BP Plc  should be doing more to protect coastal areas in the Gulf of Mexico from an oil slick formed after a drilling rig explosion, state and federal officials said.

“BP’s current resources are not adequate to meet the three challenges we face,” Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said. “The three challenges we face are stopping the leak, protecting our coast, preparation for a swift cleanup of our impacted areas.”

Jindal, speaking yesterday at a press conference with federal officials in Robert, Louisiana, said he had urged BP to seek additional federal help.

BP has tried to contain the oil within booms, suck it into skimming vessels, disperse it with aerial spray and burn it. This evening, BP will inject chemicals almost 5,000 feet below the surface where remote-operated vehicle have identified three leaks from crumpled pipe, hoping to disperse the pollution before it reaches the surface, Doug Suttles, chief operating officer of exploration and production, said at the press conference.

“We’ve so far mounted the largest response effort ever utilized in the world,” Suttles said. “We’ve utilized every technology available. We’ve applied every resource requested.”

“We’re very frustrated that we haven’t been able to bring the flow of oil to a stop and we haven’t been able to stop the oil from reaching the shore,” Suttles said in an interview after the press conference. “Right now, what the various branches of government are doing is seeing what are the appropriate resources.”

Oil Still Leaking

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has estimated the well is spewing 5,000 barrels of crude oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico. At that rate, the volume of the spill would exceed Alaska’s 1989 Exxon Valdez accident by the third week of June.

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano urged BP at the press conference to lend additional assets to the cleanup and supplement efforts already under way. The administration has anticipated a “worst-case scenario” since the Deepwater Horizon rig, owned by Transocean Ltd. and leased to BP, sank last week, said Mary Landry, a U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral who is coordinating the federal response with BP.

Rigs Examined

Federal officials increased their response to the spill, as Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he’ll form an Outer Continental Shelf Safety board to recommend safety improvements for offshore drilling.

“We’re going to make sure that any leases going forward have those safeguards,” President Barack Obama said in remarks at the White House yesterday. “Domestic oil production is an important part” of U.S. energy policy, Obama said. “But I’ve always said it must be done responsibly, for the safety of our workers and our environment.”

Salazar said the U.S. Minerals Management Service, which oversees drilling activity, has begun inspecting all 30 deepwater drilling rigs and 47 deepwater platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

“I pressed the CEOs of BP as well as the engineers to work harder and faster and smarter to get the job done,” Salazar said, describing a meeting this week in Houston about the spill response. “I have asked other companies from across the oil and gas industry to bring their global expertise to the situation.”

Louisiana asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to lend the National Guard to the effort. That would put 6,000 soldiers and airmen on active duty for at least 90 days, adding security, medical support, engineers, communications capability and cleanup crews, Jindal said.

Fisherman Aid Sought

The Louisiana Guard is ready to deploy 600 troops upon Defense Department approval and has ordered 1500 protective suits for the cleanup, he said.

Jindal said he’s asked the U.S. Department of Commerce to declare a commercial fisheries failure in the state, making financial aid available to fishermen and businesses. Louisiana has the largest fishery in the lower 48 states, he said.

“This oil spill will certainly adversely affect the productivity of this ecosystem and fishing families across our state,” he said.

Florida Governor Charlie Crist has also declared a state of emergency for five counties due to potential danger from the spill. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour issued a similar order for the Gulf coast of that state.

Bangladesh's achievements in religious freedom was commended in the latest report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

The latest 11th annual report, formally released in Washington DC on Thursday, said the present Government is the most secular and favorably disposed toward minority rights and the parliamentary elections in 2008 has been free of any anti-minority violence.
It said inclusion of a visible number of members of minority communities in important political and administrative positions, government's persuasion to restore the original secular character of Bangladesh's constitution, initiative to repeal the Vested Property Act, diminishing trend of anti- Ahmadis violence due to improved and more vigorous police protection, functioning of the Independent Human Rights Commission are some of the hallmarks of the present democratic government in Bangladesh, a Bangladesh embassy release from Washington reached here said yesterday.

The report further acknowledges the fact that during the year under review, Bangladesh was generally free of religious violence. As regards recent incident in Chittagong Hill Tracts in February, it cites finding of the investigating committee that the conflict originated in a land dispute between two individuals which reinforces the fact that it had nothing to do with violence on ethnic minorities.
It contains performance of 28 countries during the period under review. The countries were placed under various ratings on the basis of its findings on "abuses of freedom of thought, conscience, religion, and belief".

The report shows Bangladesh as continuing its present status "Additional Countries Closely Monitored" which represents the 3rd category of countries of which the Commission is least critical.

The report also made some specific recommendations for further improvement in some areas in Bangladesh, among other countries.
The USCIRF report placed Bangladesh on the Watch List from 2005 to 2008 due to anti-minority violence following parliamentary elections in 2001. As a recognition to significant improvement of the freedom of religious and ethnic minorities since the assumption of office of the present democratic government following elections in December, 2008.

Bangladesh was removed from the infamous Watch List in May, 2009. The Mission has been sensitizing the US authorities occasionally about the on-going steps taken by the Bangladesh government in this regard.
The USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan US federal government commission which makes policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress through its yearly reports which carries considerable importance for the US policy-makers.

The latest report is an acknowledgement of the fact that the present democratic government is making sincere efforts for further improvement of the religious and human rights conditions of all particularly of the minority communities.

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has told his reigning World T20 champions to take Bangladesh as seriously as Australia when they begin their title defence on Saturday. Pakistan wrap up their Group A engagements against Australia on Sunday.

With the top two teams in each of the four groups going through to the Super Eights, both Pakistan and Australia are expected to qualify. However, Afridi told the ICC podcast on Thursday: “Playing in this cricket, anything can happen. It’s about what happens on the day. I want to see the same body language whether we are playing Bangladesh or Australia.”

Thrust into leadership after a series of suspensions on Pakistan players following a winless tour of Australia, Afridi remains his team’s most important player in this tournament.

And captaincy may be having an effect. “I think as the defending champions, there is some pressure,” Afridi said. “There is extra responsibility on me as captain to set an example. But we’ve got a good team and I’m, quite happy. This is the right time for us to play some good cricket. That’s what I am expecting from the guys.”

Overseas architects will need to earn at least £75,000 in order to qualify for working visas after new Home Office rules resulted in a “virtual ban” on architects from outside the European Union.

Until now under a points-based system non-EU workers who earned at least £40,000 could get a crucial 45 points towards a work visa. That threshold has now been increased by £35,000.

The change to “tier one” visas has been introduced amid growing public concerns over immigration rates and rising unemployment. But critics believe the system is too restrictive and will drive firms out of the UK.

George Ferguson, a former RIBA president, said he was horrified by the “massive hike”, adding: “This is virtually a ban on overseas architects.

“This is a very high salary for most architects, and really will restrict visas to the associate or director level in London.”

The new system affects skilled migrant workers in general, but Ferguson pointed out that architects tend to earn less than other professions like doctors or lawyers.

“We have traditionally had foreign architects working in the UK. I think that is a good thing, and enriches the profession. We do ourselves no favour with this kind of defensiveness. One wants the greatest talent, and the wider one casts the net the better.”

Richard Brindley, executive director of RIBA professional services, pointed out that many British workers valued the chance to work abroad themselves.

“The RIBA has never had a protectionist policy and it works both ways,” he said, adding that while UK architects seeking home-grown work might welcome a reduction in competition, the new regulations could be problematic for firms keen to expand abroad, requiring staff with local knowledge and language skills.

RIBA head of practice Adrian Dobson said architects were already excluded from “tier two” working visas, covering occupations of which there is a shortage in the UK.

“A concern is that people in Commonwealth countries — a pool of people with the most closely matched qualifications to those in the UK — are excluded,” he added.

A spokeswoman for the Home Office confirmed the new system would include architects, as well as categories such as entrepreneurs and doctors.

Posted On Bdonline

A major British retailer apologised and stopped selling a padded bikini top for young girls on Wednesday, after criticism that the garment over-sexualised children and pandered to paedophiles.

Primark said sorry after the swimsuit for 7-year-olds was featured on the front of the mass-market Sun daily under the headline "Paedo bikini", and pledged to donate profits from the product to a children's charity.

"Primark has taken note of the concern this morning regarding the sale of certain bikini tops for girls, a product line that sells in relatively small quantities," said a spokesperson.

"The company has stopped the sale of this product line with immediate effect. Primark will donate all the profits made from this product line to a children's charity, and apologises to customers for any offence caused."

Penny Nicholls of the Children's Society lobby group said she was "glad that Primark has responded to public concern about this serious issue".

President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday signed a major nuclear arms control agreement that reduces the nuclear stockpiles of both nations.

The new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty -- known by its acronym, START-- builds on a previous agreement that expired in December.

The agreement cuts the number of nuclear weapons held by the United States and Russia by about a third.

The full treaty and its protocols will be posted online at some point Thursday, Gibbs said. Brian McKeon, a senior adviser to the White House's National Security Council and deputy national security adviser to the vice president, will lead the administration's ratification effort, Gibbs said.

The Bangladesh ambassador to Libya, rear admiral Mustafizur Rahman has returned home after being recalled by the government for his ‘negligence’ in complying with its plan to expand labour market to the north African country.
   ‘He [Mustafizur Rahman] has returned home,’ a senior foreign ministry official told New Age.
   An official at the expatriate welfare ministry said the embassy in Tripoli did nothing to stop malpractices in manpower export to Libya, which resulted in unemployment or underemployment of many Bangladeshi workers there.
   The foreign ministry website showed till 6:00pm Wednesday that rear admiral Mustafizur Rahman was the country’s ambassador to Tripoli as the government did not formally announce his removal from the post.
   Foreign minister Dipu Moni told the parliament on April 1 that at least nine posts of Bangladesh high commissioner and ambassador in nine countries, including Libya, were now vacant.
   Another senior foreign ministry officer said Mustafizur Rahman’s department [Armed Forces Division] had asked him to return in the last week of March and he complied.
   The government had decided to remove the ambassador as the mission in Libya was not cooperating with the government at an expected level in finding the convicted killers of the country’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, a government officer said.

Bomb Threat On CSUN (California State University Northridge). We have just got a phone call about bomb threat at CSUN rite now and we have heard that a Mass Phone call has been sent out. Student of CSUn has ordered  to left  class because CSUN has a "bomb threat". Students are advised to avoid parking structures B3, B5, and the PPM .

The text Message was like this, "from CSUN: Emergency: Noon on Feb. 5th Bomb threat @ B6 parking structure. Avoid north of B5 & PPM area. Police @ scene."

 Hope that  it's just a threat and nothing more.

CSUN Bomb Threat posted by Dept of Police, " stay clear of N of B5 structure 2 inc the B6 structure & PPM area'

 

Update: 1:28pm (PT)

"No suspicious item has been seen," Harding added.

A bomb threat Friday on the Cal State Northridge campus prompted school officials to declare an emergency, call a bomb squad and evacuate a section of the campus, but no bomb was found, a police spokeswoman said.

A campus emergency was declared at noon and students and faculty were told via e-mail to stay away from an area north of the B-5 and B-6 parking structures, according to the CSUN Department of Police Services.

A Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad was sent to the area, near Etiwanda Avenue and Plummer Street, late Friday morning on an unconfirmed report of a bomb in a vehicle, said LAPD Officer April Harding.