ARREST THOSE SELLING ALCOHOL TO MINORS – MANDY

“There are bars which open early and close late without operating licenses and are selling alcohol to the underage. Government should arrest people selling alcoholic drinks to teenagers below the age of 18,” Mandy said.

“Security agencies should play their part in order to have a sober population and if we don’t we are creating a fallen people.”

Mandy, who was speaking as a chief guest during the launch of a campaign dubbed “Zero tolerance to under- age drinking,” at Nakumatt Oasis in Kampala said security agencies should crack down on bar owners and operators.

The campaign was initiated by Uganda Breweries Limited and Nakumatt Holdings Limited.

“If the Police don’t crack down people selling alcohol to under-age, we are losing young people,” he said.

“I have never seen security operatives checking bars to hunt down those who are selling alcohol to young ones,” he stated.

He asked Government legislate on breweries manufacturers and sells operators to ensure that alcohol is not sold and served to the under –age.

The law in Uganda doesn’t permit young people below the age of 18 to take alcohol.

The UNEB boss also appealed to parents especially the rich ones to take care of their children not to give them freedom which he termed as ‘enjoy life’ because it is a result of ‘enjoying life’ the youngsters indulge in alcoholism, drug abuse and sex before marriage.

“We have parents who consent their children to drink. They begin giving them little by little, this is very dangerous. It is foolishness. They are killing their own children,” he said.

Raymond Van Der Salm, the sales director of Uganda Breweries Limited urged the regulators to put law in place that isn’t deterrent to breweries players.

He also asked Government to fast track Identity cards so as to combat under -age drinking.

He argued that with IDs in place each holder’s age would be known and those involved in alcohol selling can easily identify the young ones.

The Nakumatt Holdings Limited regional director strategy and operations, Thigarajan Ramamurthy implored parents, religious leaders and educationists to join hands to fight under- age drinking.

The deputy Police spokesman, Patrick Onyango told guests that in Kampala alone over five road accidents are recorded during holidays and more especially over weekends and the culprits are teenagers below 18-years- of age.

“Either the under-age steal their parents’ cars on they are willingly given and end up causing road accidents,” Onyango said.

By Francis Emorut, The New Vision

SYRIA CRISIS: OBAMA WINS BACKING FOR MILITARY STRIKE...

President Barack Obama has won backing from key US political figures on his plans for a military strike on Syria.

Mr Obama said a "limited" strike was needed to degrade President Bashar al-Assad's capabilities in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack.

Key Republican leaders John Boehner and Eric Cantor both signalled their support for military action. Congress is expected to vote next week.

The UN earlier confirmed that more than two million Syrians were now refugees.

More than 100,000 people are thought to have died since the uprising against President Assad began in March 2011.

'Broader strategy'

President Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden met House Speaker John Boehner, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and the chairmen and ranking members from the national security committees in Washington on Tuesday.

Mr Boehner signalled his support for Mr Obama's call for action, saying that only the US had the capacity to stop President Assad. Mr Boehner urged his colleagues in Congress to follow suit.

Mr Cantor, the House of Representatives majority leader, said he also backed Mr Obama.

Mr Cantor said: "Assad's Syria, a state sponsor of terrorism, is the epitome of a rogue state, and it has long posed a direct threat to American interests and to our partners."

Ms Pelosi said she did not believe Congress would reject a resolution calling for force.

Mr Obama said that Mr Assad had to be held accountable for the chemical attack and that he was confident Congress would back him.

He said he was proposing military action that would degrade President Assad's capacity to use chemical weapons "now and in the future".

"What we are envisioning is something limited. It is something proportional," the president said.

"At the same time we have a broader strategy that will allow us to upgrade the capabilities of the opposition."

Secretary of State John Kerry, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel and the top US military officer, Gen Martin Dempsey, are to appear later on Tuesday before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

There will also be a classified briefing for all members of Congress.

Mr Obama will head to Sweden late on Tuesday for a G20 meeting sure to be dominated by Syria.

France has strongly backed the US plan for military action.

President Francois Hollande said on Tuesday: "When a chemical massacre takes place, when the world is informed of it, when the evidence is delivered, when the guilty parties are known, then there must be an answer."

He called for Europe to unite on the issue, but said he would wait for the Congress vote.

If Congress did not support military action France "would not act alone", he said.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron had also backed Mr Obama, but Parliament rejected a resolution on military action.

On Tuesday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that the organisation's charter permitted military action only in self defence or with the agreement of the Security Council.

Mr Ban said a US military response could create more turmoil, but that if chemical weapons had been used in Syria then the Security Council should unite and take action against what would be "an outrageous war crime".

The US has put the death toll from the attack on the outskirts of Damascus on 21 August at 1,429, including 426 children, though other countries and organisations have given lower figures.

The Syrian government denies any involvement.

In an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro on Monday, President Assad said such an action would have been "illogical".

He warned that foreign military action could ignite a wider regional conflict.

As tensions rose on Tuesday, a senior Israeli defence official confirmed to the BBC that a missile had been fired to test its defence systems.

The BBC's Richard Galpin in Jerusalem says it is a sign that Israel is taking very seriously the possibility that any US air strikes could lead to retaliatory attacks on Israel - either by Syria itself or by its ally, the Shia militia Hezbollah in Lebanon.

'Overwhelming burden'

Earlier, the UN refugee agency said that more than two million Syrians were now registered as refugees, after the total went up by a million in the past six months.

It said in a statement: "Syria is haemorrhaging women, children and men who cross borders often with little more than the clothes on their backs."

Around half of those forced to leave are children, UN agencies estimate, with about three-quarters of them under 11.

As well as those who have left the country, a further 4.25 million have been displaced within Syria, the UNHCR says, meaning that more people from Syria are now forcibly displaced than from other country.

Pointing out that more than 97% of Syria's refugees are being hosted by countries in the surrounding region, the UNHCR said the influx was "placing an overwhelming burden on their infrastructures, economies and societies".

It appealed again for "massive international support".

On Tuesday, Sweden announced it would become the first European country to grant asylum to all Syrian refugees who apply. They will get permanent resident status.

Sweden has taken in 14,700 asylum seekers from Syria since 2012.

The UN says this is the worst refugee crisis for 20 years, with numbers not seen since the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

OBAMA TO SEEK CONGRESS VOTE ON SYRIA MILITARY ACTION...

The US says the Syrian government carried out chemical weapons attacks on 21 August in which 1,429 people died.
Mr Obama said the operation would be limited in duration and strong to deter future chemical attacks. Congress is due to reconvene on 9 September.
The Syrian government denies it was behind the attacks and blames rebels.
UN inspectors have now left Syria with samples from site visits, which will go to laboratories in Europe for testing.
‘No blind eye’
President Obama said the military operation could happen tomorrow, next week or in the near future.
“We cannot and will not turn a blind eye to what happened in Damascus,” he said.
As commander-in-chief, Mr Obama has the constitutional authority to order military action without the backing of Congress.
However, he said it was important to have the debate.
The House of Representatives will debate possible actions against Syria in the week after 9 September, Speaker John Boehner said.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell welcomed the announcement, saying president’s role as commander-in-chief was “always strengthened when he enjoys the expressed support of the Congress”.
The BBC’s Katy Watson in Washington says that if Mr Obama is to intervene, he wants the people – and politicians – on his side.
But what is unclear is what action he would take if Congress votes against involvement, our correspondent says.
Last week, British MPs defeated a government motion to take part in any military action in Syria.
On Saturday, UK Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted: “I understand and support Barack Obama’s position on #Syria”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has challenged the US to present to the UN evidence that Syria attacked rebels with chemical weapons.
Mr Putin said it would be “utter nonsense” for Syria’s government to provoke opponents with such attacks.
Russia – a key ally of Syria – has previously warned that “any unilateral military action bypassing the UN Security Council” would be a “direct violation of international law”.
Moscow, along with China, has vetoed two previous draft resolutions on Syria.
The BBC’s Jeremy Bowen in Damascus says people are worried and are making preparations.
They do not know what Mr Obama meant by a limited attack and what consequences it will have, he adds.
The main findings of the unclassified US evidence state that:

·                     the attacks killed 1,429 people, including 426 children

·                     Syrian military chemical weapons personnel were operating in the area in the three days before the attack

·                     Satellite evidence shows rockets launched from government-held areas 90 minutes before the first report of chemical attack

·                     100 videos attributed to the attack show symptoms consistent with exposure to a nerve agent

·                     Communications were intercepted involving a senior Damascus official who “confirmed chemical weapons were used” and was concerned about UN inspectors obtaining evidence

Meanwhile in France – seen as the main US ally since the UK vote – an opinion poll suggested that 64% opposed the use of force.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said his country will defend itself against any Western “aggression”.
BBC

John Kerry said that "US has evidence that sarin gas was used in SYRIA ATTACK...."

The US has evidence that the chemical nerve agent sarin was used in a deadly attack in Damascus last month, Secretary of State John Kerry says.

He said samples from hair and blood gathered after the attack "tested positive for signatures of sarin".

The US blames the Syrian government for the 21 August attack. President Barack Obama has vowed punitive action but wants Congress to vote on it first.

Syria dismissed the delay and said it was ready for any strike.

UN experts have been in Syria gathering evidence to determine whether chemical weapons attacks have taken place on various occasions. They have now arrived in the Netherlands with samples for analysis.

The biggest and deadliest apparent attack took place on 21 August in east Damascus. The US says more than 1,400 people were killed.

Washington said only the Damascus government has the capacity to launch such an attack.

Syria has denied it was responsible and blames the rebels.

Mr Kerry implied that the US evidence was supplied by its own sources, rather than via the UN inspectors.

"In the last 24 hours, we have learned through samples that were provided to the United States that have now been tested from first responders in east Damascus and hair samples and blood samples have tested positive for signatures of Sarin," Kerry said on NBC's Meet The Press.

"So this case is building and this case will build."

The US has previously said it had similar evidence of sarin use in other attacks.

Mr Kerry also said he was confident that Congress would give its approval for the US to launch strikes against Syria after it reconvenes on 9 September.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said Mr Obama's decision to delay the strikes pending a vote in Congress was just "a political and media manoeuvre".

He said Syria was "still prepared" for any attack.

The state-run Al-Thawra newspaper said Obama's decision was "the beginning of the historic American retreat".

'Failure in leadership'

Syria is known to have extensive supplies of chemical weapons.

Mr Obama has often said that using them would cross a "red line", prompting US intervention.

On Saturday, Mr Obama said any action would be limited, ruling out a ground invasion.

Congress is due to reconvene on 9 September, meaning any military operation would not happen until then.

The BBC's Jeremy Bowen in the Syrian capital, Damascus, says there is some relief in the city among those who feared that US attacks could start this weekend.

He says the delay could give the government time to move some sensitive military equipment.

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner examines what is known about the 21 August attack

The opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC) said President Obama's decision to delay any strikes in Syria was a "failure in leadership" and could "embolden" the forces of President Assad.

The UK has ruled out taking part in any attack, after Prime Minister David Cameron failed to win the support of parliament last week.

That leaves France as the only other major power that has said it could strike against Syria - though it says it will not act on its own before the vote in the US Congress

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said his country will defend itself against any Western "aggression".