Influential Syrian opposition bloc says will shun peace talks |
- Influential Syrian opposition bloc says will shun peace talks
- Flynn stars as Blades cut Villa down to size
- Bangladesh election marred by opposition boycott, violence
- New York may allow medical marijuana use, report says
- South Sudan rivals set stage for peace talks with a hug
- Retreating US stimulus poses risk to world recovery
| Influential Syrian opposition bloc says will shun peace talks Posted: 04 Jan 2014 04:55 PM PST
The Syrian National Council has opposed attending the Jan. 22 negotiations, dubbed "Geneva 2," because it says world powers have not done enough to force President Bashar al-Assad to cede power. Assad's forces have recently been gaining ground against the moderate rebel fighters backed by the opposition and he faces little pressure to make concessions. At the same time, radical Islamists distrusted by the West have taken a bigger role in the campaign to oust Assad. "After looking at the issue from a political, military and humanitarian angle ... the general secretary (the Council's 43-strong decision-making body) failed to see any encouragement or clear agenda based on which the meeting can succeed," it said in a statement, reaffirming a previous decision not to go to Geneva 2 "based on current conditions". The council is part of a broader opposition coalition which is due to make its final decision on whether to attend the Geneva 2 talks on Monday. The opposition meetings are taking place in Turkey, which strongly backs the anti-Assad campaign. The council decision to shun Geneva could increase pressure on the fractious coalition - which has said it is ready to attend in principle - but will not necessarily force its hand. Syria was plunged into civil war after an uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011 and descended into an armed insurgency after the army cracked down on protests. More than 100,000 people have been killed, more than 2 million refugees have fled abroad and another 6.5 million are displaced inside Syria. The coalition wants the talks in Switzerland to create a transitional authority for Syria in which Assad plays no role, but his government says it will not surrender power and that the president will remain in control. Jailed women and children The opposition group has also called on authorities to release women and children from Syrian jails and for humanitarian corridors into besieged rebel towns, pleas which the council says have been ignored. "Nothing has changed since we decided against the talks about a month ago except the situation on the ground has become even more complex and the international community has done nothing to ease the humanitarian crisis," said council member Abdulrahman Alhaj. Moderate rebel fighters have been losing ground to Assad's forces at the same time as facing increasing pressure from radical groups linked to al Qaeda and a newly formed Islamic Front, which is also fighting Assad. The president, who a year ago was battling rebels for control of the capital, has regained territory around Damascus and central Syria, backed by Shi'ite Iraqi fighters, Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas and Iranian military commanders. "How can the international community expect to influence Assad in political negotiations if it can't even get him to lift blockades?" Alhaj said, referring to large areas which remain under siege with no access to humanitarian agencies. ― Reuters  |
| Flynn stars as Blades cut Villa down to size Posted: 04 Jan 2014 04:48 PM PST
Villa manager Paul Lambert described the FA Cup as a "distraction" in the build-up to the tie and insisted most of his fellow top-flight managers would rather do without the competition. That scathing assessment of the world's most famous domestic cup competition came back to haunt Lambert as United made a mockery of the 51 places separating the teams in the league structure. Nigel Clough's side are languishing in 18th place in the third tier, but they never looked out of their depth at Villa Park and took the lead through Jamie Murphy in the first half. Nicklas Helenius looked to have spared Villa's blushes when he equalised with 15 minutes left. But Flynn's superb strike in the 80th minute gave United their first win at Villa since January 1966 and condemned the hosts to a humiliating exit. Despite his claims that he could do without the Cup, Lambert made just three changes to the line-up that won at Sunderland in the Premier League on New Year's Day. That just made Villa's defeat even more dispiriting and Lambert might have feared it wasn't going to be their day when defender Nathan Baker had to withdraw after suffering an injury in the warm-up. The Blades took the lead in the 20th minute when Murphy made the most of some hesitant Villa defending to cut in from the left flank and drill a hard low shot which appeared to take a deflection off Andreas Weimann on its way past goalkeeper Jed Steer. Christian Benteke missed two glorious chances to equalise for Villa in the final minute of the first half, twice heading wide after misjudging crosses from Marc Albrighton. Villa struggled to muster any attacking threat in the second half until the 70th minute when Albrighton set up Benteke who toe-poked his shot straight at United goalkeeper George Long. Lambert's team finally grabbed a scarcely deserved equaliser in the 75th minute when Weimann's shot took a big deflection and found young Danish midfielder Helenius, who fired home for his first ever Villa goal. But Flynn restored United's lead in the 80th minute, cutting across the edge of the area before driving a fine left-foot shot past Steer to send 6,000 visiting fans wild and leave Villa to face a chorus of boos from their own supporters. — AFP |
| Bangladesh election marred by opposition boycott, violence Posted: 04 Jan 2014 04:38 PM PST
Polls were due to open at 8 am and close at 4 pm, although with fewer than half of the 300 parliamentary seats being contested, the ruling Awami League was poised to sweep to victory. The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) urged voters to stay away from the "farcical" election. The impasse between the country's two dominant parties, which shows no sign of easing, undermines the poll's legitimacy and is fuelling worries of economic stagnation and further violence in the impoverished South Asian nation of 160 million. Either Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina or BNP chief Begum Khaleda Zia has been prime minister for all but two of the past 22 years and the two are bitter rivals. "These elections are in no way going to help resolve the stalemate we have seen in the past few months," said Iftekhar Zaman, executive director of global anti-corruption body Transparency International in Bangladesh. "The parliament which will emerge will be one without an opposition and so there will be a very big legitimacy crisis." Turnout was also likely to be crimped by fears of violence. More than 120 polling places have been set ablaze since Friday, an election commission official told Reuters. Much of the unrest has been in rural areas. The election commission sent a text message on Saturday to voters saying their security was ensured and urging them to turn out. "Please go to cast your vote without any fear and hassle," it said. Army troops have been deployed since December 26 to maintain order during the election. The BNP is protesting against the prime minister's scrapping of the practice of having a caretaker government oversee elections. Many of its leaders are in jail or in hiding. The Awami League says the interim government system has failed in the past. The country's US$22 billion (RM72 billion) garment industry, which accounts for 80 per cent of its exports, has been disrupted by transportation blockades ahead of the election. The European Union, a duty free market for nearly 60 per cent of Bangladesh's garment exports, has refused to send election observers, as have the United States and the Commonwealth, a grouping of 53 mainly former British colonies. Mohammad Selim, a rickshaw puller from the Jatrabari area of Dhaka, said that although he was frustrated by the one-sided nature of the election, he still planned to vote. But Mohammad Mostafa, from the northern district of Rangpur, said he felt no urge to go home from Dhaka and cast his vote. "This year, it seems to me meaningless." ―Reuters |
| New York may allow medical marijuana use, report says Posted: 04 Jan 2014 04:35 PM PST
The newspaper reported on its website that Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo — a long-time opponent of legalising medical marijuana — was planning to announce the new guideline next week in an executive action. The decision would see New York mirror a growing list of states which have taken an increasingly progressive stance on marijuana use. Colorado this week became the first US state to legalise the drug for recreational use. The Times reported that New York's new policy would be far stricter than in California, which has already loosened its rules on medical marijuana. In California, people suffering from mild ailments can obtain prescriptions for the drug; in New York it will be made available in only 20 designated hospitals across the state for individuals suffering from cancer, glaucoma or other diseases. New York retains some of the most draconian sanctions of any US state for individuals caught dealing or using drugs. However Cuomo's apparent policy U-turn would inch it closer to the softer policies that are rapidly gaining traction in the United States. Yesterday's report said New York hoped to have the infrastructure for dispensing medical marijuana installed later this year. The move comes amid a nationwide campaign to relax laws on marijuana use which has been buoyed by shifting attitudes on the drug. In October, for the first time in a Gallup poll, a majority of Americans — 58 per cent — said they favoured the legalisation of marijuana. — AFP |
| South Sudan rivals set stage for peace talks with a hug Posted: 04 Jan 2014 04:26 PM PST
At a ceremonial opening to the talks at a luxury hotel in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa yesterday, the leaders of the rival delegations hugged, but the faltering start to the negotiations has dampened hopes for a swift end to the violence. The run-up has been overshadowed by continued clashes between President Salva Kiir's SPLA government forces and rebels loyal to former vice president Riek Machar centred around the strategically located town of Bor. The talks will focus on when and how to roll out the ceasefire that both sides have agreed to in principle, though neither has indicated a start date. The head of the rebel delegation in Addis Ababa, Taban Deng Gai, repeated Machar's call for the release of several senior politicians allied to Machar and for the state of emergency imposed by Kiir in two states of South Sudan to be lifted. "We ask for ... the release of political detainees and ... free movement and political space for them to join us here," Gai said at the opening ceremony. Dina Mufti, spokesman for Ethiopia's foreign ministry, told Reuters the direct talks would begin at 1200 GMT on Sunday. Western and regional powers, many of which supported the negotiations that led to South Sudan's independence from Sudan in 2011, are pressing for a peace deal, fearing the new fighting could slide into civil war and destabilise east Africa. Clashes have already killed more than 1,000 people, driven 200,000 from their homes and rattled oil markets. Quiet capital A rebel spokesman in northern Unity state told Reuters rebel columns were closing in on South Sudan's capital Juba, though there was no independent confirmation and the SPLA has regularly dismissed similar reports over the past week. South Sudan remains one of the continent's least developed countries for all its crude reserves, estimated by BP to be sub-Saharan Africa's third largest. The fighting erupted on December 15 in Juba and rapidly spread across the country, which is about the size of France, along ethnic fault lines. The streets of Juba were quiet on Saturday as rumours swirled around the city of a rebel advance on the capital. Many businesses remained closed. "Fighting will not resolve these issues. This is political and should be dealt with politically," said 30-year-old marketing executive Francis Logali. Kiir is from the country's Dinka group while Machar is a Nuer. The two tribal groups have fought each other in the past for domination, influence and resources. Kiir has accused his long-term political rival Machar, whom he sacked in July, of starting the clashes in a bid to seize power and arrested 11 senior political figures he said were involved in the alleged plot. Machar dismissed the accusation but he has acknowledged leading soldiers battling the government. He has accused Kiir of purging political opponents within the ruling SPLM party ahead of elections next year. In a sign of deteriorating security, the United States on Friday ordered more of its embassy staff out of South Sudan and advised all other US citizens to leave.― Reuters |
| Retreating US stimulus poses risk to world recovery Posted: 04 Jan 2014 04:20 PM PST
After months of angst, investors will see how the US Federal Reserve handles its decision to curtail its policy of easy money, starting from this month. US jobs data on Friday will give markets a sense of the pace at which the Fed plans to pare back its bond-buying programme, while minutes on Wednesday from its December 18 meeting will throw light on the central bank's thinking. "The United States will be the main focus given the Fed has finally started to taper its asset purchases," said James Knightley, a senior economist at ING in London, referring to what economists call the "tapering" of US stimulus. "Nonetheless, the Fed has made it clear that it will not be looking to run down the size of its balance sheet anytime soon, while rate hikes remain some way off," he said. The Fed's stimulus revived the US economy after the biggest crisis since the Great Depression and the US economy is leading the global recovery. The United States could grow by up to 3 per cent this year, helping the global economy to expand by almost 4 per cent, according to the International Monetary Fund. The delicate job of bringing the US$85 billion (RM280 billion) a month programme gradually to an end will almost certainly fall to Janet Yellen, whose candidacy as the next Fed chair will be voted on by the US Senate tomorrow. Yellen, who would become the first woman to chair the US central bank, would take the reins on February 1, the day after Ben Bernanke ends his two-term stint. Currency concerns For emerging markets — major beneficiaries of cheap money unleashed by Fed stimulus — a scaling back of the programme will prompt investors to reduce their holdings of stocks and bonds. Short-term economic growth could suffer due to a failure to reform during the years of easy money. Turkey is one country that relies on foreign capital to plug holes in its balance of payments and the country will be in focus again in the week ahead, not least because Ankara faces its greatest period of political instability in a decade. Markets have calmed since the last week of 2013, when Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan dismissed police officers involved in a corruption investigation that has dragged in relatives of ministers and others with close links to the government. But a falling lira is saddling companies with higher payments on foreign loans and pushing up inflation. Indonesia, also vulnerable in the face of reduced US stimulus due to its sizeable current account deficit, has been at the centre of the sell-off in emerging currencies and will hold a central bank policy meeting with the Fed firmly in mind. Emerging markets are becoming more of a concern for the global economy as the rich world recovers from the 2008/2009 financial crisis, while China's slowing economy, which generates more than a third of global growth, has added to the unease. The world's second-largest economy releases business surveys, trade, inflation and lending figures in the week ahead. No celebration Europe offers good news for a change and US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew should hear some of that in a visit to Berlin, Paris and Lisbon for talks with senior officials. The single currency area is forecast to return to growth in 2014 after two years of contraction and Greece, at the centre of the bloc's crippling banking and debt crisis, expects its first economic expansion in six years. Still, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will be in no mood for celebrating when the bank's Governing Council meets on Thursday. He faces the difficult task of supporting growth with limited tools in a region still facing record unemployment and high public and private debt levels. The ECB is banned from buying bonds directly from governments and cannot emulate the Fed, although it can find ways to purchase bonds from banks on the secondary market. Draghi said last week he saw "no need for immediate action" after cutting interest rates to a record low of 0.25 per cent in November, and sees signs of a gradual economic recovery. "Draghi will merely emphasise once again that the ECB is ready to act," said Michael Schubert, an economist at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. Before the ECB meets, euro zone inflation data on Tuesday will show how consumer prices are holding up despite deflationary risks in some of the weaker economies. Surveys of the euro zone's service sector are likely to show the currency bloc ended the year on a reasonably robust note, even if France's tepid performance is a concern. Outside the euro zone, Britain is in a different position, with growth picking up, unemployment falling and house prices rising, leading to talk of the need for a rate rise sooner rather than later to avoid a real estate bubble. The Bank of England also holds its meeting on Thursday but no one expects a change in monetary policy this month. For the time being, the consensus remains that rates will rise from their record low of 0.5 per cent in 2015. — Reuters |
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