A round-up of other world news in brief
Labour funds threat over privatisation
LONDON – One of Britain’s biggest trade unions said yesterday it had halted some financing for the ruling Labour Party and had threatened to cut off election funding unless the party stopped privatising public services.
The threat by Unison, Britain’s biggest public sector union, increases pressure on British prime minister Gordon Brown, who has just stamped out an attempted revolt against his leadership of the Labour Party.
Unison, which has more than 1.3 million members, said it was immediately suspending the £100,000 (€119,000) it spends each year on funding local Labour parties around Britain in protest at the Labour Party’s support for the privatisation of some public services. –(Reuters)
Budget warning from UN watchdog
VIENNA – Countries baulking at raising the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) budget have “bastardised” the United Nations watchdog to the point where it is struggling to combat growing proliferation threats, the IAEA chief said yesterday.
“If you come to me and say in your wisdom to cut here and cut there, I and my colleagues will not assume responsibility if in a couple of years we see another Chernobyl [nuclear plant meltdown] or a nuclear terrorist or a clandestine nuclear [weapons] programme,” IAEA director general Mohamed ElBaradei told a closed-door meeting of the agency’s 35-nation board of governors. –(Reuters)
Israel, US in talks on building deal
JERUSALEM – Israeli prime minister Binjamin Netanyahu is negotiating a deal with Washington under which Israeli building in existing Jewish settlements could go forward in certain cases, Israeli and western officials said yesterday.
In talks with US president Barack Obama’s Middle East envoy, Mr Netanyahu has asserted that his government does not have the legal authority to stop building in cases in which tenders for new structures have already been awarded or when homes still under construction have already been purchased.
–(Reuters)
Immigrant plan worth £3bn to UK
LONDON – Legalising illegal immigrants could boost Britain’s output by £3 billion (€3.6 billion) a year, a report showed yesterday, but the public will need convincing as the recession bites and jobs continue to be in short supply.
London mayor Boris Johnson, who commissioned the London School of Economics study, has used the findings to support his argument for legalising a large portion of the estimated 618,000 illegal immigrants in Britain.
“Far from a financial burden, as some suggest, this new research has found an amnesty could be worth up to £3 billion a year to the country’s economy,” Mr Johnson said in a statement. –(Reuters)