Thursday 4 June 2015

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Greece delays IMF payment, PM to brief angry parliament

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ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece delayed a key debt payment to the International Monetary Fund due on Friday as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, facing fury among his leftist supporters, demanded changes to tough terms from international creditors for aid to stave off default.The IMF said Athens planned to bundle four payments due in June into a single 1.6 billion euro lump sum which is now due on June 30.It was the first time in five years of crisis that Greece has postponed a repayment on its 240 billion euro bailouts from euro zone governments and the IMF, even though Tsipras said earlier this week that Athens had the money and would make the payment.The delay came as German Chancellor Angela Merkel said talks on a cash-for-reforms deal were still far from reaching an agreement.In a sign of accelerating efforts to bridge the remaining differences, Tsipras, Merkel and French President Francois Hollande spoke late on Thursday evening via conference call, according to a Greek government official.Tsipras told the two leaders that the lenders proposal could not be a basis for a deal because it was not taking into account the progress made in talks in Brussels over the past months, the official said adding that there was optimism that a deal could be reached soon.Tsipras, elected in January on a promise to end austerity, returned from late night talks with EU officials in Brussels to face an outcry over conditions that would breach the red lines his Syriza party has declared.He told ministers the government could not accept extreme proposals and said the creditors should understand that the Greek people had suffered enough and they have to stop playing games at its expense, a Greek official said.They have not made any step back, regardless of the convergence reached during these four months on reforms that the Greek side included in its proposals but the lenders draft proposal did not, the official said on condition of anonymity.Tsipras is due to brief parliament on the negotiations from 11 a.m. EDT on Friday.Earlier the novice prime minister left the talks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and the chairman of euro zone finance ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem saying a deal with lenders was within sight and that Athens would make a 300 million euro payment to the IMF on Friday. His tone appeared to harden after he ran into a backlash in Athens.LARGE GAPSEuropean officials continued to voice optimism that an agreement could be clinched in the coming days, but they acknowledged that large gaps remained to be bridged and said they expected Greek counter-proposals.Tsipras rejected pension cuts and a tax rise on electricity that he said the lenders were demanding along with other conditions to win the release frozen loans and avert a default that could hit euro zone and world markets.Sources familiar with the creditors five-page plan said it also asked Athens to commit to selling off state assets and maintaining unpopular labor reforms, demands that would cross the partys declared red lines.The lenders were demanding that Greece reduce spending on pensions by 1.0 percentage point of gross domestic product and raise a further 1.0 percent or 1.8 billion euros ($2 billion) by increasing value-added tax on products ranging from drugs to electricity, the sources told Reuters.Merkel, the EUs most influential leader, said the end was not yet in sight in the talks, telling a news conference: The talks are far from reaching a conclusion.She has tried to force the pace this week, at least partly to avoid a Group of Seven summit she will host in Bavaria from Sunday turning into another crisis session on the euro zone, highlighting Europes difficulty in solving its own problems.Dijsselbloem said the Brussels talks that ran beyond midnight had narrowed down the remaining issues but differences were still quite large and Athens was expected to present alternatives to some of the lenders proposals within days.An EU source said Tsipras could return to Brussels for further talks late on Friday night or Saturday, possibly along with top IMF and ECB officialsTime is running out to clinch a deal and get disbursements approved by national parliaments before the bailout program expires at the end of June.In one concession, the lenders were offering to unlock 10.9 billion euros in unused bank bailout funds that would enable Greece to cover its financial needs through July and August, an amount that is more than the 7.2 billion euros left in the expiring bailout.ANGER IN ATHENSAs details of the confidential lenders proposal trickled out, members of Tsipras government and his Syriza party denounced the conditions as unacceptable.The backlash highlighted the risk of a revolt in Syriza if the prime minister decides he has to accept a deal, not least because a big majority of Greeks want to stay in the euro zone.(Juncker) took on the dirty work and conveyed the most vulgar, most murderous, toughest plan when everyone hoped that the deal was closing, Alexis Mitropoulos, a deputy parliament speaker and senior official within Syriza told Mega TV. And that at a time when we were finally moving towards an agreement we all want because we rule out a rift leading to tragedy.Avgi, the Syriza party newspaper headlined Thursdays edition: A continuation of austerity? No, thanks.Some lawmakers in the ruling party have said Tsipras could call early elections or a referendum if he had to accept a deal that crossed Syrizas red lines.Conservative opposition leader Antonis Samaras, who led the government that implemented much of Greeces tough bailout before being defeated in January, urged Tsipras not to call elections but to seek a national consensus on the negotiations.With Europes big powers, and the United States, concerned about the unpredictable outcome as Greek reserves shrink toward zero, the creditors also showed some willingness to compromise by lowering the budget surplus that Athens will be required to run before debt service payments.Sources familiar with the proposal said they now sought a primary surplus of 1.0 percent of gross domestic product this year and 2.0 percent next year. Greece has offered 0.8 percent this year and 1.5 percent in 2016. However, since the Greek economy has fallen back into recession, lowering tax revenues, the lower target will still require painful retrenchment.Tsipras ruled out scrapping an income supplement for the poorest pensioners or a value-added tax change that he said would raise the tax on electricity by 10 percentage points.

WTO: India unfairly blocking US poultry, egg imports

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WASHINGTON (AP) - The World Trade Organization has upheld a ruling that India is unfairly blocking imports of U.S. poultry and eggs. The Obama administration called the decision a major victory that should greatly expand export opportunities for American farmers.The ruling announced Thursday by the Geneva-based WTOs appellate body upheld a decision issued by a dispute panel last October.India imposed the trade barriers in 2007 to prevent avian influenza from entering the country. The WTO said they were too restrictive and not based on international scientific standards.The U.S. poultry industry has estimated that exports of poultry meat alone could exceed $300 million annually once Indias restrictions are removed. The United States exports 20 percent of its poultry meat production each year.U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said that the WTO victory showed that the administration was fully committed to enforcing U.S. rights in the trade agreements it negotiates.The decision comes as the White House is fighting to win the House votes it needs for approval of fast-track legislation that will allow it to wrap up negotiations for a 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact.This decision affirms the importance of basing agricultural trade requirements on sound science, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.The administration said in a fact sheet that while U.S. poultry producers are currently being challenged by an outbreak of avian influenza, those outbreaks do not justify a ban on poultry imports from the entire United States.Under WTO rules, India will be given a period of time to dismantle the barriers that have been found to be illegal. If it fails to dismantle the barriers, the United States would have the right to impose trade sanctions against India equal to the amount of lost agricultural trade.Indias press office at its embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

SEC investigates allegations of misspending by Dow Chemical CEO - sources

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating allegations that Andrew Liveris, chairman and chief executive officer of industrial giant Dow Chemical Co (DOW.N), misused company funds for personal benefit, according to people familiar with the matter.It is not clear whether the SEC investigation is limited to the spending allegations or is broader in scope. Also unclear is whether regulators have ordered Dow, Liveris or other company officials to hand over documents or testify as part of the governments investigation.But Reuters has learned that the SEC did issue subpoenas for thousands of pages of documents and testimony that were part of a whistleblower-retaliation lawsuit brought last year by a former Dow employee, Kimberly Wood.Wood, a fraud investigator at Dow, alleged that company money had financed vacations, sports junkets and other perks for Liveris and his family. Dow settled with Wood earlier this year, and both parties agreed not to discuss the case.Late on Thursday, Dow issued a statement saying that the company had addressed (the issues) through independent review, enhanced audits, and improved controls. These matters were disclosed in 2011 by the filing of a publicly available proxy statement with the SEC.The SEC investigation does not mean that regulators have found any wrongdoing. Such investigations can lead to civil cases against companies and their employees, or they can end with no charges, sometimes months or years later.In May, a Reuters investigation showed that Wood was not the only Dow employee to question whether Liveris used his position for his personal benefit. A series of internal examinations by Dows auditors, including former chief auditor Doug Anderson, spanned a period from 2008 to 2013.Upon leaving the company in 2013, Reuters found, Anderson sent a memo to top company officials labeled DOW CONFIDENTIAL. In it, he raised concerns about what he called suspected ethical and compliance issues or violations. Both Andersons memo and Woods lawsuits raised questions about whether spending that involved Liveris was properly accounted for by Dow and accurately disclosed to shareholders and the SEC.In response to the earlier Reuters story, Dow issued a statement to media outlets last month saying the article was inaccurate and included matters that were long since closed. Disappointedly, the statement read, Reuters somehow views these old matters as newsworthy.Wood filed state and federal whistleblower lawsuits last year against Dow, Liveris and the companys top lawyer, Charles Kalil. She alleged that she was fired in 2013 for repeatedly reporting questionable spending by the CEO on activities unrelated to the companys business. Wood worked at Dow, the Midland, Michigan-based company, for 25 years.After initially calling Woods suits baseless, Dow settled her claims in February for an undisclosed sum.Now 61, the Australian-born Liveris has spent 11 years leading Dow, a global chemicals giant that generated $58 billion in revenue last year. He has earned more than $20 million annually, served as an adviser on manufacturing to U.S. President Barack Obama, and is often a featured speaker at events such as the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.After the Reuters report on Thursday afternoon, shares of Dow, which had been trading lower, climbed as much as 2.5 percent to an intraday high of $53.38 per share. They ended 0.1 percent higher on the day.

Oil tumbles again before OPEC; worry over spiking European yields

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Crude prices tumbled about 2 percent for a second day on Thursday ahead of an OPEC decision likely to keep the market oversupplied and on worry rising European bond yields could tighten the availability of speculative money that had been invested in oil.The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, meeting in Vienna, is expected to affirm on Friday an output target of 30 million barrels per day, ignoring calls from some producers to cut supply and support prices. OPEC actually produces about 2 mill lion bpd above the target.Ten-year German Bund yields, the benchmark for European borrowing costs, hit eight-month highs after recording their biggest two-day gains since 1998. The spread between those yields and the equivalent U.S. Treasury yields narrowed to its tightest in four months. [FRX/]Todays play in oil is as much about macro and bonds as it is about crude and OPEC, said John Kilduff, partner at New York energy hedge fund, Again Capital.The spiking Bund yields could lead to a tighter credit environment in Europe that could ostensibly choke off growth and the hot money that is the lifeblood of speculators, including those in the oil market, Kilduff said.Phil Flynn, analyst at the Price Futures Group in Chicago, concurred with that view.There is certainly a lack of conviction trade going on in oil now, with OPEC expected to keep production unchanged or even hike it to match what it is really overproducing, Flynn said. The European macro front is another drag on the market.Brent crude (LCOc1) was down $1.45 or 2.3 percent, at $62.35 a barrel by. U.S. crude futures (CLc1) were off $1.30, or 2.2 percent, at $58.34.Saudi Arabia, OPECs most influential member, on Thursday raised its official selling price for benchmark Arab Light crude to Asia in July, responding to robust demand for its crude there and to higher consumption at home during the hot summer months.There are pockets of strength in Asia, said Seth Kleinman, head of energy research at Citigroup in London. Light sweet crude in the Atlantic basin is very weak, but Middle Eastern sour grades are stronger.

Alonso hoping for third time lucky

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MONTREAL (Reuters) - McLarens Fernando Alonso hopes Sundays Canadian Grand Prix will be third time lucky, after his last two predictions of points failed to end a Formula One drought, but he is not counting on it.The Spaniard, who joined from Ferrari at the end of last year, has yet to score in six races while Britains Jenson Button ended the teams blank for the season with eighth place in Monaco two weeks ago.After missing two opportunities, in my case, to be in the points hopefully the third one will be the good one, Alonso told reporters at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Thursday, without too much genuine optimism.If Monaco was a real chance, because the slow and twisty street circuit allowed McLaren to be competitive despite their Honda engine being down on power compared to champions Mercedes, Canada is a fast track that takes its toll on engines and brakes.Alonso said there was much to improve, on both the engine and chassis side, but the former champions had a good understanding of what was needed.That said, reliability needed to be a lot better after retirements in Spain and Monaco.Honda, who started a new partnership with McLaren this season, have used two of the tokens they have available to improve the engine during the Formula One season but Alonso questioned how much benefit that would bring in the near term.The engine is exactly the same this weekend compared to Monaco, he said.We did use two tokens of the nine but they are not for reliability reasons or some of the problems we faced recently. So in terms of performance we should be exactly the same.Button, speaking separately to reporters, sad he expected a slightly tougher weekend than Monaco.Canada is a great circuit and theres always a lot of action here, its not a predictable race whatsoever, said the Briton, who won in 2011.Last year I started the second-to-last lap (in) eighth (place) and finished fourth. I overtook two cars at the hairpin and two cars crashed at Turn One on the final lap, so anything can happen and it normally does.So who knows what the weekend is going to throw at us.

FBI extends FIFA scrutiny to World Cup host bids of Russia, Qatar

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NEW YORK (Reuters) -The FBIs investigation of bribery and corruption at FIFA includes scrutiny of how soccers governing body awarded World Cup hosting rights to Russia and Qatar, a U.S. law enforcement official said.Russia and Qatar have denied wrongdoing in the conduct of their bids for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, which were not the subject of charges announced by U.S. prosecutors a week ago against FIFA officials that stunned world soccer.The U.S. law enforcement official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the review of the bids would be part of a probe that goes beyond the indictments. Among issues the FBI is examining is the stewardship of FIFA by longtime president Sepp Blatter, who unexpectedly announced on Tuesday he was resigning shortly before it emerged that he too was under investigation by U.S. law enforcement.Authorities said last week they were investigating a case of $150 million paid in bribes over two decades, while Swiss prosecutors announced their own criminal inquiry into the 2018 and 2022 bids.On Wednesday, the partially blacked out transcript of the November 2013 guilty plea of Chuck Blazer, a U.S. citizen and FIFA executive committee member from 1997 to 2013, showed he and others in FIFA agreed to accept bribes in bidding for the 1998 and 2010 World Cups and other tournaments.Among other things, I agreed with other persons in or around 1992 to facilitate the acceptance of a bribe in conjunction with the selection of the host nation for the 1998 World Cup, Blazer told a federal judge in New York, according to the transcript.The tournament was hosted by France, but separate court documents contain the prosecutors allegation that bidding nation Morocco paid a bribe to another FIFA executive, Jack Warner of Trinidad and Tobago, and that Blazer acted as intermediary. Warner has denied this and other charges against him, and late on Wednesday aired a paid political statement saying he feared for his life, but would tell investigators all he knows about corruption at FIFA.Blazer went on to say in his plea hearing that from 2004 and through 2011 I and others on the FIFA executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the selection of South Africa as the host nation for the 2010 World Cup.Blazers lawyer declined to comment on Wednesday.Many of the details were previously revealed in charging documents released by prosecutors when they announced indictments for 14 people, including nine FIFA officials.Qatars Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiyah said there was no way his country would be stripped of its right to host the World Cup. It is very difficult for some to digest that an Arab Islamic country has this tournament, as if this right cant be for an Arab state, he told Reuters in an interview in Paris. I believe it is because of prejudice and racism that we have this bashing campaign against Qatar.For its part, Russia dismissed concerns it might lose the right to host the cup. Cooperation with FIFA is going on and, most importantly, Russia is continuing preparations for the 2018 World Cup, President Vladimir Putins spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said.BLATTER PRESSUREA source close to FIFA said it was Blatters advisers who had told him he must quit. Critics pointed to the widening criminal probe, disquiet among sponsors, and pressure from European soccer body UEFA as possible reasons.

Saudi-led warplanes raid rebel positions in Yemen

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SANAA (AFP) - Warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition pounded rebel positions across Yemen on Thursday as air raids intensified amid attempts to revive UN-proposed talks in Switzerland, witnesses said.Jets targeted positions held by Shiite Huthi rebels and allied forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh in the city of Taez.Military sources in Aden said coalition warplanes also struck rebel forces on the outskirts of the port city, in support of pro-government fighters from the southern Popular Resistance.Rebels bombed western neighbourhoods of Aden which house people who have fled other parts of the city, witnesses said.At least 15 people, including civilians and southern fighters, have been killed in Aden since Wednesday, according to local health chief Al-Khader Laswar. More than 100 have been wounded.Overnight strikes pounded rebels in the city, the scene of fierce fighting since the insurgents advanced on Aden where President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi took refuge after fleeing rebel house arrest in Sanaa in February.Hadi is now in Saudi Arabia which with nine other Arab countries put together a coalition that began air strikes in Yemen on March 26, aiming to restore him to power.Warplanes also targeted arms depots at the Hamza military base in Ibb province and air raids also hit a Huthi base in Dhamar province, witnesses said.Thursdays raids followed a night of intensive air strikes against rebels in Taez and coastguard positions in Hodeida in western Yemen, as well as Huthi positions in their northern stronghold of Saada.Talks proposed by the United Nations in Geneva were postponed days before they were due to start on May 28 after the UN failed to convince the warring parties to attend.UN envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed has now tentatively set June 14 for talks between all parties to the conflict.He told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that Yemens government is ready to go to Geneva but that the rebels have yet to confirm they will attend.The talks would be aimed at securing a ceasefire, agreeing on a withdrawal plan for the Huthis and stepping up deliveries of humanitarian aid, according to diplomats who attended the closed-door briefing.More than 2,000 people have been killed in the Yemen conflict since late March.

Curfew in parts of Indian-held Kashmir after violence

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SRINAGAR (AP) - Indian authorities imposed an indefinite curfew in parts of an Indian Kashmir city Thursday following clashes with hundreds of Sikh protesters after bullets fired by police killed one person and injured two more.Police fired at the stone-throwing protesters after tear gas and warning shots failed to quell them in Jammu, the winter capital of Indian Kashmir, an officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.He said three police officers were injured in the clashes.Columns of Indian army soldiers marched through the violence-hit areas to restore calm, said Lt.-Col. Manish Mehta, an army spokesman.The Sikhs were protesting the tearing away of posters of slain militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale by police in Jammu ahead of the anniversary of his death Saturday.Militant Sikhs waged a guerrilla war in 1980s for an independent homeland in neighboring Punjab state. Sikhs comprise about 2 per cent of Indias 1.2 billion people, but are a majority in northern Punjab state.Many Sikhs live in Indian Kashmir. Jammu is a predominantly Hindu area in Muslim-majority Kashmir.As the news of the killing of the protester spread on Thursday, thousands of Sikhs took to the streets to show their anger.Authorities imposed a curfew and called the army to march in the area to halt the demonstrations. They also closed all schools and colleges for a day on Friday.Late Thursday night, Sikh community leaders were making announcements on loudspeakers from their shrines, orGurdwaras asking people to protest the killing of a Sikh.Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan since British colonialists left the subcontinent in 1947. India and Pakistan have fought two wars over its control.Some Muslim militant groups have been fighting for Kashmirs independence from India or its merger with Pakistan since 1989. More than 65,000 people have been killed.

IS reduces water supply to government areas in Iraq's Anbar

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BAGHDAD (AP) - Islamic State militants have reduced the amount of water flowing to government-held areas in Iraqs western Anbar province, an official said Thursday, the latest in the vicious war as Iraqi forces struggle to claw back ground held by the extremists in the Sunni heartland.Its not the first time that water has been used as a weapon of war in Mideast conflicts and in Iraq in particular. Earlier this year, the Islamic State group reduced the flow through another lock outside the militant-held town of Fallujah, also in Anbar province. But the extremists soon reopened it after criticism from residents.The IS captured Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar, last month, marking its most significant victory since a U.S.-led coalition began an air campaign against the extremists last August. Earlier last year, the Islamic State had blitzed across much of western and northern Iraq, capturing key Anbar cities and also Mosul, Iraqs second-largest city that lies to the north of Baghdad.Also Thursday, U.N. officials urgently called for almost $498 million in donations to provide shelter, food, water and other life-saving services for the next six months to Iraqis displaced or affected by the fighting between government forces and the Islamic State group.The reduced flow of water through the militant-held dam on the Euphrates River will threaten irrigation systems and water treatment plants in nearby areas controlled by troops and tribes opposed to the extremist group, provincial council member Taha Abdul-Ghani told The Associated Press.Abdul-Ghani said there would be no immediate effect on Shiite areas in central and southern Iraq, saying water is being diverted to those areas from the Tigris River.The United Nations had said on Wednesday that it was looking into reports that IS had reduced the flow of water through the al-Warar dam.The use of water as a tool of war is to be condemned in no uncertain terms, the spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general, Stephane Dujarric, told reporters. These kinds of reports are disturbing, to say the least.He said the U.N. and humanitarian partners will try to fill in the gaps to meet water needs for the affected population.In Brussels, U.N. officials said Thursday that the needs of Iraqis affected by the fighting are huge and growing, with more than 8 million people requiring immediate support, and potentially 10 million by the end of 2015.Lise Grande, the U.N.s humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, said the aid operation, which she called one of the most complex and volatile in the world, was hanging by a thread.Humanitarian partners have been doing everything they can to help. But more than 50 per cent of the operation will be shut down or cut back if money is not received immediately, Grande told members of the European Parliament, according to a U.N. news release.The consequences of such a reduction in aid, Grande said, would be catastrophic.While we search for solutions to end the violence, we must do everything in our power to help, said U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Kyung-Wha Kang, also in Brussels. The people of Iraq need our help, now.At a one-day conference in Paris this week, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had pressed his case for more support from the 25 countries in the U.S.-led coalition fighting the militant group, asking for more armament and ammunition.Were relying on ourselves, but fighting is very hard this way, al-Abadi said before the conference Tuesday.The coalition has mustered a mix of airstrikes, intelligence sharing and assistance for Iraqi ground operations against the extremists. Al-Abadi said more was needed, with Iraq reeling after troops pulled out of Ramadi without a fight and abandoned U.S.-supplied tanks and weapons.

Ghana petrol station blast, flooding leave estimated 150 dead

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ACCRA (Reuters) - An explosion at a petrol station in Ghanas capital and flooding caused by torrential rains killed around 150 people, President John Mahama said on Thursday, marking the worst disaster to strike the West African country in more than a decade.Around 96 people who sought shelter from floods overnight at the state-owned GOIL gas station near a busy downtown intersection were killed, authorities said. Thousands more were made homeless in the citywide flooding, officials said.The incidents expose the weakness of Accras infrastructure which has failed to keep pace with population growth after years of rapid economic expansion. It is vulnerable to storms that wreak havoc as poor drainage leads to flooding.Witnesses said low-wage workers struggling home through the seasonal storm with roads closed and minivan buses not running were victims of the blast, the force of which gave few a chance to escape.It was an explosive fire and so the people sheltering at the filling station did not have an opportunity to escape, fire brigade spokesman Prince Billy Anaglate told reporters.People were burned beyond recognition where they stood under the stations awning, or trapped and incinerated in the wreckage of cars and minivans on the stations forecourt.A fuel leak at the station caused the accident that also destroyed nearby buildings, Mahama said, announcing three days of national mourning would begin on Monday as well as the creation of a 50 million cedis ($12 million) recovery fund.It was Ghanas single worst disaster since more than 120 people died in May 2001 in a stampede at the national stadium during a football match, a police spokesman said.PETROL ON FIREOne woman said she sought refuge at the station from floods that prevented her returning home from work, but quickly became alarmed by an overpowering smell of gasoline and moved to stand next to an adjacent bank building.A power cut plunged the area into darkness and when a generator was switched on at the gas station to provide light people at first cheered, said Comfort Arhin, a domestic worker.We heard a pop. Then the fire was walking where the petrol was. Everybody was running. You had to fight for yourself. My bag fell inside the water ... All the people in the filling station died, she told Reuters.Her testimony suggests Ghanas chronic power shortages, which have hurt businesses and angered voters, may also have been one cause of the accident.Ghana is one of Africas most stable democracies and for years its exports of gold, cocoa and oil made it one of the continents fastest-growing economies.But since 2013, it has wrestled with lower world commodity prices as well as a fiscal crisis, with growth this year projected to fall to below the average for sub-Saharan Africa.Ghanas emergency services doused the flames and secured the area, pegging back anxious crowds. Rescue workers wearing face masks retrieved bodies and piled them onto a truck.Mahama said he was heartbroken by the loss of life and blamed the floods partly on people building homes and businesses on the citys waterways, blocking drainage systems.This loss of life is catastrophic and almost unprecedented, Mahama said as he visited the scene. We must sit down and strategise to make sure this doesnt happen again.Opposition leader Nana Akufo Addo also visited the site and called it a dark day in the history of the city.

China rescuers pull out more bodies; over 360 still missing

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JIANLI (AP) - Disaster teams that have recovered 77 bodies from a capsized cruise ship in the Yangtze River prepared late Thursday to use cranes to start pulling it upright to quicken the search for more than 360 other victims who could be trapped inside.The operation to right the Eastern Star shifted the focus from finding survivors more than 72 hours after it overturned to salvaging the vessel and retrieving bodies.Transport Ministry spokesman Xu Chengguang said divers would put steel bars underneath the ship, which would then be lifted by two 500-ton cranes. A huge net has been placed near the cranes and another one a few meters (yards) downstream to catch any bodies.Two smaller cranes were also on site and boats were stopped from entering the area.Authorities say 14 people survived Monday nights sudden capsizing in a severe storm, some by jumping from the ship during the early moments and swimming or drifting ashore. Three of them were pulled by divers from air pockets inside the overturned hull Tuesday after rescuers heard yells for help coming from inside.Xu told a news conference that no further signs of life had been found and the chance of finding anyone else alive was very slim. It was therefore time to right the ship to speed up rescue and recovery efforts, he said.Earlier Thursday, rescuers cut three holes into the overturned hull in unsuccessful attempts to find more survivors.More than 200 divers have worked underwater in three shifts to search the ships cabins one by one, state broadcaster CCTV said. Rescuers pulled out dozens of bodies Thursday which were taken to Jianlis Rongcheng Crematorium, in Hubei province, where relatives tried to identify them.Many of the more than 450 people on board the multi-decked, 251-foot (77-meter) -long Eastern Star were reported to be retirees taking in the scenic vistas of the Yangtze on a cruise from Nanjing to the southwestern city of Chongqing.I cant imagine how terrifying it must have been for them, said farmer Wang Xun, who was among the crowd observing developments outside the crematorium. Old people should be with their families and go peacefully, not like this.The capsize of the Eastern Star will likely become the countrys deadliest boat disaster in seven decades, and Chinese authorities have launched a high-profile response that has included sending Premier Li Keqiang to the accident site, while tightly controlling media coverage.The Communist Partys Politburo Standing Committee, the countrys highest power, convened a meeting and issued a directive for officials to step up efforts to control public opinion about the disaster response, while ordering them to both understand the sorrow of the families and concretely preserve social stability.The survivors included the ships captain and chief engineer, both of whom have been taken into police custody. Some relatives have questioned whether the captain should have brought the ship ashore at the first sign of a storm, and whether everything possible was done to ensure the safety of the passengers after the accident. They have demanded help from officials in Nanjing and Shanghai to travel to the site in unruly scenes that have drawn a heavy police response.Records from a maritime agency show the capsized ship was cited for safety violations two years ago. Authorities in Nanjing held the ship after it violated standards during a safety inspection campaign in 2013, according to a report on the citys Maritime Safety website, which didnt specify the violations.The shallow-draft boat, which was not designed to withstand winds as heavy as an ocean-going vessel can, overturned in what Chinese weather authorities have called a cyclone with winds up to 130 kilometers (80 miles) per hour. The sudden capsizing meant many passengers were unable to grab life jackets, Zhong Shoudao, president of the Chongqing Boat Design Institute, said Wednesday.Access to the accident site was blocked by police and paramilitary troops stationed along the Yangtze embankment.Chinas deadliest maritime disaster in recent decades was when the Dashun ferry caught fire and capsized off Shandong province in November 1999, killing about 280.The Eastern Star disaster could become Chinas deadliest boat accident since the sinking of the SS Kiangya off Shanghai in 1948, which is believed to have killed anywhere from 2,750 to nearly 4,000 people.

Egypt's Mubarak to be retried over killing of protesters

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CAIRO (AP) - Egypts highest appeals court on Thursday ordered the retrial of ousted President Hosni Mubarak on charges that he failed to stop the killing of hundreds of protesters during the 2011 uprising that ended his 29-year rule.The ruling set Nov. 5 as the date for the start of the new trial, the verdict of which cannot be appealed. It would be the third time that Mubarak is tried in connection with the killings in 2011.Mubarak, who is 86 and in failing health, has since his arrest in April 2011 been held in detention in a number of hospitals. He now resides at a Nile-side military hospital in a leafy suburb just south of Cairo.The ruling came six months after a criminal court dismissed murder charges against Mubarak in connection with the killing of the protesters, citing the inadmissibility of the case due to a technicality.That ruling marked a major setback for the young activists who spearheaded the Arab Spring uprising in January and February 2011, many of whom are now in jail or have withdrawn from politics in the face of an ongoing crackdown by authorities.Judge Mahmoud al-Rashidi said at the time that he dismissed the case against Mubarak because his May 2011 referral to trial by prosecutors ignored the implicit decision that no criminal charges be filed against him when his security chief and six top aides were referred to trial by the same prosecutors two months earlier. Massive protests demanding that Mubarak be put on trial took place in April of that year.An appeal demanding a retrial of Mubaraks security chief and the six top police commanders, also acquitted in November, was rejected on Thursday.The killing of nearly 900 protesters during the 18-day uprising remains a contentious issue, with activists and rights groups demanding that police be held accountable. Dozens of policemen charged with killing protesters have been acquitted or received suspended or light sentences.Mohammed Morsi, a prominent Islamist, won Egypts first free presidential election in 2012, but ruled for just a year before the military overthrew him amid massive protests demanding his resignation. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who as military chief led Morsis ouster in July 2013, was elected president a year ago.Since Morsis ouster, pro-government media have increasingly blamed the violence during the 2011 uprising on his Muslim Brotherhood, which is now outlawed as a terrorist group.

Suicide car bomber in Nigeria kills 8 soldiers near barracks

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MAIDUGURI (AP) - A suicide bomber exploded a car at a checkpoint outside a military barracks and killed eight soldiers on Thursday, witnesses said of the latest of daily attacks blamed on Boko Haram in Nigerias northeastern city of Maiduguri.More than 60 people have been killed by bombings and rocket-propelled grenades since President Muhammadu Buhari announced at his inauguration May 29 that the command center for the war on the Islamic extremists is moving from Abuja, the capital in central Nigeria, to the groups birthplace in Maiduguri, at the heart of the war zone.The bomber exploded the car as soldiers were checking it outside Brigadier Maimalari Barracks on bustling Baga Road during the evening rush hour, according to Bashir Malam, a fighter with a civilian defense group that works alongside the military. Malam said he counted the bodies of eight soldiers.The attack was so daring because the suicide bomber must have escaped several checkpoints to get to the soldiers spot, he said.A civilian witness said several soldiers were killed but he didnt stop to count as he fled the scene. He requested anonymity because he feared reprisals from the military.An army officer denied any soldiers were killed. But he wouldnt be quoted by name and the military often downplays its casualties.The latest attack comes on the day Buhari was visiting neighboring Chad, urging more support for a multinational force to crush Boko Haram.Buhari was welcomed warmly by Chadian President Idriss Deby, who has complained that a lack of cooperation from the previous administration was hampering the war.Battle-hardened Chadian troops have played a leading role in driving Boko Haram from northeast Nigerian towns and villages where it had declared an Islamic caliphate. But Deby has said that Chadians have had to retake some towns several times because Nigerian troops didnt arrive to secure them.On Wednesday, Nigeria announced that a Nigerian general had taken over command of the multinational army from Chad, signaling the determination of former military dictator Buhari to have Nigeria lead the fight against its home-grown insurgency.The nearly 6-year-old Islamic uprising has killed an estimated 13,000 people and forced 1.5 million from their homes.

China suspected in massive breach of federal personnel data

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WASHINGTON (AP) - China-based hackers are suspected of breaking into the computer networks of the U.S. government personnel office and stealing identifying information of at least 4 million federal workers, American officials said Thursday.The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that data from the Office of Personnel Management and the Interior Department had been compromised.The FBI is conducting an investigation to identify how and why this occurred, the statement said.The hackers were believed to be based in China, said Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican.Collins, a member of the Senate intelligence committee, said the breach was yet another indication of a foreign power probing successfully and focusing on what appears to be data that would identify people with security clearances.A U.S. official, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the data breach, said it could potentially affect every federal agency. One key question is whether intelligence agency employee information was stolen. Former government employees are affected as well.This is an attack against the nation, said Ken Ammon, chief strategy officer of Xceedium, who said the attack fit the pattern of those carried out by nation states for the purpose of espionage. The information stolen could be used to impersonate or blackmail federal employees with access to sensitive information, he said.The Office of Personnel Management is the human resources department for the federal government, and it conducts background checks for security clearances. The OPM conducts more than 90 percent of federal background investigations, according to its website.The agency said it is offering credit monitoring and identity theft insurance for 18 months to individuals potentially affected. The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents workers in 31 federal agencies, said it is encouraging members to sign up for the monitoring as soon as possible.In November, a former DHS contractor disclosed another cyberbreach that compromised the private files of more than 25,000 DHS workers and thousands of other federal employees.Cyber-security experts also noted that the OPM was targeted a year ago in a cyber-attack that was suspected of originating in China. In that case, authorities reported no personal information was stolen.One expert said its possible that hackers could use information from government personnel files for financial gain. In a recent case disclosed by the IRS, hackers appear to have obtained tax return information by posing as taxpayers, using personal information gleaned from previous commercial breaches, said Rick Holland, an information security analyst at Forrester Research.Given what OPM does around security clearances, and the level of detail they acquire when doing these investigations, both on the subjects of the investigations and their contacts and references, it would be a vast amount of information, Holland added.DHS said its intrusion detection system, known as EINSTEIN, which screens federal Internet traffic to identify potential cyber threats, identified the hack of OPMs systems and the Interior Departments data center, which is shared by other federal agencies.It was unclear why the EINSTEIN system didnt detect the breach until after so many records had been copied and removed.DHS is continuing to monitor federal networks for any suspicious activity and is working aggressively with the affected agencies to conduct investigative analysis to assess the extent of this alleged intrusion, the statement said.Cybersecurity expert Morgan Wright of the Center for Digital Government, an advisory institute, said EINSTEIN certainly appears to be a failure at this point. The government would be better off outsourcing their security to the private sector wheres there at least some accountability.Rep. Adam Schiff, ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, called the hack shocking, because Americans may expect that federal computer networks are maintained with state of the art defenses.Ammon said federal agencies are rushing to install two-factor authentication with smart cards, a system designed to make it harder for intruders to access networks. But implementing that technology takes time.Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., said the government must overhaul its cybersecurity defenses. Our response to these attacks can no longer simply be notifying people after their personal information has been stolen, he said. We must start to prevent these breaches in the first place.

Suicide bombing in southern Afghanistan kills 4 people

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KANDAHAR (AP) - An Afghan provincial official says a suicide bomber has targeted a police checkpoint in the southern province of Helmand, killing at least four people.The provinces police chief, Nabijan Mullakhail, says that the bomber struck on Thursday afternoon at the entrance of the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, targeting a police checkpoint.Mullakhail says the bomber detonated his explosives-laden car as he was ordered by the police to halt, killing three civilians and one policeman. The explosion also wounded six people four policemen and two civilians.No one immediately took responsibility for the bombing, but Helmand province has a heavy presence of Taliban insurgents. Local residents say the Taliban rule in nearly 80 percent of the province.
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