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Tag: InternationalNews

  • Christian Writers to Gather at First Baptist Church

    Christian Writers to Gather at First Baptist Church

    {{A weekend conference in Tuscaloosa will offer experienced and novice writers the chance to hone their skills and learn ways to get their work published, organizers say.}}

    The 23rd annual Southern Christian Writers Conference will be held Friday and Saturday in the educational center at First Baptist Church, 721 Greensboro Ave., in downtown Tuscaloosa.

    Organizers say all types of writers, secular or spiritual, are welcome to attend.

    “We wanted to help writers become more professional also and get works published whether it was in Christian magazines or in secular books,” said Joanne Sloan, who founded the Southern Christian Writers Conference with her husband, David.

    Joanne Sloan is a freelance writer who has written for a variety of Christian and secular magazines, while David Sloan is a retired journalism teacher and published book writer.

    The conference is very practical, Joanne Sloan said. There will be workshops where writers will have one-on-one interaction with literary agents, she said. Guest speakers will discuss various topics, such as how writers can use social media effectively.

    “One keynote speaker this year is a New York best-selling author from North Carolina, Patricia Hickman,” Sloan said. “She will be doing a keynote on how to connect with your readers and a workshop on how to develop characters.”

    tuscaloosanews

  • US Military Jet Crashes into Homes

    US Military Jet Crashes into Homes

    A US military jet has crashed into homes in the California desert, about 90 miles (144km) east of San Diego.

    Television footage showed at least one home on fire on a residential street in the city of Imperial, following the crash on Wednesday evening.

    The pilot of the AV-8B Harrier jet ejected safely, and has been taken to hospital with minor injuries.

    The US Marine Corps said eight homes had been evacuated but no-one on the ground was hurt.

    An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the crash, it said in a statement..

    Resident Adriana Ramos, 45, said her house shook when the plane crashed.

    “It felt like a bomb was thrown in the backyard,” she said.

    Scene ‘chaotic’
    Another witness, Jose Santos, said he was driving nearby when he saw the plane flying “really low”.

    “It just fell down,” he said.

    wirestory

  • Italy to Grant Citizenship to Children Born to Asylum Holders

    Italy to Grant Citizenship to Children Born to Asylum Holders

    {{Italy announced plans to give citizenship to children born of refugees who have been granted asylum, as the government faced growing anti-immigrant sentiment over an influx of migrant arrivals by sea.}}

    Under current legislation, children born to immigrants and refugees do not automatically receive citizenship even if they are born on Italian soil, attend Italian schools and spend their whole lives in Italy. They must first turn 18 to apply.

    Mario Balotelli, the 23-year-old star attacker for Italy’s national soccer team, was born in Italy to Ghanian parents and was not allowed to play for the national squad before turning 18 because of the law.

    Former Integration Minister Cecile Kyenge was repeatedly attacked for her proposal to overhaul the law.

    The Interior Ministry plans to issue an administrative order making citizens of children born on Italian soil to parents who have political asylum, Domenico Manzione, the ministry’s undersecretary for immigration, said in an interview.

    Italian citizenship is mostly passed on through ancestry or blood, not place of birth, and the anti-immigrant Northern League party, whose support has increased over the past year, opposes all legislation that eases citizenship requirements.

    The League boosted its support by more than two percentage points to above 6 percent in last month’s European election, in which anti-immigrant sentiment lifted support for Nigel Farage’s UKIP in Britain and Marine Le Pen’s National Front in France.

    Currently in Italy, the children of those granted asylum already can receive the same status as their parents, but any children born after the asylum is granted are excluded, Manzione said.

    “The move sends a welcoming message (to refugees), addresses a human rights issue and resolves an evident disparity in treatment inherent in the current rules,” Manzione said. It was a matter of weeks at most before the order was endorsed by the ministry.

  • Mers Virus: Saudi Arabia Raises Death toll to 282

    Mers Virus: Saudi Arabia Raises Death toll to 282

    {{Saudi Arabia says 282 people are now confirmed to have been killed by the Mers virus, almost 100 more than initially thought.}}

    The increase came after a national review of hospital data from the time the virus emerged in 2012.

    The deputy health minister, who has been criticised for his handling of the crisis, was sacked on Monday.

    Cases of the virus, for which there is no known cure, have been confirmed in almost a dozen other countries.

    Saudi authorities said there had now been 688 confirmed Mers (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) infections in the kingdom. Before the revision the number of cases was believed to be 575.

    Saudi health ministry spokesman Tariq Madani said that despite the revised figures, fewer people were now contracting the disease.

    “Though the review showed confirmed cases that needed to be added, we are still witnessing a decline in the number of newly registered cases in the past few weeks” he said.

    {{The Mers virus has been indentified in almost a dozen countries but has hit Saudi Arabia the hardest}}

    wirestory

  • Survey Finds Discontent in World Cup Host Brazil

    Survey Finds Discontent in World Cup Host Brazil

    {{A survey released on Tuesday paints a grim picture of Brazil as it gears up to host the World Cup, showing widespread frustration with the economy and with President Dilma Rousseff.}}

    The level of general dissatisfaction in Brazil is 72% according to the poll by the Washington-based Pew Research Center.

    That is up from 55% a year earlier in a Pew survey that was taken just before the largest street protests in two decades broke out.

    Six in 10 respondents said hosting the World Cup, which starts next week, is bad for Brazil, taking the view that the billions of dollars poured into the soccer tournament would be better spent on services such as healthcare, schools and public transportation.

    The findings dovetail with other recent surveys by Brazilian pollsters, which have also shown that support for the World Cup has eroded over the past couple of years as Brazil’s government has failed to deliver promised roads, airports and many other investments that could have yielded long-term benefits.

    In the Pew survey, respondents were less pessimistic about how the World Cup would be seen overseas, with 39% saying it would hurt Brazil’s image abroad and 35 percent saying it would help.

    The month-long tournament kicks off on June 12 at a controversial new stadium in Sao Paulo.

    The Pew Center found Brazilians were particularly worried about their country’s economy, which has slowed to a crawl in the last three years after a decade-long boom.

    Two-thirds say the economy is in bad shape, while just 32% believe things are going well.

    That is an about-face from a year ago, when 59% thought the country was in good shape economically.

    Hopes that the World Cup would provide a much-needed boost have also faded, with data on Friday showing gross domestic product barely grew in the first quarter.

    Inflation, an age-old villain in Brazil, is considered the top economic problem, the survey found.

    That could be bad news for President Rousseff, who is up for re-election in October. Crime, health care and political corruption topped the list of noneconomic concerns in the poll.

    Under half, or 48%, of Brazilians said they believe Rousseff is exerting a “good influence” on Brazil and 52% described her influence as “bad”.

    Her marks were particularly poor on her handling of corruption and crime although they were slightly higher among lower-income groups, her political base.

    Still, 51 percent of respondents said they had a favorable view of Rousseff, much higher than the result for her two likely election opponents.

    Just 27% had a favorable view of Aecio Neves of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party, and 24 percent responded favorably to Eduardo Campos, of the Brazilian Socialist Party.

    The Pew survey was based on 1,003 interviews done with adults 18 and older between April 10 and 30, nationwide. It has a margin of error 3.8 percentage points either way.

    reuters

  • India to Ease Restrictions For Foreign Online Retailers

    India to Ease Restrictions For Foreign Online Retailers

    {{India could allow global online retailers such as Amazon.com Inc to sell their own products as early as next month, removing restrictions that could boost competition in one of the world’s biggest, and most price-sensitive, retail markets.}}

    The decision, which is likely to be announced in the budget, is one of the first tangible signs of economic reform by the business-friendly government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was sworn in 10 days ago.

    The move is also likely to allow the government to circumvent political opposition to opening up India’s $500 billion retail sector to global retail giants such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

    Four people privy to discussions within the government told Reuters that officials believed a more robust online retail sector would spur manufacturing and consumption, helping revive an economy that has been growing at below 5% for two years, the longest period of sub-par expansion since the late 1980s.

    “Most stakeholders support FDI (foreign direct investment),” said a senior government official, referring to e-commerce. “We have pitched for opening it up completely.”

    Industry surveys say e-commerce could contribute as much as 4% to India’s economy by 2020.

    The official, like the people who spoke to media, declined to be named as the matter was confidential.

    When asked about the decision, a spokesman for India’s commerce and industry ministry declined to comment.

  • Germany Investigates Merkel ‘Phone Tap’

    Germany Investigates Merkel ‘Phone Tap’

    {{Germany is to investigate allegations by US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden that the US government bugged Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone.}}

    Federal prosecutor Harald Range informed the German parliament’s legal affairs committee that an investigation would be held into persons unknown.

    Mrs Merkel has publicly asked for an explanation for the alleged spying by the US National Security Agency (NSA).

    The inquiry was announced as US President Barack Obama visited Europe.

    At the same time, Mr Range said he had decided opening an investigation into claims of wider NSA surveillance of German citizens, media reports.

    Pressure for a wide-ranging investigation had been growing, correspondents say.

    {{‘Pained’}}

    The German and US leaders are due to meet in Brussels at a G7 summit on Wednesday.

    Mr Obama told the German chancellor last month that he was “pained” that Mr Snowden’s disclosures had strained the US-German relationship.

    The US leader said he had directed US intelligence agencies to weigh the privacy interests of non-Americans as well as US citizens and residents, “in everything that they do”.

    Mrs Merkel has proposed establishing a European communications network to avoid emails and other data automatically passing through the US.

  • Obama Condemns Russian ‘Aggression’

    Obama Condemns Russian ‘Aggression’

    {{US President Barack Obama has condemned Russian “aggression” in Ukraine.

    Speaking in Warsaw to mark 25 years since the fall of communism in Poland, he hailed Polish democracy as a beacon for neighbouring Ukraine.

    “How can we allow the dark tactics of the 20th Century to define the 21st?” he said.

    Earlier Mr Obama met Ukraine President-elect Petro Poroshenko, and pledged support for plans to restore peace to the country.

    Mr Obama called Mr Poroshenko a “wise selection” to lead Ukraine, and said the nation could become a vibrant, thriving democracy if the world community stood behind it.}}

  • Apple takes on Dropbox and WhatsApp

    Apple takes on Dropbox and WhatsApp

    {{Apple has taken on Dropbox and WhatsApp with a series of software upgrades that mimic the rival apps’ services.}}

    At its annual conference for software developers, the firm unveiled iCloud Drive, an internet-based storage app, which works on Apple systems and PCs.

    In an effort to keep customers using all its technologies, Apple improved integration for calls and messages across its devices.

    It also unveiled new mobile and desktop operating systems.

    Apple’s iMessage app was given extra features, some of which are similar to rival service WhatsApp, recently acquired by Facebook for $19bn (£11.3bn).

    Users will be able to easily create and modify group messages, send voice clips with a single swipe, and even create and exchange short video clips.

    The ability to send and receive text messages across all Apple devices was also introduced.

    Jan Koum, WhatsApp’s co-founder, reacted to Apple’s announcement by tweeting:

    “Very flattering to see Apple “borrow” numerous WhatsApp features into iMessage in iOS 8 #innovation”

  • Syria Votes in Contentious Election

    Syria Votes in Contentious Election

    Syria is holding a presidential election in government-held areas, amid heightened security.

    President Bashar al-Assad is widely expected to win a third seven-year term in office.

    However, critics of the Syrian government have denounced the election as a farce.

    Syria is three years into a civil war in which tens of thousands of people have died and millions more have been displaced.

    Analysts say Syrian officials have gone to great lengths to present the vote as a way to resolve the crisis.

    This is the first time in decades that more than one name – just a member of the Assad family – has appeared on the ballot paper.

    The interior ministry says there are 15.8 million eligible voters, both inside and outside Syria, and about 9,600 polling stations have been set up around the country.

    In the Syrian capital, Damascus, people had to make their way through multiple checkpoints to cast their ballots.

    For thousands, this was a chance to pledge their allegiance to the president. Some have reportedly refused to go behind the curtain to cast their vote in privacy, instead publicly declaring their backing for Mr Assad.

    Odai al-Jamounai, 18, told the Associated Press that he had used a pin to prick his finger and vote in blood, “to express by my love to my country and my leader.”

    In the coastal town of Latakia, a stronghold of Mr Assad, Zein Ahmed told the BBC he would be voting for the president because “no-one can lead this period better than him. We believe in him.”