Italians vote in cliffhanger elections
Voting was underway in
Italy's general election on Sunday, amid uncertainty about who will prevail
and signs of mounting support for a radical protest party which advocates a
referendum on the country's eurozone exit.Polling stations opened at 8am (07:00 GMT) and were to close at 10pm. A second day of voting takes place
on Monday, from 7am to 3pm, with exit polls due immediately thereafter.A total
of around 50 million Italians are eligible to vote, but analysts predict
abstention rates of around 30%. Snow in northern Italy was expected to hold
some voters back.According the Ministry of Interior, voter turnout stood at
14.6% by noon, down from 16.3% at the last general elections in 2008.The
frontrunner in the contest is centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani, but his
"Italy Common Good" coalition risks falling short of a majority in
the upper house of parliament, the Senate.Negotiations to form a government may be complicated by the likely success of comedian Beppe Gril, whose
anti-establishment Five Star Movement drew hundreds of thousands of people for
its final rally on Friday in Rome.Pollsters say the movement could emerge as
the third or second-largest single party in parliament. Grillo is not standing
himself, but has pledged to act as the party's "spokesperson."The
other main contenders are scandal-prone former premier Silvio Berlusconi, whose
conservative coalition was trailing the centre-left before an opinion polls
blackout came into force on February 8, and outgoing premier Mario
Monti.Monti's centrist alliance is seen as the most likely coalition partner
for Bersani were he not to secure a solid majority but the prospective deal
is hindered by policy differences between Monti and Bersani's leftist ally, Nichi
Vendola.All the leaders except Grillo had cast their vote by Sunday morning.
Britain clings to austerity
British finance
minister George Osborne insisted on Saturday that he would not abandon his
deficit-cutting drive after Moody's stripped the country of its coveted
triple-A debt rating.The opposition lashed Osborne, saying his plan for the
economy was shot through, while analysts said that although it was an
embarrassment for him, the downgrade would have a limited impact in the
markets.In an expected rebuff to London's hopes that sharp spending cuts would
both gradually eliminate the deficit and revive growth, Moody's rating agency
cut Britain's grade by one notch to Aa1 on Friday.Osborne said it was a
"loud and clear message that Britain cannot let up in dealing with its
debts, dealing with its problems, cannot let up in making sure that Britain can
pay its way in the world."What is the message from the ratings agency? Britain's got a debt problem. I agree with that. I've been telling the country
for years that we've got a debt problem, we've got to deal with it."What
do they also say? That if we abandon our commitment to deal with that debt
problem, then our situation would get very much worse and I'm absolutely clear
that we must not do that."Asked if he had broken his commitment to
protecting Britain's credit rating, he said the true test of credibility was whether Britain could borrow money."At the moment we can do that very cheaply with
very low interest rates precisely because people have confidence that we have
got a plan," he said.Moody's said government debt was still mounting and
that growth was too weak to reverse the trend before 2016.It described the
British economy as constrained both by turgid global growth and the drag from
businesses and the government rapidly slashing their debt burdens.Calling it a
"humiliating blow", Labour opposition finance spokesperson Ed Balls
said Osborne had failed in his chief stated mission of retaining Britain's AAA
status."The reality is an economy which is not growing, a deficit which is
getting bigger, families in real stress and a government which is ploughing on
regardless with a plan which is not working," he told BBC
television."Saying 'the medicine is not working, let's increase the dose
of the medicine' that is completely crazy economics."However, Howard
Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight research group, said that the market
had been anticipating the downgrade for some time, though Britain's pound sterling currency may be vulnerable."It does focus
attention on the UK economy's extended and ongoing serious problems," he
said."The loss of the AAA rating certainly puts pressure on Mr Osborne to
come up with more initiatives in the (March 20) budget to try and boost
growth."While an embarrassment for the government and a cause for piqued
pride, we suspect that the loss of the AAA rating will have only a limited
negative impact for the UK economy." Mark
Littlewood, director general of the Institute of Economic Affairs free-market
think-tank, said: "The damaging impact of ballooning national debt, public
spending raging out of control and tax rises should not be
underestimated."Taking immediate action to tackle the deficit must now be
the priority. George Osborne should focus on making sufficient savings in
public spending to implement a substantial programme of tax
reductions."Meanwhile Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at stockbrokers
BGC Partners, said the downgrade was not a reason for an economic policy
change."Any amount of manipulation by attempted false stimulation of the
economy in an attempt to create 'artificial' growth would in my view make an
already bad deficit problem even worse," he said."We have all lived
beyond our means for far too long."If the UK deficit is to be
brought down and the task of reducing the debt mountain begun, Mr Osborne has
no option but to stick to his guns."We are light years away from returning
to growth."
Indian tycoon donates $2bn to charity
Indian software tycoon
Azim Premji said Saturday he has given $2.3bn to an education charity that he
controls, reportedly the biggest charitable donation in the country's recent
history.It is his second recent big donation after giving almost $2bn to the
charity in 2010, and came shortly after he joined the Giving Pledge club set up
by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and billionaire investor Warren Buffet.In
Saturday's donation, the chairman of software firm Wipro transferred shares
worth $2.3bn from the company to a trust which controls the education charity
Azim Premji Foundation, a company statement said.The billionaire, who inherited
a cooking oil company and transformed it into India's third-biggest outsourcing
services firm, said the trust will use the funds to scale up the foundation's
activities "significantly". The charity seeks to boost the quality of
India's overstretched education system by improving teacher quality and setting
up model schools.The Business Standard newspaper and other media reported it
was the biggest one-off donation to charity in India in modern times.The
media-shy tycoon is India's third wealthiest individual with a net worth of
some $16bn, according to a 2012 Forbes rich list.Premji, whose trust funds
initiatives including rural education and teacher training, has long promoted
education as a way to tackle India's deep poverty.He told a recent World
Economic Forum in Davos that "education is perhaps the most powerful
enabler of human life and equity".A few days ago, he became the first
Indian to join the Giving Pledge club, which encourages the world's wealthiest
to donate at least half their fortunes to charity.Those who are
"privileged to have wealth should contribute significantly to try and
create a better world for the millions who are far less privileged,"
Premji said when joining the club.The billionaire's donation comes amid growing
disquiet in India about the yawning divide between the country's burgeoning
wealthy class and the hundreds of millions still living in deep poverty.A 2012
report on philanthropy by global consultancy Bain noted a "striking
imbalance" in India, noting it was home to one of the world's
fastest-growing wealthy populations but also one in three of the world's
malnourished children.While the report noted that philanthropy was on the rise,
it added there was "significant room for improvement if India is
benchmarked against the US, one of the world's leaders in private
giving".With Premji's latest donation, his educational charitable trust's
shareholding in Wipro will go up to nearly 20%.
Horsemeat scandal: Now health fears
Horsemeat containing a
drug potentially harmful to humans has likely entered the food chain, France
said on Saturday, adding health concerns to the food scandal raging across
Europe.A spokesperson for the French agriculture ministry told AFP several
horse carcasses containing the drug Phenylbutazone have probably ended up being
eaten by consumers.Phenylbutazone is an anti-inflammatory treatment for horses
which is potentially harmful to humans and by law is supposed to be kept off
plates.Britain alerted Paris that six tainted carcasses had been exported to
France in January, but the meat had already been processed by the time the
warning came.Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll said that although some of
the meat had been recalled, the equivalent of three carcasses had
"probably" made it to consumers, but added there was "no health
risk" since the traces of phenylbutazone found in the meat were
"extremely weak".The minister underscored that the find was in no way
connected with the wider horsemeat scandal however, since the meat had not been
disguised as beef.But the announcement still added a new dimension to the
scandal over mislabelled meat that erupted in Europe in January after horsemeat
was initially found in so-called beef ready-made meals and burgers in Britain
and Ireland. Since then, supermarkets across the continent have pulled prepared
meals from their shelves, with effects felt as far away as Hong Kong, where an imported brand of lasagne
has been withdrawn from stores. On Saturday, Italy joined the long list
of countries that have been hit by the fraud, reporting its first case of
horsemeat-contaminated lasagne. The horsemeat was found in tests on six tons of
mincemeat and 2 400 "lasagne bolognese" packages produced by a central
Italian company that had used meat from suppliers based in the northern part of
the country.The tests were carried out as part of sweeping checks by police on
121 brands across the country.French President Francois Hollande said on
Saturday that he would push for mandatory labelling of meat in ready-made
meals."I want there to eventually be mandatory labels on the meat
contained in prepared meals," Hollande said while visiting an agricultural
show in Paris."Until then, I will support... all initiatives for voluntary
labelling" so that "consumers know the origin of the products they
are consuming, especially meat".French firm Spanghero has been at the
heart of the scandal after it allegedly passed off 750 tons of horsemeat as
beef, with the product eventually finding its way into 4.5 million
"beef" products sold across Europe.French authorities had initially
suspended the company's sanitary license, but following protests from 300-odd
workers allowed the company to resume production of minced meat, sausages and
ready-to-eat meals.The company was banned, however, from stocking frozen
meat.In Ireland, authorities on Friday suspended production at a meat
processing plant after investigators found it was selling horsemeat labelled as
beef.B&F Meats, a small company licenced to debone beef and horsemeat in
Carrick-on-Suir in County Tipperary, was found to be sending horsemeat to a
customer in the Czech Republic, the Irish agriculture ministry said in a
statement.The label in the Czech language refers to beef, it added.
North Korea ups readiness, tensions
North Korean leader
Kim Jong-Un has overseen a military drill, state media said on Saturday, his
third such inspection in as many days as tensions run high following
Pyongyang's third nuclear test.Accompanied by top military commanders, Kim
watched a flight exercise and a paratrooping drill by the Korean People's Army,
the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said."He called on the KPA service
personnel to put spurs to making preparations for going into action, keeping themselves
at maximum alert at all times."Once the enemies make a provocation, you
should give full play to the inexhaustible combat capability to deal deadly
blows at them ... and blow up their strongholds of aggression," he was
quoted as saying by KCNA.The state news agency did not to give the date of the
visit but it was believed Kim's latest trip was on Friday.KCNA said on Friday
Kim had also inspected a tactical attack exercise combined with live shell
firing.On Thursday, KCNA reported he had visited KPA Unit 323, which is
believed to be an anti-air missile unit.North Korea on 12 February carried out
its third nuclear test in seven years in what it says was a riposte to the US
hostility shown in the widening of existing UN sanctions following its
satellite launch in December last year.World powers on the UN Security Council
united to condemn the nuclear test, and the US led calls for tougher
sanctions.But Pyongyang has threatened still stronger action, defying warnings
of United Nations measures.North Korea is already under international sanctions
for conducting two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, which both came after
long-range rocket launches.
Hundreds pray for Hugo Chavez
Hundreds of
Venezuelans held a candlelight vigil Friday for President Hugo Chavez, praying
for their leader while he remained in a hospital undergoing cancer
treatment.Chavez's supporters gathered on a wide stairway in a hillside park
near the presidential palace. They lit candles at sunset and sang along with a
recording of a healthy Chavez belting out the national anthem.Some wiped away
tears. Others closed their eyes and prayed.Some said they felt sad, yet still
hopeful that Chavez might be able to survive."We're praying for the
president, for him to get through all of this," said Ana Perez, a
seamstress holding a candle and shielding her flame from the breeze with a
piece of paper.Her eyes filled with tears as she talked about Chavez.
"There is no other president like this one. He's unique," she said,
wiping a wet cheek."He's going to come out of all of this, and he's going
to get better," Perez said. "He's survived many hard things. He's
strong."A group of indigenous people wearing colourful dresses, beads and
feathers danced around a bonfire at the base of the stairs. One man blew on a conch
shell, while others shook maracas as they danced around the flames.Chavez
hasn't been seen since he returned to Venezuela on Monday from Cuba, where for
10 weeks he was recovering and fighting complications following his latest
cancer surgery on 11 December.Vice President Nicolas Maduro said on Friday
night that he and other officials had met with Chavez at the military hospital.
Maduro said Chavez is continuing to undergo treatment for "respiratory
insufficiency" and is breathing through a tracheal tube, which hinders
speech."He communicated with us through various written ways to give us
his guidance," Maduro said, speaking on television alongside other aides
at the hospital. Maduro said Chavez was smiling and in an energetic mood,
"with an immense strength of will."He said they talked with Chavez in
three sessions lasting about five hours. "We came out filled with his
strength," Maduro said.During the vigil, some in the crowd held photos of
Chavez while a preacher spoke from a stage, saying: "The president is
going to be healthy!"Lissette Cordero, who stood holding a candle next to
her 5-year-old son, said she's grateful to Chavez for creating
government-funded neighbourhood councils and inexpensive state-run food
stores.Her son, who also held a candle, looked up at the stage where the
minister was speaking and asked, "Is that Chavez?""No," his
mother replied with a smile."I have faith he's going to recover. It's
hard," she added. "I love him."The government has not given
details about the treatment Chavez is undergoing, and hasn't identified the
type or exact location of the tumours that have been removed from his pelvic
region.Venezuela's opposition has demanded the government provide more specific
information about Chavez's condition, and has criticized a decision by
lawmakers last month that indefinitely postponed his swearing-in ceremony for a
new six-year term.Two prominent Venezuelan jurists asked the Supreme Court on
Thursday to determine whether Chavez is fit to remain in office. Former Supreme
Court President Cecilia Sosa Gomez and professor Jose Vicente Haro called for
the court to appoint a board of medical experts to determine whether Chavez is
in physical and mental shape to remain president.They argued that if Chavez is
fit to be president, the court should proceed to hold a public
swearing-in.Government officials insist Chavez remains in charge and has been
communicating with government officials about policy decisions and signing
documents.Foreign Minister Elias Jaua read a lengthy letter from Chavez on
Friday to a gathering of African and South American leaders in Equatorial
Guinea.In the letter, which ran for about 1, 00 words, Chavez said he was sorry
not to be able to attend the meeting. Chavez denounced Western military
intervention in countries such as Libya in recent years, and
called for more "South-South co-operation."The letter ended with the
words: "We will live and be triumphant!"Prayer gatherings for Chavez
this week have included a ceremony where indigenous shamans danced on Thursday,
attended by Guatemalan indigenous activist Rigoberta Menchu.Menchu, who
received the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize, said she had come to Venezuela "as
one of the Maya spiritual guides" with knowledge of medicinal
traditions."I'm completely sure that President Hugo Chavez has received
the cosmic energies. He has received the strength of our Mother Earth. ... He
is going to overcome big obstacles," Menchu said Friday at a televised
event where she spoke alongside Maduro.As for Chavez, she said, "He has to
have sufficient rest so that he can recover the strength of his vital energies
as soon as possible."
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