Thursday 18 June 2015

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Nigeria's refineries to resume production next month: official

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LAGOS (AFP) - Nigerias four refineries will resume production next month, a spokesman for the state-run oil group said Thursday, raising hope of an end to perennial petrol shortages that have plagued Africas largest crude producer.The refineries at Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna will resume next month after a successful turn-around-maintenance (overhaul) of their facilities, Ohi Alegbe of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) told AFP.The turn-around-maintenance has been on for some time. We did not just want to make any noise about it. The refineries will start production as soon as they have delivery of crude oil for refining, he said.The NNPC has four refineries -- two in Port Harcourt in the south, one in northern Kaduna and another in southern Warri, with a combined installed capacity of 445,000 barrels per day.A network of pipelines and depots located throughout the country link these refineries.Nigeria produces a massive two million barrels of crude oil a day, but has to export it due to a lack of working refineries. It then imports fuel back into the country at international market prices -- a situation blamed on corruption and mismanagement.To cushion the blow on the general population, the government sells fuel on the streets at subsidised prices, and makes up for the higher amounts spent by importers by reimbursing them the difference -- a system seen as rife with false claims and overpayments.Last month, a crippling fuel shortage almost grounded Nigeria to a halt, as fuel importers and marketers shut their depots to protest some $1 billion (900 million euros) in unpaid reimbursements.Black market and legitimate petrol vendors did a brisk trade, selling at around 300 naira ($1.5; 1.3 euros) a litre -- well above the officially-set price of 87 naira.In January 2012, the government tried to end the subsidies, causing petrol prices to more than double. It was ultimately forced to reinstate the payments after tens of thousands of people took to the streets in violent protests that left more than a dozen dead.Alegbe said the resumption of refinery activity will significantly improve the supply of petroleum products in the country.

Suspect caught in US black church 'hate crime' shooting

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CHARLESTON (AFP) - US police on Thursday arrested a 21-year-old white gunman suspected of killing nine people at a prayer meeting in one of the nations oldest black churches in Charleston, an attack being probed as a hate crime.The shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in the southeastern US city was one of the worst attacks on a place of worship in the country in recent years, and comes at a time of lingering racial tensions.The suspect -- identified as Dylann Roof of Columbia, South Carolina -- was taken into custody in neighboring North Carolina, about a four-hour drive from the scene of the shooting, Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullen said.I do believe it was a hate crime, Mullen said.Detectives were headed to Shelby, North Carolina -- where Roof was apprehended during a traffic stop -- to interview the suspect and gather evidence, he told reporters.Churchgoers had gathered Wednesday evening when the shooter walked into the building, sat in the congregation for about an hour and then opened fire, Mullen said.Three men and six women were killed, and several other people were wounded. Among the dead was the churchs pastor Clementa Pinckney, who was also a Democratic state senator.Roof -- a slender white man with dark blond or brown hair in a distinctive bowl-type haircut and wearing a grey sweater -- had been described by police as extremely dangerous.A picture on Roofs Facebook page showed him wearing a black jacket with patches of the apartheid-era South African flag and the flag of white-ruled Rhodesia, which is now Zimbabwe.The shooting comes at a time of heightened racial tensions in America, after several high-profile killings of unarmed black men at the hands of white police in recent months led to protests and a national debate on race.President Barack Obama was due to make a statement about the shooting.A Justice Department spokesperson said a hate crimes probe had been opened, with FBI agents working in tandem in with local police.The heart and soul of South Carolina was broken, a tearful state Governor Nikki Haley said.Absolutely bizarreJim Curley, owner of ACs Bar & Grill, which is located a few blocks from the church, said locals were shocked anyone would carry out an attack in the popular tourist area.This is absolutely bizarre, Curley told AFP. This is really completely out of the blue... We have no idea what the motivation is.The incident once again highlights broad racial tensions that persist in many US communities, more than five decades after the Civil Rights Act outlawed racial and other forms of discrimination.In April, in the neighboring city of North Charleston, a white police officer was charged after a video surfaced of him fatally shooting a fleeing black man in the back after a traffic stop.But Curley said the neighborhoods residents typically get along fine.Generally, theres not a great deal of racial tension, he said.Dastardly actCharleston is known locally as The Holy City, due to its large number of churches and historical mix of immigrant ethnic groups that brought a variety of creeds to the city on the Atlantic coast.In this great country, we hold sacred the places where people come and practice their faiths in safety and in peace, Mayor Joseph Riley said.Dot Scott, the head of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), said the shooter may not have drawn attention because of the churchs location.It sits in an area that a lot of the tourists frequent. Its not out of the ordinary that folks just walk into the sanctuary and sit and listen to whats going on, Scott told CNN.Officials did not release detailed information about the victims, or say what kind of gun was used.According to its website, the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church is the oldest such church in Americas southern states.The church was founded in 1816 and in 1822 was investigated for its involvement with a planned slave revolt, the website states.The only reason someone can walk into church and shoot people praying is out of hate, Riley said. It is the most dastardly act that one can possibly imagine.Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush canceled campaign events that had been planned for Thursday in Charleston.Heartbreaking news from Charleston - my thoughts and prayers are with you all, tweeted Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who had been in Charleston earlier Wednesday.The Charleston shooting is the latest on a long list of mass shootings in the United States.The deadliest in recent years include the April 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, when 32 were killed, and the December 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, when a total of 27 people died, including 20 children.In August 2012, six people were shot dead at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin by a neo-Nazi US military veteran.Charleston is famous for its cobblestone streets, Southern cuisine and nearby beaches and islands. The city is also known outside the United States for its namesake 1920s dance.

Wall Street pulls European stocks out of doldrums

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LONDON (AFP) - Europes main stock markets rose on Thursday, following on the coat tails of a Wall Street energised by a fall in US jobless benefits claims.Londons benchmark FTSE 100 index of top companies rose 0.41 percent to end the day at 6,707.88 points, while the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.27 percent to 4,803.48 points and Frankfurts DAX 30 climbed 1.11 percent to 11,100.30 points.In foreign exchange trade, the euro hit a one month peak at $1.1420 with the dollar after the Federal Reserve said any rises in US interest rates would be slow, before easing to $1.1407.US equity markets opened higher and spread optimism across European stocks which reversed earlier losses and climbed higher during the afternoons session, said Myrto Sokou, senior research analyst at Sucden Financial.European markets had earlier traded lower as eurozone finance ministers were gathering to discuss Greece after a barrage of warnings that the country risks a damaging exit from the euro if it fails to strike a deal with creditors to free up 7.2 billion euros ($8.1 billion) in blocked bailout funds.Cash-strapped Athens badly needs the aid to honour loan repayments to the International Monetary Fund by June 30.Lack of progressHopes of Greece reaching a deal to unlock the tranche of funds during todays Eurogroup meeting are very slim, said IHS Global Insight economist Diego Iscaro.The lack of progress in the negotiations significantly increases the probability of Greece not making the 1.5-billion-euro IMF payment due at the end of June.Iscaro added that even if a technical default is not triggered yet, not paying the IMF would inevitably send shockwaves, not only in Greece, but also across the eurozone.As negotiations between Athens, the EU, the IMF and the European Central Bank over the last tranche of Greeces massive international bailout grew increasingly acrimonious this week, officials have started openly discussing the prospect of Greece crashing out of the euro.On Wednesday, a day ahead of the meeting of the eurozones 19 countries, Greeces central bank warned for the first time that the country could suffer a painful exit from the single currency area -- and even the European Union -- if it fails to reach a deal.The Greek ATHEX index, after falling nearly 2.5 percent in early trading, closed up 0.37 percent to 683.43 points despite the prospect of a default fast approaching.Speculation over weekend meetingThe Eurogroup meeting today will probably conclude with no deal between Greece and its creditors, added Societe Generale analysts in a research note to clients.All eyes are now on the 25/26 June (EU) summit, although press reports indicate that an extraordinary gathering could take place over the weekend.On Wall Street US stocks pushed higher as data showed modestly higher inflation and fewer jobless claims.In midday trade in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood up 1.10 percent at 18,132.44 points.The broad-based S&P 500 rose 1.02 percent to 2,121.85 points, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 1.42 percent to 5,136.77.Higher gasoline prices lifted the consumer price index by 0.4 percent in May, while US jobless claims dropped 12,000 to 267,000 in the week ending June 13, data showed.In Asia on Thursday, equities headed lower after the Federal Reserve said any rises in US interest rates would be slow, while Chinese stocks tumbled on liquidity concerns.Sydney fell 1.26 percent, Tokyo sank 1.13 percent and Hong Kong shed 0.22 percent.Shanghai tumbled 3.67 percent on liquidity fears as several new firms prepare to list while profit-takers also moved in after a surge in the index over the past year that has seen it pile on about 140 percent.

Turkey's new parliament to open next week

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ANKARA (AFP) - Turkeys newly elected parliament will meet for the first time next week, official media said Thursday, as political forces try to thrash out the countrys first coalition in over a decade.The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost its overall majority in June 7 elections for the first time since it came to power in 2002, in a blow for its co-founder President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.Turkeys election commission confirmed the results in an official statement Thursday, and the state Anatolia news agency said parliament would open on Tuesday June 23 at midday GMT, when the MPs will be sworn in.The AKP has stated its intent to lead the coalition as the largest party but talks will be tricky, with the three other parties elected to parliament setting down clear red lines.Once parliament meets, there is a 45 day deadline to form a government, after which early elections can be called.The AKP will have 258 seats in the 550-seat parliament, the Republican Peoples Party (CHP) 132, and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) 80 apiece.

US urges N.Korea to drop 'fantasy' of nuclear program

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - North Korea must abandon its fantasy that it is free to pursue its nuclear program while seeking global help to prop up its economy, a top US official said Thursday.The stalled six-party talks aimed at reining in Pyongyangs bid to develop a nuclear warhead are likely to be one of the issues raised next week at talks between China and the United States in Washington.North Korea harbors the fantasy that it can have its cake and eat it too, said the top US diplomat for East Asia, Danny Russel, playing on the term yellowcake, a concentrate of uranium, used in nuclear programs.North Korea is hoping to be able to rescue itself from the economic failure of its system through external aid while simultaneously and brazenly carrying forward on its nuclear and missile program. Thats just not going to happen, he insisted.He was speaking after the official Korean Central News Agency reported this week that the country was suffering its worst drought in a century.In the past, Pyongyang has agreed to take certain steps on its nuclear program in exchange for vital food aid.Washington has been pressing Beijing, which remains the top ally of the isolated Pyongyang regime, to exert greater pressure on North Korea to return to the talks frozen since December 2008.Russel insisted there was a way forward as North Korea has the option of tapping into the goodwill in the international community, simply by honoring its own commitments ... and by beginning credible authentic negotiations on the nuclear issue.He was previewing next weeks key talks between China and the US, where among other issues the two world powers would think through together where things stand now with North Korea as well as to ask ourselves how we can further adjust our posture to accelerate the end of Pyongyangs program.

Bombings, war, disease as Yemen marks start of Ramadan

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SANAA (AFP) - War-torn Yemen began marking the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan Thursday after a wave of Islamic State group bombings, with little hope of a ceasefire and a worsening humanitarian situation.Simultaneous bombings targeted mosques and offices in the capital late Wednesday, killing at least 31 people and wounding dozens, medics and witnesses said.Exploding as worshippers flocked to mosques for sunset prayers, they were claimed by the radical Muslim IS as revenge against Huthi rebels, whom they consider heretics and who have been battling government forces for months.Ramadan is observed worldwide by more than 1.5 billion Muslims, who believe the Koran was revealed to their Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him) during this month in the Saudi city of Mecca in 610 AD.Throughout the month, believers abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and having sex from dawn until sunset, when they break their fast with an elaborate meal known as iftar.But in Yemen, this years iftars will be a luxury. The United Nations says a catastrophic humanitarian crisis has left 80 percent of the population -- 20 million people -- in need of aid.The rebels have overrun much of the majority country and, along with their allies among forces loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, have been the target of Saudi-led air strikes since March.Fisticuffs in GenevaUN-brokered talks between the warring parties are stalling in Geneva, after Secretary General Ban Ki-moon launched negotiations on Monday with a plea for a Ramadan truce.But there was violence even in Geneva, when fisticuffs broke out Thursday at a Geneva press conference by the rebel delegations leader.Hamza al-Huthi was addressing reporters when a woman in a headscarf barged in and threw a slipper at him -- a huge insult in the Arab world.He promptly threw it back.The woman was quickly joined by six men who shouted slogans against the rebels and started raining blows at them, screaming Killers, you are spreading death and disease in South Yemen.The melee lasted several minutes, with bottles hurled, before the intruders were hauled out.The humanitarian situation is particularly dire in the southern port city of Aden, battered by nearly three months of air strikes and fighting.Aden was struck by more air strikes at dawn while fighting raged between the rebels and forces loyal to exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, witnesses said.The citys streets, usually busy with Ramadan shoppers, were empty.Empty shelvesIts the first time we dont feel happy that Ramadan has begun, said newspaper employee Abdulrahman Anis. We havent received salaries since the crisis began in March.Food supplies are thin and triple the usual prices. Supermarket shelves are completely empty.The health situation is also deteriorating, with diseases such as malaria, typhoid and dengue fever spreading fast across Aden, where bodies are left on the streets for days amid intense fighting.Every day we receive between 90 and 100 patients infected by dengue fever, said Marwa Marwan, a doctor at the emergency department of Al-Breihi hospital.She said that each day 10-15 people die from the mosquito-borne disease, which causes fever and acute pains in the joints, because of the lack of medicines.The UNs Ban pleaded with the warring sides this week to observe a humanitarian pause for at least two weeks to coincide with the start of Ramadan.Yemens war has killed more than 2,500 people since March, according to UN estimates.Across the border in oil-rich Saudi Arabia, the target last month of anti-Shiite IS attacks, King Salman said in a Ramadan speech that the kingdom must shun sedition, unrest and sectarian tensions.Since its founding by Abdul Aziz, the Saudi kingdom has preached moderation and support for the oppressed around the world because it believes in the values of brotherhood and humanism, he said.But as he preached moderation, the coalition announced that a Saudi officer had been killed by a landmine on the border with Yemen a day earlier.At least 39 people, civilians and troops, have lost their lives in shelling and border skirmishes since March 26 when the coalition began its bombing campaign in Yemen.

Ban urges Israel to safeguard lives of Palestinian children

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UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged Israel on Thursday to protect the lives of Palestinian children, who bore the brunt of last years military operations in Gaza.Last year was one of the worst in recent memory for children in countries affected by conflict, the UN leader said, adding he is deeply alarmed at the suffering of so many children as a result of Israeli military operations in Gaza last year.He made his remarks as the UN issued a new report highlighting what Ban called unprecedented challenges for children in conflict zones around the world.The UN leader said that last year was particularly lethal for children in Gaza, where more than 500 perished.The United Nations has accused the Israeli army of being responsible for strikes on buildings where civilians were sheltering during the conflict.At the height of the Gaza conflict, some 300,000 displaced Palestinians were sheltering in some 91 UN schools, several of which were hit by Israeli strikes.I urge Israel to take concrete and immediate steps, including by reviewing existing policies and practices, to protect and prevent the killing and maiming of children, and to respect the special protections afforded to schools and hospitals, the UN leader said.In a letter addressed to Ban, Israels UN ambassador Ron Prosor pushed back against the charges, accusing Leila Zerrougui, the UNs special representative of the secretary general for children and armed conflict, of widespread, systematic and institutionalized biased conduct against Israel.Prosor said Hamas -- the blockaded territorys de facto rulers -- were to blame for Gaza casualties involving non-combatants, and accused it of having used Palestinian civilians, including children, as human shields during the fighting.Despite Thursdays admonitions from Ban, the United Nations has not included Israel on a list of countries singled out for violating the rights of children.Last years war killed 2,200 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 73 on the Israeli side, 67 of them soldiers.Israel maintains that it needed to target those facilities because Palestinian militants were using the areas to store weapons and fire rockets.The international community has called for an end to Israels blockade of Gaza, now in its ninth year, which puts tight restrictions on the entry of building material through the goods crossing the Jewish state controls.Israel however says it fears building materials could be used by Hamas to build weapons and attack tunnels.

Football: Brazil's Neymar suspended for one match

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SANTIAGO (AFP) - Brazilian star Neymar has been provisionally suspended for one match and could face a harsher final punishment, officials said Thursday after the striker received a red card during a fracas in Brazils Copa America loss to Colombia.South American federation CONMEBOLs disciplinary committee provisionally suspended Neymar for one game after his behavior in the aftermath of Brazils 1-0 defeat to Colombia, and will meet on Friday to decide the final punishment, said a statement on the Copa America website.Colombia upset the five-time world champions in a combative game Wednesday that ended in a tumultuous melee, as Neymar appeared to aim a headbutt at Colombian goalscorer Jeison Murillo.Colombian striker Carlos Bacca also received a red card for pushing Neymar from behind.Neymar had previously received a second yellow card for a handball, meaning at least a one-game suspension was inevitable.The Barcelona star had received a first yellow card during Brazils opening win against Peru.The Copa America website initially reported a two-game suspension, but later clarified that the 23-year-old striker was suspended for one game in a preliminary decision, to be reviewed when the disciplinary committee meets Friday.A two-match suspension would rule him out of Brazils final group game against Venezuela Sunday and any quarter-final clash.There was already bad blood between Neymar and the Colombian team heading into the match.He suffered a fractured vertebra when Colombias Juan Camilo Zuniga collided with him in their World Cup quarter-final clash last July, an injury that sidelined him for the rest of the tournament.Wednesdays match left Group C of the South American championship up for grabs, with three teams tied at three points each: Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela.

Danish election too close to call, show exit polls

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COPENHAGEN (AFP) - Denmarks ruling centre-left bloc was neck-and-neck with the opposition in Thursdays general election, exit polls showed after voting ended, following an intense three-week campaign focused on immigration and the economy.Public broadcaster DR gave the right-wing opposition 89 seats in its poll against 86 for centre-left Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, while commercial television TV2 gave the opposition 88 seats versus 87 for the ruling bloc.The tight polls mean the outcome of the election could be decided by two former Danish colonies, the Faroe Islands and Greenland, where three out of four seats traditionally go to the leftist bloc.However, a dispute over mackerel quotas means the Social Democrats are expected to have a weak showing in the Faroes, an autonomous territory where they have faced stiff competition from a pro-independence party.The polls predicted the anti-immigration Danish Peoples Party (DPP) would win just over 18 percent of the vote, which if confirmed would be a record result for the party.Visibly moved, party leader Kristian Thulesen Dahl sang the Liverpool FC anthem Youll never walk alone as he took to the stage at a party event in the Danish parliament, cheered on by party workers and supporters.This election campaign has shown that we are a party that the others just cant avoid. We are a party to be taken seriously here in this country, he said.Immigration and the rising cost of housing asylum seekers was a major campaign theme for both right and left, along with the economy and the future of the countrys cherished cradle-to-grave welfare state.Social Democratic premier Helle Thorning-Schmidt, in power since 2011, and right-wing opposition leader Lars Lokke Rasmussen, who governed from 2009 to 2011, have both claimed credit for a resurgent economy and tried to woo voters with pledges to curb immigration.Im asking people to vote for certainty and they know what they get with me. They get a stable economy and they get good welfare, Thorning-Schmidt said earlier in the day as she arrived outside a Copenhagen polling station with husband Stephen Kinnock, a British Labour MP.Wooing undecided votersPoliticians campaigned until the last minute, with 20 percent of voters undecided.The DPP, which backed right-wing governments between 2001 and 2011, has yet to say whether it will seek to join a right-wing government, which needs its support to pass legislation.Were just going to be where we get the most influence, Dahl said.The election campaign saw Thorning-Schmidt make a remarkable comeback in opinion polls, buoyed by an economic recovery and repeated attacks on Rasmussens plans to freeze public spending.Rasmussen has accused the premier of negative campaigning and of taking credit for reforms introduced by his administration.Thorning-Schmidts approval ratings had been stuck in the doldrums for most of her four-year tenure as the economy dipped in and out of recession and her centre-left coalition implemented policies viewed as right-wing, including welfare cuts and corporate tax reductions.String of minor scandalsBut she has rebounded in opinion polls since calling the election three weeks ago as economic growth returned -- expected to reach 1.7 percent this year -- and after taking a tough stance on immigration to win over voters from the DPP.In reality it is because Lars Lokke Rasmussen was even more unpopular, said Rune Stubager, a political science professor at Aarhus University, referring to a string of spending scandals that hit the opposition leaders popularity ratings.Unusually for a Social Democrat, Thorning-Schmdit campaigned on the slogan If you come to Denmark you should work. Her government has also introduced temporary residence permits for refugees, as part of its efforts to stem an influx of asylum seekers.Rasmussen has said he would cut back the number of asylum seekers by slashing benefits for new immigrants and by making it harder to obtain permanent residency.

EU calls Greek crisis summit as talks end without deal

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LUXEMBOURG (AFP) - The EU called an emergency eurozone summit next week after Greek debt talks ended Thursday without a deal, sparking warnings of an accident that could push Athens out of the euro if there is no breakthrough by the end of the month.Finance ministers meeting in Luxembourg failed to break the five-month-old standoff between the anti-austerity government in Athens and its EU-IMF creditors, who have demanded tough reforms.Greece has until the end of June to agree a reform deal in order to secure the remaining portion of an international bailout, which it needs to avoid defaulting on a 1.6-billion-euro IMF debt payment.It is still possible to find an agreement and extend the current programme before the end of the month but the ball is clearly in the Greek court to seize that last opportunity, a clearly discouraged Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijssebloem told a news conference.With time running out, EU President Donald Tusk quickly announced an emergency summit of the leaders of the 19 eurozone countries on Monday in Brussels, ahead of a full EU summit next Thursday.It is time to urgently discuss the situation of Greece at the highest political level, Tusk said.In Athens, 6,000 people gathered in front of parliament to call for Greece to stay in the euro, police said, although it was smaller than an anti-austerity protest in the capital on Wednesday.Greek accident warningBut Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis insisted that he had put fresh proposals on the table, even as he insisted Athens would not budge on its red lines of reforms to pensions and VAT.We are dangerously close to a state of mind which accepts an accident. I told my colleagues not to accept such thinking, the motorbike-riding former economist said when asked about the possibility of Greece leaving the euro.Varoufakis added that there had been not a single comment from his eurozone peers when he presented his new plans.Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was elected in January on a promise to end five years of austerity under two international bailouts since 2010, which Athens took to repay debts incurred by years of overspending including on hosting the 2004 Athens Olympics.The threat of a Greek default escalated dramatically when International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde ruled out any extension of the June 30 deadline for Greece to pay its debts.There will be no period of grace, she said, confirming that Greece would officially be in default if it failed to cough up, leaving the country effectively unable to finance itself and without external funding.Tsipras this week accused the IMF of having criminal responsibility for Greeces debt woes, and Lagarde took a thinly veiled swipe at the attitude of Athens officials in the talks.For the moment we are short of a dialogue, the key emergency is to restore the dialogue with adults in the room, Lagarde said.The crisis has caused global worries, with the US State Department calling for all parties to reach a solution.We continue to emphasize the need for Greece and international partners to take urgent steps toward compromise, spokesman John Kirby said.Tragic meetingOne source described the 90-minute Eurogroup talks to AFP as tragic, saying that Greece had not even raised the issue of a possible bailout extension.Creditors have refused to pay the remaining 7.2 billion euros of the bailout if there is no reform deal, and the cash will be lost forever if there is no deal for an extension.The ball now passes to the eurozone leaders at Mondays summit, especially Germanys Angela Merkel and Frances Francois Hollande, who have held a series of special meetings with Tsipras but to no avail.Merkel painted a more positive picture earlier Thursday, telling the Bundestag she was still confident that a deal was possible.Concerns are however mounting about Greeces ability to ride out the next few days, with the central bank warned for the first time Wednesday that the country could suffer a painful exit from the single currency area -- and even the European Union -- if it fails to reach a deal.Greece owes another 6.7 billion euros to the European Central Bank in July and August and there have been reports of planning for possible capital controls if Greeces financial system runs dry.In a move that seemed calculated to irk other European leaders amid tensions with Russia over Ukraine, Tsipras visited Saint Petersburg Thursday as the star guest at President Vladimir Putins investment drive forum.

EU to extend Russia sanctions to January 2016

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BRUSSELS (AFP) - EU member states agreed Wednesday to extend damaging economic sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine crisis by another six months to the end of January 2016, officials said.The agreement by ambassadors from the 28 European Union nations meeting in Brussels will be formalised by foreign ministers from the bloc when they meet next week, the officials said.EU foreign ministers will finalise the decision in Luxembourg on Monday, Polands permanent representative to the EU said on Twitter, while several sources also confirmed the agreement.The following day, the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia are slated to hold talks in Paris, it was announced Wednesday. It is hoped those meetings may create renewed diplomatic momentum towards resolving the violence in east Ukraine, and address tensions between Russian and Western nations over the conflict and sanctions that have arisen from it.The EU imposed its sanctions targeting Russias banks, oil and defence sectors after Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over rebel-held eastern Ukraine in July 2014.The United States has also imposed economic sanctions on Russia.State Department spokesman John Kirby said Washington welcomes the decision by the EU to roll over its sanctions.But he said he was not in a position to make a judgement either for this country or others about whether and when additional sanctions will be applied adding only that Russia will continue to pay a cost for its violation of international law.In March, EU leaders agreed in principle to roll the sanctions over by linking them directly to Russias full implementation of a February ceasefire brokered by France and Germany in Minsk that runs to December this year.This is just putting into effect the March summit decision, one EU source told AFP.The idea is to extend them to end-January to give time to review progress on the Minsk accord before having to take a new decision.With the legal text agreed by officials, foreign ministers will likely approve it Monday without discussion.EU leaders meeting on Thursday and Friday in Brussels will then make the formal announcement, sources said.Nuclear sabre-rattlingThe sanctions extension will keep relations between Russia and the West in the deep freeze, a year and a half after the crisis in Ukraine triggered the worst rift since the Cold War.NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday accused Russia of dangerous nuclear sabre-rattling after President Vladimir Putin announced plans to deploy 40 new nuclear ballistic missiles.Russia says the move is in response to the US-led NATO military alliance increasing its presence in east European states once ruled from Moscow.Earlier this month the Group of Seven top industrialised nations -- which expelled Russia last year -- warned Moscow it would face increased sanctions for its aggression in Ukraine if Putin failed to mend his ways.We... stand ready to take further restrictive measures in order to increase the cost on Russia should its actions so require, G7 leaders said after a summit in Germany.We recall that the duration of sanctions should be clearly linked to Russias complete implementation of the Minsk agreements and respect for Ukraines sovereignty, they said.The February Minsk accord was concluded after a September peace plan failed to halt the fighting, with French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel driving the talks as pro-Russian rebels pushed back government forces.The ceasefire has largely held but Kiev and the rebels swap charges daily over breaches, and observers have reported a sharp pick up in fighting in recent weeks.The EU first imposed asset freezes and travel bans on leading rebel and Russian figures after Moscows annexation of Crimea in March 2014, and has expanded the sanctions as the conflict spread into eastern Ukraine, claiming more than 6,400 lives.The decision to impose full-blown economic sector sanctions was much more controversial and painful, with certain member states such as Italy and Germany having particularly important trade and political ties with Moscow.The shooting down of flight MH17, however, made those bilateral considerations secondary to ensuring a strong collective reaction.

Guatemala leader dismisses 'spurious' corruption case

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GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) - Guatemalan President Otto Perez said Thursday the corruption investigation against him is unfounded as he fought the possible lifting of his presidential immunity.A congressional committee is currently probing how much Perez knew about fraud by senior officials in the customs and social security systems.Perez condemned what he called a purely political, or spurious, or illegitimate situation, and questioned the opposition-dominated committees jurisdiction in the case.The probe against Perez was requested by opposition party Winaq after a UN-backed investigation aimed at cleaning up the Guatemalan judicial system reported in April that senior customs officials had taken bribes from businessmen seeking to avoid paying taxes.The Supreme Court endorsed the request last week, asking Congress to set up an investigative committee and consider lifting Perezs immunity.Perez was due to testify before the committee Thursday, but instead sent a written defense.In it, he said the Supreme Court should have ruled on the substance of the case itself rather than passing it along to Congress.The Supreme Court is not a pre-trial processing system, he wrote. It must search for the facts.The head of the committee, opposition lawmaker Baudilio Hichos, meanwhile resigned after prosecutors and the UN anti-corruption commission accused him of involvement in social security fraud.Guatemala has been in political upheaval since the UN commission began publishing its findings on the customs fraud scheme, leading to the resignation of vice president Roxana Baldetti.In a separate scandal, the president of the central bank and the director of the social security system -- both of whom are close to Perez -- were arrested in May on charges of cheating the social security system out of $15 million.

38 civilians killed in Boko Haram attack in Niger: minister

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NIAMEY (AFP) - Boko Haram militants killed 38 people in an attack in southeast Niger which occurred overnight Wednesday, with most of the victims women and children, the countrys interior minister said.Members of the Boko Haram terrorist group have attacked the villages of Lamana and Ngoumao... The initial death toll is 38 civilians, among them 14 men, 14 women and 10 children, minister Hassoumi Massaoudou told public radio on Thursday.The villages attacked by the extremists are located in the Gueskerou area of Diffa province near Nigeria, parts of whose northeast are under Boko Haram control.The latest attack is the deadliest in Niger by the terrorist group since a raid in April on an island in the West African countrys side of Lake Chad killed 74 people, 46 of them soldiers.Massaoudou said three people had been wounded, and hospitalised in Diffas provincial capital. He said Boko Haram had also set fire to more than 100 homes in its latest raid.A Lamana resident cited by Anfani television said the attackers arrived shortly after 8:00 pm (1900 GMT), and that they were shooting and burning everything in their path.Some civilians were burned by Boko Haram members, others were shot dead using firearms, the broadcaster added.An independent journalist in Diffa told AFP the Boko Haram fighters crossed over into the region from Nigeria, after they were taken in vehicles to the border.They were dropped off at the frontier, and they walked to the villages and attacked them, the journalist said, adding that they pushed the women and children into the houses before they set fire to them.The raided villages are located near the Komadougou Yove river that separates Niger from Nigeria, a humanitarian source said.Nigers security forces were seeking to capture and neutralise the attackers, Massaoudou said.Air and ground operations are currently underway, he added, saying the government was doing all it can to stop Boko Haram from carrying out more attacks.A double suicide attack blamed on the terrorists caused carnage in Chads capital NDjamena on Monday, killing 33 people and wounding more than 100 others.The armies of Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon have been fighting a joint campaign against Boko Haram for several months.

Nasdaq powers to new all-time high

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NEW YORK (AFP) - The Nasdaq powered to a fresh record Thursday, easily topping the prior all-time high in a broad rally that withstood signs that a Greek debt default could be moving closer.The Nasdaq Composite Index surged 68.07 points (1.34 percent) to 5,132.95, more than 25 points above the May 27 record close. The Nasdaq also set a new intraday record of 5,143.32, about 11 points more than the prior high set in March 2000, shortly before the dotcom crash.The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 180.10 (1.00 percent) to 18,115.84, while the broad-based S&P 500 gained 20.80 (0.99 percent) at 2,121.24.Analysts attributed the rally largely to Wednesdays Federal Reserve policy announcement and pledge from Chair Janet Yellen that the US central bank will raise interest rates from near-zero levels only gradually.The key takeaway is that the Fed will move more slowly than they previously said, said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial.The surge came despite a warning from Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis that an accident in the bitter dispute between Greece and its EU-IMF creditors over unlocking vital bailout cash for Athens was drawing dangerously close.That came as International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said progress in negotiations with Greece required adults in the room in an apparent swipe at Greek officials.Low said he was a little surprised at the markets shrugging response to Greece.Maybe we fully priced in Greece leaving the euro, he added.Large tech stocks to gain included Apple (0.5 percent), Amazon (2.7 percent) and Google (1.4 percent). Biotech stocks, such as Celgene (4.2 percent) and Biogen (2.7 percent), were also strong.BioMarin Pharmaceutical surged 12.2 percent after releasing positive clinical results of its Vosoritide medication for treating human dwarfism.Fitbit, the company known for wearable devices promoting healthy lifestyles, saw its shares surge 48 percent to $29.68 following the biggest initial public offering this year for the tech sector. The IPO, at $20 a share, raised up to $732 million. The market value for Fitbit was some $4 billion based on the IPO.But software and networking giant Oracle fell 4.8 percent after reporting net income for the quarter ending May 31 of 78 cents per share, nine cents below analyst expectations. The company said results were marred by the strong dollar.Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.34 percent from 2.32 percent Wednesday, while the 30-year advanced to 3.13 percent from 3.09 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.

Cuba to launch first public wifi

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HAVANA (AFP) - Cuba announced plans Thursday to open 35 public wifi hotspots and halve the price to go online, seeking to expand Internet access in one of the worlds least-connected countries.State telecoms firm Etecsa said the hotspots, a first for the communist island, would be set up nationwide and begin service in July.It is a first step toward increasing Internet access, Etecsa communications chief Luis Manuel Diaz told a state newspaper.Etecsa had previously offered public wifi in a small pilot program, and unstable illegal connections periodically appear and disappear in Cuba.To access the official hotspots, users will have to create an account with Etecsa for $1.50 and pay an hourly connection fee.Etecsa also announced it was reducing the price to access the Internet to $2 an hour, down from the current promotional rate of $2.50 and the long-time rate of $4.50.It did not say whether the same rate would apply to the new wifi connections.Since 2013, Cuba has had 155 public Internet cafes where users can go online for the hourly rate.But the price is steep in a country where the average salary is $20 a month.Home Internet access is restricted to members of certain professions, such as journalists, doctors and students.According to the International Telecommunications Union, just 3.4 percent of Cuban homes were online in 2013.President Raul Castros government has said it wants all Cubans to have Internet access by 2020.US President Barack Obama has named increased Internet access for the island as one of the goals of the historic thaw between Washington and Havana announced last December.
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