International news – Bladsy 9

Sexual harassment in Kenya

A troop of vervet monkeys is giving Kenyan villagers long days and sleepless nights, destroying crops and causing a food crisis.

Earlier this month, local MP Paul Muite urged the Kenyan Wildlife Service to help contain their aggressive behaviour.

But Mr Muite caused laughter when he told parliament that the monkeys had taken to harassing and mocking women in a village.

But this is exactly what the women in the village of Nachu, just south-west of Kikuyu, are complaining about.

They estimate there are close to 300 monkeys invading the farms at dawn. They eat the village’s maize, potatoes, beans and other crops.

And because women are primarily responsible for the farms, they have borne the brunt of the problem, as they try to guard their crops.

They say the monkeys are more afraid of young men than women and children, and the bolder ones throw stones and chase the women from their farms.

Nachu’s women have tried wearing their husbands’ clothes in an attempt to trick the monkeys into thinking they are men – but this has failed, they say.

"When we come to chase the monkeys away, we are dressed in trousers and hats, so that we look like men," resident Lucy Njeri told the BBC News website

"But the monkeys can tell the difference and they don’t run away from us and point at our breasts. They just ignore us and continue to steal the crops."

In addition to stealing their crops, the monkeys also make sexually explicit gestures at the women, they claim.

"The monkeys grab their breasts, and gesture at us while pointing at their private parts. We are afraid that they will sexually harass us," said Mrs Njeri.

The Kenyan Wildlife Service told the BBC that it was not unusual for monkeys to harass women and be less afraid of them than men, but they had not heard of monkeys in Kenya making sexually explicit gestures as a form of communication to humans.

The predominantly farming community is now having to receive famine relief food.

The residents report that the monkeys have killed livestock and guard dogs, which has also left the villagers living in fear, especially for the safety of their babies and children.

All the villagers’ attempts to control the monkeys have failed – the monkeys evade traps, have lookouts to warn the others of impending attacks and snub poisoned food put out by the residents.

"The troop has scouts which keep a lookout from a vantage point, and when they see us coming, they give warning signals to the ones in the farms to get away," said another area resident, Jacinta Wandaga.

The town has been warned by the Kenya Wildlife Service not to harm or kill any of the monkeys, as it is a criminal offence.

Running out of options, residents are harvesting their crops early in an attempt to salvage what they can of this year’s crop.

Unfortunately, this only invites the monkeys to break into their homes and steal the harvested crops out of their granaries.

Even the formation of a "monkey squad" to keep track of the monkeys’ movements and keep them out has failed.

The area is simply too large for the few volunteers to cover, they say.

Some residents have lost hope and abandoned their homes and farms, but those who have stayed behind, like 80-year-old James Ndungu, are making a desperate plea for assistance.

"For God’s sake, the government should take pity on us and move these monkeys away because we do not want to abandon our farms," he said.

"I beg you, please come and take these animals away from here so that we can farm in peace."

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Nigerian fetish killers

Scores of people fled villages in the Oju district of Benue state, near the border with Cameroon, as word of the killing spread, prompting authorities to impose a dusk-to-dawn curfew.

"The woman’s two ears were cut off, her hands were chopped off, her stomach was ripped open, her heart removed and her vagina was taken away," said a police spokesman from the state capital Makurdi.

Two girls who were with the woman also suffered deep machete cuts but survived the attack and are recovering in a local hospital, he added.

The attack occurred on Aug. 11, but the report reached state police command only on Tuesday because of poor communications.

Killing for rituals is common in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, where many believe witchcraft involving the use of human organs can make them instant millionaires or provide protection.

Nigeria is nominally divided equally between Christians and Muslims, but many mix these imported faiths with traditional beliefs.

Sorcerers often use human genitals, eyes, tongues and skulls to make charms.

In 2004, police discovered 83 decomposing, mutilated corpses in a raid on fetish shrines in a teak forest near Okija town in southeastern Anambra state. About 30 witch-doctors were arrested.

The former Anambra state governor, Chris Ngige, said he was taken to the forest to take an oath with some political sponsors before assuming office in 2003.

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Oz unveils immigrant test

Australia has unveiled details of a new citizenship test for immigrants.

They will be asked questions about history, institutions and culture – as well as committing to Australian social values focusing on "mateship".

The aim of the test was to get "that balance between diversity and integration correct in future", said Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews.

Critics believe the requirement of an English language exam discriminates against non-English speakers.

The new citizenship test is expected to be introduced later this year.

The details were unveiled in a 40-page draft guide that is to be given to all applicants.

The prospective citizen will have to give a correct answer to 12 out of 20 questions – drawn from a total of about 200.

Some elements will almost certainly be beyond the knowledge of many ordinary Australians, says the BBC’s Nick Bryant in Sydney.

They include knowing the country’s first prime minister or when European settlers arrived in Australia – or what the opening line of the national anthem is. Another one could be related to the nation’s most important horse race.

Applicants who fail the test will be allowed to re-sit the examination.

But Kate Gauthier, national co-ordinator of refugee support group A Just Australia, criticised the government for introducing a citizenship exam.

"If they want to have Australia be more integrated they should spend more money on programs that achieve that instead of punishing people who are having trouble achieving that [integration] because they have language barriers and are recovering from things like torture," she was quoted as saying to the Sunday Herald Sun newspaper.

For the first time, the draft guide lists 10 essential Australian values every citizen must embrace – focusing on "mateship and a fair go" and including tolerance, compassion, freedom of speech, freedom of religion and secular government, equality of men and women and peacefulness.

It describes Australia as "a nation at ease with the world and itself", but it expects potential citizens to respect Australia’s core values.

"Australia has a strong tradition of mateship in which people help and receive help from others voluntarily, especially in times of adversity," it says.

"A mate can be a spouse, partner, brother, sister, daughter, son or friend. A mate can be a stranger."

The formulation caused controversy in 1999 when voters rejected an attempt by Prime Minister John Howard to have the concept written into the preamble to the constitution.

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‘Enhanced blast’

British soldiers in Afghanistan are being supplied with a new "super weapon" to attack Taliban fighters more effectively, defence officials said yesterday.

The "enhanced blast" weapon is based on thermobaric technology used in the powerful bombs dropped by the Russians to obliterate Grozny, the Chechen capital, and in US "bunker busters".

Defence officials insisted yesterday that the British bombs were different. "They are optimised to create blast [rather than heat]", one said, adding that it would be misleading to call them "thermobaric".

So-called thermobaric weapons have been used by the US against suspected al-Qaida and Taliban underground bases. Combined heat and pressure kill people over a wide area by sucking the air out of lungs and destroying internal organs.

Defence officials described the new weapon as a shoulder-launched "light anti-structure munition".

They said the bombs would be more effective than conventional weapons such as anti-tank missiles which often miss their targets. Even when they hit the damage is limited to a confined area.

The new weapons would be more effective against buildings and structures used by the Taliban, they said.

Sir Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat leader, described the weapons as a "serious step change" for the British army. He added: "The continuing issue of civilian casualties in Afghanistan has enormous importance in the battle for hearts and minds. If these weapons contribute to the deaths of civilians then a primary purpose of the British deployment is going to be made yet more difficult."

The deployment of the weapons should have been announced to MPs, Sir Menzies said. "We need much more transparency."

The MoD said in a statement that it was buying "a small number of enhanced blast munitions for use on operations". It added: "These have been procured in full accordance with the UK’s obligations under international humanitarian law. It is important to us that our forces can choose from a wide suite of weaponry so they can respond appropriately and proportionately to any threat." The weapons would be used "proportionally under specific rules of engagement", the MoD said.

A "legal review" for the weapon – officially the lightweight anti-structure missile (ASM) – considered issues including whether it was prohibited or restricted under international law, whether it could be used discriminately, and whether it would cause unnecessary suffering.

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Four Major Banks Borrow From Fed

Four major banks said Wednesday they each borrowed $500 million from the Federal Reserve’s discount window, lending weight to its efforts to restore liquidity to tight markets.

Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Wachovia Corp. each stressed they themselves have "substantial liquidity" and the ability to borrow money elsewhere.

In a joint statement, the latter three said they decided to borrow directly from the central bank to demonstrate "the potential value of the Fed’s primary credit facility" and encourage its use by other banks. It was not clear if other banks had also decided to borrow from the Fed.

On Friday, the Fed took the dramatic step of cutting its discount rate on loans to banks, to 5.75 percent from 6.25 percent, in an attempt to alleviate Wall Street’s credit crunch. It also made technical changes to make it easier for banks to get discount loans, including extending the credit period to up to 30 days.

Tapping the discount window had previously been seen as a last resort for banks in trouble, a perception the Fed sought to eliminate.

Citigroup was the first to announce its decision to borrow the money, "on behalf of its clients" at Citibank.

"Citi is pleased to inject liquidity into the financial system during times of market stress and to support creditworthy clients," the company said. "Citibank stands ready to continue to access the discount window as client needs and market conditions warrant."

It was followed minutes later by the three other banks.

"The companies believe it is important at this time to take a leadership role in demonstrating the potential value of the Fed’s primary credit facility and to encourage its use by other financial institutions," their statement said. The three added that they hoped their actions would "promote broad acceptance of the use of the facility."

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IMF hopes to triple African voting rights

International Monetary Fund (IMF) director general Rodrigo Rato on Monday expressed the organisation’s commitment to triple the voting rights of African nations in the organisation.

"We are conscious of the fact that current voting rights of African countries are insufficient and not representative enough," Rato said in Maputo at the end of a meeting of African finance ministers and central bank governors.

"Therefore, we will try our best possible to increase the voting rights and improve on their representations," he said.

He also hinted at the possibility of appointing an African deputy director general.

At the IMF’s inception, African countries had 11,2% of voting rights but their share has fallen to 2%. The rights are calculated on the basis of financial contributions.

Mozambique’s Finance Minister Manuel Chang said he hoped to see the African vote raised to 6% "in the first instance" and then in stages "until we arrive at our initial voting capacity".

African countries have demanded a reform of IMF working rules to include factors such as population and economic development in the calculation of voting rights

Blacks won’t die for US

NBC News on Sunday examined the "disappearing military mainstay" of African-American recruits, who in recent years had provided about 1/4 of military enlistments.

Once seen by young black people as "a sure way to climb the ladder," the military is increasingly being shunned because of the Iraq War. "Nearly 3 in 4 blacks oppose the war," NBC stated, and the percentage of active-duty black soldiers in the Army "has plunged by a third since 2001."

The drop-off in black recruits has been recognized as a problem since at least 2005, when the Washington Post reported that "the percentage of new Army recruits who are black has slipped dramatically over the past five years, reflecting a lack of support among African Americans for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."

The Associated Press recently updated those figures and suggested that "the findings reflect the growing unpopularity of the wars, particularly among family members and other adults who exert influence over high school and college students considering the military as a place to serve their country, further their education or build a career."

The father of one young black man who would like to enlist told NBC that he has refused to give his permission — required because his son is only 17 — because "I still have that hope that in a year from now he might change his mind."

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Top Swiss banker attacks US

Switzerland’s top banker has warned of massive losses from the unfolding credit crisis, describing the collapse in US lending standards as "unbelievable".

Jean-Pierre Roth, president of the Swiss National Bank, said market turmoil was far from over as tremors from the sub-prime debacle continued to rock the world.

"We’re certainly not at the end of the story. There are question marks surrounding the development of the American economy," he said. "Something unbelievable happened. People who had neither income nor capital got credit with very attractive conditions. Now reality is striking back," he said.

In Germany, the state bank SachsenLB admitted that it had received a €17.3bn bail-out after its investment arm Ormond Quai racked up huge losses on US sub-prime debt. It had previously denied holding direct exposure to sub-prime.

The revelation came as traders braced themselves for another turbulent week, with mounting expectations that central banks may soon cut rates to prevent market mayhem leading to an economic downturn.

While the surprise half-point cut in the US discount rate to 5.75pc last Friday helped settle markets and launch a relief rally on Wall Street and European bourses, investors remain wary until it becomes clearer who is holding the main losses on US mortgage debt.

Stockmarket historian David Schwartz warned investors not be fooled by signs of recovery. "The truth is no-one knows how serious the financial problem in the US is, nor how it will unfold. We do know central banks are scared out of their minds," he said.

The scale of last week’s sell-off sent shock waves through almost every asset class. Hedge funds liquidated yen "carry trade" positions to meet margin calls, toppling dominoes across Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.

Both Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers predict two cuts in the US federal funds rate to 4.75pc by the end of the year as falling house prices dampen spending. Michigan’s consumer confidence index slumped to 83.3 in August, down from 90.4 in July.

Markets are pricing in a 34pc chance that the European Central Bank will have to start cutting rates before the end of the year after growth faltered in the second quarter. The French and Spanish property booms have both stalled.

Jean Claude-Trichet, the ECB’s president, last week reaffirmed a likely quarter point rate rise to 4.25pc in September, despite the bank’s emergency actions in previous days. inside

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British forces useless

Under attack

When America’s top commanders in Iraq held a conference with their British counterparts recently, Major General Jonathan Shaw – Britain’s senior officer in Basra – was quick to share his views on how best to conduct counter-insurgency operations.

For much of the last four years, the Americans in the room would have listened carefully, used to deferring to their British colleagues’ long experience in Northern Ireland. This time, however, eyes that would once have been attentive simply rolled.

Few were in the mood for a lecture about British superiority, when they fear that Downing Street’s planned pull-out from Basra will squander any progress from their own hard-fought "troop surge" strategy elsewhere.

"It’s insufferable for Christ’s sake," said one senior figure closely involved in US military planning. "He comes on and he lectures everybody in the room about how to do a counter-insurgency. The guys were just rolling their eyeballs. The notorious Northern Ireland came up again. It’s pretty frustrating. It would be okay if he was best in class, but now he’s worst in class. Everybody else’s area is getting better and his is getting worse."

The meeting, called by General David Petraeus, the senior US officer who has the task of managing the surge, is emblematic of what is fast becoming a minor crisis in Anglo-American military relations.

In Britain, Gordon Brown’s government has tried to depict a quiet process of handover to Iraqi troops in Basra, which will see the remaining forces in the city withdraw to the airport in November.

What US generals see, however, is a close ally preparing to "cut and run", leaving behind a city in the grip of a power struggle between Shia militias that could determine the fate of the Iraqi government and the country as a whole. With signs of the surge yielding tentative progress in Baghdad, but at the cost of many American lives, there could scarcely be a worse time for a parting of the ways. Yet the US military has no doubt, despite what Gordon Brown claims, that the pullout is being driven by "the political situation at home in the UK".

A senior US officer familiar with Gen Petraeus’s thinking said: "The short version is that the Brits have lost Basra, if indeed they ever had it. Britain is in a difficult spot because of the lack of political support at home, but for a long time – more than a year – they have not been engaged in Basra and have tried to avoid casualties.

"They did not have enough troops there even before they started cutting back. The situation is beyond their control.

"Quite frankly what they’re doing right now is not any value-added. They’re just sitting there. They’re not involved. The situation there gets worse by the day. Americans are disappointed because, in their minds, this thing is still winnable. They don’t intend to cut and run."

The officer predicted that the affair could have long-lasting implications. "There will be a stink about this that will hang around the British military," he said.

It is a view echoed by General Jack Keane, the architect of the surge strategy, who has just returned from Baghdad.

Gen Keane, who has the ear of Vice President Dick Cheney and Stephen Hadley, President George W Bush’s national security adviser, told The Sunday Telegraph: "It is disappointing and frustrating to see a situation in Basra that was once working pretty well, now coming apart. The situation there has been getting worse for some time."

The depth of concern has grown since Gordon Brown’s first prime ministerial visit to the US earlier this month, when he delivered a blunt message to Mr Bush that he would stick to plans which could see most of Britain’s 5,500 troops gone from Iraq next year.

The next political drama will come in four weeks when Gen Petraeus reports on the status of the surge strategy, which has successfully quelled violence in some areas but has failed to put an end to calls from Congress to bring the troops home.

Britain’s uncertain legacy in Basra will then be used as a political battering ram in Washington, as Mr Bush tries to win support on Capitol Hill.

One US official said that recent US military intelligence reports sent to the White House had concluded that Britain had "lost" Basra, and that Pentagon war games were predicting a virtual civil war in the South once British troops left.

He said: "When the White House makes the case for continuing the surge on the Hill they will say: ‘Look what happened in Basra when the Brits went back to their barracks. We can’t pull out now. Give us more time to get it right’."

He added that White House officials had expected Mr Brown to strike a different tone on Iraq to that of Tony Blair, but that they were disappointed not to win a firmer agreement to keep British troops in place.

"They don’t mind a change in rhetoric, but the bottom line for the president was to keep Basra as a British responsibility. He didn’t get as much as he wanted. There was a whiff of double dealing about it all."

As The Sunday Telegraph revealed last week, plans have been drawn up to send thousands of American troops into southern Iraq to take over the supervision of the vital supply route north from Kuwait, a task the British will bequeath when they leave.

But the senior US officer warned that combat troops may also have to go into Basra itself to "protect the population" from violence between its numerous warring Shia militias – an extra burden as perilous as any in Baghdad.

US Marine Colonel Gary Anderson, who has conducted recent Iraq war games for the Pentagon, said the situation Britain would leave behind in Basra "could be the most bloody part of the transition".

He said: "The primary issue in Basra will be a struggle between various Shia factions for control of the region, and frankly the regular government in Baghdad as well. It will be between pro-Iranian factions and those that are more nationalistic. It’s going to be nasty."

Col Anderson said British troops "did the best they could", but added: "I’m not sure they did as good a job as they did traditionally. This isn’t Northern Ireland. They thought they had a pretty good model but Iraq is a different culture."

Michael O’Hanlon, of the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, added: "Basra is a mess, and the exit strategy attempted there has failed. It is, for the purposes of future Iraq policymaking, an example of what not to do.

"Basra has gone far towards revising the common American image of British soldiers as perhaps the world’s best at counter-insurgency."

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NATO warns of war in Kosovo

Serbia-NATO’s commander in Kosovo said Tuesday that patience is running out in the volatile province and he warned of further deterioration if international envoys fail to persuade ethnic Albanians and Serbia to agree on its future.

German Lt. Gen. Roland Kather, who commands over 16,000 troops in Kosovo, urged Western and Russian envoys to broker a deal between the independence seeking ethnic-Albanians and Serbia’s officials or risk facing a violent backlash if no agreement is reached.

"Patience is not endless," Kather said. "They should come up with a decision as soon as possible."

Last week envoys from United States, the European Union and Russia launched a 120-day effort to end the impasse over Kosovo.

The new effort follows Russia’s threat to block a Western-backed plan to grant Kosovo internationally supervised independence in the U.N. Security Council.

The diplomats are to report back to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon by Dec. 10.

Kather said the situation was quiet in the province of some two million people but added it was "unpredictable."

"Certainly the situation will deteriorate after those 120 days," Kather said. "We have to do everything possible to keep it under control."

The delay in resolving Kosovo’s political status has raised fears of renewed violence as the frustration among the majority ethnic Albanians grows in the absence of a decision over its future, eight years into U.N. and NATO administration.

"My main worry is that following some kind of … political trouble, there will be some individuals, there will be some extremists, there will be some frustration," Kather said.

"They need a fuse, and then they might come up with some violent actions. That of course, will cause a reaction … and then suddenly this violence might run out of control," he said.

Both sides in the talks have expressed doubt an agreement will be reached and prospects for compromise are slim. Kosovo’s Albanians continue to insist on full independence from Serbia, an outcome Belgrade opposes.

Over the weekend the EU envoy to the talks said that partitioning the province along ethnic lines was an option if ethnic Albanian and Serbian leaders agreed, and threatened to deny the possibility of EU membership if the sides failed to compromise.

The two sides are to hold the next round of talks with international envoys Aug. 30 in Vienna, Austria.

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Iranian unit labeled ‘terrorist’

The United States has decided to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country’s 125,000-strong elite military branch, as a "specially designated global terrorist," according to U.S. officials, a move that allows Washington to target the group’s business operations and finances.

The Bush administration has chosen to move against the Revolutionary Guard Corps because of what U.S. officials have described as its growing involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as its support for extremists throughout the Middle East, the sources said. The decision follows congressional pressure on the administration to toughen its stance against Tehran, as well as U.S. frustration with the ineffectiveness of U.N. resolutions against Iran’s nuclear program, officials said.

The designation of the Revolutionary Guard will be made under Executive Order 13224, which President Bush signed two weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to obstruct terrorist funding. It authorizes the United States to identify individuals, businesses, charities and extremist groups engaged in terrorist activities. The Revolutionary Guard would be the first national military branch included on the list, U.S. officials said — a highly unusual move because it is part of a government, rather than a typical non-state terrorist organization.

The order allows the United States to block the assets of terrorists and to disrupt operations by foreign businesses that "provide support, services or assistance to, or otherwise associate with, terrorists."

The move reflects escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran over issues including Iraq and Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Iran has been on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism since 1984, but in May the two countries began their first formal one-on-one dialogue in 28 years with a meeting of diplomats in Baghdad.

The main goal of the new designation is to clamp down on the Revolutionary Guard’s vast business network, as well as on foreign companies conducting business linked to the military unit and its personnel. The administration plans to list many of the Revolutionary Guard’s financial operations.

"Anyone doing business with these people will have to reevaluate their actions immediately," said a U.S. official familiar with the plan who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the decision has not been announced. "It increases the risks of people who have until now ignored the growing list of sanctions against the Iranians. It makes clear to everyone who the IRGC and their related businesses really are. It removes the excuses for doing business with these people."

For weeks, the Bush administration has been debating whether to target the Revolutionary Guard Corps in full, or only its Quds Force wing, which U.S. officials have linked to the growing flow of explosives, roadside bombs, rockets and other arms to Shiite militias in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The Quds Force also lends support to Shiite allies such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah and to Sunni movements such as Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Although administration discussions continue, the initial decision is to target the entire Guard Corps, U.S. officials said. The administration has not yet decided when to announce the new measure, but officials said they would prefer to do so before the meeting of the U.N. General Assembly next month, when the United States intends to increase international pressure against Iran.

Formed in 1979 and originally tasked with protecting the world’s only modern theocracy, the Revolutionary Guard took the lead in battling Iraq during the bloody Iran-Iraq war waged from 1980 to 1988. The Guard, also known as the Pasdaran, has since become a powerful political and economic force in Iran. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rose through the ranks of the Revolutionary Guard and came to power with support from its network of veterans. Its leaders are linked to many mainstream businesses in Iran.

"They are heavily involved in everything from pharmaceuticals to telecommunications and pipelines — even the new Imam Khomeini Airport and a great deal of smuggling," said Ray Takeyh of the Council on Foreign Relations. "Many of the front companies engaged in procuring nuclear technology are owned and run by the Revolutionary Guards. They’re developing along the lines of the Chinese military, which is involved in many business enterprises. It’s a huge business conglomeration."

The Revolutionary Guard Corps — with its own navy, air force, ground forces and special forces units — is a rival to Iran’s conventional troops. Its naval forces abducted 15 British sailors and marines this spring, sparking an international crisis, and its special forces armed Lebanon’s Hezbollah with missiles used against Israel in the 2006 war. The corps also plays a key role in Iran’s military industries, including the attempted acquisition of nuclear weapons and surface-to-surface missiles, according to Anthony H. Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The United States took punitive action against Iran after the November 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, including the breaking of diplomatic ties and the freezing of Iranian assets in the United States. More recently, dozens of international banks and financial institutions reduced or eliminated their business with Iran after a quiet campaign by the Treasury Department and State Department aimed at limiting Tehran’s access to the international financial system. Over the past year, two U.N. resolutions have targeted the assets and movements of 28 people — including some Revolutionary Guard members — linked to Iran’s nuclear program.

The key obstacle to stronger international pressure against Tehran has been China, Iran’s largest trading partner. After the Iranian government refused to comply with two U.N. Security Council resolutions dealing with its nuclear program, Beijing balked at a U.S. proposal for a resolution that would have sanctioned the Revolutionary Guard, U.S. officials said.

China’s actions reverse a cycle during which Russia was the most reluctant among the veto-wielding members of the Security Council. "China used to hide behind Russia, but Russia is now hiding behind China," said a U.S. official familiar with negotiations.

The administration’s move comes amid growing support in Congress for the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act, which was introduced in the Senate by Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) and in the House by Tom Lantos (D-Calif.). The bill already has the support of 323 House members.

The administration’s move could hurt diplomatic efforts, some analysts said. "It would greatly complicate our efforts to solve the nuclear issue," said Joseph Cirincione, a nuclear proliferation expert at the Center for American Progress. "It would tie an end to Iran’s nuclear program to an end to its support of allies in Hezbollah and Hamas. The only way you could get a nuclear deal is as part of a grand bargain, which at this point is completely out of reach."

Such sanctions can work only alongside diplomatic efforts, Cirincione added.

"Sanctions can serve as a prod, but they have very rarely forced a country to capitulate or collapse," he said. "All of us want to back Iran into a corner, but we want to give them a way out, too. [The designation] will convince many in Iran’s elite that there’s no point in talking with us and that the only thing that will satisfy us is regime change."

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UK blocks military exports to Israel

The British government has blocked almost one third of British military exports to Israel this year, citing possible threats to regional stability and fears the equipment might facilitate human rights violations.

According to official figures, the value of UK military sales arms to Israel declined by one third last year, and has fallen by a drastic 75 percent since 2005.

"There is evidence that the British government’s export control policy to Israel may have been tightened up," said Parliament’s new 2007 Strategic Export Controls report, issued by the Quadrapartite Commission, which comprises representatives from four ministries.

The change in policy, said the report, reflects a convergence of government attitudes with its own official guidelines.

The report comes amid a period of uncertainty in Anglo-Israeli relations.

While the new prime minister, Gordon Brown, has voiced public support for Israel and has appointed several pro-Israel MPs to cabinet positions, he has also promoted a leading critic of US and Israeli policy, former UN deputy secretary-general Mark Malloch Brown, to a key Foreign Office post.

Outside of government, the opposition Liberal Democrat party has called for a rethinking of arms sales to Israel, while in May the UK’s Legal Services Commission, the state agency that provides funding for attorney’s fees for indigent defendants, agreed to underwrite the costs of litigation brought by a Palestinian man in a British court seeking a ban on arms sales to Israel.

The August 7 Quadripartite Committee report largely praised the government’s overall handling of strategic exports but warned that the rapid pace of technological change and rising threat of terrorism required increased state vigilance.

"Any gaps in the legislation could have serious consequences for the UK," it concluded.

However, it criticized as "unclear" the British government’s policies on arms sales to Israel.

While the "case-by-case" approach gave the government a "flexibility" that allowed a "latitude to adjust policy without the need for public explanation," its arms sales policies towards Israel were "neither transparent nor accountable," the panel found.

The committee asked that "the government explain its policy on licensing exports to Israel, Jordan or other countries in the Middle East and that it explain whether it has adjusted its policy since 1997 as events in the Occupied Territories and Middle East have unfolded."

"We further recommend that the government explain how it assesses whether there is a clear risk‚ that a proposed export to Israel might be used for internal repression," it said.

Statistics published by the committee showed that arms exports to Israel totaled 14.5 million pounds last year (about $29 million), compared to GBP 22.5 million in 2005. Between 1997 and 2006 Britain granted Israel 1561 Standard Individual Export Licenses (SIELs) valued at GBP 113 million. During the same period it authorized 626 SIELs valued at GBP 136.5 million for shipment to Jordan.

However, over the last 10 years, 190 application for military sales to Israel have been prohibited, comprising 11 percent of all applications for sales of military equipment. During the same period, only two such applications were rejected for military and restricted goods bound for Jordan.

The British government reported it had approved 37 military SIELs to Israel in the first quarter of 2007 valued at GBP 1.5 million, a rate that if held constant throughout the year would cut British sales to Israel by three quarters since 2005.

The UK also blocked 11 SIELs to Israel in the first three months of 2007: three for airborne guidance systems, four for information security systems and equipment, one for munitions, one for fire control equipment, one for electronic components, and one for specialty aluminum alloys.

Three SIELs for the sale of radar and avionics guidance systems to a third country for use in aircraft destined for the IAF were blocked this year also.

The 14 rejected SIELs violated various "Consolidated EU and National Arms Licensing Criteria," the Foreign Office stated, citing concerns the shipments would not respect "human rights and the fundamental freedoms in the country of final destination," would worsen the "the internal situation in the country of final destination;" and would harm "regional peace, security and stability."

One SIEL was denied due to the "behavior of the buyer country with regard to the international community; in particular its attitude to terrorism, the nature of its alliances and respect for international law," while concerns the equipment would be "diverted" for non-approved uses or "re-exported under undesirable conditions" were cited in rejecting three SIELs.

The Foreign Office said in its annual human rights report to Parliament that "progress on improving the human rights situation" in Israel and the territories had been "limited."

Testifying before the committee on March 15, foreign secretary Margaret Beckett stated that the Foreign Office kept a "close eye" on the uses made by the IDF of British military equipment.

The then-foreign secretary said: "If we discovered that equipment had been sold to Israel and was being used contrary to agreed terms, we would regard that with grave concern and we would make sure we did not issue licenses for such equipment in the future."

Beckett said at the time that Britain’s total arms sales to Israel were slight. "I believe something like 0.1% of Israel’s total arms imports comes from the United Kingdom, and we have not sold main equipment like tanks or artillery or warships to Israel since 1997," she said, noting the Blair government had "visibly conformed" to EU guidelines not to sell equipment that might harm regional peace, security and stability in the Middle East.

During last year’s Second Lebanon War, the leader of the opposition Liberal Democrat party urged the government to review its arms sales to Israel.

Sir Menzies Campbell said the government "must now comply with its own arms export rules and institute an immediate suspension of all UK arms exports to Israel."

Pressure is also being exerted through the courts to end arms sales to Israel.

Last November, Public Interest Lawyers, in cooperation with the Palestinian rights group, al-Haq, filed suit against the British government on behalf of Saleh Hasan of Bethlehem. Hasan claimed the sale of military goods to Israel violated British export guidelines and contributed to his "oppression" as a Palestinian by Israel.

Phil Shiner, head of Public Interest Lawyers, stated the crux of their case was whether the British government had met its own criteria about what it can and cannot do in terms of arms exports where there is a risk of internal repression in another country.

In May, a spokesman for the Legal Services Commission said Hasan’s lawsuit was receiving legal aid as a test case.

"The fact that applicants may live abroad is not a factor under the legal aid scheme," he told The Times. "The key is whether the case involves issues of English law and will be tried in this jurisdiction."

The case is scheduled for a court hearing in October.

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Pretoria pushed out of history

Pretoria, the capital of South Africa, is no more. Its city council, controlled by the African National Congress (ANC), announced last week that it will henceforth be known as Tshwane (Ch-wa-nee).

White residents are bitter about the change in a city named in 1855 after one of the greatest of trekker heroes, Andries Pretorius. Many point out that capital cities are seldom renamed and the precedent of Salisbury becoming Harare is hardly a happy one.

Pretoria played a key role in British imperial history. It served as the capital of the Transvaal Republic, headed by the Boer leader Paul Kruger, and presided over the world’s richest gold mines. As such, it defied the might of the empire for decades, to the fury of Cecil Rhodes, Sir Alfred Milner and Joseph Chamberlain, the architects of the Anglo-Boer war.

It was here, when guerrilla war continued after apparent British victory, that Lord Kitchener instituted concentration camps for Boer women and children, forcing the Boer leaders to Pretoria to surrender finally in 1902.

As capital of the country’s economic heart, the city almost automatically became the capital of the new united South Africa. It houses the University of Pretoria – the country’s largest, which has no plans to change its name – and is also the country’s rugby capital.

Black opinion seems unanimous in favour, although almost nobody knows that Tshwane was the name of an African chief and means “we are all the same”.

Some black residents wrongly assert that “it was Tshwane before it was Pretoria” and that Pretoria was “the old apartheid name”.

The real reason for the new title is that Pretoria and the Northern Transvaal, of which it was part, were home to many of the most rigid apartheid ideologues, so that losing the name Pretoria has symbolic value for the local ANC.

Initially, Tshwane was set up as a wider metropolitan authority and Pretoria was retained as the name of the city, just as eThekwini is now the metropolitan area around the city of Durban and Nelson Mandela is the metropole around Port Elizabeth (no one dares to suggest changing the names of Johannesburg or Cape Town).

Now the city council has ruled and tempers are running high, with resisters threatening to tear down the new signs. The one thing that seems certain is that the cheerful message “we are all the same” is going to be thoroughly disavowed.

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