that never seem to be able to look beyond the numbers projected for the next quarterly report.  On the other we have politicians, who can only see as far as the next election and the balance of partisan power likely to result.  These are not factors that will put Americans back to work, address the weaknesses of an infrastructure one step away for life-support, or recognize the extent to which our future now depends on what China chooses to do with their stake in our debt.

Those familiar with Plato’s “Laws” are probably well aware of the dim view he took of factionalism.  He goes so far as to compare factional warfare with the need to combat an “external alien.”  He does not go so far as to consider the extent to which the general public can become victims of factional warfare;  but that is basically the future that every American must now consider seriously, however hard the consciousness industry may try to distract us.

Posted by Stephen Smoliar

Net News Publisher for World News

EFF just received documents in response to a 2-year old FOIA request for information on the FBI’s “Going Dark” program, an initiative to increase the FBI’s authority in response to problems the FBI says it’s having implementing wiretap and pen register/trap and trace orders on new communications technologies. The documents detail a fully-formed and well-coordinated plan to expand existing surveillance laws and develop new ones. And although they represent only a small fraction of the documents we expect to receive in response to this and a more recent FOIA request, they were released just in time to provide important background information for the House Judiciary Committee’s hearing tomorrow on the Going Dark program.

We first heard about the FBI’s Going Dark program in 2009, when the agency’s Congressional budget request included an additional $9 million to fund the program (on top of the $233.9 million it already received). Late last year, the New York Times linked the program to a plan to expand federal surveillance laws like the Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). We issued FOIA requests to the FBI in 2009 for information on Going Dark and in 2010 for information on the agency’s plans to update CALEA. These are the first documents we’ve received since we filed our lawsuit against the agency late last year. The documents provide rare insight into the agency’s multi-year strategy to increase its power to surveil our communications.

Here’s What the Documents Show:

What is the “Going Dark” Program?

The name “Going Dark” is cryptic, and the FBI’s public statements about the program are even more so. Nevertheless, FBI’s Operational Technology Division states that the program is one of the FBI’s “top initiatives” and has “gotten attention so far from high ranking officials in other federal, state, and local agencies and from industry.” (GD4, p. 110).1 The FBI has told reporters in emails that Going Dark is:

the program name given to the FBI’s efforts to utilize innovative technology; foster cooperation with industry; and assist our state, local, and tribal law enforcement partners in a collaborative effort to close the growing gap between lawful interception requirements and our capabilities.

(GD2, p1). The FBI has also said that the term “Going Dark” does not refer to a specific capability,

but is a program name for the part of the FBI, Operational Technology Division’s (OTD) lawful interception program which is shared with other law enforcement agencies. The term applies to the research and development of new tools, technical support and training initiatives.

(GD2, p 8). Behind this rhetoric, the documents detail a program set up to address the FBI’s allegations that communications providers’ technologies prevent the agency from implementing wiretap and pen register/trap and trace orders – essentially, the FBI alleges it is “‘in the dark’ by the loss of evidence, that [it] would be lawfully entitled to, due to advances in technology, antiquated ELSUR laws, and or lack of resources, training, [and] personnel,” (GD4, p. 120), and the FBI needs new laws and new tools to bring this evidence into the light.

The FBI’s “Five-Prong” Going Dark Strategy

The FBI states the Going Dark program is a “five-prong strategic approach to address the lawful ‘Intercept capability gap’” (GD3, p. 10). These five prongs are:

1. modernization /amendment of existing laws,
2. enhancing authorities to protect industry proprietary and [law enforcement] sensitive lawful intercept information, equipment and techniques,
3. enhancing [law enforcement] agencies’ coordination leveraging technical expertise of FBI with other [law enforcement] entities,
4. enhancing lawful intercept cooperation between the communications industry and [law enforcement agencies] with a “One Voice” approach, and
5. seeking new federal funding to bolster lawful intercept capabilities.

(GD3, p. 10). Originally it seemed the FBI was focused on just updating CALEA (which could be bad enough if it included some of the things we wrote about here), but now it appears the FBI plans to seek changes to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) and other laws, and may also propose new laws. For example, another document we received notes under Prong 1 that “Existing lawful intercept laws (e.g., Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act, Electronic Communications Privacy Act [ECPA], and the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act [CALEA]) require modernization as a result of advancements in communications services and technologies.” (GD1, pp. 38-40). And another document breaks the FBI’s legislative strategy down into two categories:

1. modernizing the Federal ELSUR [electronic surveillance] assistance mandates and Federal ELSUR laws and
2. enacting new ELSUR-enhancing statutory authorities.

(GD1, p. 13). This is the first hard evidence we’ve seen that the FBI is pushing to update ECPA in addition to CALEA, and it is concerning to learn that the agency is trying to convince Congress that these two laws should be expanded at the same time to give the FBI even broader power to conduct “lawful” surveillance. Unfortunately, we don’t know much more about the specifics of the FBI’s plan because crucial information in the documents has been withheld or blocked out.

The FBI Has Been Working on “Going Dark” Since at Least 2006 and Has Lobbied Congress and the White House to Support the Program with More Money and Stronger Laws

The FBI and DOJ have been working on amendments to CALEA since at least 2006, though their efforts to lobby Congress and the White House have steadily ramped up within the last few years. (GD1, p. 34). The FBI has met with important Congressional committees and with the White House about Going Dark many times since January 2008 and has specific plans to “socialize [its] Strategy with key Congressional members and staff (e.g., Judiciary, Intelligence, Appropriations).” (GD1, pp. 38-30).

For example, in January 2008, the FBI director testified before the House and Senate at the annual threat assessment hearing and included a Q&A handout on Going Dark for the briefing book. (GD1, p.7). Although the hearings were held in both open and closed sessions (and so this handout should be available to the public), the version we received is heavily redacted. (GD1, p. 22).

In March 2008, staff from the Senate Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science visited the FBI’s Operational Technology Division and had a briefing on Going Dark with Kerry Haynes, the Assistant Director of the Investigative Technologies Division. Topics discussed included “unfunded requirements, level of cooperation/understanding/assistance from DNI, level of sharing and cooperation with IC/telecom and [international] partners, consolidation of tech efforts across industry, working groups/detailees [sic] to consolidate efforts, the ‘data coordination center’ concept.” (GD1, p. 32).

The FBI focused much of its lobbying efforts on the Senate Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittee, and met with met with Senator Mikulski, the committee chair, and her staffers several times over the last few years in both open and closed sessions, including in April 2008, June 2008, May 2009, and June 2009. In fact, according to the FBI, Senator Mikulski stated during the June 2008 meeting: “The FBI and the CJS have had a very productive working relationship and the FBI can count on the CJS for whatever it needs to fulfill the mission of the FBI.” (GD1, p. 30).

The FBI also met or communicated with key members of the current administration and other agencies, including meeting with the Obama transition team in November 2008, (GD3, p. 8-9). The agency discussed Going Dark with the Department of Commerce in May 2009, (GD4, p. 26), and met with ODNI on Going Dark in October 2008. (GD4, p. 80) The FBI also worked directly with the DEA to try to collect information detailing agents’ inability to conduct electronic surveillance, to provide support for the agency’s claim that it needed new and better tools and laws. (GD4, pp. 24-25). And the agency planned to vet its 5-prong strategy with both the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Department of Justice (DOJ). (GD1, pp. 38-30).

The FBI Has Also Worked With State and Local Law Enforcement and Private Government Contractors to Develop and Implement its Strategy

Several of the documents we received detail the FBI’s holistic approach to implementing Going Dark. For example, the agency sought input from state and local law enforcement leadership such as “IACP, Major Cities Chiefs, Major County Sheriffs’ Association,” (GD1, pp. 38-40), and asked state and local law enforcement to provide it with examples of electronic surveillance failures. The agency also reached out to the communications industry, including “IP-based communications service providers and manufacturers” and “third-party lawful intercept solution providers.” (GD1, pp. 38-40, 2-3). And the agency contracted with private government consultants at RAND Corporation and Booz, Allen & Hamilton to study the problem and help devise solutions. (GD3, p. 28; GD4, pp. 6-7; GD4, p. 112)

What Does This Mean for our FOIA Lawsuit and for the FBI’s Hopes to Implement Changes to Federal Surveillance Laws?

The interesting thing about all this is that the DOJ has argued in response to our motion seeking documents that because there’s no draft legislation being publicly bandied about right now, there can be no urgency to our FOIA request. For this reason, the agency won’t agree to any deadline to produce its documents. We’ll be arguing this point in the court hearing on our motion tomorrow and hope to convince the court that the Going Dark documents, combined with the House Judiciary Committee hearing, show that the DOJ is serious about pushing through changes to communications surveillance laws as soon as possible. We’ll be urging the court to order the DOJ to produce the rest of the documents in response to our FOIA requests while there’s still time to influence the debate.

1. 1. The citations refer to the documents posted at the end of this deeplink. Page numbers refer to the pages in each pdf document.

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The  charges represent the initial indictment in the investigation of the January 8 shooting in Tucson.

“Today, the Grand Jury returned an initial three-count indictment against Jared Lee Loughner in the Tucson shooting case. We are in the early stages of this ongoing investigation.   We have made considerable progress in a short period of time,”    said U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke.   “This case also involves potential death-penalty charges, and Department rules require us to pursue a deliberate and thorough process. Today’s charges are just the beginning of our legal action, and we are working diligently to ensure that our investigation is thorough and that justice is done for the victims and their families.”

The charges meet the requirement under the Federal Criminal Code which mandates that the United States bring an indictment within 30 days of arrest of the defendant.

The indictment alleges that Loughner, 22, of Tucson, attempted to assassinate Gabrielle Giffords, a Member of Congress, 18 USC 351(c,), and attempted to murder two federal employees, Ron Barber and Pamela Simon, 18 USC 1114 and 1113.

Loughner has been held in federal custody since January 8.

A conviction for the attempted assassination of a Member of Congress carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.   A conviction for attempted murder of a federal employee carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.

In determining an actual sentence, Judge Burns will consult the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges.   The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence.

An indictment is simply the method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt.   An individual is presumed innocent until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Burke emphasized that the procedure in any case which may result in a punishment of death requires a careful and deliberate process, and includes consultation with the victims of the crimes and their families, consideration of all evidence relevant to guilt and punishment, and consultation with all the law enforcement agencies investigating the case.

Also, in order to pursue the death penalty the United States Attorney’s Office for Arizona must provide information to the Capital Review Committee. For more detailed information about this process, click here.

The investigation preceding the indictment was conducted by a multi-jurisdictional law enforcement team led by the FBI. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Wallace Kleindienst, Beverly Anderson, Christina Cabanillas and Mary Sue Feldmeier of the District of Arizona, Tucson.
Source: Department of Justice

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A release signed by the Secretary General of TUC, Mr. Kofi Asamoah in Accra said incomes of workers have not been reviewed in the face of fuel increase that was caused by increased taxes on the products.

He said the increase has the tendency to impact negatively in industry, which could lay-off workers to increase the rate of unemployment.

Fuel prices were on Tuesday increased by 30%, resulting in a public outcry against the increment three days after the New Year festivities.

Meanwhile, the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has also called for a reduction in the prices saying it was a breach of social contract on the part of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) party.

Source African Press Agency

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A press statement received by APA quotes former football star George Weah of the Congress for Democratic Change as committing his party to work with Counselor Charles Brumskine’s Liberty Party to “achieve a single list of candidates for the ensuing 2011 general and presidential elections”.

The contentious issue that was highlighted when news of the coalition first came up was Weah’s willingness to serve as running mate to Brumskine who is considered politically more mature.

But in the statement issued at the weekend in Monrovia, Weah is quoted as saying that he “may consider all options for a united opposition”.

He said he remains convinced that the unity of the entire opposition is the best course to prevent a “slide into elitism which is leading to the reversal of any gains that had been made in the country”.

“We must defeat the current Unity Party government, if we are to reverse the dangerous course upon which our country has been set ; the course which leads to a mirror of our ugly past and its domineering one-party political system,” Weah is quoted as further saying.

Observers see the coming together of these two parties as a major threat to the ruling Unity party government’s second term bid.

Source African Press Agency

African News from NetNewsPublisher.com

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Science Brief thanks to EurekAlert.

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