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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. president’s special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, is struggling in a critical condition at George Washington University hospital after admission on Friday morning.

“This morning, doctors completed surgery to repair a tear in his aorta. He is in critical condition and has been joined by his family,” said PJ Crowley, the State Department spokesman said in a statement on Saturday.

Earlier on Friday, at the regular briefing, Crowley refused to elaborate on Holbrooke;s condition, saying, “All I can tell you is that the ambassador is at the hospital at the present time, and beyond that I will — we will let you know, as we find out more.”

Crowley also refused to confirm media reports that Ambassador Holbrooke collapsed at Secretary Hillary Clinton’s office, saying on Friday, “It happened on the seventh floor,”

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Kathmandu, Nepal (AHN) – Nepali Diasporas living in New York face a language barrier, creating a major challenge that causes immigrants to miss out on jobs and other opportunities in the United States.

Most of the Nepalis who reached the U.S. in search of green pastures are at the receiving end of downward socio-economic mobility, forcing them to lower their living standards in order to survive and support family members back home, a study has revealed.

“While in Nepal, people have dreams of doing well in the U.S. However, there is a huge difference between what you think of America and when you actually come here,” says New York-based non-profit organisation Adhikaar. “People have to work really hard to survive here.”

“Even if you are educated, you won’t be able to find a job of your choice if you don’t have the [right] documents,” a Nepali worker told the group. “You can earn money here, but not respect.”

Much of the problems faced by the Nepali-speaking community in New York City are typical of those faced by emerging communities. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 is not enough to survive and support a family in New York City, the report adds. Making matters worse, migrant workers in the informal sector are often exploited by the employers and are paid below the legal minimum wage.

The report titled “Snapshots of the Nepali-speaking Community in New York City: Demographics and Challenges” reveals that language barrier has become a major challenge for most of the Nepali-speaking people in finding jobs and other services. For example, many Nepalis in the U.S. do not have health insurance, and almost three-fourths of them face challenges in obtaining healthcare.

Many Nepali migrants are unable to transfer their work experience, skills and education from Nepal. Over half of the Nepalis in New York were involved in business or a professional sector in Nepal. While most Nepali immigrants are able to find jobs in New York, they are often low-wage jobs consuming long hours and providing few benefits. While immigration status is a reason for Nepali immigrants doing low-wage jobs, it is not the only one, the report adds. “Nearly half of the respondents to survey have the legal right to work in the U.S., yet most of them faced challenges.”

The most common types of job for men are works in restaurant, gas station, taxi or limousine and moving industry, while women often work as domestic workers and at nail salons or beauty parlours. Report has it that those who intend to earn degrees find themselves unable to attain their goal due to the number of hours they must work to pay for their education and living expenses.

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Vermont’s Independent Sen. Bernard Sanders spent over eight hours denouncing the new agreement to extend Bush-era tax cuts to millions of Americans.

Speaking on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Sanders spoke out against President Barack Obama’s efforts, saying the deal only increases America’s debt and fails to solve the underlying economic issues that mire the country.

Reading letters from constituents, Sanders took aim at Obama, Senate Republicans, China and others.

“I’m not here to set any great records or to make a spectacle. I am simply here today to take as long as I can to explain to the American people the fact that we have got to do a lot better than this agreement provides,” Sanders said.

Nonetheless, the deal will move forward and is likely to clear Congress before the holidays.

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – New claims for unemployment compensation dropped to 421,000 for the week ending Dec. 4, a decrease of 17,000 claims from the week before, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Not all jobless workers are insured by the unemployment compensation program. The advance seasonally adjusted rate of insured unemployed workers was 3.2 percent for the week ending Nov. 27, which was a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 3.4 percent, the DOL said in a statement.

The DOL also released the figures for the week ending Nov. 27 for the advance number of seasonally adjusted insured unemployment, which was 4,086,000. That was a decrease of 191,000 from the preceding week’s revised number of 4,277,000 insured unemployed.

Advance unadjusted figures for the week ending Nov. 27 showed the percentage of unemployed workers eligible for unemployment compensation was 3.3 percent. However, the unemployment rate during that week was 9.6 percent.

Figures for the number of unemployed Americans claiming benefits under all unemployment compensation programs was from a week earlier, or the week ending Nov. 13 was 8,297,938.

Extended unemployment compensation benefits, for jobless Americans who are covered by that insurance program, were available in 35 states and the District of Columbia for the week ending Nov. 20.

Those states were Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

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London, United Kingdom (AHN) – International protest is building about the arrest of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange this week. Assange is being held in a British jail awaiting extradition to Sweden on rape charges.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Justice Department is seeking to extradite him to the United States to face espionage charges after his Web site released more than 250,000 documents that exposed secret State Department communications. However, political leaders in Australia, Brazil, Russia and elsewhere say Assange is a political prisoner who is being punished for exercising rights of the free press.

Some of the harshest criticism is coming from Australia, where hundreds of people rallied Thursday in three cities to protest Assange’s arrest. Assange is an Australian citizen.

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said Assange was merely doing the job of any journalist by publishing the documents. “The blame for any violations of the law should fall on the persons who gave the documents to Wikileaks,” Rudd said. “The Americans are responsible for that.”

The State Department communications, called “cables,” described Rudd as a “control freak” and said that he made mistakes as Australia’s foreign minister.

Rudd said he was unconcerned about the criticisms.

He also said Australia would offer consular help to Assange.

Consular help refers to sending diplomats to meet with a citizen of their own country who is arrested abroad to determine whether legal assistance can be arranged.

In Brazil, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva described the arrest of Assange as a crime.

“I want to express my protest against this offense against free expression,” Lula said. “I will use the presidential blog to express my protest.”

He also encouraged the international news media to be more vigorous in defending Assange.

“The young man who is giving so much trouble to the diplomacy of the United States was arrested and so far I have not seen any protest defending free expression,” Lula said.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin described the U.S. government’s efforts to prosecute Assange as hypocritical.

“If it is full democracy, then why have they hidden Mr. Assange in prison,” Putin said during a press conference Thursday. “That’s what, democracy?”

Putin’s remarks appear to be a response to a February 2010 cable from Defense Secretary Robert Gates that said, “Russian democracy has disappeared and the government is an oligarchy run by the security services.”

In Mexico, the Journalists Club put up a plaque in their Mexico City headquarters honoring Assange for his “contribution to the conscience of mankind.”

The State Department documents published by Wikileaks described Mexico’s difficulties in managing its war with drug cartels. The cables described the government’s efforts as ineffective, often corrupt and divided among competing administrators.

Meanwhile, the Congressional Research Service is saying any U.S. prosecution of Assange would face unprecedented legal and diplomatic challenges.

A 24-page report from the government agency examines how the Justice Department could apply U.S. criminal laws to a foreign news operation.

“We are aware of no case in which a publisher of information obtained through unauthorized disclosure by a government employee has been prosecuted for publishing it,” the report said.

The prosecution of Assange creates First Amendment and diplomatic hurdles “based on concerns about government censorship,” the report said.

Some members of Congress, such as Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I.-Conn) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), say Assange should be prosecuted under the Espionage Act of 1917.

However, the Congressional Research Service report said no single law forbids the news media from publishing diplomatic cables only a “patchwork” of statutes that leave unclear answers.

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Manhattan, NY, United States (AHN) – Madoff trustee Irving Picard has filed more lawsuits against seven banks on behalf of the con man’s victims. He is seeking more than $1 billion in damages from the financial institutions for being part of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.

Picard is trying to beat a two-year deadline about to expire on Saturday. The deadline, set by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, marks the second anniversary of Madoff’s arrest. With the Wednesday filing, Picard brings to 10 the number of banks he has hailed to court in a bid to recover money for investors.

Picard is seeking $425 million from Citigroup, $400 million from Natixis and smaller amounts from Merrill Lynch, Fortis Prime Fund Solutions Bank, ABN Amro Bank, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria and Nomura Bank International.

Last week he filed multi-billion dollar lawsuits against JPMorgan Chase and HSBC. The first lawsuit the Madoff trustee filed a few months ago was against Swiss bank UBS.

With these latest filings, Picard has sought more than $34 billion from the banks and feeder funds. So far the trustee has recovered about $2.5 billion.

Citigroup said it will defend the bank’s name in court, claiming Picard’s lawsuit is without merit. Natixis denied the trustee’s allegations, Bilbao said it has no knowledge or indication of the fraud and ABN Amro declined to comment on the lawsuit.

According to Picard, these seven banks offered Madoff investors derivative investment products and other financial instruments with returns tied to performance of the funds. The trustee said the banks continued to structure transactions to take advantage of returns from Madoff company’s despite indicators of fraud.

He cited as proof of Citigroup’s apparent knowledge of the Ponzi scheme an email and meeting between a Citigroup official and a whistle blower who alerted the bank that Madoff was operating a scam.

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Bentonville, Arkansas, United States (AHN) – Wal-Mart Stores announced Wednesday that it will no longer pay its employees who work Sundays an additional $1 an hour. The new policy, however, would only cover workers hired after Jan. 1, 2011.

Current U.S. employees numbering 1.4 million will not be affected by the new policy, a Wal-Mart spokesman said.

The policy will also not apply to workers in Wal-Mart’s 49 Massachusetts and 10 Rhode Island outlets because the employees in the two states were not extended the extra $1 Sunday pay since their hourly rate for Sunday work is 1.5 times based on state labor regulations.

The policy is part of Chief Executive Officer Mike Duke’s strategy to reduce cost after Wal-Mart registered six consecutive quarters of sales declines at its U.S. operations.

On top of lower sales, operating expenses went up in 2009 to about $80 billion partly due to health benefits extended to workers.

To offset revenue reduction in its U.S. operations, Wal-Mart offered in November $2.4 billion to acquire a majority share in Massmart, a South African retail chain.

Wal-Mart is expanding its international business, particularly in emerging markets with high growth potentials.

Wal-Mart got the unanimous vote of the Massmart board, but needs the approval also of the South African regulators and 75 percent of Massmart stockholders.

The South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union expressed concern with the possible Wal-Mart buy-in because of the U.S. retail giant’s stand against unions.

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Judicial Watch announced Thursday that it had filed a lawsuit against New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Iman Feisal Abdul Rauf seeking information about communications between them regarding an Islamic mosque and cultural center that Rauf plans to build a few blocks from Ground Zero.

The so-called Ground Zero Mosque has drawn criticism.

Now Washington, D.C.-headquartered Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, has filed a petition with the New York State Supreme Court asking it to force Bloomberg to comply with a public records request for communications between he had with Rauf and controversial Muslim groups, Judicial Watch said in a statement.

Judicial Watch filed a freedom of information request with Bloomberg’s office on Aug. 19. The Mayor’s office indicated it would supply the information in 20 days and failed to do so.

“Mayor Bloomberg’s support for the Ground Zero mosque needs to be fully explored. New Yorkers are going to want to know how closely he’s working with the radicals supporting the Ground Zero mosque,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “It is troubling that the Mayor’s office cannot be bothered to comply with the open records law. What is the Mayor’s office hiding?”

Judicial Watch is asking for:

•All records of communication between the Office of the Mayor and Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf concerning the Cordoba Initiative’s proposed Cordoba House project.

•All records of of communication between the Office of Mayor Bloomberg and any of the following entities

1. Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR);

2. Islamic Society of North America (ISNA);

3. International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT);

4. American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASTHMA);

5. American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC);

6. Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC).

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Abbotsford, WI, United States (AHN) – A Wisconsin man has posted a sign ‘No Negros Allowed’ on the door of the business he is planning on opening.

However, the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it illegal to ban black people from admittance to the gentleman’s club Mark Prior is opening in Abbotsford, Wisconsin.

Wisconsin law also makes discrimination against people based on race illegal at a business open to the public.

Prior is defending his choice to discriminate against blacks by saying that he has had trouble with some people who were black in the past and that he decided he needed to make a policy against black people.

He said that although he did not think that all black people were a problem that he felt as a business owner that he had a right to make discriminatory policies because of past personal problems with a few individuals who were black. In addition, he has had problems with some white people who he also plans to ban.

Prior plans to open his business, a gentlemen’s club, which will be open to the public next to city hall and the library. His plans call for opening the business on Friday. Previously, Prior had plans to open his own sheriff’s department and a grocery store, but neither enterprise happened.

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Los Angeles, CA, United States (CNS) – Earlier this year, Taylor Swift became the latest spokeswoman for CoverGirl, where she joined the ranks of A-listers like Drew Barrymore and Rihanna. Now the “Speak Now” star is the face of the beauty giant’s new NatureLuxe line.

NatureLuxe is described as a new simple, high-quality luxury makeup line, which will include a Silk Foundation and a Gloss Balm upon its January 2011 launch. The products drop heavier emollients for more natural ingredients

The Silk Foundation formula uses cucumber water along with hints of natural jojoba and rosehip extracts. The new Gloss Balm blends mango butter, shea and other butters.

Swift’s ads for NatureLuxe will begin appearing in January.

“I’m really excited for people to discover the new NatureLuxe line from CoverGirl!” Swift said in a statement. “The Silk Foundation and Gloss Balm are really light and fresh, they feel amazing on my skin.”

CoverGirl is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary. Along with Swift, their celebrity spokespeople have also included Ellen DeGeneres, Tyra Banks, Molly Sims, Brandy, Faith Hill, Keri Russell, and Queen Latifah.

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