briefs...
February 07, 2009
Israel’s right-wing still in lead
OCCUPIED-AL-QUDS: Israel’s right-wing opposition Likud party, led by former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu remained the frontrunner ahead of next week’s elections, according to three polls out on Friday. Likud is credited with 25 to 27 mandates in the 120-seat parliament as compared with 22 to 23 for Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni’s Kadima party, the surveys showed. The fast rising far right-wing Yisrael Beitenou party of tough-talking Soviet immigrant Avigdor Lieberman would get 18-19 mandates, while Defence Minister Ehud Barak’s Labour would obtain 14 to 17, the lowest score in its history. Netanyahu appears the best placed to become prime minister and the polls indicate he would obtain a majority in an alliance with other right-wing parties.
Iraq women’s affairs minister resigns
BAGHDAD: Iraq’s state minister of women’s affairs is asking to resign over what she calls a lack of support for the widows and other women facing great hardship in the war torn country. Nawal al-Samarraie said on Friday that she submitted her resignation this week but hasn’t received a response from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s office. Al-Samarraie says she’s frustrated because she doesn’t have enough authority or resources to tackle the tough issues facing women in Iraq. She says she has done her best but that she’s achieved ‘very little’ compared with the needs of Iraqi women. Tens of thousands of women have been left widows by Iraq’s violence. They have virtually no safety net and few job opportunities and usually depend on extended families.
UK doctor found guilty of killing patient
LONDON: A doctor who killed a patient with an injection of adrenaline after ignoring the advice of her colleagues was found guilty of manslaughter on Friday. Anaesthetist Priya Ramnath, 40, was convicted of killing Patricia Leighton a decade ago in the intensive care unit at Stafford District General Hospital. Leighton died of heart failure shortly after being given the adrenaline by Ramnath, who had been advised not to give the injection by a senior nurse and a medical registrar. The Indian-born doctor was given a six-month jail sentence suspended for two years after being found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter at Birmingham Crown Court. Police found that the 51-year-old patient had been admitted to hospital in Cannock on July 20, 1998, after a bunion on her became infected.
China ups drought alert
BEIJING: China has raised its drought emergency to the highest level for the first time as a dry spell spreads, leaving millions with little or no water and threatening wheat supplies, state media said on Friday. The decision to go to emergency level was taken on Thursday at meeting of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, Xinhua news agency reported. The increased alert level was made official at the same time as the central government sent out specialists to all eight major drought-hit regions to help residents with relief supplies and technical aid, the China Daily said. About 4.3 million people and 2.1 million head of livestock are short of water, the relief headquarters said in a statement, as parts of the nation experience their worst drought since the early 1950s.
OCCUPIED-AL-QUDS: Israel’s right-wing opposition Likud party, led by former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu remained the frontrunner ahead of next week’s elections, according to three polls out on Friday. Likud is credited with 25 to 27 mandates in the 120-seat parliament as compared with 22 to 23 for Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni’s Kadima party, the surveys showed. The fast rising far right-wing Yisrael Beitenou party of tough-talking Soviet immigrant Avigdor Lieberman would get 18-19 mandates, while Defence Minister Ehud Barak’s Labour would obtain 14 to 17, the lowest score in its history. Netanyahu appears the best placed to become prime minister and the polls indicate he would obtain a majority in an alliance with other right-wing parties.
Iraq women’s affairs minister resigns
BAGHDAD: Iraq’s state minister of women’s affairs is asking to resign over what she calls a lack of support for the widows and other women facing great hardship in the war torn country. Nawal al-Samarraie said on Friday that she submitted her resignation this week but hasn’t received a response from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s office. Al-Samarraie says she’s frustrated because she doesn’t have enough authority or resources to tackle the tough issues facing women in Iraq. She says she has done her best but that she’s achieved ‘very little’ compared with the needs of Iraqi women. Tens of thousands of women have been left widows by Iraq’s violence. They have virtually no safety net and few job opportunities and usually depend on extended families.
UK doctor found guilty of killing patient
LONDON: A doctor who killed a patient with an injection of adrenaline after ignoring the advice of her colleagues was found guilty of manslaughter on Friday. Anaesthetist Priya Ramnath, 40, was convicted of killing Patricia Leighton a decade ago in the intensive care unit at Stafford District General Hospital. Leighton died of heart failure shortly after being given the adrenaline by Ramnath, who had been advised not to give the injection by a senior nurse and a medical registrar. The Indian-born doctor was given a six-month jail sentence suspended for two years after being found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter at Birmingham Crown Court. Police found that the 51-year-old patient had been admitted to hospital in Cannock on July 20, 1998, after a bunion on her became infected.
China ups drought alert
BEIJING: China has raised its drought emergency to the highest level for the first time as a dry spell spreads, leaving millions with little or no water and threatening wheat supplies, state media said on Friday. The decision to go to emergency level was taken on Thursday at meeting of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, Xinhua news agency reported. The increased alert level was made official at the same time as the central government sent out specialists to all eight major drought-hit regions to help residents with relief supplies and technical aid, the China Daily said. About 4.3 million people and 2.1 million head of livestock are short of water, the relief headquarters said in a statement, as parts of the nation experience their worst drought since the early 1950s.
