EU preparing new sanctions on Syrian companies (AP)

PARIS ? The European Union is preparing new, expanded sanctions against Syria that would target companies, in response to the Syrian government's violent crackdown against its regime, a French official said Friday.

The effort follows last month's move by the 27-nation bloc to impose an asset freeze and a visa ban on Syrian President Bashar Assad and nine other members of his regime, Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said.

"Now, a process is under way among the 27 so that extra, broader sanctions are adopted, and which would target economic entities," he said, adding that France favors new sanctions.

Valero said he believed that the sanctions could target companies and banks, but did not elaborate or offer a timetable for an EU decision.

In Brussels, a senior EU official confirmed that such discussions are under way ahead of an EU foreign ministers meeting early next week ? notably on how many businesses to target. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.

Protests first erupted in Syria in mid-March as part of the "Arab Spring" push toward democracy. Assad responded by unleashing the military in region after region to crush the street demonstrations.

Human rights activists say more than 1,400 Syrians have been killed and 10,000 detained. Some 9,600 others from the northwest have sought refuge in camps in neighboring Turkey.

In Berlin, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called his Brazilian counterpart Antonio Patriota to lobby for a U.N. Security Council resolution given the "increasingly dramatic situation in Syria," a senior ministry official said Friday.

The "brutal violence of the Syrian leadership against its own people requires a clear answer by the Security Council," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with department policy.

Germany and Brazil hold seats as non-permanent Security Council members.

The U.N. body has yet to adopt a draft resolution condemning Syria for its deadly crackdown on protesters and demanding an immediate end to the violence ? initiated by France, Britain and Germany ? as Russia and China oppose the motion. Those five countries are permanent Security Council members.

Earlier Friday, German chancellor Angela Merkel also stressed that a resolution was needed "that addresses the actions of President Assad against his people. We will push for this, collectively and very firmly."

_____

Don Melvin in Brussels and Juergen Baetz in Berlin contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110617/ap_on_bi_ge/syria_europe

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Is J.K. Rowling's Mystery Site Hiding a Harry Potter Smartphone? [Unconfirmed]

So J.K. Rowling has to do something with her time beyond spend her trillions of dollars, so she's got a spooky new COMING SOON website up. What is it? We don't know! But a tipster claims it'll launch a Potterphone. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/GCRS1aL7vhI/is-jk-rowlings-mystery-site-hiding-a-harry-potter-smartphone

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Vet school dean fears more cuts; college could shut farm operation, lose faculty (w/documents)

You are here: Home - News - Academics - Vet school dean fears more cuts; college could shut farm operation, lose faculty (w/documents)

Doing more with less.

It?s been the motto of the College of Veterinary Medicine for the last few years as a result of continuous reductions to the school?s budget. The college has lost positions on all levels ? faculty, staff and graduate students.

The University?s Rose Creek Farm located in Oconee County could shut down due to lack of funding. Photo by AJ REYNOLDS

?I think one of the biggest impacts is on morale because not only are the faculty and staff having to work harder, but they haven?t had raises in a couple of years and they?ve been furloughed,? said Sheila Allen, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. ?They?ve actually had a pay cut in addition to having to work harder.?

In fiscal year 2007, the college had a $50.3 million budget with 54 percent of that total appropriated by the state. The college has now expanded to a $61.4 million budget with only 46 percent of it funded by the state.

?My worst fear is that they?ll cut more funding and that we?ll have to lose more faculty, staff and graduate student positions,? Allen said. ?Some of our programs have been cut back so much that we are fearful that they?ll have to be closed and discontinued.?

To meet the FY12 reduction, the college plans to eliminate operating support to its Rose Creek Farm in Oconee County, according to the University?s budget narrative.

The farm is used for giving students hands-on training with beef cattle and horses.

?If we have further cuts, we may have to partially or completely cut down the operation,? Allen said. ?That would, of course, have a very serious effect on our students? abilities to practice veterinary medicine when they finish because they?ll have less hands-on training with animals.?

Since FY09, state support for the Veterinary Teaching Hospital has declined by nearly 24 percent, according to the budget narrative.

In that period, the hospital had six veterinary technician positions vacant.

The technicians served as nurses and instructors to veterinary students.

Allen said the college has cut back on several academic programs, but none that are part of the core teaching of veterinarians.

?We?re still teaching all of the classes that we taught before, but I think the students do perceive more stress on our faculty and staff because everybody?s having to do more with less,? Allen said.

Mark Shumake, a veterinary student from LaGrange, said he?s aware professors in the college are dealing with the reductions, but it does not change the way they teach their students.

?They mentioned to us at some of our class meetings that the budget cuts will affect what professors are able to do,? Shumake said. ?They?ll have to do the same amount of stuff with less help, but they all seem to be trying to make sure that they prepare us as best they can.?

Shumake couldn?t think of specific ways in which the budget reductions? have affected his college experience so far.

?It?d be hard to say that I?ve directly felt anything other than the tuition increases,? Shumake said. ?But they certainly have been trying to make sure the cuts they have to make don?t adversely affect the essential aspects of teaching us veterinary medicine and what we?ll need to know.?

But the budget cuts may not be as noticeable to students as they are to faculty.

?I think that it?s difficult for the students to see sometimes because we really are trying to carry on business as usual and yet what the students see is that their fees and tuition are going up,? Allen said. ?And I recognize that it?s a burden on them and their families as well.?

But it could be difficult to carry on business as usual because ?students want to learn from mentors who are at the top of their game,? according to the FY12 budget planning document.

And Allen thinks qualified faculty will leave if the University does not give them enough of an incentive to stay.

?My hope is that we will stay where we are now and not deteriorate,? she said. ?But when you have less faculty, you?ll have less research funding and everything starts to fall down. My biggest fear is that we?ll start losing the faculty we still have because other institutions will hire them away.?

?

EDITOR?S NOTE

Each week, The Red & Black will focus on one college within the University for a closer look at how the FY12 budget cuts affect its faculty, staff and students. Next week, we will focus on the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources.

Vet Med budget narrative

Source: http://www.redandblack.com/2011/06/16/vet-school-dean-fears-more-cuts-college-could-shut-farm-operation-lose-faculty/

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'Sexting' US lawmaker Weiner resigns (AFP)

NEW YORK (AFP) ? US congressman Anthony Weiner announced his resignation at a New York press conference Thursday, after being embroiled for weeks in a sex scandal linked to his lewd online exchanges with women.

"I hoped to be able to continue the work that the citizens of my district elected me to do, to fight for the middle class and those struggling to make it," the lawmaker told throngs of reporters at a senior citizen center in Brooklyn.

"Unfortunately, the distraction that I have created has made that impossible, so today I'm announcing my resignation from Congress," he said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110616/pl_afp/uspoliticsinternetsexresign

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