Sector Report for Wednesday, 3 August 2011: Disasters & Emergencies

This report contains the following stories.

Plus 1 additional story.

U.S. to Pakistan: No more OBL-type raids

Pakistani prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani says that the United States has given him their assurance that they will not conduct any more clandestine raids like the one that killed Osama bin Laden in May; Gilani said, “Since we were sharing information with US and there was a tremendous relationship with the CIA and ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence], therefore we could have done a joint operation in Abbottabad, but it didn’t happen. Therefore we had a lot of reservations”; he added, “They have assured us in future there will be no unilateral actions in Pakistan, and there would be co-operation between both agencies”; his remarks contradict statements made by U.S. officials who have said they would conduct a similar raid to kill other top al Qaeda leaders if necessary

Somali pirates still a threat

Members of the international Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia met last week and concluded that despite their efforts Somali pirates remain a threat to maritime vessels; “We all know that the international community has been working very hard to address both the symptoms and the root causes of the Somali piracy,” said Mary Seet-Cheng, senior specialist adviser of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore and a member of the contact group; “Despite our best efforts, piracy off the coast of Somalia continues to be a threat to international shipping and seafarers from all over the world”; the number of hijacked vessels and kidnapping have fallen since March 2011, but violent incidents have continued to rise and pirates expanded their area of operation

England to fire 34,100 officers, crime expected to increase

Local police forces across England and Wales will cut 34,100 officers and staff over the next four years; according to a report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, the staffing reductions will result in at least a 3 percent rise in crime; the U.K. Home Office has insisted that there is no link between a decline in the number of police officers and the crime rate; police forces across the country are struggling with budget cuts which is forcing them to reduce staffing size

Sector Report for Thursday, 7 July 2011: World Report

This report contains the following stories.

Plus 5 additional stories

Sector Report for Thursday, 23 June 2011: World Report

This report contains the following stories.

Plus 4 additional stories

Sector Report for Thursday, 9 June 2011: World Report

This report contains the following stories.

Plus 6 additional stories