NEWS,29 AND 30.03.2013

Russia warns on North Korea situation

Russia warned on Friday that a flare-up in tensions between North Korea and the United States could spin out of control, urging all sides involved in the standoff to refrain from muscle-flexing."Unilateral actions are being taken around North Korea which manifest themselves in an escalation of military activity," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said."We can simply see the situation getting out of control, it would spiral down into a vicious circle," he told reporters at a news conference alongside his Ukrainian counterpart."We believe it is necessary for all not to build up military muscle and not to use the current situation as an excuse to solve certain geopolitical tasks in the region through military means," he said, calling on all sides to create conditions for the resumption of talks.North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un earlier Friday ordered missile units to prepare to strike the US mainland and military bases in the Pacific after US stealth bombers flew over South Korea.The flights were part of annual drills between the United States and South Korea, which North Korea each year denounces as rehearsals for war. Pyongyang has been particularly irate this time, angered by UN sanctions imposed after its long-range rocket launch in December and the third nuclear test last month.

North Korea in a 'state of war'

North Korea declared it was in a "state of war" with South Korea and warned Seoul and Washington that any provocation would swiftly escalate into an all-out nuclear conflict. The US said it took the announcement "seriously", but noted it followed a familiar pattern, while South Korea largely dismissed it as an old threat dressed in new clothing.It was the latest in a string of dire-sounding pronouncements from Pyongyang that have been matched by tough warnings from Seoul and Washington, fuelling international concern that the situation might spiral out of control."As of now, inter-Korea relations enter a state of war and all matters between the two Koreas will be handled according to wartime protocol," the North said in a government statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency."The long-standing situation of the Korean peninsula being neither at peace nor at war is finally over," the statement said, adding that any US or South Korean provocation would trigger "a nuclear war".The two Koreas have technically remained at war for the past six decades because the 1950- 1953 Korean War concluded with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.The North had announced earlier this month that it was ripping up the armistice and other bilateral peace pacts signed with Seoul in protest against South Korea-US joint military exercises.The White House labelled the latest statement from Pyongyang as "unconstructive" and, while taking it "seriously", sought to place the immediate threat level in context."North Korea has a long history of bellicose rhetoric and threats and today's announcement follows that familiar pattern," said National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden.In Seoul, the Unification Ministry insisted the war threat was "not really new". The Defence Ministry vowed to "retaliate thoroughly" to any provocation, but added that no notable troop movement had been observed along the border.As with past crises, Pyongyang did not allow the tensions to impact the Kaesong industrial complex, a joint South-North venture that provides the regime with crucial hard currency."The border crossing to Kaesong is functioning normally," said unification ministry spokesperson Park Soo-Jin.A verbal battleMost observers still believe this will remain a verbal rather than a physical battle."The North Koreans in recent weeks have turned rhetoric into performance art," said Gordon Flake, a Korea specialist and executive director of the Mansfield Foundation in Washington."When they have already declared the armistice null and void, I do not think a declaration of war breaks new ground," Flake said.But he added that the situation had now become so volatile that any slight miscalculation carried the potential for rapid escalation."The danger is, when the North Koreans have threatened a nuclear attack on Washington, they may not know a limit on how much they can get away with," said Flake.Both China and Russia called for calm Friday, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov voicing particular concern."We can simply see the situation getting out of control, it would spiral down into a vicious circle," Lavrov told reporters.His warning came after North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un ordered missile units to prepare to strike US mainland and military bases, after US stealth bombers flew over South Korea.The high-stakes standoff has its roots in North Korea's successful long-range rocket launch in December and the third nuclear test it carried out in February.Both events drew UN sanctions that incensed Pyongyang, which then switched the focus of its anger to the annual joint South Korea-US military drills.As tensions escalated, Washington has maintained a notably assertive stance, publicising its use of nuclear-capable B-52s and B-2 stealth bombers in the war games.The long-distance deployment of both sets of aircraft out of bases in Guam and the US mainland were intended as a clear signal of US commitment to defending South Korea against any act of aggression.

Russia responds to North Korea

Russia on Saturday called for "maxim responsibility and restraint," after North Korea declared it was in a "state of war" with South Korea and warned Seoul and Washington against any provocation. "We expect all sides to show maximum responsibility and restraint and that no-one will cross the line after which there will be no return," Grigory Logvinov, a Russian foreign ministry pointman on North Korea, told the Interfax news agency."Naturally, we cannot remain indifferent when an escalation of tensions is taking place at our eastern frontiers," the Russian diplomat was quoted as saying. "We cannot but worry."Logvinov said Russia was in "constant touch" with its partners involved in six-party nuclear negotiations, which include the two Koreas, China, the US, and Japan.Separately, the Interfax news agency quoted a diplomatic source as praising South Korea and the United States' positions in the stand-off with North Korea."The situation is, of course, very tense and dangerous but still there are some encouraging moments: The reaction from the United States and South Korea is measured and calm to a certain degree," the source was quoted as saying."It is not the time to breathe fire," the source added. "The time has come for active, non-public diplomacy aimed at searching for a political settlement within the framework of international law including the decisions of the UN Security Council which are binding in nature."North Korea on Saturday declared it was in a "state of war" with South Korea and warned Seoul and Washington that any provocation would swiftly escalate into an all-out nuclear conflict.

The United States said it took the announcement "seriously", but noted it followed a familiar pattern, while South Korea largely dismissed it as an old threat dressed in new clothing.

North Korea threatens to close factory

North Korea on Saturday threatened to shut down a joint industrial complex with South Korea, state media said, in the latest warning from Pyongyang at a time of escalated tensions between the two sides. The threat from the state body in charge of the complex just north of the Korean border followed an announcement by the North on Wednesday that it was cutting its last military hotline with the South."We will relentlessly close the industrial complex if South Korea tries to damage our dignity even a little," the body said in a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency."We warn that stern measures will be taken if [South Korea] continues to make reckless remarks defaming our dignity," it said, adding the fate of the complex depends "entirely" on the attitude of Seoul.The industrial complex which lies 10km inside North Korea was established in 2004 as a symbol of cross-border cooperation.North Korea has always been wary of allowing crises in inter-Korean relations to affect the zone a crucial hard-currency earner for the communist state.But there had been concerns that operations at the complex would be affected by Pyongyang's move to sever the military hotline used to monitor movement in and out of the zone.The line was used daily to provide the North with the names of those seeking entry to Kaesong, guaranteeing their safety as they crossed one of the world's most heavily militarised borders.Earlier on Saturday North Korea declared it was in a "state of war" with South Korea and warned Seoul and Washington that any provocation would swiftly escalate into an all-out nuclear conflict.It was one of several dire-sounding pronouncements from Pyongyang, recently, that have been matched by tough warnings from Seoul and Washington, fuelling international concern that the situation might spiral out of control.

Venezuela election: Battle between equals

As Venezuela prepares for its first election without Hugo Chavez in years, the opposition hopes to find a level playing field at last. And the government can't help but cling to his legacy. Neither of the candidates in the 14 April election can truly compare to the populist, crowd-wooing people's tribune that was Chavez, who was first elected in 1998 and died of cancer 5 March.With his booming voice and nearly constant tweets, speeches and diatribes against what he saw as US imperialism, he dominated and some would say polarised Venezuela like few others could.Ramon Guillermo Aveledo, head of the opposition coordination group, said his candidate Henrique Capriles, whom Chavez beat in a presidential election last October, "will no longer have as his adversary a living political legend".Instead he faces acting president Nicolas Maduro, the ruling Socialist Party candidate and Chavez's handpicked heir, a former bus driver who worked his way up in politics. He was vice president when Chavez died at age 58."It is a battle between equals. In that sense it is a more conventional situation, like in any democracy," Aveledo, who coordinates the MUD group of opposition parties, said in an interview with AFP.When Chavez was president, he got involved in every election campaign, no matter how small, even down to the municipal level.Now he is gone, but his memory is vividly fresh.And it will overshadow the election so thoroughly that both the government and the opposition reckon that to one extent or another, voters will be casting ballots for or against a man who is dead.Aveledo accused Maduro of deliberately trying to make this another election about Chavez rather than about the issues that Venezuelans face in their day to day life, which he said Maduro is shunning."But Chavez cannot be the focus of this campaign because we are not talking about a government that was, but rather the one that will be," he said.Capriles, a state governor, is focusing not on Chavez but on Maduro and therefore says things like: "Don't hide, don't put on a disguise, Nicolas. This is not about Chavez, but rather you."Indeed, as the country goes to the polls for the second time in just five months, these are uncharted waters for both sides.Since December, when Chavez left for cancer surgery in Cuba and named Maduro as his heir in case he never came back or became incapacitated, the opposition says it has been closely studying the heir apparent."Can Nicolas Maduro get as many people out to vote as Chavez did? No one knows. Will we be able to get as many people to turn out without the incentive of defeating Chavez? No one knows that either," Aveledo said.Polls give Maduro an advantage of more than 10 points.Maduro is not ChavezBut Aveledo urges caution about the numbers because this is a new game for Venezuela and events are unfolding fast from the time of Chavez's death until election a mere 40 days will have gone by."Right now there is no way to take a clear and accurate snap shot of voter intentions," he said.The big question, he said, is this: "How long will it take Chavez supporters to realise something which they know intuitively and which the government already knows, which is that Maduro is not Chavez?"Aveledo said the government has an unfair big advantage in the campaign, which officially begins 2 April. He said the National Election Council has banned some opposition activities and the tone of the race is nasty.Maduro is trying project authority and assert himself because he was personally annointed by Chavez, and feels he needs to take an aggressive attitude to be seen as a strong leader, Aveledo said.In the October elections, Capriles gave Chavez a decent run for his money, winning 44% of the votes, compared to 55% for Chavez.Still, that loss hurt the opposition badly. In state elections held shortly afterwards pro-Chavez people won in 20 of the 23 states where voting was held.MUD is a hodgepodge of political parties united by one thing opposition to Chavez and otherwise riven by internal differences.After the state election fiasco it did a lot of soul searching and managed to unite to nominate Capriles as candidate again, despite his earlier loss."MUD is like an earthquake-proof building. They sway but don't fall," Aveledo aurged. He said the coalition's goals are a large turnout among its people and a high level of abstention among those who backed Chavez."That is what we want and that is what we are striving for," he said.

Obama offers Easter, Passover greetings

US President Barack Obama on Saturday offered Easter and Passover greetings to millions of Americans, urging them to use this time to reflect on the nation's common values. "As Christians, my family and I remember the incredible sacrifice Jesus made for each and every one of us how he took on the sins of the world and extended the gift of salvation," Obama said in his weekly radio and internet address. "And we recommit ourselves to following his example here on Earth.”The president noted that this week, Jewish families are also gathered around the Seder table, commemorating Passover the exodus of Jews from Egypt and the triumph of their faith over oppression. Obama said that common humanity bound all Americans regardless of their faiths. "As Americans, we're united by something else, too: faith in the ideals that lie at the heart of our founding, and the belief that, as part of something bigger than ourselves, we have a shared responsibility to look out for our fellow citizens," he said. The president said these religious celebrations also offered Americans a chance to pause and reflect, to embrace their loved ones, to give thanks for their blessings and "to rededicate ourselves to interests larger than our own”.

Pope to celebrate first Easter vigil

Pope Francis is to celebrate his first Easter vigil on Saturday after praying for peace in a Middle East "torn apart by injustice and conflicts" during Good Friday's ceremonies.The newly elected Argentine pope will preside over a mass at St Peter's Basilica on Saturday evening, baptising four adult converts to the Catholic Church during the service an Albanian, an Italian, a Russian and a US national of Vietnamese origin, according to the Vatican.The ceremony will mark the end of three days of intensive Easter preparations set to culminate on Sunday when the Vatican's first non-European pope in nearly 1 300 years celebrates Easter mass in front of tens of thousands of pilgrims in St Peter's Square. Francis marked Good Friday with a traditional torch-lit ceremony around the Colosseum in Rome, presiding over the re-enactment of Jesus Christ's last hours and praying for Christians in the Middle East and for "our Muslim brothers". "Christians must respond to evil with good, taking the cross upon themselves as Jesus did," said Francis, who followed the ceremony from under a canopy overlooking the 2 000-year-old Roman amphitheatre. The pope also referred to a visit to Lebanon last year by his predecessor Benedict XVI, who stunned the world by resigning last month at the age of 85."We saw the beauty and the strong bond of communion joining Christians together in that land and the friendship of our Muslim brothers and so many others," the 76-year-old pope said. Brazilian, Chinese, Italian, Lebanese and Nigerian faithful took turns carrying a wooden cross around the Colosseum, where it is commonly believed that Christians were martyred. Prayers read out at the ceremony were written by a group of Lebanese young people. The Vatican has voiced concern over the fate of Christian minorities in many parts of the Middle East and the rise of radical Islam, as well as calling for an end to conflict in the region. Vatican spokesperson Reverend Federico Lombardi said the pope had shortened some of the lengthy Easter ceremonies as part of his "desire for simplicity". Helping the poor The pope, the former archbishop of Buenos Aires, was known in Argentina for his humble lifestyle, his outreach in poor neighbourhoods and his strong social advocacy during his homeland's devastating economic crisis.He began the most sacred season in the Christian calendar on Holy Thursday by washing the feet of 12 young prisoners in an unprecedented new take on an ancient pre-Easter ritual. Popes performing the ceremony which commemorates the gesture of humility believed to have been carried out by Jesus for his 12 disciples at their last meal have usually washed the feet of priests. Francis's trip to the Casal del Marmo youth prison was the first time a pontiff had performed the act in a jail, and the first time women and Muslims were included. Latin America's first pontiff has set a markedly different tone from his predecessor, with a more open and informal style that is unusual in the Vatican halls of power.Francis has already broken with several traditions, although he is yet to begin tackling the many problems assailing the Roman Catholic Church, including reform of the scandal-ridden Vatican bureaucracy and bank.

NEWS,27.01.2013

Brazil Nightclub Fire Kills At Least 230 People

Flames raced through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, killing more than 230 people as panicked partygoers gasped for breath in the smoke-filled air, stampeding toward a single exit partially blocked by those already dead. It appeared to be the world's deadliest nightclub fire in more than a decade.Witnesses said a flare or firework lit by band members may have started the blaze in Santa Maria, a major university city of about 225,000 people.Television images showed smoke pouring out of the Kiss nightclub as shirtless young men who had attended a university party joined firefighters using axes and sledgehammers to pound at windows and walls to free those trapped inside.Guido Pedroso Melo, commander of the city's fire department, told the O Globo newspaper that firefighters had a hard time getting inside the club because "there was a barrier of bodies blocking the entrance."Teenagers sprinted from the scene desperately seeking help. Others carried injured and burned friends away in their arms."There was so much smoke and fire, it was complete panic, and it took a long time for people to get out, there were so many dead," survivor Luana Santos Silva told the Globo TV network.The fire spread so fast inside the packed club that firefighters and ambulances could do little to stop it, Silva said.Another survivor, Michele Pereira, told the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper that she was near the stage when members of the band lit flares that started the conflagration."The band that was onstage began to use flares and, suddenly, they stopped the show and pointed them upward," she said. "At that point, the ceiling caught fire. It was really weak, but in a matter of seconds it spread."Guitarist Rodrigo Martins told Radio Gaucha that the band, Gurizada Fandangueira, started playing at 2:15 a.m. "and we had played around five songs when I looked up and noticed the roof was burning""It might have happened because of the Sputnik, the machine we use to create a luminous effect with sparks. It's harmless, we never had any trouble with it."When the fire started, a guard passed us a fire extinguisher, the singer tried to use it but it wasn't working"He confirmed that accordion player Danilo Jacques, 28, died, while the five other members made it out safely.Police Maj. Cleberson Braida Bastianello said by telephone that the toll had risen to 233 with the death of a hospitalized victim. Officials counted 232 bodies that had been brought for identification to a gymnasium in Santa Maria, which is located at the southern tip of Brazil, near the borders with Argentina and Uruguay.An earlier count put the number of dead at 245.Federal Health Minister Alexandre Padhilha told a news conference that most of the 117 people treated in hospitals had been poisoned by gases they breathed during the fire. Only a few suffered serious burns, he said.Brazil President Dilma Roussef arrived to visit the injured after cutting short her trip to a Latin American-European summit in Chile."It is a tragedy for all of us," Roussef said.Most of the dead apparently suffocated, according to Dr. Paulo Afonso Beltrame, a professor at the medical school of the Federal University of Santa Maria who went to the city's Caridade Hospital to help victims.Beltrame said he was told the club had been filled far beyond its capacity during a party for students at the university's agronomy department.Survivors, police and firefighters gave the same account of a band member setting the ceiling's soundproofing ablaze, he said."Large amounts of toxic smoke quickly filled the room, and I would say that at least 90 percent of the victims died of asphyxiation," Beltrame told The Associated Press by telephone."The toxic smoke made people lose their sense of direction so they were unable to find their way to the exit. At least 50 bodies were found inside a bathroom. Apparently they confused the bathroom door with the exit door."In the hospital, the doctor "saw desperate friends and relatives walking and running down the corridors looking for information," he said, calling it "one of the saddest scenes I have ever witnessed."Rodrigo Moura, identified by the newspaper Diario de Santa Maria as a security guard at the club, said it was at its maximum capacity of between 1,000 and 2,000, and partygoers were pushing and shoving to escape.Santa Maria Mayor Cezar Schirmer declared a 30-day mourning period, and Tarso Genro, the governor of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, said officials were investigating the cause of the disaster.The blaze was the deadliest in Brazil since at least 1961, when a fire that swept through a circus killed 503 people in Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro.Sunday's fire also appeared to be the worst at a nightclub since December 2000, when a welding accident reportedly set off a fire at a club in Luoyang, China, killing 309.In 2004, at least 194 people died in a fire at an overcrowded nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Seven members of a band were sentenced to prison for starting the flames.Several years later, in December 2009, a blaze at the Lame Horse nightclub in Perm, Russia, killed 152 people after an indoor fireworks display ignited a plastic ceiling decorated with branches.Similar circumstances led to a 2003 nightclub fire that killed 100 people in the United States. Pyrotechnics used as a stage prop by the 1980s rock band Great White set ablaze cheap soundproofing foam on the walls and ceiling of a Rhode Island music venue.The band performing in Santa Maria, Gurizada Fandangueira, plays a driving mixture of local Brazilian country music styles. Guitarist Martin told Radio Gaucha the musicians are already seeing hostile messages."People on the social networks are saying we have to pay for what happened," he said. "I'm afraid there could be retaliation".

 

Bangladesh factory fire concerns groups

International labour rights groups called on Sunday for global clothing retailers to ensure adequate safety measures for garment workers in Bangladesh after a blaze killed seven employees at a small factory.Saturday's fire gutted Smart Exports Garment Ltd, just two months after Bangladesh's worst ever factory blaze killed 112 workers and injured 150 at Tazreen Fashions Ltd, a multi-storey garment workshop in Dhaka's Ashulia suburb.In a joint statement issued after the latest blaze, three organisations asked retailers and brands to sign a fire safety agreement with Bangladesh."After more than two decades of the apparel industry knowing about the risks to these workers, nothing substantial has changed," the executive director of the International Labour Rights Forum, Judy Gearhart, said in the statement."Brands still keep their audit results secret. They still walk away when it suits them and trade unions are still marginalised, weakening workers' ability to speak up when they are at risk," she added. The Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) and the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) also signed the statement.Another rights group, the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights (ILGHR), said on its website it had gained access to the gutted factory and found seven women workers had been crushed to death as employees tried to escape the fire.Firefighters and police said the cause of the latest blaze was not yet known. Survivors said it could have been caused by an electrical short circuit at the factory on the upper floor of a two-storey building in the crowded Mohammadpur area.Kalpona Akter, Executive Director of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity told Reuters that two garment factories had subcontracted orders to the factory's owner, Smart Export Garments Ltd. She said the company was not a member of the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association and had no license from fire prevention or labour bodies.An official report into the Tazreen blaze in November concluded it was the result of both sabotage and negligence. Bangladesh has about 4 500 garment factories and is the world's biggest exporter of clothing after China. Clothing makes up 80% of its $24bn annual exports.

Davos warns on global economic crisis

The world's political and business elite headed home on Sunday from this year's Davos forum with warnings that while the worst of the financial crisis seems over there is still much to be done.International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said in the closing moments of the annual gathering in the snowy Swiss ski resort on Saturday that she recommended the "do not relax principle" for the coming year.Where for the two previous years a sense of crisis had hung over the World Economic Forum, the mood was sunnier at the 2013 edition as speaker after speaker said they were now cautiously optimistic."I feel the circumstances in which I'm addressing you today are very different than 12 months ago," said Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti in his opening speech, following a torrid year dominated by the euro crisis.European central banker Mario Draghi meanwhile hailed 2012 as the year that the troubled single currency was "relaunched", even as others were hailing him as the man who had saved the eurozone from catastrophe.The Chinese economy's slowdown seemed less serious than a year ago to the participants while the step back from the fiscal cliff in the United States also eased minds.But as the 2 500 world leaders, financial officials, tycoons and journalists departed the picture-postcard Alpine resort, they may have felt a chill that was not just down to the subzero temperatures.Lagarde said the IMF's forecast of a "very fragile and timid recovery for 2013" was based on "eurozone leaders, the US authorities on the other hand and the Japanese authorities making the right decisions".She added: "And that's what I mean by 'do not relax' because some good policy decisions have been made in various parts of the world. In 2013, they have to keep the momentum."The head of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Angel Gurria, warned meanwhile that countries had exhausted most room for manoeuvre in terms of fiscal and monetary policy."We should be very worried because the lack of room for some of the more traditional tools has gone and we are left with very few of these tools," he said.As in previous years the Davos forum was partly hijacked by external events, particularly after British Prime Minister David Cameron vowed to hold a referendum on European Union membership by the end of 2017.The move threatened to cause a stir, with Cameron's European counterparts worried about the effect the uncertainty would have on the euro's already fragile recovery, but they left any rows for another day.The turmoil in the Arab world also took centre stage for a time as officials including Jordan's King Abdullah II urged "desperately needed" action over Syria's civil war, though none came.Amid the cocktail parties and lavish luncheons at Davos this year there was sometimes a "mood of complacency", said Axel Weber, the chairman of Swiss bank UBS and former head of Germany's Bundesbank."My biggest fear is that 2013 could be a replay of 2012, another lost year," he said. "We shouldn't be complacent, we haven't really fundamentally improved that much."Many were still worried by the euro. The Deloitte financial group's global chief executive Barry Salzberg told AFP he was "reasonably comfortable, with one exception - and that is what's the impact on the US from Europe."Other officials expressed fears that governments would increasingly lean on central banks, which have often been the heroes of the fragile global recovery in the past two years, instead of taking action themselves.But in many ways it was business as usual at Davos, with world leaders huddling in private and corporate deals sewn up on the sidelines, such as a $10bn shale gas deal between Ukraine and oil giant Royal Dutch Shell.Even a noisy protest on Sunday by three topless, pink-flare-waving women from a Ukrainian feminist group failed to shock - they had targeted Davos the previous year too.

Gun control: Listen more, Obama says

President Barack Obama urged gun control advocates to listen to views of rural Americans who use guns for hunting and said bridging a cultural divide in attitudes to gun ownership would be critical to his administration's push to curb gun violence. "If you grew up and your dad gave you a hunting rifle when you were 10, and you went out and spent the day with him and your uncles, and that became part of your family's traditions, you can see why you'd be pretty protective of that," Obama said in an interview with The New Republic magazine published on Sunday.Obama made gun control a top priority for his second term after 20 children and six adults were killed by a gunman at a school in Newtown, Connecticut in December. Obama spoke with The New Republic on 16 January, the same day he announced he would put the full weight of his office behind urging Congress to approve an assault weapons ban and background checks for all gun buyers."Part of being able to move this forward is understanding the reality of guns in urban areas are very different from the realities of guns in rural areas," Obama said."So it's trying to bridge those gaps that I think is going to be part of the biggest task over the next several months...and that means that advocates of gun control have to do a little more listening than they do sometimes," he said.Vice President Joe Biden is leading the White House effort to talk to Americans about gun control proposals and galvanise public support to pressure Congress to act. e addressed the issue in Virginia on Friday. Gun ownership rights are enshrined in the US Constitution and past efforts to restrict gun ownership have been blocked by gun owners, the National Rifle Association and their supporters in Congress.

NEWS,14.01.2013

US not a bargaining chip - Obama

President Barack Obama demanded on Monday that Congress quickly raise the federal debt limit and warned that he will not allow the Republican opposition to "collect a ransom for crashing the US economy," setting out again a tough negotiating position on an issue that threatens to shut down the American government.In the final news conference of his first term, the president said: "The full faith and credit of the United States of America is not a bargaining chip. And they better decide quickly because time is running short."Obama said Republicans who want to dramatically cut spending in return for raising U.S. borrowing limits "will not collect a ransom in exchange for not crashing the economy.""We are not a deadbeat nation," he declared.Obama further said he was not willing to continue facing prolonged and bitter debates on the debt, a current reality that he says are hurting the U.S. recovery from the Great Recession."I don't think anybody would consider my position to be unreasonable here".Until the partisan fight over the debt ceiling broke out in 2011, the limit on borrowing had been increased by Congress as a matter of course.But with a surge in Tea Party Republicans elected to the House of Representatives in 2010, the opposition party has sought to use the power over the debt to enforce its desires for smaller government and spending cuts.Obama said he was willing to consider future deficit cuts, but only if they are done independently from a vote to raise the $16.4 trillion debt limit.In a blunt rebuttal to Republicans who say they will not agree to any more tax increases, the president said taxes and spending both must be on the table.He said he is "open to making modest adjustments to programmes like Medicare to protect them for future generations," and wants to close tax loopholes at the same time.Obama spoke less than a week before his inauguration for a second term, and several days after he signed legislation that narrowly averted a "fiscal cliff" of automatic spending cuts and across-the-board tax increases.Combined with other bills he signed earlier in the term, he said he and Congress have reduced deficits by about $2.5 trillion over a decade, somewhat less than the $4 trillion he said is necessary to get them down to a manageable size."I'm happy to have a conversation about how we reduce our deficits in a sensible way," he said, but added repeatedly he wasn't willing to let congressional Republicans use the debt limit as leverage in negotiations over spending cuts.Failure to raise the debt limit would put the United States into a first-ever default, a step that Obama said could "blow up the economy."Congressional Democrats have recently urged the president to lift the debt limit unilaterally. He said as he has before that he won't do it, that Congress had voted for the spending that resulted in federal borrowing, and should now agree to pay the bill.

Obama warns Congress of economic chaos

President Barack Obama warned Congress on Monday that a refusal to raise the United States debt ceiling next month would trigger economic chaos.Obama, at a news conference, said the US economy was poised for a good year as long as Washington politics did not interfere.He said a Republican refusal to lift the debt ceiling could lead the US into a debt default, which would prevent the government from being able to provide Social Security benefits to some seniors and possibly tip the economy into recession."It would be a self-inflicted wound on the economy," Obama said.Obama argued that he has agreed to plenty of government spending cuts and that it was now time for an overhaul of the tax code to close loopholes and for some modest tinkering with entitlement programmes to reach a balanced deficit-reduction package. Obama said that he would be willing to take over authority for raising the US borrowing limit if Congress does not want to increase the debt ceiling.Obama was asked at a news conference about differences he is having with congressional Republicans over raising the $16.4 trillion debt ceiling that the country is expected to hit as soon as the middle of next month."This is about paying your bills," he said. "We've got to stop lurching from crisis to crisis to crisis."Obama said the economy would be damaged if a Washington impasse over raising the debt ceiling led to a government shutdown."My hope is that common sense prevails," Obama said.Obama said it is possible that the Republican-led House of Representatives could vote against raising the debt ceiling. If a government shutdown results, "It will damage our economy," he said.

UK finance jobs nosedive over scandals

The number of financial services staff sacked or suspended in Britain last year for reasons such as wrongdoing reached the highest level in five years, law firm Pinsent Masons said on Monday.Citing figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request, Pinsent Masons said 1 373 individuals were dismissed or suspended from financial services jobs, as distinct from those who lost their jobs through general redundancy programmes, a 76% increase on the previous 12 months.The finding comes after a succession of financial scandals and efforts by regulators to clamp down on misdemeanours.Britain's Financial Services Authority (FSA) regulator, due to be replaced later this year, has for instance beefed up its efforts to tackle market abuse over the last few years, successfully prosecuting a number of high-profile insider dealing cases.Last year also saw a string of bank scandals, including mis-selling of financial products and the manipulation of global benchmark interest rates, as well as the prosecution of former UBS trader Kweku Adoboli for the biggest fraud in British history, which cost the Swiss bank $2.3bn."The FSA has increasingly shown that it is cracking down on financial crime and market abuse. Financial services firms are operating under increased scrutiny and as a result employers are imposing industry rules more strictly," said Helen Farr, a London-based partner at Pinsent Masons."Enforcement activity has clearly had an impact on firms' willingness to tolerate wrongdoing. Firms now appear much more likely to discipline employees for offences," Farr said.The law firm said the 1 373 total was based on changes to the employment status of individuals who have to be authorised by the FSA, and included people disciplined for poor performance or sacked for other reasons, as well as for wrongdoing.It also said the overall number of job losses in the financial sector had reached its highest level since 2008, with 36 868 people losing their jobs last year.That took the total number of people who had left their posts over the past five years to 177 697, it said.Banks worldwide are shedding jobs as stricter regulations and eurozone worries take their toll on trading income and investment banking operations. "The total number of job losses in the sector is striking," Farr said. "While it should be kept in mind that many of these people may have been re-employed and some will have simply transferred internally, the numbers certainly tell a story."

Eurozone factory output falls again

 

Output at eurozone factories fell for the third straight month in November and against expectations of a rise, but the end of 2012 probably marked the deepest point in the bloc's recession.Industrial production in the 17 countries sharing the euro fell 0.3% in November from the previous month, continuing its fall since the European summer, the EU's statistics office Eurostat said on Monday.Factory output, two-thirds of which is generated by Germany, France and Italy, was also down almost 4% on an annual basis in the month. Economists polled by Reuters expected a very modest, 0.1% rise in November from October, and a 3.2% fall on an annual basis The eurozone's debt crisis has driven a vicious cycle of falling business consumer morale and rising, record unemployment that has sucked away demand for factory-made goods, ranging from cars to food.While the eurozone avoided a break-up last year, helped by a European Central Bank announcement of a plan to buy government bonds, households are suffering the most from the crisis. Production of durable consumer goods such as televisions fell nearly 8% in November compared to a year earlier.But production of machinery to produce other goods, an indicator of future business, rose 0.7% in November from October, after two months of losses.If production of those capital goods continues to increase, that could support business surveys and the view of the ECB that the eurozone will recover from recession in 2013 and that the economy hit bottom in the fourth quarter of last year."The worst is behind us," David Mackie, an economist at JP Morgan said in a research note. "We believe that the euro area will exit recession in the first half of this year," he said.

Cameron takes dim view of EU referendum

British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday played down the prospect of a near-term referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union, ahead of a long-awaited speech on the issue he is expected to deliver next week.Cameron told BBC radio an in-out referendum soon would be a "false choice", and made clear that although he did not think Britain would "collapse" if it left the EU, it was in Britain's interests to stay in the 27-member bloc.Cameron says he plans to renegotiate Britain's ties with the EU and seek the public's fresh consent for the new deal. He told the BBC he believes he has allies in his efforts to repatriate more powers from Brussels.

NEWS,28.11.2012

Wall Street reverses earlier losses

Stocks on Wall Street reversed earlier losses after US House Speaker and senior Republican John Boehner said he was optimistic that a deal could be reached to head off the looming fiscal cliff.Boehner said he was willing to put revenues on the table for negotiation if accompanied by spending cuts and that he was optimistic lawmakers could "avert this crisis sooner rather than later".The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6% and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.3%, having been down nearly 1% earlier in the session.Yet US Treasuries also strengthened as fixed interest investors betted there was a chance negotiations would falter.The yield on the 10-year note fell 2 basis points to 1.617%.US President Barack Obama is seeking a budget agreement to avoid $US607 billion of automatic tax increases and spending cuts that kick in on January 1, just 33 days away.Obama is embarking on a series of meetings with company executives including Goldman Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein to press his case and is set to meet his presidential election rival Mitt Romney tomorrow.But there's plenty of noise to suggest markets will be held captive to Washington for the next few weeks or longer.Erskine Bowles, who was co-chairman of Obama's 2010 fiscal commission, gave a 33% probability of a deal by the end of the year and the same odds that no deal would be reached."That still leaves that one-third that we could actually have real chaos and no deal, and I think that would be a disaster," Bowles said in breakfast meeting in Washington, Bloomberg reported."I'm really worried. I believe the probability is we're going over the cliff," Bowles told journalists on the edges of the meeting.Boehner also said he continued to oppose the expiration of tax cuts for top earners.While according to the Huffington Post, Republican Tom Cole told colleagues that even though he doesn't want the top tax rate bumped up to 39.6% from 35% his party should take that deal for now.The willingness of Republicans to take the standoff down to the wire is not clear.Last year they effectively allowed America's credit rating to be downgraded before allowing the debt ceiling to be raised and ensuring the federal government could pay its bills.The Congressional Budget Office says failure to avert the crisis could push the economy back into recession and drive the jobless rate up to 9.1% by the end of 2013 from 7.9% currently.Economic data out of the US wasn't reassuring either.Sales of new homes fell 0.3% to an annual pace of 368,000 last month, Commerce Department figures showed.That missed the forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 390,000 sales.The Federal Reserve's Beige Book business survey, based on accounts from the 12 district Fed banks, was scheduled for release at 2pm Washington time (8am NZT), and is expected to show the world's biggest economy is continuing to grow at a modest pace.On the London Stock Exchange, shares of BP slipped 0.4% to 429.40 British pence.The energy giant has been temporarily banned from new US federal contracts as part of the punishment meted out for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.BP has already agreed to plead guilty to criminal misconduct over the spill and pay fines of $US4.5 billion.Equity markets in Europe were broadly stronger. Germany's DAX 30 gained 0.2% and France's CAC 40 was up 0.4 percent. The Stoxx 600 rose just 0.1%.In Spain, banks rescued as part of the European bailout announced they would shrink in size to regain control of their balance sheets.BFA-Bankia will eliminate 6,000 jobs, sell assets and close branches and is forecasting a 19 billion euro loss this year. It aims to return to profit next year.

Walmart, Disney used deadly factory

Amid the ash, broken glass and melted sewing machines at what is left of the Tazreen Fashions factory, there are piles of blue, red and off-white children's shorts bearing Walmart's Faded Glory brand. Shorts from hip-hop star Sean Combs' ENYCE label lay on the floor and are stacked in cartons.An Associated Press reporter searching the factory on Wednesday found these and other clothes, including sweaters from the French company Teddy Smith, among the equipment charred in the fire that killed 112 workers on Saturday. He also found entries in account books indicating that the factory took orders to produce clothes for Disney, Sears and other Western brands.Garments and documents left behind in the factory show it was used by a host of major American and European retailers, though at least one of them - Walmart - had been aware of safety problems. Walmart blames a supplier for using Tazreen Fashions without its knowledge.The fire has elevated awareness of something labour groups, retailers and governments have known for years: Bangladesh's fast-growing garment industry second only to China's in exports is rife with dangerous workplaces. More than 300 workers there have died in fires since 2006.Police on Wednesday arrested three factory officials suspected of locking in the workers who died in Saturday's fire, the deadliest in the South Asian country's less than 35-year history of exporting clothing.Local police chief Habibur Rahman said the three will be questioned amid reports that many workers trying to escape the blaze had been locked inside. He said the owner of the factory was not among those arrested.The three officials were arrested on Wednesday at their homes in Savar, the Dhaka suburb where the factory is also located. Rahman did not identify the officials or give their job status.About 1 400 workers worked at the plant, about 70% of them women. Most are from the north, the poorest region of Bangladesh.Workers who survived the fire say exit doors were locked, and a fire official has said that far fewer people would have died if there had been even one emergency exit. Of the dead, 53 bodies were burned so badly they could not be identified; they were buried anonymously.The fire started on the ground floor, where a factory worker named Nasima said stacks of yarn and clothes blocked part of the stairway.Nasima, who uses only one name, and other workers said that when they tried to flee, managers told them to go back to their work stations, but they were ignored.Dense smoke filled the stairway, making it hard to see, and when the lights went out the workers were left in total darkness. Another worker, Mohammad Rajib, said some people used their cellphones to light their way."Everyone was screaming for help," Nasima said. "Total chaos, panic and screaming. Everyone was trying to escape and come out. I was pulling the shirt of a man. I fainted and when I woke up I found myself lying on the road outside the factory."I don't know how I survived."Rajib said the factory conducted a fire drill just three days before the fire broke out, but no one used the fire extinguishers. "Only a selected group of workers are trained to use the extinguishers. Others have no idea how to use them," he said.The AP reporter who examined the factory on Wednesday saw dozens of fire extinguishers with tags indicating they were inspected early this month. Many appeared unused.Workers expressed support for the factory owner, Delwar Hossain. Rajib said he is "a gentle man" who heeded workers when they protested for more pay and against rough behaviour by some managers."He took action and fired some of them," he said. "He did not sack any worker. He told us: 'You are my people. If you survive, I will survive.'"Most the fire's devastation took place on the second and third floors. Sewing and embroidery machines and tables burned to ashes, ceiling fans melted and floor and wall tiles were broken, apparently because of excessive heat. Thick black ash covers everything in the upper floors of the eight-story building.Much of the clothing on the lower floors was incinerated. Nightgowns, children's shorts, pants, jackets and sweat shirts were strewn about, piled up in some places, boxed in others. Cartons of kids' hooded sweaters, off-white with red and black print, were marked "Disney Pixar."There were also at least four register books listing buyers including Walmart, Disney, Sears and other companies. Also listed was Li & Fung, a Hong Kong-based buying house that is among the biggest suppliers of garment products from Bangladesh. Li & Fung issued a statement Monday saying it placed orders at the factory for just one company, Kids Headquarters, and that the value of those orders totalled just $111 000.Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Interior Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir have said arson is suspected. Police say they have not ruled out sabotage. Walmart had received an audit deeming the factory "high risk" last year, said it had decided to stop doing business with Tazreen, but that a supplier subcontracted work to the factory anyway. Walmart said it stopped working with that supplier on Monday. Calls made to The Walt Disney Company and to Sears Holdings were not immediately returned. Local TV reports said about 3 000 garment workers held protests over the fire on Wednesday, blocking roads and throwing stones at some factories and vehicles. It was the third straight day of demonstrations, and as they did previously, factories in the area closed to avoid violence. Police used batons to disperse the protesters, but no injuries were immediately reported. According to local television, most factories in the area closed after opening briefly because of the protests - a common tactic to avoid violence.

Cubans to start paying tax

Most Cubans have not paid taxes for half a century, but that will change under a new code starting January 1.The landmark regulations will change the relations of Cubans with their government and are a signal that market-oriented reforms, launched since President Raul Castro succeeded his brother, Fidel Castro, in 2008, are here to stay.The recently published code constitutes the first comprehensive taxation in Cuba since the 1959 revolution abolished just about all taxes. In the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the country's main benefactor, the Cuban government imposed a few scattered taxes, but mostly preferred to maintain low wages so it could fund free social services.The government's free market reforms introduced over the last two years, are designed to encourage small businesses, private farming and individual initiative, along with plans to pay state workers more. Under the new tax code the state hopes to get its share of the proceeds.The government also envisions replacing subsidies for all with targeted welfare, meaning that the largely tax-free life under a paternalistic government is on its way out. "This radically changes the state's relationship with the population and taxes become an irritating issue," said Domingo Amuchastegui, a former Cuban intelligence analyst who lives in Miami and writes often about Cuba. The new code covers 19 taxes, including such things as inheritance, environment, sales, transportation and farm land, various license fees and three contributions, including social security. A sliding scale income tax - from 15% for earnings of more than 10,000 pesos (about $400) annually, to 50% for earnings of over 50,000 pesos, (about $2 000) - adopted in 1994, remains in the new code for the self-employed, small businesses and farms, but it also includes a series of new deductions to stimulate their work. For example, farmers may deduct up to 70% of income as costs, and small businessmen, who are taxed by income not profit, up to 40%, plus various fees and secondary taxes they pay. A labor tax of 20% will gradually be reduced to 5% by 2017, and small businesses with five employees or less are exempt. Eventually all workers will pay income taxes as well as a new 2% property tax, but both measures are suspended until "conditions permit" them to go into effect. The government admits, with an average pay of about 450 pesos per month, or $19, many workers do not earn enough to make ends meet. "They collect taxes for all these things around the world, it's normal," said Havana economist Isabel Fernandez. "But here we face two problems. On the one hand we are not used to paying for anything and on the other our wages are so low we can't spare a single peso," she said. Under the old system, large and small state-run companies, which accounted for more than 90 percent of economic activity, simply handed over all their revenues to the government, which then allocated resources to them. The reforms call for large state-run businesses to be moved out of the ministries and become more autonomous. Under the new tax system they will pay a 35% tax on their profits, but can take advantage of a myriad of deductions ranging from amortization and travel to sales taxes, insurance and environmental protection. Many smaller businesses will become cooperatives or be privately leased and taxed based on income. The state-owned Cuban National News Agency said Cuba had studied the tax systems of a number of other countries, including several with capitalist economies. "The experiences of China, Vietnam, Venezuela, Brazil, Spain and Mexico were taken into account, but they were refined to the particularities and conditions of the island," the new agency said. The new code is not etched in stone it can be amended each year as part of the annual budget passed by the National Assembly, and temporarily modified for different reasons by the executive branch of government. "Like the reforms, it is a work in progress, a work that has barely begun and will take time to put in place," said a Western businessman who has worked in Cuba for almost two decades. But, he added, "this is of course a major step forward toward the 21st century and a modern state."

NEWS,01.08.2012

Record unemployment in eurozone

Joblessness in the eurozone hit on Tuesday its highest level since the single currency was born, a further sign of economic desperation as hopes erode that the bloc will be saved by its central bank this week.An additional 123 000 people were out of work in the eurozone in June, figures from Eurostat showed, bringing the unemployment rate to a record high 11.2% across the 17 countries that use the single currency.The rate hides wide divergences, with unemployment as low as 4.5% in Austria and as high as 24.8% in Spain, where a shrinking economy makes it ever more difficult to pay off debt.New data showed capital fleeing Spanish banks at a growing rate. Spain has come dangerously close to losing affordable access to financial markets, raising the prospect of a bailout that would swamp the euro zone's hastily erected defences. If Spain goes, Italy, with an economy twice the size, could follow.Eurozone leaders have spent the past week issuing statements promising to take whatever steps are necessary to rescue the currency, but none have raised expectations as much as Mario Draghi, head of the European Central Bank.His announcement last Thursday that the ECB would do whatever within its mandate to rescue the currency raised expectations that he will deliver forceful new steps this week to lower Spanish and Italian borrowing costs.But market sentiment has since soured, showing that investors doubt whether he can deliver.Germany, which says it is illegal for the ECB to bankroll government borrowing, squelched talk of any easing of its opposition to letting the eurozone's rescue fund borrow from the ECB so it could buy almost unlimited quantities of government bonds.Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, who has campaigned for concerted action by the eurozone's rescue funds and the ECB to bring down ruinous borrowing costs for Spain and Italy, struck an optimistic tone."It is a tunnel but ... some light is appearing at the end of the tunnel. We and the rest of Europe are approaching the end of the tunnel," he told RAI public radio before talks in Paris with French President Francois Hollande.Monti said decisions taken at an EU summit last month were starting to bear fruit. "We are now seeing the results both in the willingness of European institutions as well as from the governments of individual countries, including Germany," he said.After lunching with Hollande, he said there was no time to lose and they had discussed deadlines, adding: "We cannot afford even a minute of distraction." The ECB's Draghi promise last week to act to preserve the euro raised investors' expectations of a resumption of a long-suspended government bond-buying programme. Investors are waiting to see what the ECB announces at a meeting of its policy-setting Governing Council on Thursday."Today will probably be a quiet last day of the month. Everybody is waiting for Thursday to see if Draghi can deliver," said Lex van Dam, hedge fund manager at Hampstead Capital, which manages $500m of assets."He'd better pull a big rabbit out of his hat."However, central bank sources cautioned against expecting dramatic action, saying bold moves could be at least five weeks away because other elements must first fall into place.They said Spain would first have to formally request a eurozone assistance programme, which it has so far resisted doing, and eurozone governments would have to agree to use their rescue funds to buy bonds in tandem with the ECB.Safe-haven German government bonds rallied on Tuesday and European shares fell as scepticism over the prospect of bold ECB action set in and Berlin repeated its opposition to a banking licence for the rescue fund. Monti, who will also visit Finland and Spain, said he was confident Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy would be able to tackle the country's problems.The scale of Rajoy's challenge was highlighted on Tuesday when figures showed that capital flight from Spain accelerated in May, the month when Madrid was forced to nationalise the fourth biggest lender, Bankia, and before eurozone countries agreed to help bail out Spanish banks. Capital outflows in the first five months of this year totalled €163.2bn - equivalent to about 16% of economic output. The same period last year saw a net inflow of €14.6bn.Spanish retail sales fell by 5.2% year-on-year on a calendar-adjusted basis in June, separate data showed, marking a 24th straight month of declines. Near-bankrupt Greece meanwhile reported that it is fast running out of cash as it awaits the next instalment of aid from international lenders. Deputy Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said that in the absence of €3.2bn needed to repay an ECB bond on August 20, Athens would lack the money to pay everyday public expenses ranging from police and other public service wages to pensions and welfare benefits."Cash reserves are almost zero," he told state NET television. "It is risky to say until when (they will last) ... but we are certainly on the brink."Speaking to reporters in London on Monday evening, Hollande voiced support for Monti's campaign to persuade euro zone leaders and institutions to act to reduce Italian and Spanish borrowing costs."European solidarity is of course about laying down discipline, but it's also about allowing countries that made hard choices to be rewarded with lower interest rates," Hollande said during a visit to the Olympic Games. "If countries undertake austerity measures and still have very high interest rates, how can they win the trust of their people?" he said.Monti spoke by telephone over the weekend with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is holidaying in northern Italy.Berlin agreed in principle at an EU summit in June that the eurozone rescue funds could buy bonds of countries that risk losing market access, but was angered when Monti said that such support should not entail any stricter economic conditions or international monitoring.There has also been renewed pressure from France, Italy and some central bankers to give the eurozone's future permanent rescue fund a banking licence so it can borrow money from the central bank to fight bond market contagion.The Sueddeutsche Zeitung said supporters of the idea were gaining ground in the eurozone, but the German Finance Ministry reiterated its opposition on Tuesday, sending markets down.A legal opinion commissioned by the ECB in March 2011 concluded that such a move would breach an EU treaty ban on monetary financing of governments. 

Eurozone factory downturn takes root

The eurozone’s manufacturing sector contracted for the 11th straight month in July as output and new orders plummeted, a business survey found on Wednesday. The data, which showed the downturn is deepening its roots in the core, will provide grim reading for policymakers who are battling to contain a debt crisis that has raged across the continent. Markit’s Eurozone Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector fell to 44.0, the lowest reading since June 2009 and below a flash reading of 44.1 and June’s 45.1. The output index sank to 43.4, the lowest since May 2009, under June’s 44.7 and an earlier flash 43.6. Markit said it was in line with the official measure of production falling at a quarterly rate of over 1%. “The eurozone manufacturing sector’s woes intensified again in July. Manufacturing therefore looks to be on course to act as a major drag on economic growth in the third quarter, as the eurozone faces a deepening slide back into recession,” said Chris Williamson at Markit. After stagnating in the first quarter, narrowly avoiding a technical recession, a raft of gloomy data pushed economists in a Reuters poll last month to predict a contraction in the second and third quarters. In a bid to spur growth the European Central Bank cut interest rates to a record low of 0.75% in June and is expected to cut them again to 0.5% before the year is out. At its policy meeting on Thursday, it is expected to restart its dormant government bond buying programme with the aim of lowering Spanish and Italian government bond yields, which have reached levels unsustainable in the long-term. Bank President Mario Draghi vowed last week that “the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro”.Earlier data from Germany, Europe’s largest economy, showed its manufacturing sector contracted at its fastest pace in three years last month and it was a similar story in neighbouring France. Spain, which slid deeper into recession in the second quarter, saw the 15th straight month of contraction, while Italy chalked up a year in contractionary territory. The PMI for Greece, where the debt crisis began, has been below 50 since September 2009. Ireland was the only country to show signs of emerging from the downturn, Markit said, where its PMI was above 50 for the fifth month. Factories across the eurozone cut prices at the fastest pace since early 2010, but the new orders index still fell to 42.8 from the previous month’s 43.5 and has only been lower once in over three years. New export orders were at an eight-month low. “The current weakness of global economic growth suggests that all producers face a challenging environment in export markets as well as at home,” Williamson said. Some of the output was generated by firms running down backlogs for the 14th consecutive month and workforces were cut for the sixth month to reduce costs. Unemployment across the bloc rose to a euro-era high of 11.2% in June, official data showed on Tuesday. 

Average UK home slumps to R2.12

House prices in recession-affected Britain slid in July on an annual basis by the biggest amount in nearly three years, a survey by major home-loans provider Nationwide showed on Wednesday.The average value of a home in Britain stood at £164 389 ($257 743, R2.12m) in July - down 2.6% compared with the same month in 2011, the lender said in a statement.They meanwhile dropped by 0.7% in July compared with one month earlier, it added."UK house prices declined for the fourth time in five months in July, with prices falling by 0.7%. This pushed the annual pace of price growth down to minus 2.6%, from minus 1.5% in June - the weakest outturn since August 2009," said Nationwide chief economist Robert Gardner."The weaker price trend observed in recent quarters is unsurprising, given the disappointing performance of the wider economy. Data released last week revealed that the UK recession intensified in the three months to July."