IGIHE

Tag: InternationalNews

  • Manchester City Beats Man U 2-1

    {{The reigning champions may have left it too late to prevent United claiming the title for the 20th time – but this deserved win hints at the pedigree that remains within Roberto Mancini’s squad.}}

    Substitute Sergio Aguero’s brilliant winner 12 minutes from time gave City their second successive victory at Old Trafford, one which will hurt United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, who saw his side produce a subdued performance.

    James Milner gave the visitors the lead early in the second half before an own goal from City captain Vincent Kompany put United level.

    The final word, however, went to Aguero, who demonstrated pace and a powerful finish to decide an occasionally ill-tempered derby which saw eight players cautioned.

    United still have much room for manoeuvre with the commanding advantage at the top of the Premier League, but this was a composed, resilient performance from City that demonstrated what might have been.

    Mancini has insisted the gap between the sides is not as wide as their points deficit suggests and on this evidence he is right. The Italian’s argument, however, falls down on grounds of consistency as this was United first loss in 18 league games.

    Wayne Rooney was back in United’s attack after recovering from the groin injury that kept him out of the FA Cup defeat at Chelsea.

    He was fired up and visibly furious with team-mate Danny Welbeck in the opening minutes when he selfishly chose to go alone with his team-mate unmarked in yards of space.

    Phil Jones was alongside Rio Ferdinand in central defence and he showed his worth with a couple of crucial penalty area interceptions, most notably from Carlos Tevez as the former United striker closed in six yards out.

    City were seeing plenty of the ball but neither side was able to create any clear-cut chances, although Rafael’s looping effort bounced to safety off the angle of post and bar moments before half-time.

    {wirestory}

  • ‘NATO airstrike’ kills 11 Afghan Children

    {{At least 11 children have reportedly been killed in a NATO airstrike in Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan.}}

    The children were killed during a joint Afghan-NATO operation against Taliban fighters in the Shigal district of restive Kunar province bordering Pakistan late on Saturday, according to Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president.

    Karzai “strongly condemned the ISAF air strike in Kunar that killed 11 children”, in a statement issued by his office.

    “The president, while condemning the use of civilians as shields by the Taliban, denounced any kind of operations that cause civilian deaths,” the statement said.

    The president has also ordered a government investigation into the killings.

    There were conflicting figures of the death toll, but Karzai’s office later said 11 people were killed – all of them children – and six women were wounded.

    Wasifullah Wasifi, the spokesman for the Kunar governor, confirmed the attack to Al Jazeera.

    “We confirm a raid done by Afghanistan’s intelligence service in the district of Shigal. In this raid, the security forces killed 20 Taliban in which 10 of them are very senior Taliban members,” he told Al Jazeera.

    The interior ministry said in a statement the attack by coalition forces killed six Taliban including two senior commanders.

    {Aljazeera}

  • Serbia Man Goes on Deadly Shooting Rampage

    {{Serbia’s health officials have said 13 people have been killed by a man who went on a shooting spree in a village near Belgrade.}}

    Nada Macura, Belgrade emergency hospital spokesperson, said on Tuesday the 60-year-old man identified only as Ljubisa B used a gun to kill six men, six women and a child.

    The motives for the shooting were not immediately given.

    Macura said the man than tried to kill himself and his wife, who both remain severely injured. Another person was also injured.

    The apparently random killings happened in the village of Velika Ivanca, some 50km southeast of Belgrade.

    Macura says that the killer was apparently not a deranged person.

    Police are investigating.

    {Agencies}

  • Canadian companies shy of investment

    {{Canadian businesses see a challenging year ahead after surviving the weakest two quarters of growth since the 2008-09 recession, and they expect only modest sales growth, cautious investment, and tame inflation, a Bank of Canada poll showed on Monday.}}

    The results of the survey of senior managers, taken from mid-February to mid-March, support market expectations that the central bank is under no pressure to raise interest rates.

    Business investment intentions, which the Bank of Canada says are key to economic expansion, weakened at the start of this year. Companies still plan to increase investments, but economic uncertainty is making those plans less ambitious.

    The balance of opinion on investment – the difference between the percentage expecting higher investment and the percentage expecting lower investment – remained positive at 12, but it was down from 20 in the fourth quarter and lower than in most other quarters since the recession ended.

    “Many firms indicated that uncertainty is having some influence on their investment plans, leading them to postpone some projects; favor investment with a shorter payoff period, smaller capital outlays or less risk; or shift their investment spending toward new or different segments of demand,” the bank said in a release.

    A Statistics Canada survey earlier this year showed Canadian businesses hardly expect to boost their capital spending at all this year, anticipating investment in construction and machinery and equipment would rise 0.8 %, the lowest rate since 2009.

    Companies said their sales performance over the past year was the worst in three years.

    But the outlook for sales growth was brighter than in the fourth quarter of 2012, mainly due to new strategies to boost sales. The balance of opinion on future sales rose to 24 from 16.

    Businesses almost unanimously saw inflation remaining within the central bank’s target range of 1-3% over the next two years.

    But only a third saw the rate rising to the upper end of the range of 2 to 3%, down from 42 %t who forecast that level in the fourth quarter.

    61% expected inflation of 1 to 2 percent versus 54 percent previously.

    The percentage of companies reporting labor shortages declined for the second survey in a row, although there was no change in the overall perception of pressures on production capacity or in hiring intentions.

    The survey portrays an economy that is slogging along but not really gaining traction.

    “Overall, not a dire result, but not particularly robust, given that in the sales question, we are comparing future growth to a tepid prior 12-month pace,” said Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at CIBC World Markets.

    {agencies}

  • North Korea warns foreigners to leave South

    {{North Korea warned foreigners in South Korea on Tuesday to quit the country because they were at risk in the event of conflict, the latest threat of war from Pyongyang.}}

    Soaring tensions on the peninsula have been fuelled by North Korean anger over the imposition of U.N. sanctions after its last nuclear arms test in February, creating one of the worst crises since the end of the Korean War in 1953.

    “We do not wish harm on foreigners in South Korea should there be a war,” said the KCNA news agency, citing its Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee.

    Last week Pyongyang advised embassies there to consider pulling out in case of war. Earlier on Tuesday, North Korean laborers failed to turn up for work at a factory complex operated with South Korea, effectively shutting down the last major symbol of cooperation between the hostile neighbors.

    Few embassies in Seoul have advised their citizens to quit. The United States, which has also been threatened by Pyongyang, has said there were no imminent signs of threats to American citizens.

    Pyongyang has shown no sign of preparing its 1.2 million-strong army for war, indicating the threats could be partly intended for domestic purposes to bolster Kim jong-un, 30, the third in his family to lead the reclusive country.

    South Korea’s president said she was disappointed at North Korea’s decision to halt operations at the Kaesong industrial park, which generates $2 billion in trade for the impoverished state.

    News of the Kaesong closure diverted attention from speculation that the North was about to launch some sort of provocative act this week — perhaps a missile launch or new nuclear test. However, residents of Seoul carried on with daily activities with no trace of anxiety.

    A spokesman for textile company Taekwang Industrial and at least two other firms said North Koreans workers did not show up for work and that production had stopped.

    “North Korean workers didn’t come to work today, and production has halted in our Kaesong facilities,” said a spokeswoman for Shinwon, a women’s clothing maker.

    About 475 South Korean workers and factory managers remain in Kaesong, a few km (miles) inside the border with North Korea. The South Korean government said 77 would return on Tuesday.

    An executive at another South Korean apparel firm running a factory in Kaesong said late on Monday his employees had told him they would stay.

    “I don’t know what to do, honestly. I can’t simply tell my workers to leave or stay,” said the executive, who requested anonymity.

    {wirestory}

  • 11 Dead in Nigeria village attacks

    {{Officials in central Nigeria say at least 11 people have been killed in ongoing fighting between Christian and Muslim villagers in the region.}}

    The attacks centered around the volatile city of Jos, where thousands have been killed since Nigeria became a democracy in 1999.

    In the first attack Saturday, Tarok Christian people living in the Karkashi village say people from a neighboring Muslim Hausa-Fulani village raided their homes. Military spokesman Capt. Mustafa Salisu said Sunday that seven people were killed in that attack.

    Later, in Zango, a Hausa-Fulani village, a community leader says four attackers from a Tarok settlement were killed. At least five people were also injured.

    Religion, politics, grazing rights and economic power all play a role in the violence in Nigeria’s fertile central belt region.

    wirestory

  • Canada Posts Worst Monthly Job Losses

    {{Canada posted its worst monthly jobs loss in more than four years in March, another sign the economy is struggling to cope with weak foreign markets and a strong Canadian dollar.}}

    Canada shed 54,500 positions in March, more than wiping out the 50,700 jobs that were added in February, Statistics Canada said on Friday. Market operators had expected a modest gain of 8,500 jobs.

    It was the biggest monthly jobs loss since February 2009, when the economy shed 69,300 positions. The March unemployment rate rose to 7.2 percent from 7.0 percent.

    “This was a lot weaker than expected … so far this year it is pointing to weakening employment relative to strong gains in the second half of last year,” said Paul Ferley, assistant chief economist at Royal Bank of Canada.

    The economy’s continuing challenges mean there is little pressure on the Bank of Canada to raise interest rates from near-record lows. “It’s going to keep the Bank of Canada cautious,” Ferley said.

    Overnight index swaps, which trade based on expectations for the central bank’s key policy rate, showed that after the data traders increased their bets, albeit still small, on a rate cut in late 2013.

    In January, the central bank forecast first-quarter economic growth of 2.3 percent, which now looks overly optimistic.

    “The employment numbers did seem to be defying gravity up until March and were not lining up with the underlying growth numbers,” said Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets. “We knew one of them had to give way and it looks as if employment has given way.”

    Adding to the gloom were trade figures for February that showed Canada’s deficit increased to C$1.02 billion on both lower exports and higher imports. Traders had expected a surplus of C$200 million.

    In a contrary signal, the pace of purchasing activity jumped more than expected in March. The seasonally adjusted Ivey Purchasing Managers Index rose to 61.6 from 51.1 in February, higher than the analysts’ forecast of 52.4.

    The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart after the March employment data in both nations came in far weaker than expected.

    {wirestory}

  • Court Pushes Musharraf to Answer Treason Claims

    {{Pakistan’s top court on Monday ordered former military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf to respond to allegations that he committed treason while in power and barred him from leaving the country.}}

    The Supreme Court acted in response to private petitions alleging Musharraf committed various treasonable offenses while in office, including toppling an elected government, suspending the constitution and sacking senior judges, including the chief justice.

    If convicted of treason, Musharraf could be sentenced to death. The hearing is scheduled to be held on Tuesday. Musharraf could appear in person, or send a lawyer.

    “People want justice, rule of law and implementation of the constitution,” one of the petitioners, lawyer Chaudhry Akram, told two Supreme Court judges overseeing Monday’s hearing.

    Musharraf seized power in a military coup in 1999 but was forced to step down almost a decade later under the threat of impeachment by Pakistan’s main political parties.

    He left the country in 2008 and spent more than four years in self-imposed exile before returning last month to run in upcoming parliamentary elections.

    Musharraf has experienced a bumpy return to his homeland. He was met by a couple thousand people at the airport in the southern city of Karachi when his flight touched down from Dubai, a sign of how little support many analysts say he enjoys in Pakistan.

    The Taliban have threatened to kill him, and he faces a series of legal charges that he has denied, including some related to the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

    However, he registered a victory on Sunday when he was given approval to run for parliament from a remote district in northern Pakistan.

    Judges rejected his nomination in several other districts, and lawyers have said they plan to go to a high court to challenge his right to run. Pakistan’s political system allows a candidate to run for several seats simultaneously.

    Musharraf’s ability to run also could be complicated by the treason allegations against him, though it remains to be seen whether he will actually be charged and convicted.

    According to the law, only an official of the federal government could register a case against Musharraf for treason.

    One of the petitioners, lawyer Sheikh Ahsanuddin, demanded that Musharraf be charged with treason, saying civilian leaders in Pakistan have been executed and sent into exile, but “nothing has happened to the dictators.”

    “If a precedent is set, a lot of the problems of this country would be solved,” Ahsanuddin told the court.

    One of Musharraf’s aides, Saima Ali Dada, declined to say whether the former leader would appear in person before the judges or send a lawyer, citing security reasons.

  • Chile Port Workers End Strikes Halting Exports

    {{Chilean port workers are returning to work after reaching a deal to end three weeks of strikes that blocked exports of copper, fruit and wood pulp.}}

    The stoppage in the world’s No.1 copper producing nation began in the northern port of Angamos when workers demanded a 30-minute lunch break. Dockers in 10 other ports joined in solidarity.

    The Ultraport company managing the Angamos port agreed late Friday to compensate workers with a bonus following negotiations mediated by Chile’s work minister.

    The strike caused worries because Chile produces a third of the world’s copper and its stable economy is built around exports of minerals.

    Chile is also a major global exporter of wine, salmon and fruit.

    {AP}

  • Margaret Thatcher Dies at 87

    {{Margaret Thatcher, the first woman ever to serve as prime minister of Great Britain and the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century has died at age 87.}}

    “It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning,” Lord Timothy Bell said today. “A further statement will be made later.”

    Thatcher had significant health problems in her later years, suffering several small strokes and, according to her daughter, struggling with dementia.

    In Dec. 2012, she was underwent an operation to remove a bladder growth, longtime adviser Tim Bell told The Associated Press.

    But during her long career on the political stage, Thatcher was known as the Iron Lady.

    She led Great Britain as Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990, a champion of free-market policies and adversary of the Soviet Union.

    Many considered her Britain’s Ronald Reagan. In fact, Reagan and Thatcher were political soul mates. Reagan called her the “best man in England” and she called him “the second most important man in my life.”

    The two shared a hatred of communism and a passion for small government. What America knew as “Reaganomics” is still called “Thatcherism” in Britain.

    Like Reagan, Thatcher was an outsider in the old boys’ club. Just as it was unlikely for an actor to lead the Republicans, the party of Lincoln, it was unthinkable that a grocer’s daughter could lead the Conservatives, the party of Churchill and William Pitt — that is, until Thatcher.

    She led the Conservatives from 1975 to 1990, the only woman ever to do so.

    {{Personal Life}}

    Thatcher was born Margaret Hilda Roberts on Oct. 13, 1925 in Grantham, England. She attended Somerville College, Oxford, where she studied chemistry, and later, in 1953, qualified as a barrister, specializing in tax issues.

    She married Denis Thatcher on Dec. 13, 1951, and their marriage lasted for nearly 52 years until his death in June 2003. The couple had twins, Mark and Carol, in 1953.

    When Thatcher was elected to Britain’s House of Commons in 1959, she was its youngest female member.

    In 1970, when the Conservatives took power, she was made Britain’s secretary of state for education and science.

    In 1975, she was chosen to lead the Conservatives, and she became the prime minister in 1979.

    WATCH: May 4, 1979: Margaret Thatcher Becomes Prime Minister
    Her policies were controversial. She took on the nation’s labor unions, forcing coal miners to return to work after a year on strike.

    “We should back the workers and not the shirkers,” she said in May 1978.

    She pushed for privatization, lower taxes, and deregulation. And she sought to keep Britain from surrendering any of its sovereignty to the European Union.

    {Agencies}