Tag: InternationalNews

{{US President Barack Obama will announce plans on Tuesday to seek to leave 9 800 US troops in Afghanistan after the formal troop draw down at the end of this year, a senior administration official said}}.

The number emerged after Obama held talks with US military commanders at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan on Sunday as the United States winds down a war begun in the aftermath of the 9/11, 2001 attacks.

Obama was to make the announcement in a 14:45 EDT (18:45 GMT) statement in the White House Rose Garden.

US officials are expressing increasing confidence that the next Afghan president will sign a bilateral security agreement that Obama wants before the United States will agree to leave behind troops to help train Afghan forces and conduct counter-terrorism operations.

Under the scenario envisioned by Obama, the 9 800 troops would stay for a year, then that number would be reduced by half by the end of 2015, the official said.

By the end of 2016, the US presence would be cut to a normal embassy presence as has been done in Iraq, the official added.

{{India’s new PM Narendra Modi has urged his Pakistani counterpart to crack down on militants and speed up the trial of the 2008 Mumbai attacks suspects.}}

Mr Modi held bilateral talks with Nawaz Sharif on his first day in office.

The Pakistani leader said they should put the “legacy of mistrust” behind them and work for peace and stability.

Mr Sharif attended Mr Modi’s swearing-in on Monday, amid hopes of a thaw in relations between the rivals who have fought three wars since independence.

Mr Modi also “underlined our concerns related to terrorism”, Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said after the talks.

“It was conveyed that Pakistan must abide by its commitment to prevent its territory and territory under its control from being used for terrorism against India.”

The two sides discussed trade and the “PM said the two countries could immediately move towards normalising trade ties”, Ms Singh said, adding that the foreign secretaries would “meet soon” to carry forward the bilateral agenda.

In a brief statement, Mr Sharif described the talks as “good and constructive” and said they were held in “a cordial atmosphere”.

“We agreed that our meeting in Delhi should be a historic opportunity for both our countries… This provides us the opportunity of meeting the hopes and aspirations of our peoples that we will succeed in turning a new page in our relations,” he said.

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{{Orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods unexpectedly rose in April and consumer confidence perked up in May, supporting views of a rebound in economic growth this quarter.}}

Other data on Tuesday showed underlying strength in the housing market as home prices continued to increase in March. Services industries, which dominate the economy, grew at a steady clip in May.

“It appears that the economy continues to bounce back from the harsh winter,” said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics in New York.

Durable goods orders increased 0.8% as demand for defense capital goods surged and orders for fabricated metal products, transportation equipment and electrical equipment, appliances and components rose, the Commerce Department said.

Durable goods range from toasters to aircraft and are meant to last three years or more.

Orders advanced by a revised 3.6% in March. Economists had forecast orders falling 0.5% after a previously reported 2.5% rise in March.

While non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, fell 1.2%, March’s orders were revised to a 4.7% gain.

That was the largest rise since November and economists said it would be a boost to second-quarter business spending.

Orders for the so-called core capital goods were previously reported to have risen 2.9% in March.

Separately, the Conference Board said its index of consumer attitudes rose to 83 in May from 81.7 in April. Improving household confidence should boost consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.

{{Britons make up most of the foreign members in Syria’s most violent terror group, a senior rebel leader says.}}

In a letter to The Times, Brig-Gen Abdulellah al-Basheer of the Free Syrian Army asks for help in curbing the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

He claims the group attacks opposition forces, not the Assad regime

UK fighters are involved in activities including beheadings, crucifixions and ill-treatment of women, he adds.

In his letter, General al-Basheer writes that ignoring the problem could lead to British extremists returning home to “continue on their pernicious path of destruction”.

Last week father-of-two Mashudur Choudhury became the first person in the UK to be convicted of terrorist offences in connection with the conflict in Syria.

Using the example of Choudhury, General al-Basheer writes: “He is one of many. They are not freedom fighters. They are terrorists.”

He says the majority of non-Syrian members of the “predominantly foreign” Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, a Sunni Islamist group, are from Britain. But he claims it includes fighters from Germany and France.

‘Increasingly brutal threat’

He says there are also members from a range of countries across the Middle East, Africa and the Gulf and they pose an “increasingly brutal threat”.

He writes: “We the Syrian people now experience beheadings, crucifixions, beatings, murders, outdated methods of treating women, an obsolete approach to governing society.”

“Many who participate in these activities are British.

“The UK and US governments must support us to defeat terrorism in Syria and prevent it from being exported to Europe and the US.”

General al-Basheer also claims that the group (which he refers to as ISIL, though it is also known as ISIS) kidnaps Free Syrian Army fighters and targets civilian homes in the city of Raqqa, instead of a nearby regime-controlled air base.

{{Members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant burned confiscated cigarettes in the city of Raqqa last month}}

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Russia says it is “open to dialogue” with the new president of Ukraine, as initial results suggested Petro Poroshenko would win its election.

However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said military action must end against separatists in the east.

Mr Poroshenko said he would meet Russian leaders soon but vowed to take a tough line on any armed separatists.

Unrest continues in the east, with pro-Russia militiamen halting flights at Donetsk airport.

Heavy gunfire is now reported there, with thick black smoke rising from the area. Military aircraft have been seen overhead.

Meanwhile election observers said Sunday’s vote was a genuine one that largely met international standards.

The mission from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) also said it gave the new president “legitimacy” to open a dialogue with separatists in the east.

wirestory

At least 20 people are feared dead after a passenger train derailed and hit a stationary goods train in India’s Uttar Pradesh state, officials say.

Six coaches of the Gorakhdham Express went off the rails and ploughed into the freight train at Chureb railway station on Monday morning.

Rescuers are searching through the mangled coaches, with reports saying a number of people are trapped.

The train was travelling from Gorakhpur town to Hisar in Haryana state.

“A medical train with doctors and paramedics has reached the site of the crash,” railway spokesman in Delhi Anil Saxena told the BBC. “We’ve also sent machines to cut the coaches to reach the passengers who are still trapped.”

“My condolences to families of those who lost their lives in the Gorakhdham express tragedy. Prayers with the injured, Narendra Modi, who takes over as India’s prime minister later on Monday, tweeted.

“Spoke to the Cabinet Secretary. Asked him to take an overview of the situation and ensure timely assistance to those injured,” he added.

India’s railway network operates 9,000 passenger trains and carries some 18 million passengers every day.

There have been numerous train accidents in recent years, killing hundreds of people.

In December, 26 people died in a fire which engulfed a carriage of the Nanded-Bangalore Express while it was travelling through southern Andhra Pradesh state.

{{Production of the Ambassador, the first car to be made in India, has been halted.

Hindustan Motors said it had suspended work at its plant outside the city of Kolkata, blaming weak demand and financing problems.}}

Modelled on the Morris Oxford, the design of the Ambassador has changed little since it first went into production in 1957.

It was once the only car driven by politicians and government officials.

But the company only sold 2,200 Ambassadors in the financial year which ended in March 2014.

In a statement on Saturday, Hindustan Motors blamed the shutdown on “worsening conditions at its Uttarpara plant which include very low productivity, growing indiscipline, critical shortage of funds, lack of demand for its core product the Ambassador and large accumulation of liabilities”.

“The suspension of work will enable the company in restricting mounting liabilities and restructure its organisation and finances and bring in a situation conducive to reopening of the plant,” the company said in its statement.

Analysts are not optimistic about the car’s future.

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