S.Korea to ship aid to North despite tensions

South Korea Wednesday approved two aid shipments of baby formula to North Korea despite rising tensions over the sinking of one of Seoul's warships.

The unification ministry, which must authorise all cross-border exchanges, said the shipments from private groups of milk and other items totalling 320,000 dollars would be sent late this month.



The South cut off most trade with the North after accusing its neighbour of firing a torpedo to sink the ship in March with the loss of 46 lives. It exempted humanitarian aid.

The impoverished North suffers severe food shortages. The UN Children's Fund says one in three of its children is stunted by malnutrition.

Seoul announced its reprisals after investigators from five countries said they found overwhelming evidence that a North Korean submarine had torpedoed the corvette near the disputed Yellow Sea border.

The North denies involvement and says reprisals could spark war.

South Korea has also referred the case to the 15-member United Nations Security Council, saying it must act to censure an act of aggression.

The foreign ministry said Wednesday the investigators would brief council members about their findings at a date to be fixed, at the request of current chairman Mexico.

Of the five permanent veto-wielding council members, China and Russia have so far failed publicly to back moves for UN censure.

Vice Foreign Minister Chun Yung-Woo was due back Wednesday evening from a visit to Beijing to seek its support. China has not publicly condemned its ally the North and has appealed only for restraint.

Obamas: $5.5 million income, $1.8 million tax bill-Obamas earned 5.5 million dollars in 2009

 

Thanks to revived book sales after he became president, Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, made $5.5 million last year. They paid about one-third of it in federal income taxes.

The Obamas gave $329,100 to charities in 2009. The president, who released his tax returns Thursday, also donated his entire $1.4 million Nobel Peace Prize award to 10 charitable groups. He never received the $1.4 million, and it was not included in his 2009 income.



Obama, a former law school instructor and U.S. senator, became a millionaire a few years ago through sales of his 1995 memoir "Dreams From My Father" and his 2006 political book, "The Audacity of Hope." He earned about $4 million in royalties in 2007, the year he launched his presidential campaign.

Sales included his audio versions of the books, for which Obama won two Grammy awards in the spoken-word category.

Sales dropped somewhat in 2008, the year he was elected president, although his books still netted him about $2.5 million.

Obama's January inauguration as the nation's first black president seemed to revive interest in his books. Royalties in 2009 more than doubled the previous year's amount.

Obama is paid $400,000 a year as president, although he received $374,460 last year because he took office on Jan. 20.

The Obamas paid nearly $1.8 million in federal income tax last year, and $163,303 in Illinois income tax. Among their charitable gifts were $50,000 each to CARE and the United Negro College Fund.

Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, had far more modest earnings. They reported an adjusted gross income of $333,182 for 2009. They paid $71,147 in federal income taxes, $12,420 in Delaware income taxes and $1,477 in Virginia income taxes, where Jill Biden works as a college professor.

The Bidens gave $4,820 to charity, in cash and in-kind donations.

The Obamas claimed $514,819 in federal itemized deductions. They included the state income taxes, the $329,100 for charity, $52,195 in home mortgage interest payments, and $22,456 in real estate taxes.

Of their taxable income of $4,980,858, everything above $372,950 was taxed at the top marginal rate of 35 percent. Obama wants to increase the two highest marginal rates, restoring the top rate of 39.6 percent that was in effect under former President Bill Clinton.

Had those rates been in effect last year, the Obamas' federal income tax bill would have increased by more than $200,000.

The president reported paying $471,022 in commissions and fees for his book sales, mainly to his agents and promoters, the White House said. Otherwise he reported fairly modest offsets to his $5 million in book profits: $15,722 in legal and professional fees, and $866 in office expenses.

The Obamas reported selling 9,472 shares in the Bank of Hawaii, for a loss of $125,879. They sold the shares for $355,029, but they reportedly were worth $480,908 when the family inherited them more than a year earlier.

The Bidens' largest itemized deduction was $30,349 for home mortgage interest payments. They reported relatively modest interest income, including $12 from the U.S. Senate Federal Credit Union.

President Barack Obama and his wife have doubled their income since he took office, declaring a joint gross income of 5.5 million dollars for the 2009 fiscal year, the White House said Thursday.

Obama earned an annual salary as president of 374,460 dollars since his inauguration in January 2009, according to his tax filings released Thursday.

But most of his income came from his books, which have leaped to the top of the bestseller lists since he first started running for the White House.

In 2008, Obama and his wife, Michelle, declared a joint gross income of 2.65 million dollars, most of which also came from royalties on his books "Dreams of My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope."

According to his 2009 documents, the Obamas paid 1.79 million dollars in federal taxes and 163,303 dollars in state taxes to Illinois where the couple owns a home in Chicago.

April 15 is the date set by which all Americans and US residents must file their annual tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service.

Obama also received 1.4 million dollars last year when he won the Nobel Peace Prize, but he has donated his prize money among 10 charities, the White House said, and the sum is not part of the 5.5 million dollars declared income.

The couple also donated 329,100 dollars to 40 different charities in 2009, with the largest reported gifts being 50,000 dollars to CARE and the United Negro College Fund.

In 2007, the Obamas said they had earned 4.2 million dollars.

The first couple's filing contrasted strongly with the more meager tax returns of Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, who declared 333,182 dollars in joint income for 2009.

That was still an increase from 2008 when their joint income was 269,256 dollars. They also gave some 4,820 dollars to charity, or some 1.4 percent of their incomes, the White House said.

The average annual household income in the United States was around 50,303 dollars in 2008, according to official figures.

Millions donated by British public to help Ethiopian famine victims 'was used by warlords to buy weapons'

Gebremedhin Araya, left, handling bundles of money, said: 'I was given clothes to make me look like a Muslim merchant'

A starving family in a famine-ravaged village in Ethiopia at the height of the disaster in 1985

Simon LeBon, Sting, Bob Geldoff, Bono and others at the recording session for Band AID in 1984

Bob Geldof visiting a camp in Ethiopia which sheltered victims of the famine after the Live Aid concerts in 1985. More than a million people died during the famine

Millions of pounds raised by Live Aid was spent on weapons, it has been claimed.

Money donated to buy food for Ethiopian famine victims was instead used by rebel leaders who used it to buy weapons.

Sir Bob Geldof's Live Aid raised £40million for those starving in Ethiopia, along with other charities who also sent over aid.
But although millions of lives were saved by the Western aid that poured into the country, it is now claimed not all of the cash went to the most needy.

Of the £63million that flowed into the country in 1985, it is claimed that just 5% was spent on famine relief, with the rest going on weapons and attempts to overthrow the government.

The extraordinary claims have been made by former rebels, who told the BBC they posed as merchants in meetings with charity workers to get aid money.

Insurgents would dress up and show sacks filled with sand, not grain, in a 'drama' to ensure they were handed millions of pounds.

Recently declassified CIA documents confirmed that insurgents were 'using the famine and relief efforts for their own purposes'.

They said: 'Some funds that insurgent organisations are raising for relief operations, as a result of increased world publicity, are almost certainly being diverted for military purposes.'

Christian Aid worker Max Peberdy was one of those paying to local merchants, which he believed was being spent on grain - but apparently went straight to the rebels.

Mr Peberdy carried nearly £300,000 in Ethiopian currency across the border from neighbouring Sudan in 1984 to buy grain from men he believed were Ethiopian farmers.
A picture shows him counting out bundles of money for a grain merchant, while an official from the Relief Society of Tigray (REST) - the humanitarian arm of the rebel party - documents the transaction.

Mr Peberdy said: 'As far as we were concerned and as far as we were told by REST the people we were dealing with were merchants.

'It's 25 years since this happened, and in the 25 years it's the first time anybody has claimed such a thing.'

But the merchant he is pictured with claims he was a senior member of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and half the sacks of 'grain' were filled with sand.

Gebremedhin Araya, who now lives in exile in Australia, said: 'I was given clothes to make me look like a Muslim merchant. This was a trick for the NGOs.

'They came, I showed them 10,000 quintals of grain. The front side is the grain, the other side is full of sacks of sand. If there is 1,000 quintals 500 quintals is full of sacks of sand.

'I showed them like this for about ten places and they gave me two million cash at hand. We repeat the same action like that.'

The money he was given was passed on to TPLF leaders, it is claimed that among them was Meles Zenawi - who became Ethiopia's prime minister in 1991 after the rebel army overthrew Ethiopia's Marxist government.

Former commander Aregawi Berhe confirmed this to BBC's Assignment - Aid for Arms in Ethiopia investigation, which will be broadcast tomorrow night (Thursday 8.30pm BBC World Service).

Mr Berhe, who now lives in exile in Holland, said when the northern province of Tigray was hit by a terrible famine in 1985 'aid money was flowing'.

But of the £63m that went through the hands of the TPLF, 95 per cent was allocated either to buy weapons or build the ideological wing of the party.
He added: 'We were using aid money to buy arms through secondary means. If you come to the Middle East you can buy arms, so we were using some of the money to buy arms.

'We are talking about millions of dollars.'

Stephen King, who oversaw the work of Catholic aid agencies from Sudan at the time, said: 'If we were being conned, and we were aware of that risk, then I think it was on a very small scale, and certainly not on the sort of scale people are now saying was the case. We made a huge difference by working on both sides of a war, at a time of huge humanitarian need.'

One million people died in the famine, which was exacerbated by civil war. Shocking images from Ethiopia meant millions of people donated money, and more than three million copies of Do They Know It's Christmas sold in just five weeks in late 1984.

Charities Save The Children and Christian Aid said today they always carefully monitored where aid funds went.

Nick Guttmann, director of emergency relief operations at Christian Aid, said: 'This story has to be put into context. We were working in a major conflict, there was a massive famine and people on all sides were suffering.

'Both the rebels and the government were using innocent civilians to further their own political ends.

'But that is not what humanitarian agencies like ourselves were doing. We were there to help the people in the greatest need and did so.'

Prince Harry falls head-first from his horse during charity polo match, and hurls his mallet in disgust

Harry is furious after his fall He hurls his mallet in disgust... then stomps off the field.Horseman: Harry managed to avoid serious injury by rolling as he hit the ground, but appears to be nursing his shoulder

Crash landing: The Prince takes a breather after falling off his horse on to the hard ground

The Prince was raising money for his Sentebale charity which helps Aids orphans in Lesotho

Royal tumble: Prince Harry is thrown from his horse during a charity polo match in Barbados

Thrown: Harry comes off the horse as it stumbles to the floor and rolls as he makes contact with the ground

Heir-raising: Fortunately it is only Harry's pride that is damaged and his team go on to win the match

Going to ground: Harry's horse loses its footing during a sharp turn as he swings his mallet at the ball

This is the moment Prince Harry took a heart-stopping, head-first tumble from his polo pony during a charity match in the Caribbean yesterday.

The third in line to the throne was thrown from his mount as he attempted a sharp turn close to the goal mouth, causing the animal to lose its footing and slide across the ground in a cloud of dust and grass.

Fortunately the 25-year-old prince managed to dive forwards and execute an athletic roll, breaking the impact of his fall on the rock-hard field in Barbados.


Seconds later he picked himself up unharmed but was clearly upset at the blunder as he threw his mallet to the ground in disgust, ripped off his helmet and punched it. The pony was unhurt.

Harry's team went on to win the inaugural Sentebale Polo Cup, with the prince scoring one of their six goals.
But the moment evoked memories of the incident in which his father, Prince Charles, was knocked unconscious while playing the game and swallowed his tongue.

He was taken to hospital suffering concussion after the 2001 accident.

Speaking about the fall afterwards, Harry said: 'I'm a bit sore but it was all for a good cause so it was worthwhile in the end.

'Basically the horse slipped from underneath me, which does happen occasionally and is a but unfortunate.
'It probably looks very dramatic because I was trying to throw myself clear of the horse. I'm a bit sore but the horse is ok though.'

The Prince explained that he hadn't thrown down his mallet in anger at getting thrown but was furious that he may have lost Sentebale a sizeable donation.

He explained: 'The reason why I was throwing my mallet down was because I met this nice businessman at dinner last night who offered me $50,000 for Sentebale if I fell off my horse today.

'His wife turned round and said 'that's a bit harsh, you should give him $100,000 if he stays on.' And he agreed to seal the deal on that.

'So when I fell off, I threw down my mallet and shouted: "What a waste of $100,000!" I was furious with myself.

'Fortunately this extremely generous gentleman has already been in touch and told us that it was the clear that the horse fell over, rather than I fell off it, so he was happy to honour the $100,000. What a star!

'It's been an exhausting trip - I feel like I have been here a month not two days - but absolutely rewarding.
'Everyone from our local supporters to the Barbados government have bent over backwards to make this work for Sentebale. People have dug so deep in their pockets.

'It looks like we may have raised £500,000 for the vulnerable children of Lesotho, so I couldn't be more pleased.

'We are going to try to take the Sentebale Cup around the world but will definitely be coming back to Barbados as we have started it here and the island has such a special place in our hearts.'

Harry was playing at the exclusive Apes Hill Polo Club in Barbados to raise money for Sentebale, the charity he co-founded in memory of his late mother to help vulnerable Aids orphans in the African kingdom of Lesotho.

The 1,200 ticket match was a complete sell out and is expected to raise more than £100,000. Harry hopes to make the Sentebale Polo Cup an annual event.

Lesotho is one of the world's poorest nations and has been devastated by an HIV pandemic.

One third of its 1.8 million population is infected with HIV or Aids and 40 per cent of children are orphans as a result. Average life expectancy is just 40 years.

Harry visited the country during his gap year and was immensely moved by its plight.

In a speech to mark the occasion yesterday he told supporters: 'It seems to be one of life's cruellest ironies that when natural disaster strikes - whether it be earthquake in Haiti or years of drought and ravaging by HIV AIDS in Lesotho, it is always the most vulnerable, the most defenceless, the children, who are left exposed and needing the most help.

'We are making a real difference in Lesotho but it is not straight-forward.

'The problems are complex and our work, inevitably, is not without its issues. But we are there for the long term.'

During his visit to the island, Harry also did his bit to raise funds for the victims of the Haiti earthquake, by strutting his stuff at a Calyso concert after challenging donors to raise thousands to get him on his feet.

The royal joined revellers at a massive open air charity concert being broadcast live across the Caribbean on Saturday night when he made the impromptu offer to dance on stage in front of millions of viewers if they donated 5,000 Barbados dollars (£1,560) in the next 25 minutes.

The dare was announced by a compere to the cheering audience in the grounds of Farley Hill national park and a telephone number flashed on screen for viewers at home.

With moments to spare, the money came through and Harry, who was wearing a Haiti We Care t-shirt, blushed and groaned as he walked towards the floodlight stage.

'I can't believe I have let myself in for this. I think I'll just crowd dive instead,' he joked (after taking a quick sip of rum for Dutch courage).

He proved true to his word, however, and to loud whoops from the crowd, he walked through the throng and took his place centre stage.

Thankfully, he did not disgrace himself.

In fact the third in line to the throne displayed a surprising amount of rhythm as he jived to a pulsating calypso beat provided by singer Red Plastic Bag, real name Stedson Wiltshire, winner of last year's Barbados Calypso King title.

Afterwards the prince, who also made an undisclosed personal donation to the Haiti relief effort, quipped: 'There goes my credibility.'

Harry had hoped to visit to the disaster zone at the end of his Barbados visit but the trip has been postponed until later in the year.

It has been a packed weekend for the prince, who has conducted a series of engagements on only his second official foreign visit, including visiting a local children's hospital and attending a garden party for youngsters.

Last night he flew back to England to continue with his training as an Army Air Corps helicopter pilot.

He was told last week that he has passed the latest stage of his gruelling year-long course and hopes to progress to the Lynx aircraft later this year, possibly returning to Afghanistan in two years time.

Before he did, however, he couldn't resist a revenge dig at his elder brother, Prince William, who last week jokingly referred to Harry as 'the other ginger one' in a speech during his own tour of Australia.

Chatting to George Browne, 83, a former corporal in the Southern Caribbean Regiment who recalled meeting one of the brothers in 1995, Harry quipped: 'If it was William, he was already bald aged 12.

LaToya to release tribute record for Michael Jackson

Jeffre Phillips, from the record company Ja-Tail, said LaToya has decided to release the single Home instead of a song off her new album.Originally recorded for the Startin' Over album in 2002, this heartfelt song is now being released as La Toya's tribute to her brother Michael.









All proceeds from the single will be donated to Aids Project LA, a charity that was supported by Michael Jackson.

Lyrics:
When I'm all alone, I get this feeling
It always makes me cry, it's one I can no longer hide
Missing all the years that we all shared at home
The silly things we did, laughing, from early dusk to dawn
I remember when, we were all best friends...

Home, it was so many years ago
Parted by the fame we grew to only know
It was true when they say the show must go
Many years that we let pass
Life's not fair but I know our love will always last
We sing on, the memories we all once had

When I'm all alone, I think of our busy lives
Traveling place to place, we must have met with family, it was nice
Joker missed you to, and all the fun we had
Never parted a day until we, we went our separate ways
I remember when, we were all best friends...

Home, it was so many years ago
Parted by the fame we grew to only know
It was true when they say the show must go
Many years that we let pass
Life's not fair but I know our love will always last
We sing on, the memories we all once had

Home, it was so many years ago (so many years)
Parted by the fame we grew to only know
It was true when they say the show must go
Many years that we let pass
Life's not fair but I know our love will always last
We sing on, the memories we all once had

So don't you tell me that I know what I'm feelin'
And don't you tell me that I'm dreamin'
Like Mother always said, your family will always be there for you
It don't have to be this way, let's make tomorrow a much, much brighter day
And don't let this time between us, slip away

Just slip away...

Home, it was so many years ago
Parted by the fame we grew to only know
It was true when they say the show must go
Many years that we let pass
Life's not fair but I know our love will always last
We sing on, the memories we all once had

Home, it was so many years ago
Parted by the fame we grew to only know (grew to only know)
It was true when they say the show must go
Many years that we let pass (so many years)
Life's not fair but I know our love will always last
We sing on, the memories we all once had
The memories we all once had

-----------------------------------------------

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