June 1942. WWII Amsterdam is under Nazi occupation. Anne Frank, a teenage Jewish girl, is celebrating her 13th birthday with her family and friends by having a party. Amongst her birthday presents, she is given a red diary that she starts to write in immediately. Days later, call up papers arrive for her 16-year-old sister Margot and her parents, Otto and Edith, decide to hasten their plan to go into hiding from the Nazis to ensure that the family do not get separated.
The next morning, the Franks head to Otto's spice company. Once there, they are led past the warehouses by their helpers in the office and taken up to a secret annex at the back of the building that occupies the three top floors. Otto and Edith will sleep in one room, with Margot and Anne next door in another. They will soon be joined by their friends Mr and Mrs Van Daan and their teenage son Peter, who will live on the floor above, in the larger shared living area. At the very top of the building is a disused attic, too cold to sleep in but useful for storing food. They must obey strict rules in the annex, remaining completely silent during working hours while the warehouse men are in the building. Only the faithful office staff know of their existence and have agreed to help them survive.
At first, Edith and Margot find the confinement hard to bear and sink into depression, while Otto and Anne make themselves useful, arranging the furniture that has been hidden there for them, and sewing material together to make black-out curtains. The Van Daans soon arrive and liven things up, especially when Peter reveals that he has brought his pet cat Mouschi, while Anne was forced to leave her cat at home. Anne does not think much of Peter but decides she must try and be pleasant to him to keep the peace.
Documentary telling the extraordinary tale of a 14-year-old Polish girl, Rutka Laskier, who was murdered at Auschwitz in 1943.
In 2005, the school notebook in which Rutka recorded her last months in the ghetto of Bedzin was made public, six decades after she hid it under the floorboards of her home there. Rutka was immediately dubbed the 'Polish Anne Frank'.
In her diary, Rutka wrote about her life in the ghetto in 1943, detailing not just the Nazi atrocities, physical hardship and hunger, but also how she was developing as a young woman. She also tells how she made a daring escape from one of the early 'aktions', Nazi round-ups of Jews for transportation.
The documentary will unravel Rutka's story through the eyes of her half-sister, Israeli academic Zahava Scherz, on a journey to Poland in search of the sister she never knew.
We no longer have a civilian-led government. It is hard for a lifelong Republican and son of a retired Air Force colonel to say this, but the most unnerving legacy of the Bush administration is the encroachment of the Department of Defense into a striking number of aspects of civilian government. Our Constitution is at risk.
Banks that are getting taxpayer bailouts awarded their top executives nearly $1.6 billion in salaries, bonuses, and other benefits last year, an Associated Press analysis reveals.
The rewards came even at banks where poor results last year foretold the economic crisis that sent them to Washington for a government rescue. Some trimmed their executive compensation due to lagging bank performance, but still forked over multimillion-dollar executive pay packages.
Benefits included cash bonuses, stock options, personal use of company jets and chauffeurs, home security, country club memberships and professional money management, the AP review of federal securities documents found.
The total amount given to nearly 600 executives would cover bailout costs for many of the 116 banks that have so far accepted tax dollars to boost their bottom lines.
Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services committee and a long-standing critic of executive largesse, said the bonuses tallied by the AP review amount to a bribe "to get them to do the jobs for which they are well paid in the first place.
Israel is believed to be using controversial white phosphorus shells to screen its assault on the heavily populated Gaza Strip yesterday. The weapon, used by British and US forces in Iraq, can cause horrific burns but is not illegal if used as a smokescreen.
As the Israeli army stormed to the edges of Gaza City and the Palestinian death toll topped 500, the tell-tale shells could be seen spreading tentacles of thick white smoke to cover the troops’ advance. “These explosions are fantastic looking, and produce a great deal of smoke that blinds the enemy so that our forces can move in,” said one Israeli security expert. Burning blobs of phosphorus would cause severe injuries to anyone caught beneath them and force would-be snipers or operators of remote-controlled booby traps to take cover. Israel admitted using white phosphorus during its 2006 war with Lebanon.
The use of the weapon in the Gaza Strip, one of the world’s mostly densely population areas, is likely to ignite yet more controversy over Israel’s offensive, in which more than 2,300 Palestinians have been wounded.
The Geneva Treaty of 1980 stipulates that white phosphorus should not be used as a weapon of war in civilian areas, but there is no blanket ban under international law on its use as a smokescreen or for illumination. However, Charles Heyman, a military expert and former major in the British Army, said: “If white phosphorus was deliberately fired at a crowd of people someone would end up in The Hague. White phosphorus is also a terror weapon. The descending blobs of phosphorus will burn when in contact with skin.”
Sources in the defense establishment said Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago, even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
The Prime Minister’s New Year message for 2009:
As we look forward to this New Year, we face a challenge. A challenge of how we build a better tomorrow, today.
It will be my unwavering focus to make the right decisions to build in a world of danger and uncertainty a Britain of opportunity and hope.
This coming year won’t be easy, but I am determined that this government will be the rock of stability and fairness on which the British people can depend.
The scale of the challenges we face is matched by the strength of my optimism that the British people can and will rise to meet them. Because we’re not a do nothing people and we’ve always risen to every challenge.
We can meet the security challenge, the environmental challenge and the enormous economic challenge.
The British genius has always been to embrace the world in which we live, not the world we want to live in.
At all times, but perhaps especially at this time of year, we must acknowledge the debt we owe to our servicemen and women who meet our security challenge. Their bravery is unsurpassed and their sacrifice knows no bounds.
And as we meet the security challenge, so we must also meet the challenge of climate change.
The pace of climate change is such that it not only threatens future generations, but imperils our generation today.
Again, in an ever more interdependent world this will require us to build alliances and win arguments for change that is real, fair and sustainable.
I believe we can do it - and because we can, we must. The stakes are too great with our planet in peril for us to do anything less.
I look forward to working with President Elect Obama in creating a transatlantic, and then a global coalition for change.
We can demonstrate this in 2009 in how we tackle climate change at the Copenhagen Summit.
And we can demonstrate this in 2009 by making sure that now, more than ever, we keep our promises to the world’s poorest.
As we look ahead into 2009, the most immediate and pressing challenge of all for every continent is the economic challenge.
When the history books come to be written - 2008 will largely be remembered for the scale of the great economic and financial crisis. A year in which an old era of unbridled free market dogma was finally ushered out.
And I want 2009 to be the year when the dawn of a new progressive era breaks across the world: purposeful and energetic governments giving real help to families and businesses when they need it the most; and through expanding through the downturn vital investments in our future - real hope for that future too.
Real help now. Real hope for the future. Both are essential. Alone one will not be enough. Failure to do either, as some propose, would mean both a longer, deeper downturn, and a weaker economy in the future.
The scale and speed of the global financial crisis was at times, almost overwhelming. I know that people felt bewildered, confused and sometimes frightened.
That is why the response had to be swift and decisive.
That is why we acted so quickly to get money into the banks. Not for any desire to finance bankers, but because if we didn’t it would have put at risk that which is most important to you and me - your jobs, your homes, your savings, your standard of living.
What keeps me up at night, and gets me up in the morning are the hopes and aspirations of the British people. My guiding principle, at all times, is the welfare and well being of British families and British businesses.
All of this would have been put at risk if we had not intervened and simply done nothing, as some would have had us do.
This will be a challenging year for the economy but I believe, with the right policies, we can build a better tomorrow, while dealing with the challenges of today.
The failure of British governments in previous global downturns was to succumb to political expediency and to cut back investment across the board, thereby stunting our ability to grow and strangling hope during the upturn.
This will not happen on my watch.
The lesson of this crisis is that we do not let recession take its course, yield to defeatism, or simply muddle through and just hope for things to get better.
The message is - we take action: we are providing an extra £60 to pensioners immediately, on top of the winter allowance; increasing child benefit from January 1st to £20 per week; and helping 22 million basic rate taxpayers with a £145 tax cut. Added to that, the cut in VAT this year will knock around £275 off the average family household bill. Not to do this would be imprudent.
Today the risk of attempting too little is a greater threat than the risk of attempting too much.
And in this period of difficulty and downturn, it is also important that we understand that amid the threats and the global risks there are great opportunities for Britain. We must prepare ourselves for these massive opportunities as the world economy doubles in size over the next two decades.
We must not just plan for tomorrow. Our task over the next twelve months is to build tomorrow today.
So that Britain creates the thousands of new tech jobs for the digital age now ahead of us, we must build the digital tomorrow, today
So that Britain creates the thousands of green jobs vital for the environment and our economy, we must build that green future of tomorrow, today.
So that we have the best railways, roads and communications for the future, we must build the infrastructure of tomorrow, today.
So we have the right skills for the future we must not let people’s lives waste away in unemployment without trying to help. So that they have the skills our country needs we must build that tomorrow, today.
If we coordinate our expansion with other countries then the effect of one country’s action can be magnified, almost twice over.
So I want to set out an agenda for the G20 meeting of all the major economies in London in April that will help renew our global institutions for the intense levels of international cooperation we now need to solve our problems.
So to those worried about jobs, we will take every action we can.
For those worried about their homes, let me tell you that ordinary homeowners should not be the first to pay the price of financial failures. We will help people trying their best to pay their mortgages to stay in their own homes.
To those who know that the only solution for our economy and environment is a global solution - expanding growth and tackling climate change together - let us say that we will work with Europe, America and others to meet the international challenges of this century - a World Bank for environment and development. And an International Monetary Fund that is an early warning system for crisis prevention.
All of these actions will play a role in delivering real help now and real hope for the future. And they will ensure that when we come out of this downturn we hit the ground running.
I am confident that we can steer Britain safely into the future.
First, because I am confident in the innate strength and decency of the British people.
Second, because Britain as a country has faced down many even greater challenges than those before us today.
And third, because this government has set short term, medium term and long term challenges before, and, more crucially, have met them.
Today the issues may be different, more complex, more global. And yet the qualities that are needed to meet them have been demonstrated in abundance by the British people before.
I believe that we will eventually look back on the winter of 2008 and 2009 as another great global challenge that was thrown Britain’s way, and that Britain met. Because we had the right values, the right policies, the right character to meet them.
That’s why I believe Britain is the best country in the world. And the British people will, in 2009, show the world the qualities we are made of - as we build tomorrow, today.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund, is worried enough to ditch a half-century of IMF orthodoxy, calling for a fiscal boost worth 2pc of world GDP to "prevent global depression".
"If we are not able to do that, then social unrest may happen in many countries, including advanced economies. We are facing an unprecedented decline in output. All around the planet, the people have reacted with feelings going from surprise to anger, and from anger to fear," he said.
Russia has begun to shut down trade as it adjusts to the shock of Urals oil below $40 a barrel. It has imposed import tariffs of 30pc on cars, 15pc on farm kit, and 95pc on poultry (above quota levels). "It is possible during the financial crisis to support domestic producers by raising customs duties," said Premier Vladimir Putin.
Russia is not alone. India and Vietnam have imposed steel tariffs. Indonesia is resorting to special "licences" to choke off imports.
The Kremlin is alarmed by a 13pc fall in industrial output over the last five months. There have been street protests in Moscow, St Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Vladivostok and Barnaul. Police crushed "Dissent Marchers" holding copies of Russia's constitution above their heads in Moscow's Triumfalnaya Square.
"Russia has not seen anything like these nationwide protests before," said Boris Kagarlitsky from Moscow's Globalization Institute.
The Duma is widening the treason law to catch most forms of political dissent, and unwelcome forms of journalism. Jury trials for state crimes are to be abolished.
Yevgeny Kiseloyov at the Moscow Times said it feels eerily like December 1 1934 when Stalin unveiled his "Enemies of the People" law, kicking off the Great Terror.
The omens are not good in China either. Taxis are being bugged by state police. The great unknown is how Beijing will respond as its state-directed export strategy hits a brick wall, leaving exposed a vast eyesore of concrete and excess plant.
Exports fell 2.2pc in November. Toy, textile, footwear, and furniture plants are being closed across Guangdong, now the riot hub of South China. Some 40m Chinese workers are expected to lose their jobs. Party officials have warned of "mass-scale social turmoil".
The Politburo is giving mixed signals. We don't yet know how much of the country's plan to boost domestic demand through a $586bn stimulus package is real, and how much is a wish-list sent to party bosses in the hinterland without funding.
Shortly after President Hu Jintao said China is "losing competitive edge in the world market", we saw a move towards export subsidies for the steel industry and a dip in the yuan peg - even though China already has the world's biggest reserves ($2 trillion) and the biggest trade surplus ($40bn a month).
So is the Communist Party mulling a 1930s "beggar-thy-neighbour" strategy of devaluation to export its way out of trouble? Such raw mercantilism can only draw a sharp retort from Washington and Brussels in this climate.
"During a global slowdown, you can't have countries trying to take advantage of others by manipulating their currencies," said Frank Vargo from the US National Association of Manufacturers.
A new report by the U.S. Army War College talks about the possibility of Pentagon resources and troops being used should the economic crisis lead to civil unrest, such as protests against businesses and government or runs on beleaguered banks.
“Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security,” said the War College report.
The study says economic collapse, terrorism and loss of legal order are among possible domestic shocks that might require military action within the U.S.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn warned Wednesday of economy-related riots and unrest in various global markets if the financial crisis is not addressed and lower-income households are hurt by credit constraints and rising unemployment.
U.S. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., and U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., both said U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson brought up a worst-case scenario as he pushed for the Wall Street bailout in September. Paulson, former Goldman Sachs CEO, said that might even require a declaration of martial law, the two noted.
State and local police in Arizona say they have broad plans to deal with social unrest, including trouble resulting from economic distress. The security and police agencies declined to give specifics, but said they would employ existing and generalized emergency responses to civil unrest that arises for any reason.
LOS ANGELES — A year ago, a day-laborer center adjacent to a Home Depot here teemed with Latin American immigrants who showed up and found a sure day's work painting, gardening or hauling.
These days, more than immigrants are packing the Hollywood Community Job Center: Unemployed Americans are joining them. There's little work for anybody.
"Everybody is coming to look for work," Rene Jemio, outreach coordinator for the hiring hall, told the Wall Street Journal. "It's not just your average immigrant anymore; it's African-Americans and whites, too."
I started off, actually, at a final exam at the university and went straight from there down to the BLM office. And I saw some protesters walking back and forth outside, and I knew that I wanted to do more than that and that this kind of injustice demanded a higher level of disruption. And so, I just decided that I wanted to go inside and cause a bigger disruption.
And from there, I found it really easy to get inside and become a bidder, and went inside and was in the auction room. And once I was in there, I realized that any kind of speech or disruption or something like that wasn’t going to be very effective, but I saw pretty quickly that I could have a pretty major impact on the way this worked. And it just took me a little bit of time to build up the courage to do that, knowing what the consequences would be. And so, I started bidding and started driving up the prices for some of the oil companies. And throughout that time, I knew that I could be doing more and could really set aside some acres to really be protected. And so, then I started winning bids and disrupting it as clearly as I could.
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the average cost was of keeping a prisoner for a day in each (a) prison establishment and (b) young offender institution in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement; [243280]
(2) what the average cost was of keeping a person in prison for (a) one week and (b) one year in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanson: The following table shows the cost per prisoner per day for each prison establishment and young offender institution for 2007-08.
The overall average resource cost per prisoner in England and Wales in 2007-08 was £39,000 (to the nearest £500) this equates to £750 per week (to the nearest £10).
There are a number of factors which will cause differences in prison costs, such as the size, age, location and category of the prison, the mix of prisoners (including gender and age) and the internal regime and rehabilitation work followed.
The costs comprise (a) the public sector establishments' direct resource expenditure as published in the HMPS annual report and accounts, increased by an apportionment of costs borne centrally by HMPS and the National Offender Management Service and (b) the resource expenditure of contracted-out prisons also increased by certain costs borne centrally. This involves some estimation. Income from the Youth Justice Board (YJB) in respect of services recharged to the YJB is excluded in order to show the overall cost to the Ministry of Justice. The figures do not include prisoners held in police and court cells under Operation Safeguard, nor expenditure met by other Government Departments (e.g. for health and education). The prisoner escort service is included.
Source for this message:
House of Commons
