IGIHE

Tag: InternationalNews

  • Chechen Leader Denies Sending Fighters to Ukraine

    Chechen Leader Denies Sending Fighters to Ukraine

    The Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya has denied sending fighters to support pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine, but said some could have gone of their own accord.

    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry raised concerns with Moscow this week about reports of Chechens and other fighters crossing into Ukraine from Russia to join the rebellions against the leadership in Kiev.

    Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who fought Russian troops in the North Caucasus province in the 1990s, echoed Moscow’s denials of involvement but said he had recognized some of the fighters in pictures from Ukraine.

    “We did not send them. They are absolutely not our staff,” he said in an interview to be shown on Russian television on Saturday.

    “If a person voluntarily leaves (Russia), we have no right to stop him. This is his own decision.”

    He did not rule out sending Chechen fighters to Ukraine if ordered to do so by President Vladimir Putin, who reserves the right to use force in Ukraine if its Russian-speaking minority is in danger.

    “If there is an order, we will fulfill it with pleasure, because any warrior is a defender of his people, his Fatherland,” Kadyrov said.

    “If we imagine there’s about 14 Chechens in Donetsk (in eastern Ukraine) and they have already caused such a stir, what happens if a battalion is sent there?”

    Kadyrov’s security services have been accused of human rights abuses such as kidnappings and torture in mainly-Muslim Chechnya, but his aides deny it.

    wirestory

  • Suicide Bomber in Syria was American

    Suicide Bomber in Syria was American

    {{A US citizen carried out a suicide bombing against Syrian troops on Sunday, the US state department says.

    The rebel al-Nusra Front said the man conducted the bombing on their behalf. It was one of four attacks carried out in the northern city of Idlib that day.

    It is thought to be the first suicide attack by a US citizen in the conflict.

    More than 100,000 people have been killed in the battle between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and those opposed to his rule.

    “I can confirm that this individual was a US citizen involved in a suicide bombing in Syria,” state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

    The man was believed to be Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, she said.

    The department was “concerned about the flow of foreign fighters in and out of Syria”, Ms Psaki added.}}

  • Brazil Economy Slows Before World Cup

    Brazil Economy Slows Before World Cup

    {{Brazil’s economy grew 0.2% in the first three months of 2014, official statistics show.

    The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics also revised down economic growth in the last three months of 2013, to 0.4%.}}

    The sluggish growth figures come just before the start of the World Cup and presidential elections in October.

    President Dilma Rousseff, who is seeking re-election, has said the football event will spur growth.

    But high inflation and low business investment have put a damper on the expected lift from government investment in projects leading up to the sporting event.

    This has spurred protests from Brazilians angry over the expense of the World Cup and the lack of trickle-down growth.

    Business investment fell 2.1% in the first three months of 2014, the biggest decline in two years.

    “I couldn’t find anything positive at all in the [data],” said Bruno Rovai at Barclays.

    Brazil, which is Latin America’s biggest economy and the world’s seventh largest, has suffered from stubbornly high inflation, which remains at 6%, above the central bank’s target.

    On Wednesday, the central bank kept its key interest rate at 11% in an effort to combat rising prices.

  • ‘Five Held’ Over India Gang Rapes

    ‘Five Held’ Over India Gang Rapes

    {{Police in India say they have now arrested all suspects in connection with the gang rape and murder of two teenage cousins.}}

    Three suspected attackers have been detained, along with two policemen accused of dereliction of duty and criminal conspiracy.

    The girls, who belonged to a low caste, were found hanged from a tree in Uttar Pradesh state earlier in the week.

    Alleged police inaction has sparked outrage.

    The father of one victim told media he was ridiculed by police when he sought help in finding his missing daughter.

    He said that when policemen found out he was from a lower caste, they “refused to look for my girl”.

    The government has pledged to set up a fast-track court to deal with the case.

    Meanwhile, reports have emerged that two more gang rapes of minors occurred in Uttar Pradesh, in northern India, this week.

  • Will Smith Drops out of Movie ‘Brilliance’

    Will Smith Drops out of Movie ‘Brilliance’

    {{Will Smith has reportedly dropped out of upcoming sci-fi movie Brilliance.

    The Men In Black actor was due to star in the big screen adaptation of Marcus Sakey’s novel but had to pull out for scheduling reasons, reported Deadline.

    Production on the project is due to start in the summer, but it seems the timing didn’t work for Will.

    The film, which will be directed by Julius Onah and has a screenplay penned by David Koepp, is set in a world where people are born with extraordinary abilities, and are known as “brilliants”.

    One federal agent uses his hunting gifts to hunt down a terrorist, another “brilliant”, who plans to start a civil war.

    Noomi Rapace is tipped to co-star in the film. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo actress has apparently been in negotiations about a role.}}

  • UN Wants Wider Use of Drones

    UN Wants Wider Use of Drones

    {{UN peacekeeping missions should deploy more drones and state-of the art technology to become more effective, limit boots on the ground and keep aid workers safer, their chief said on Thursday.}}

    On the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, staff paid tribute to more than 3 000 peacekeepers who have died since 1948, including 106 last year, and to those still serving on the frontline.

    The head of UN peacekeeping, Herve Ladsous, said that a peacekeeper died on average once every three days in 2013, and that technology needs to be upgraded to assist a record number of UN boots on the ground.

    The Security Council last month approved a new mission in the Central African Republic and in December voted to send an extra 5 500 soldiers to war-torn South Sudan.

    “Clearly we cannot continue to afford to work with 20th century tools in the 21st century,” Ladsous told reporters in New York.

    He said drones had already helped in the Democratic Republic of Congo and could be vital in improving humanitarian access.

    “They [convoys] can use the images of the machines to make sure they are not going to be attacked or hijacked on the way. That, I think, is a very significant development,” Ladsous said.

    “We do need them [drones] in countries like Mali, like Central African Republic and clearly in South Sudan it would be my desire that we might deploy them,” he said.

    Surveillance drones could replace some military observers and make a big difference.

    wirestory

  • US Citizens Immunised: Measles on Rise

    US Citizens Immunised: Measles on Rise

    {{Public health experts in the US are urging people to get vaccinated after a spike in measles cases in the country this year.}}

    The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported 288 cases of measles in the first five months of 2014 – the largest number for 20 years.

    The outbreak is thought to be linked to US citizens travelling to the Philippines.

    The CDC says timely vaccination is the best way to prevent measles.

    Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of CDC’s National Centre for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases, said many US healthcare providers had never seen or treated a patient with measles because of the country’s robust vaccination efforts and rapid response to outbreaks.

    Measles was eliminated from the United States in 2000, meaning that for more than 12 months there was no longer any continuous measles transmission.

    She said: “The current increase in measles cases is being driven by unvaccinated people, primarily US residents, who got measles in other countries, brought the virus back to the United States and spread to others in communities where many people are not vaccinated.”

    “Many of the clusters in the US began following travel to the Philippines where a large outbreak has been occurring since October 2013.”

    Two doses

    Of the 288 cases, 280 were thought to have been imported from at least 18 countries.

    Ninety per cent of all measles cases in the US occurred in people who were not vaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown.

    More than one in seven cases has led to stays in hospital.

    In the US, the CDC recommends two doses of measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine for everyone starting at age 12 months.

    For those travelling abroad, the CDC recommends that babies older than six months receive the MMR vaccine.

    Measles is a serious viral illness that is highly contagious.

    The initial symptoms of measles develop around 10 days after infection. These can include cold-like symptoms, red eyes and sensitivity to light, a high temperature or fever and greyish white spots in the mouth and throat.

    After a few days, a red-brown spotty rash will appear. This usually starts behind the ears and then spreads around the head and neck before spreading to the rest of the body.

    Measles is still common in many parts of the world, including countries in Europe, Asia, the Pacific, and Africa.

    BBC

  • Google Launches ‘Right to Be Forgotten’

    Google Launches ‘Right to Be Forgotten’

    {{Google has launched a service to allow Europeans to ask for personal data to be removed from online search results.}}

    The move comes after a landmark European Union court ruling earlier this month, which gave people the “right to be forgotten”.

    Links to “irrelevant” and outdated data should be erased on request, it said.

    Google said it would assess each request and balance “privacy rights of the individual with the public’s right to know and distribute information”.

    “When evaluating your request, we will look at whether the results include outdated information about you, as well as whether there’s a public interest in the information,” Google says on the form which applicants must fill in.

    Google said it would look at information about “financial scams, professional malpractice, criminal convictions, or public conduct of government officials” while deciding on the request.

    Earlier this month, the BBC learned that more than half of requests sent to Google from UK individuals involved convicted criminals.

    This included a man convicted of possessing child abuse images who had also asked for links to pages about his conviction to be wiped.

    On 13 May, the EU’s court of justice ruled that links to “irrelevant” and outdated data on search engines should be erased on request.

    The case was brought by a Spanish man who complained that an auction notice of his repossessed home, which appeared on Google’s search results, infringed his privacy.

    On Friday, Google said that EU citizens who want their private details removed from the search engine will be able to do so by filling out an online form.

    However, they will need to provide links to the material they want removed, their country of origin, and a reason for their request.

    Individuals will also have to attach a valid photo identity.

    “Google often receives fraudulent removal requests from people impersonating others, trying to harm competitors, or improperly seeking to suppress legal information,” the firm said.

    “To prevent this kind of abuse, we need to verify identity.”

    agencies

  • Japan Inflation Rises to 23-year High

    Japan Inflation Rises to 23-year High

    {{Consumer prices in Japan rose at their fastest pace in 23 years in April, following an increases in sales tax.

    Prices rose 3.2% compared with the same period last year, beating analysts’ forecasts of a 3.1% jump.

    The government raised its sales tax rate from 5% to 8% on 1 April.

    Japan has been battling deflation, or falling prices, for best part of the past two decades, and policymakers have said that ending that cycle is key to reviving the country’s economy.

    Falling consumer prices hurt domestic demand as consumers and businesses tend to put off purchases in the hope of getting a cheaper deal later on. }}

    The Japanese government has taken various steps over the past few months to try and reverse this trend, and have set a target of a 2% inflation rate.

    The measures, which include boosting the country’s money supply, have started to have an impact and consumer prices in the country have now risen for 11 months in a row.

    The hope is that once prices start to rise, it may force consumers and business to spend more money and not hold back on purchases, as they may have to pay more later on.

    But there have been some concerns that higher inflation may trigger a decline in spending.

    Data released on Friday showed that household spending fell 4.6% in April, compared to a year earlier.

    That follows a 4.4% decline in retail sales during the month.

    However, analysts said the decline in spending was in part due to consumers rushing to make purchases ahead of the tax rise. That had been evident in March, when sales surged 11% – the fastest pace of growth since March 1997.

    BBC

  • Argentina in Deal to Pay $10bn Debts

    Argentina in Deal to Pay $10bn Debts

    {{Argentina has reached an agreement with the Paris Club group of international creditor governments to repay its overdue debts over a five-year period.}}

    The deal covers Argentine arrears of some $9.7bn (£5.8bn).

    The government of President Cristina Kirchner said in 2008 that it wanted to pay back the debt inherited from the country’s 2001-02 default crisis.

    During the last weeks of 2001 the Argentine government defaulted on public debt totalling $132bn.

    In a statement, the Paris Club said a first instalment of at least $1.15bn was due by May 2015. The next payment will then be due by May 2016.

    “Realisation of initial payment under a formal commitment of Argentina to fully clear its arrears is a necessary and important step for the normalisation of financial relationships between Paris Club creditors and Argentina,” the Paris Club said.

    “During the meeting, the delegation of the Argentine Republic provided a description of the economic and financial situation of its country and presented the measures implemented by the Argentine Government aimed at enhancing inclusive growth and strengthening resilience to external shocks.”

    The Paris Group also said the agreement allowed for credit agencies to resume doing business with Argentina.

    Argentina was represented in the negotiations by Finance Minister Axel Kicillof.

    The Paris Club was formed in 1956. It is an informal group of creditor governments from major industrialised countries.

    Germany is Argentina’s biggest Paris Club creditor with about 30% of the debt, followed by Japan with about 25%. Other debt holders include the Netherlands, Spain, Italy. Switzerland and the US.

    {agencies}