Teen Students Protest Over Allowance Cuts

12:59pm UK, Wednesday January 19, 2011

Enda Brady, Sky correspondent

Thousands of students are due to protest again today as MPs debate plans for further education cuts - this time an allowance that supports study programmes.

The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) was introduced by Labour in an effort to encourage young people from deprived backgrounds to stay on in education after 16.

But the scheme costs £560m a year and the coalition wants it scrapped.

Walkouts and demonstrations are planned at schools and colleges in Leeds, London, Manchester, Norwich and Cornwall.

Dudley College in the West Midlands has 2,500 students aged 16-18 and 80% of them receive EMA, the majority at the higher rate of £30 a week.

Student Anger Over Scrapping Of EMA

"It's money that I can't do without," said student Lorenzo Brown. "It's for transport and for books and it's vital for me, absolutely vital."

He added: "If they take away the EMA a lot of young students are simply going to walk away."

College principal Lowell Williams said plans to cut EMA funding are a "major worry".

"Our biggest fear is that young people will be forced into making the wrong choice at the age of 16," Mr Williams told Sky News Online.

"It could be that they decide to stop attending college or they opt to take a job with no training. It's a big, big worry for colleges up and down the country."

A college lecturers' union has predicted that 70% of students would drop out if EMA is taken away.

But some pressure groups feel the Government's plans are long overdue, describing the allowances as "wasteful" and "hugely expensive".

George Owers, a university student who received the EMA when during his A-levels, accused the Government of "misrepresenting" the allowance.

"It was very important [to me]," he told Sky News at a protest in Cambridge.

He said that while it may be true that some people would stay on in education even without the cash, it can improve attendance.

"It is also a question of the quality of your education while you are studying.

"It means that you can spend more time studying and less doing doing part-time jobs," he added.

13 killed in central Iraq suicide car bomb

Suicide bomber rams explosive laden ambulance into security headquarters in heart of Baquba.

Middle East Online

BAQUBA - A suicide bomber rammed an ambulance packed with explosives into a security headquarters in central Iraq on Wednesday, killing 13 people, a doctor at Baquba hospital said. Firaz al-Dulaimi said a further 64 people were wounded in the attack, which a security official said targeted an office of the Force Protection Service, the agency responsible for securing the country's government buildings. "We have so far received 13 bodies, and are treating 64 wounded," Dulaimi said. The attack occurred at around 10:00 am (0700 GMT) in the middle of Baquba, a restive ethnically-mixed city north of Baghdad, and came a day after a suicide bomber killed 50 people at a police recruitment centre in the central city of Tikrit. Baquba is the capital of Diyala province, which was an Al-Qaeda stronghold as recently as 2008. While violence has dropped off dramatically both in Diyala and nationwide since then, the province remains one of Iraq's least secure.

Abyei clashes cloud hopes for calm Sudan split

Disputed Abyei district on north-south border risks clouding independence vote in south.

Middle East Online

By Tim Witcher - UNITED NATIONS

Uncertainty over the future of Abyei The head of the UN Mission in Sudan warned on Tuesday that clashes in the disputed Abyei district on the north-south border risks clouding a landmark independence vote in the south. The assessment by Haile Menkerios to the UN Security Council came as the peacekeeping mission welcomed an agreement between the rival sides to bolster security after deadly fighting in and around the flashpoint district. The UN Security Council powers all praised the referendum in south Sudan which is expected to lead to the breakup of Africa's biggest nation. But all expressed concern about tensions in Abyei where dozens died in clashes last week and the United Nations has sent peacekeeper reinforcements to prevent new fighting. Menkerios said that uncertainty over the future of Abyei, which had been due to hold a simultaneous plebiscite alongside the wider southern referendum that has been indefinitely postponed, meant there was "a risk of instability" for months to come. More than three days of fighting this month between migratory Misseriya nomads from the north and settled pro-southern Dinka Ngok killed between 20 and 60 people, Menkerios told the Security Council. There have also been a series of ambushes against buses carrying southerners home from the north for the independence vote that have claimed at least 10 lives. The attacks prompted authorities in the south to suspend returnee convoys through the area, UN Sudan humanitarian coordinator Georg Charpentier told reporters in southern capital Juba on Saturday. Talks in the north Sudanese town of Kadugli on Monday between the Sudanese interior minister and southern internal affairs minister and leaders of the rival groups resulted in agreement on new measures to reduce tensions, the UN mission said. Patrols by special joint units of northern and southern troops, which are the only armed groups other than UN peacekeepers allowed to enter Abyei, are to be stepped up. "The key measures of this agreement include... the provision of security for Abyei by deploying more Joint Integrated Units, ensuring the freedom of migration for Misseriya nomads to Abyei and southwards; and providing security for the movement of internally displaced persons (IDPs) returning home," said a UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) statement released Tuesday. "The agreement builds upon and widens the accord between the Misseriya and the Dinka Ngok reached last week in Abyei," it added. Under the agreement reached on Thursday, two battalions of UN troops were sent to northern Abyei and 300 Dinka Ngok police were withdrawn, Menkerios said. UNMIS "has increased both the size of it military deployment to Abyei and its military-civilian patrolling in the area in order to deter further clashes," Menkerios said. But he added that there had been attempts to commandeer UN vehicles and "direct threats" to UN personnel. "These efforts for reducing tensions and preventing violence can contain the situation. However, the continued absence of a final settlement on the future of Abyei leaves open the possibility of further clashes between the communities," he told the council. Deadlock between north and south over who should be eligible to vote in Abyei forced the postponement of the planned plebiscite on its future. The Misseriya nomads insist they should have the same rights as the settled Dinka. Menkerios said the south Sudan referendum was still an "historic milestone" in the implementation of the 2005 peace accord which ended a 22-year civil war between north and south that claimed an estimated two million lives.

Lebanon tense as efforts mount to contain crisis

Turkey's FM, Qatari PM in Beirut to find way out of Lebanon crisis following spat over STL.

Middle East Online

By Natacha Yazbeck - BEIRUT

Will the 'in-depth and useful' talks bridge the STL divide? Fears of violence gripped Lebanon on Tuesday as diplomatic efforts mounted to contain a growing crisis that saw some schools close, a day after a UN prosecutor filed charges in the murder of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri. Dozens of unarmed men gathered in several neighbourhoods in west Beirut early on Tuesday in a show of force that prompted panicked parents to pull their children from classes and some schools to shut down for the day. A security official said the gatherings "may signal preparations to mobilise in relation to the indictment." The men had gathered in areas "where (Shiite parties) Hezbollah and Amal have a presence" and dispersed after about an hour, he said on condition of anonymity. The army deployed heavily across the capital in an attempt to "reassure citizens", an army spokesman said. But many residents preferred to remain indoors, fearing a sudden outbreak of violence as a rift deepens between rival Lebanese camps over the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). "I was having my coffee this morning when I heard on television that men were gathering on the airport road, and I panicked," said Lena al-Fata, who lives in a suburb of Beirut. "I told my daughter not to go to classes today and called my son who had gone to his office near the airport," said the 48-year-old mother of two. "When he didn't pick up, I imagined the worst. Our nerves are totally frayed. We cannot take this anymore." A long-running dispute over the STL between Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah and pro-Western Saad Hariri -- son of the slain Rafiq -- took a turn for the worse Wednesday when the Shiite militant party forced the collapse of Hariri's unity government. Less than one week later, STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare submitted a confidential indictment to a pre-trial judge for review. The charge sheet will reportedly implicate Hezbollah in the Hariri murder. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who has accused the STL of being under US-Israeli control, has warned his party would not stand idle should the court implicate any of its members. But court registrar Herman von Hebel said the case may go to trial by September regardless of whether any arrests had been made. Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jaber al-Thani met President Michel Sleiman on Tuesday in an attempt to find a way out of the crisis. A brief statement released by Sleiman's office described the talks as "in-depth and useful." The two also met Hariri and parliament speaker Nabih Berri but did not make any statements after either meeting. The crisis was also the centre of talks between Turkish, Qatari and Syrian leaders in Damascus on Monday as well as an Ankara meeting between Davutoglu and his Iranian counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi. Lebanon's army commander Jean Kahwaji, who has raised concerns of a security breakdown, traveled to Syria on Tuesday for talks with President Bashar al-Assad. The diplomatic efforts are reportedly focused on reviving a failed Syrian-Saudi bid to find a compromise on the STL between Hariri and Hezbollah. Berri, a staunch Hezbollah ally, issued a veiled warning on Tuesday saying that a new phase had begun after the submission of Bellemare's indictments. "The opposition had clearly said that the period following the indictments will be different from the one prior," Berri told local daily As-Safir, which is close to Hezbollah. "As of yesterday we entered a new phase, a phase of implementation."

Saudi abandons mediation bid in 'dangerous' Lebanon

Saudi FM: If crisis situation reaches full separation then Lebanon as we know it would end.

Middle East Online

Expressed fears of division of Lebanon DUBAI - Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said his country has abandoned mediation efforts in Lebanon, where he described the situation as "dangerous," in an interview with Al-Arabiya on Wednesday. Saudi King Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had been in contact "with commitment to end the whole Lebanon problem." "When that did not happen, the custodian of the two holy mosques said he was pulling his hand out" from the effort, he told the Saudi-owned television news channel. Faisal described the situation in Lebanon as "dangerous" and expressed fears of division in the multi-confessional nation. "If the situation reaches full separation and (regional) partition, this means the end of Lebanon as a state that has this model of peaceful cohabitation between (different) religions and ethnicities," he added. Lebanon has been headed for a crisis since last summer, when reports surfaced that the powerful Hezbollah could face an indictment by the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) in connection with ex-premier Rafiq Hariri's 2005 assassination. Fears of sectarian violence have mounted since the court's prosecutor submitted an indictment on Monday, and registrar Herman von Hebel said the case may go to trial by September regardless of whether any arrests had been made. The indictment has not been made public. A long-running dispute between rival parties in Lebanon over the STL last week prompted Hezbollah and its allies to walk out of the unity government of Western-backed Saad Hariri, son of the slain leader. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has warned his party would not stand idle should the court implicate any of its members. Experts have predicted a protracted political crisis and warn tensions could escalate into violence at any moment in Lebanon, a tiny country that has been gripped for decades by political unrest and all-out war.

Obama consults Mubarak on Lebanon, Tunisia

US President grateful to his Egyptian counterpart for his support for Hariri probe in Lebanon.

Middle East Online

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama on Tuesday consulted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on political tumult in Tunisia and tensions in Lebanon sparked by a UN probe into the killing of Rafiq Hariri. Obama spoke to the Egyptian leader after US officials said last week they were seeking to exert leverage in Lebanon though key regional players, and after the flight of ousted Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The White House said Obama told Mubarak he was urging calm, an end to violence and free and fair elections in Tunisia, amid public rage at the continued presence of the ousted president's party on the political scene. Obama also told Mubarak he was grateful for his support for the UN probe in Lebanon, which has kept its first indictment in the killing of the former prime minister under wraps amid fears of violence in Beirut. The US president also offered personal condolences to Mubarak and the Egyptian people for the "heinous" bombing targeting Coptic Christians on January 1 in Alexandria that left 21 people dead and wounded 79 others. The two men also discussed stalled efforts to advance peace between Israelis and Palestinians, the statement said.

Sweden's Iraqi deportations spark strong concerns

UN refugee agency continues to warn against sending Iraqis back to central parts of Iraq due persistent violence there.

Middle East Online

UNHCR: conditions in Iraq remain unsafe GENEVA - The UN refugee agency on Tuesday expressed strong concern at reports that Sweden plans to sent 25 Iraqis back to Baghdad despite repeated advice that conditions are unsafe there. Melissa Fleming, a spokeswoman for the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) pointed out that a Christian Iraqi who was deported last October was being readmitted to Sweden after he fled again following an attack. "The UNHCR is very concerned that Sweden plans to send around 25 Iraqis back to Baghdad tomorrow," she told journalists. "We understand that a number of those scheduled for return belong to religious and ethnic groups targeted by violence in Iraq," she added. Fleming reiterated that the UNHCR believed they were entiled to protection as refugees, especially with the recent deterioration of conditions for minorities in Iraq. Although she did not specifically refer to the incidents, sectarian violence has intensified in Iraq in recent weeks especially with a wave of attacks on Christians. "We are troubled that our advice, including on the situations of minorities in Iraq, is not sufficiently taken into account by Sweden when reviewing negative decisions that were made in 2008 and 2009," Fleming said. Swedish authorities said Tuesday that about 70 people were detained when police broke up a protest against the deportation of Iraqis near the southwestern city of Gothenburg. The UN refugee agency has over the past year repeatedly warned Britain and several Nordic nations not to send Iraqis back to central parts of Iraq because of persistent violence there.