British Prime Minister Tony Blair struck a defiant tone as his Labour Party prepared to open its annual conference yesterday, despite a pair of fresh opinion polls suggesting that support among voters is waning.
With a general election likely in May or June next year, Blair told the Observer that Labour -- in power for the past seven years -- would "not buckle" in the face of dissent.
"It happens with all governments. There is disillusion and disappointment. That's politics," he said. "What you've got to do in those circumstances is not buckle under it, but go out and make your case."
In the next four days, Labour delegates will polish their party platform in hopes of winning a third straight term in power.
But many remain unhappy with Blair for taking Britain into the Iraq war alongside the US, and with his determination to inject free-market principles into health and education.
The Labour Party conference in Brighton will also be overshadowed by the ordeal of Kenneth Bigley, the engineer from Liverpool abducted 10 days ago by Islamic extremists.
Bigley's brother, Paul Bigley, who has been critical of the low-key way in which the government has dealt with the abduction, was due to address an anti-war meeting in Brighton yesterday via a video link.
Two polls in different newspapers pointed to waning public support for Labour.
One of the polls, for News of the World, put the Labour Party at 28 percent -- in third place behind the main opposition Conservatives with 32 percent and the Liberal Democrats with 29 percent.
The other poll, for the Independent, was more consistent with previous surveys, putting Labour still in the lead, but only with 32 percent -- against 30 percent for the Tories and 27 percent for the Liberal Democrats.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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