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  • Uganda Says its Troops Won’t Leave South Sudan

    Uganda Says its Troops Won’t Leave South Sudan

    {{Uganda Says its troops (UPDF) will not leave south Sudan where they have been fighting alongside the South Sudan forces in defence against mutineering forces.}}

    “We do not need to be stampeded out of South Sudan without a mechanism to maintain order,” said Maj Gen David Muhoozi, the commander of Uganda’s Land Forces.

    Gen Muhoozi said , “You cannot talk in the middle of chaos.”

    The US, Norway and Ethiopia are among the countries that have questioned Uganda’s continued presence in South Sudan and have called for them to leave, warning their partisan presence in the country risks spiraling the fighting into a regional conflict.

    Ugandan troops deployed in South Sudan five months ago and helped stabilise President Salva Kiir’s government then shaken by an army mutiny that saw hundreds of SPLA soldiers breaking ranks to join a rebel group led by Dr Riek Machar, the country’s former vice president.

    {Maj Gen David Muhoozi, the commander of Uganda’s Land Forces}

  • World Economic Activity Strengthening–IMF

    World Economic Activity Strengthening–IMF

    {{The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday lowered its global economic growth forecasts for this year and the next, saying the world economic activity is strengthening, but it remains weak and uneven as slow-burn risks linger.}}

    In its updated economic outlook, the Washington-based institution expected the global economy to expand by 3.6 percent in 2014 and 3.9 percent in 2015, both of which were slashed 0.1 percentage point from January predictions but up from 3 percent in 2013.

    “Global activity strengthened during the second half of 2013 and is expected to improve further in 2014-15,” the IMF said in its World Economic Outlook (WEO), warning that downside risks continue to dominate the outlook, despite some pickup in advanced economies, like the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany.

    “The recovery which was starting to take hold in October is becoming not only stronger, but also broader” as “various brakes which limited growth are being slowly loosened,” said IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard at a news conference held here. (AFP)

    The IMF expected growth in advanced economies to be the same with its forecast in January, at 2.2 percent and 2.3 percent for this year and the next, respectively.

    Growth in emerging markets was projected to increase from 4.7 percent in 2013 to 4.9 percent in 2014 and 5.3 percent in 2015, but both were slightly revised down from the last forecasts.

    Even with the downgrade, emerging market and developing economies continue to contribute more than two-thirds of global growth, said the IMF.

    The Fund kept its forecast for China unchanged at 7.5 percent in 2014 and 7.3 percent in 2015. “In some countries, such as China, lower growth may be in part a desirable by-product of more balanced growth.

    But in others there is clearly scope for a number of structural reforms which could help increase the underlying growth rate,” Blanchard noted.

    Tension in Ukraine has added geopolitical risk, but for the moment it hasn’t had global macroeconomic implications, said the report. The IMF cut Russia’s growth forecast by 0.6 percentage point to 1.3 percent this year.

    Low inflation headache for advanced economies

    In its latest assessment, the 188-member institution expected the U.S. economy to expand by 2.8 percent this year before strengthening further to 3 percent next year, up from a growth projection of 1.9 percent in 2013.

    In the euro area, growth will turn positive after having contracted for the last two years, with a projected pace of 1.2 percent and 1.5 percent this year and the next, respectively.

    The IMF highlighted risks of persistent low inflation in advanced economies. For the Euro Area where low inflation remains the dominant concern, the Fund said inflation is expected to remain below the European Central Bank’s price stability objective until at least 2016.

    {wirestory}

  • Copper Prices Expected to fall in 2nd Half of 2014

    Copper Prices Expected to fall in 2nd Half of 2014

    {{The global copper market is expected to post a moderate surplus this year, which will result in copper prices remaining under pressure, the fifth instalment of Thomson Reuters’ ‘GFMS Copper Survey 2014’ has found.}}

    The average yearly price was expected to fall below $7,000/t in 2014 for the first time since 2009, with a test of the $6 000/t level deemed likely over the second half, the report states.

    Launched on Tuesday during the CESCO/CRU copper conference in the Chilean capital city Santiago, this year’s study noted how copper prices continued to exhibit a downside bias in 2013, as a sharp acceleration in global mine supply and uncertainties over the global economic recovery dented the red metal’s near-term prospects.

    GFMS said that the copper market was in a largely balanced position in 2013, despite global mine output rising by 8 per cent, its fastest pace in more than a decade.

    Robust demand growth, a tight scrap market and delays in processing concentrate into refined metal limited the size of the market oversupply.

    Further, the stockpiling of refined metal within China over the closing months of 2013 also exacerbated the tightness in cathode availability. This helped place a floor under prices and inflated physical premiums as 2013 progressed.

    On an intra-year basis, prices nevertheless still fell 9 per cent, pressured by the uptrend in global mine output. More recent concerns surrounding slowing Chinese economic growth and the sustainability of the copper financing trade saw prices weaken further to near-four-year lows.

    “Whilst many commodities markets have been on the back foot of late, the copper market has been particularly susceptible to weakness given its heightened exposure to the Chinese market, through both traditional end-use demand as well as finance-related routes.

    With the risks to the copper market skewed to the downside, against a backdrop of rising mine supply and modest market surpluses, prices are likely to remain subdued over the rest of this year,” GFMS senior base metals analyst Rob Smith said.

    {{Rising supply}}

    GFMS said that the copper market was now in the midst of a period of strong supply growth, as miners begin to deliver on investments made during the boom years.

    Thomson Reuters estimated that global mine production grew by 8 per cent last year to 17.8-million tonnes, with Chile and the Democratic Republic of Congo making standout contributions.

    In fact, mine production increased across all regions, boosted by higher productivity at major mines, ramp-ups and commissioning of new projects and expansions.

    Looking ahead, mine output was set for a period of above-trend growth that would lead the copper market into surplus over the medium term, although it should be acknowledged that rising capital costs, easing prices and a shift in mindset amongst mining companies towards one of constraint, could lay the foundations for renewed tightness later in the decade, GFMS noted.

  • Greek Bond Oversubscribed

    Greek Bond Oversubscribed

    {{The sale of long term debt by the Greek government was eight times over subscribed, the government has said.}}

    Greece’s deputy prime minister Evangelos Venizelos said demand for 3bn euros (£2.4bn) worth of five year bonds proved the country’s debt is sustainable.

    The sale attracted interest from 550 investors.

    Greece is retuning to the capital markets for the first time since its economy nearly collapsed in 2010.

    The Greek government had initially priced the bond to provide a return of between 5% and 5.25%.

    But with investor orders running at 20bn euros (£16.5bn) it was able to lower the yield to 4.95% – far lower than analysts had expected.

    The country still has a “junk” credit rating, nine notches below investment grade at Caa3 by Moody’s. Standard and Poor’s and Fitch rank Greece six notches below investment grade at B-.

    Bailout
    Greece has been locked out of capital markets by high borrowing costs since 2010.

    The bond sale comes almost four years to the day the government said it could no longer fund itself.

    It received an international bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Union (EU) and a further bailout two years later as well as loans of 240bn euros.

    The bailouts were granted on condition Greece imposed a series of deeply resented spending cuts and tax hikes.

    However, the country’s interest rates have been falling recently as its public finances have improved following tough austerity measures.

    Protests
    The bond sale came amid reports that a car bomb had exploded outside one of the Bank of Greece’s offices in central Athens at dawn.

    Police, blamed leftwing or anarchist extremists, but said no one was injured.

    Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel is due to make an official visit to the country on Friday.

    Many Greeks blame Germany for insisting on spending cuts and tax increases in return for loans.

    On Wednesday thousands of striking Greeks marched on parliament to protest against job and spending cuts.

    BBC

  • Obama’s Health Secretary Resigns

    Obama’s Health Secretary Resigns

    {{US Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is resigning following the problematic launch of President Barack Obama’s healthcare law, US media report.}}

    The law – regarded by the president’s supporters as one of his main domestic achievements – has been marked by early technical problems and delays.

    Ms Sebelius has been health secretary since Mr Obama took office in 2009.

    The reports say Mr Obama will nominate Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the current budget director, to replace her.

    Ms Sebelius had made the decision to resign herself, the New York Times reported.

    The US president had resisted calls for the health secretary to stand down after the websites where people could enrol for health insurance ran into problems last October.

  • Nigeria Child Bride ‘Poisons Older Husband’

    Nigeria Child Bride ‘Poisons Older Husband’

    {{A 14-year-old girl in the northern Nigerian state of Kano has confessed to killing the man she was forced to marry, police say.}}

    Wasilu Umar admitted killing her husband, who was more than twice her age, by concealing rat poison in his food, the police in Kano said.

    Three other people also died and 10 were taken to hospital apparently after eating the same food.

    Child marriage is common in Nigeria, especially in the mainly Muslim north.

    The girl’s father had forced her to marry the 35-year-old man, police said.

    The marriage took place last week, police superintendent Musa Magaji Majia told the Associated Press news agency.

    Islamic police are trying to stop parents from forcing children into marriages against their will and the father could be charged.

    The teenager is likely to be tried in a juvenile court.

  • US Congress passes ban on Iran envoy

    US Congress passes ban on Iran envoy

    {{The US Congress has sent a bill to the president that would bar Iran’s pick for ambassador to the UN from entering the country.}}

    The House of Representatives passed the measure unanimously two days after the Senate approved it.

    Hamid Aboutalebi was a part of the Muslim student group that seized the US embassy in Tehran in 1979.

    The White House has told Iran Mr Aboutalebi was “not viable” but has not taken a position on the bill.

    Fifty-two Americans were held for 444 days at the height of Iran’s Islamic revolution, which saw pro-American Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi sent into exile and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini take power.

    Mr Aboutalebi, who previously served as Iran’s ambassador to Belgium, the European Union, Italy and Australia, told Iranian media his participation in the hostage crisis began only after the initial seizure of the embassy, and primarily involved translation.

    ‘Unequivocal message’
    On Thursday, White House spokesman Jay Carney said, “We’ve made clear and have communicated to the Iranians that the selection they’ve put forward is not viable.”

    But he declined to say whether President Barack Obama would sign the bill into law.

    The Iranian government, meanwhile, has called the US rejection of Mr Aboutalebi “not acceptable”.

    The bill passed on Thursday in the House denies entry into the US to individuals engaged in espionage or terrorism or who pose a threat to national security.

    Senator Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican who introduced the legislation in the US Senate, urged Mr Obama to sign the bill.

    “We, as a country, can send an unequivocal message to rogue nations like Iran that the United States will not tolerate this kind of provocative and hostile behaviour,” Mr Cruz said.

    The bill’s sponsor in the House, Republican Doug Lamborn, said, “Terrorists, from Iran or elsewhere, should not be allowed to walk the streets of Manhattan with diplomatic immunity.”

    {{US options}}

    As the host country of the United Nations, the US has previously but rarely denied entry to an envoy or head of state. Those included a previous Iranian diplomat and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

    In those cases the applications were withdrawn after the US signalled opposition, or the state department simply declined to process the visas.

    Those options are available in Mr Aboutalebi’s case.

    On Monday, Iranian foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham told state-run media he had previously received a US visa as part of a visit to the UN in the 1990s.

    In an interview with an Iranian news site, Mr Aboutalebi said he was not part of the group that took over the US embassy and was only later asked to translate for the students.

    Others involved in the hostage-taking have corroborated that account.

    BBC

  • Venezuela’s Maduro & Opposition Hold Crisis Talks

    Venezuela’s Maduro & Opposition Hold Crisis Talks

    {{Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has met opposition leaders in crisis talks aimed at quelling weeks of protests.}}

    Mr Maduro met his bitter rival, opposition leader Henrique Capriles, for six hours. More talks are scheduled for Tuesday.

    The meeting was brokered by foreign ministers from South American nations.

    Protests erupted over soaring crime rates in February, but have snowballed into wider anti-government rallies. Some 40 people have been killed.

    Mr Maduro, who says the protests are part of a “fascist” US-backed plot against him, told the meeting that there would be no deal with the opposition.

    “There are no negotiations here. No pacts. All we’re looking for is a model of peaceful coexistence, of mutual tolerance,” he said.

    He has said any kind of formal deal with the opposition would make him a “traitor to chavismo”, the socialist platform of his predecessor Hugo Chavez.

    Mr Maduro called on the opposition to renounce violence.

    ‘Builders of peace’
    Mr Capriles, who was narrowly defeated in last year’s presidential election, insisted that the opposition did not want a coup against the government.

    “We don’t want a coup d’etat. We don’t want an explosion on the streets,” he said.

    “Either this situation changes, or it bursts. I hope it changes because I don’t want violence.”

    Mr Capriles also accused Mr Maduro of being disrespectful to the Venezuelan people.

    “How are you going to ask the country to accept you if you call half the country fascists or you threaten them?” he asked. “I think it is very difficult to govern a country where half the people are against you.”

    The talks were broadcast live on television.

    Pope Francis sent a letter giving his support to the talks.

    “I urge you not to get stuck in the conflict of the moment but open yourselves to one another to become true builders of peace,” the Roman Catholic leader said, in a letter read out at the meeting.

    Venezuela is sharply divided between supporters and opponents of Mr Maduro, who narrowly beat Mr Capriles to the presidency last year.

    The oil-rich country’s economy has hit the buffers in recent years, with food shortages and rising inflation causing increasing dissent.

    BBC

  • Burundi Leaders Warned Against Instigating Violence

    Burundi Leaders Warned Against Instigating Violence

    {{The United Nations warned on Thursday that Burundi leaders who have manipulated young people to stoke violence could face international prosecution if human rights abuses are committed.}}

    Planned constitutional amendments that could allow President Pierre Nkurunziza a third term and change power-sharing arrangements have stirred the worst political crisis in the east African country since a 12-year civil war ended in 2005.

    “In light of Burundi’s past, we trust that the government of Burundi will thoroughly and promptly address the ongoing political violence and restrictions to human rights,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s.

    “Political violence has the potential to spark fear in the population and trigger large-scale violence,” he said.

    The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed concern at increasing restrictions on civil and political rights in Burundi, following a series of violent acts by the ruling party’s youth wing and police.

    “We are stressing that if no action is taken and serious human rights violations occur, those responsible for manipulating the youth affiliated to political parties and instigating violence would be liable for international prosecution,” Dujarric told reporters.

    He said Ban has recently discussed the crisis with Nkurunziza and other political leaders in the region. Burundi is due to hold elections next year.

    reuters

  • US Tells South Sudan to End Fighting

    US Tells South Sudan to End Fighting

    {{U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told a senior South Sudan official on Thursday that the Juba government needed to end the fighting in the African country, as the State Department brandished the threat of sanctions.}}

    In a meeting with South Sudan’s minister of the office of president, Awan Riak, Kerry said: “We will not stand by while the hopes of a nation are held hostage to short-sighted and destructive actors.”

    In a statement about the meeting, the State Department pointedly noted that President Barack Obama last week authorized possible targeted sanctions against those committing human rights abuses in South Sudan or undermining democracy and obstructing the peace process.

    A civil war in South Sudan between the government and rebels has created a humanitarian crisis in the country, which declared independence from Sudan in 2011 but has since been plagued by disorder.

    Thousands of people have been killed and more than 1 million people have been displaced since fighting erupted in mid-December, triggered by a power struggle between the government of President Salva Kiir and rebels led by former Vice President Riek Machar. The conflict has also disrupted oil output, which provides a hefty portion of the government’s revenue.

    The failure of peace talks so far has frustrated Western backers of the world’s youngest country, who are pressing both sides to lay down their weapons.

    Relief agencies have expressed concern about access to aid because of the warring parties’ suspicions of U.N. relief efforts.

    The State Department said Kerry noted “his grave concern” about the situation and urged the government “immediately to stop the fighting, provide full humanitarian access, and cease harassment and threats against the U.N. mission.”

    Kerry called on the country’s leaders “to prioritize the interests of the South Sudanese people over their own personal or ethnic interests.”

    {wirestory}