Violence in Syria as Arab League warns of disaster

BEIRUT: Violence has erupted in the restive Syrian city of Homs, killing at least five people as tank shells slammed into an area that has turned into one of the main centers of both protest and reprisal during the seven-month uprising, activists said.

Bloodshed linked to the military crackdown on dissent and what appear to be sectarian revenge killings has engulfed Homs in recent weeks, killing scores of people in the country's third-largest city. The new violence on Saturday is adding to fears that a peace plan brokered by the Arab League was unraveling only days after Damascus agreed to halt its crackdown.

The head of the Arab League warned Saturday that the failure of the plan would have disastrous consequences.

The 22-nation bloc's secretary-general, Nabil Elaraby, expressed "deep worries and regret for the continuation of violence all around Syria" despite the deal announced Wednesday at the Arab League's headquarters in Cairo.

The deal called for the Syria to halt violence against protesters, but skeptical regime opponents who held large protests Friday to test the government's word were met with gunfire that killed more than 15 people, activists said.

"The failure of the Arab solution will have disastrous consequences in Syria and the region," Elaraby said. He urged the Syrian government to take "immediate measures ... to protect civilians and assure everyone."

On Saturday, activists reported more violence, including tank shelling, in Homs. At least five people were killed, according to two main activist groups, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordinating Committees.

Under the Arab plan, Syria's government also agreed to pull tanks and armored vehicles out of cities, release political prisoners and allow journalists and rights groups into the country.

On Saturday, President Bashar Assad marked Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice, by releasing 553 detainees, according to SANA, the state-run news agency. The detainees were involved in the unrest in the country, but had "no blood on their hands," SANA said.

Assad traditionally releases detainees to mark religious or national holidays, but many more are believed to remain in jail as political prisoners.

The continuous shelling three days after the Arab League deal was reached suggests Damascus is unwilling — or unable — to put a swift end to a crackdown that has already killed 3,000 people, according to U.N. estimates.

The crisis in Syria has burned since mid-March despite widespread condemnation and international sanctions aimed at chipping away at the ailing economy and isolating Assad and his tight circle of relatives and advisers. The protesters have grown increasingly frustrated with the limits of their peaceful movement, and there are signs of a growing armed rebellion in some areas.

Some protesters are even calling for the kind of foreign military action that helped topple Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Syria blames the bloodshed on "armed gangs" and extremists acting out a foreign agenda to destabilize the regime. Assad has played on some of the country's worst fears to rally support behind him, painting himself as the lone force who can ward off the kind of radicalism and sectarianism that have bedeviled neighbors in Iraq and Lebanon.

Tremors from the unrest in Syria could shake the region. Damascus' web of allegiances extends to Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement and Iran's Shiite theocracy. And although Syria sees Israel as the enemy, the countries have held up a fragile truce for years.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Greece PM wins confidence vote

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
Europe

Author / Source : Independent online/bbc

Athens: Greece Prime Minister George Papandreou has won a crucial confidence vote on Friday after promising to hold power-sharing talks.

In an address to parliament before the vote he ruled out snap elections, saying they would be "catastrophic".

He said he did not care about his post and the leadership of any government of national unity would be negotiable.

Papandreou previously shocked EU partners and sent markets into turmoil after calling for a referendum on an EU deal to bail out debt-ridden Greece.

Papandreou said the bail-out deal currently on offer by the EU had to be accepted, and it would be "historically irresponsible" to lose it.

He said immediate elections would be "catastrophic" for the deal, so proposed a new coalition to take charge until it had been agreed.

"I have been in contact with the president and I will visit him tomorrow (Saturday) to inform him of my intentions and that I am moving forward with all the parties for a broader coalition government, and to agree on common goals, a timeframe and people, to agree on its composition and even the head of this coalition," he said.

"I therefore ask for a vote of confidence in order to ensure the security of this nation."

The vote took place after several hours' debate. Papandreou addressed parliament for more than half an hour.

Thousands of protesters have gathered in Athens' Syntagma Square. Security has been tightened around the nearby parliament building.

Eurozone leaders fear that failure to solve the Greek debt crisis could risk it spreading to other vulnerable economies, particularly Italy.

The figures in the Greek parliament revealed Papandreou's vulnerability. His governing Socialist party (Pasok) held a tiny majority - 152 out of 300 seats. In the end 153 MPs voted for the government.

The vote was timed to take place when the markets in Europe and the US are closed, such is the sensitivity of the issue.

Although Papandreou survived the confidence vote, the political situation in Greece still seemed far from certain.

Leader of the main opposition New Democracy party Antonis Samaras rejected the prime minister's idea of a coalition government and repeated his demands for immediate elections.

"Papandreou rejected our proposal. The only solution is elections," a party spokesman quoted Samaras as saying.

On Thursday Samaras led his MPs in a dramatic walkout of parliament.

The proposed referendum had caused serious divisions in Pasok, with Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos insisting it should not be held.

He told European partners on Friday that Greece had officially scrapped the referendum.

Venizelos said he had informed EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and eurozone chairman Jean-Claude Juncker of the decision.

Papandreou had earlier said the referendum was never an end in itself, and there were two other choices - an election, which he said would bankrupt the country, or a consensus in parliament.

Earlier on Friday, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told the BBC he expected a government of national unity to be formed in Greece and that the economic problems "will be solved".

In another development on Friday, international ratings agency Moody's cut Cyprus's credit grade by two notches - to the brink of junk status - over its banking sector's exposure to Greek bonds.

The Greek crisis overshadowed the G20 summit in Cannes which ended on Friday.

EU President Herman Van Rompuy said leaders had agreed to increase the firepower of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but gave no specifics on the funding.

Papandreou had been summoned for urgent talks at the G20 on Wednesday, where he was told that any referendum would turn on the question of whether Greece wanted to stay in the eurozone.

The next tranche of Greece's existing bailout was also put on hold.

Without the bailout funds, Greece may go bankrupt before the end of the year.

The EU bailout deal, agreed last month, would give the heavily indebted Greek government 130 billion euros and it imposes a 50 percent write-off on private holders of Greek debts, in return for deeply unpopular austerity measures.

Although the Greek public has strongly resisted the austerity measures, a recent opinion poll in a newspaper showed 70 percent wanted to remain within the eurozone.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Yesterday’s greenery gone today

Dhaka, Nov 1: It was a picture-postcard park in the midst of a concrete jungle. Not anymore. The lone park at Tantibazar on English Road seems to have lost much of its greenery, with a perfunctory beautification in the east, a 10 feet high dumping zone in the middle and an unofficial stand for trucks in the west. “Is it a park? I thought it to be another plot of land to aggravate traffic snarls in the capital," wondered Nahid, a first-year student of Jagannath University (JU), albeit everyday he takes a shortcut through the park to reach his university.
“It once was a pretty little spot amid the concrete walls. There were some rides for children in it," mused Ajaml Hossain, an old resident of the area.
Ajaml told The Independent that the park was surrounded by long trees. “On weekends, food-sellers used to flock here, as people visited the park with their children," he added.
Although he could not remember when the children's rides were uprooted from the park, Ajaml said the number of children visiting the place got less and less as construction of some large buildings started on the southern side.
Large trucks carrying bricks used to be parked at the spot and it had become an open-air garage for trucks and pushcarts, he mentioned. “Later, it was turned into a convenient place for dumping construction wastes," he said.
Refatullah, a shop-owner at the south side of the park, alleged that the park becomes a junk-hub at night. “We close our shops at around 9 p.m., and by then some groups, consisting of young people, gather here and the place becomes a drug den. It has become a safe haven for addicts," he added.
This correspondent found bottles of Phensidyl at the dumping ground for construction wastes.
A temporary tea-stall owner at the park, preferring anonymity, admitted that the place has gone to the junkies. “Who cares? Police are paid by drug-traders to look the other way," he rued.
When this correspondent told Ataur, a traffic sergeant on duty by the park's side, about the bottles of phensidyl, he smiled knowingly and simply said: “This happens”.
"The Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) has chosen this site as a dumping ground for construction wastes. It has only worsened the situation," said Sharif Jamil, member secretary of the Parks and Grounds Committee of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (BAPA).
The green activist said the Tantibazar park had been constructed during the British rule and then it was much larger than its present size. “During the East Pakistan period, the park had lost some of its land, but it was still a beautiful place to pass a lazy afternoon," he remarked.

During HM Ershad's regime, some children’s rides were set up at the park and it became a children's playground. About this time, it was also brought under the jurisdiction of the DCC. “Rather than looking after the spot of green, from 2008, the corporation itself started to dump construction wastes in the middle of the park,” Jamil rued.
Munshi Mohammad Abdul Hashem, executive engineer of circle-2 of the DCC, told The Independent that the civic body dumps rubbish in the centre of the park. The DCC started dumping wastes here to stop truck drivers from parking their vehicles, he said.
In 2007, the DCC assigned Heritage, a private company, with the task of beautifying the park. When contacted, Heritage officials said they had beautified the east side of the park. They also said that the DCC had stopped providing financial assistance to the company, and added that they were threatened by some local goons to stop the beautification.
They, however, said that the firm is eager to re-start beautification. “But we need financial and administrative support from the DCC. Otherwise, it will not be possible,” they added.
The chief waste management officer of the DCC, Capt. Bipan Kumar Saha, said the civic body will soon clean up the mess. “Unfortunately, if we clean the dumping ground, it’ll again become a temporary stand for trucks,” he added.
He observed that the west side of the park has already been in use as a truck stand.
“Our estate and engineering sections should work together to clean the park. This will prevent truck drivers from encroaching the place,” he said.
“We’ll soon launch a programme to give back the children’s park its old look ,” said the DCC’s chief estate officer, Golam Rahman Mia.
“Prime minister Sheikh Hasina gave directives to protect children’s playgrounds. We’ll take the initiative to protect the DCC-listed 47 parks in Dhaka city”, he added.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Asian markets down on Greek referendum fears

 Asian markets fell Wednesday, taking a lead from Wall Street amid fears that a Greek referendum on its latest bailout deal could derail Europe's grand plan to fix its crushing debt crisis.

Tokyo was down 1.73 percent, Sydney lost 0.74 percent, Seoul shed 1.26 percent while Hong Kong was off 0.92 by lunch and Shanghai lost 1.00 percent.

The Greek prime minister's call for a referendum and the possibility that the country's voters would reject the EU bailout plan sent US and European shares sharply downward Tuesday, while also taking a toll on oil prices.

Bond markets were affected by fears that Italy could be the next eurozone nation to face a debt crisis, with the yield on the country's 10-year bonds hitting 6.2 percent, close to the record reached in August.

In Asian trade Wednesday, Italy's benchmark 10-year bonds were yielding 6.08 percent.

Embattled Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou won the unanimous backing of his cabinet for a referendum on the sweeping bailout plan agreed just last Thursday, the government's spokesman said early Wednesday.

His surprise call for a vote raised the possibility that the deal would unravel, leaving Greece on the path to a default.

"Greece's referendum and various doubts about the agreement itself mean that the situation has gone back to square one," said Mitul Kotecha, strategist at Credit Agricole.

"Markets are seriously pondering a disorderly default in Greece."

Japan's finance minister said Wednesday that the referendum move had "confused people", ahead of a Group of 20 meeting in France Thursday where the issue was expected to top the agenda.

"Greece's abrupt announcement on holding a referendum, which was not included in (the earlier agreed deal), has confused people," Jun Azumi told reporters.

Taiwan's central bank governor Perng Fai-nan was more blunt, saying the move was "like throwing a bomb to financial markets," Dow Jones Newswires reported.

A Greek vote against the plan would scupper the EU deal, which is designed to cut Athens' debt load of more than 350 billion euros ($495 billion) by around 100 billion euros.

Last week's plan also agreed to recapitalise banks to withstand the impact of a 50 percent loss on their Greek bonds, as well as boost the European Financial Stability Facility rescue fund.

Wall Street plunged on Tuesday, with bank shares pulling down the broad-based S&P 500-stock index by 2.8 percent.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2.5 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 2.9 percent.

The declines came even as US auto sales, a key economic driver, continued to grow in October, with Chrysler enjoying a 27 percent increase, while traders awaited a US Federal Reserve rate-setting meeting Wednesday and any sign of fresh stimulus measures for the US economy.

Investors were also jittery after Beijing said Tuesday that China's official purchasing managers' index dropped to 50.4 in October from 51.2 in September, suggesting the global economy's main growth driver was losing steam.

Anything above 50 is seen as growth while a reading below indicates contraction.

On currency markets, the euro fetched $1.3716 and 107.18 yen in Tokyo trade compared with $1.3697 and 107.29 yen late Tuesday in New York.

The single currency tumbled as low as $1.3609 in New York, its lowest level since October 12 and well below the $1.42 level it reached last week after the eurozone plan was announced.

The dollar edged down to 78.14 yen from 78.34 yen, off rates above 79.00 yen in Tokyo on Monday after Japan's first yen-selling intervention since August.

The Australian dollar was also lower, trading at 103.52 US cents from 104.36 late Tuesday.

New York's main oil contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, was down 72 cents to $91.47 in morning Asian trade.

Brent North Sea crude for December settlement tumbled 54 cents to $109.00.

At 0430 GMT gold, considered a safe haven during times of economic uncertainty, was higher at $1,723.01 an ounce against $1,718.65 late Monday.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Narsingdi Mayor gunned down

PERTH: Britain's Queen Elizabeth II (2nd L) is joined by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard (2nd R) and Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar (R) for the official female heads of state photo at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth on Friday. AFP See details

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Greek cabinet backs George Papandreou's referendum plan

Greece's cabinet has given unanimous backing to a controversial plan by PM George Papandreou to hold a referendum on a EU debt rescue package.

He told an emergency cabinet meeting that a referendum would offer "a clear mandate" for austerity measures demanded by other eurozone members.

Stock markets recorded big drops amid shocked reactions in eurozone capitals to the referendum announcement.

Mr Papandreou is due to meet European leaders in France on Wednesday.

In a cabinet meeting lasting late into Tuesday night, Mr Papandreou told ministers the government needed the consent of the Greek people.

In a statement released by his office, he said: "The referendum will be a clear mandate and a clear message in and outside Greece on our European course and participation in the euro."

Mr Papandreou also said a possible alternative of snap elections would risk Greece defaulting on its debt.

The Greek government faces a crucial confidence vote in parliament on Friday.

Following the seven-hour meeting, government spokesman Elias Mossialos said: "The cabinet expressed its support."

"The referendum will take place as soon as possible, right after the basics of the bailout deal are formulated," he added.

Monday's referendum announcement led to sharp falls on world markets on Tuesday. Asian markets also continued their slide on Wednesday.

The planned referendum threatened to unravel a deal reached at a EU summit last week aimed at resolving the euro debt crisis.

Leaders agreed on a 100bn-euro loan (£86bn; $140bn) to Athens and a 50% debt write-off.

But in return, Greece must make deep cuts in public spending, slashing pensions and wages and making thousands of civil servants redundant.

There have widespread protests in Greece against the measures.

Bailout stands

On Tuesday President Nicolas Sarkozy of France said Mr Papandreou's decision "surprised all of Europe".

The French and German governments said they wanted "full implementation" of the agreement "in the quickest time frame".

Mr Papandreou is to hold hastily arranged talks on Wednesday with Mr Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on the sidelines of a G20 summit in France.

In a joint statement, President Sarkozy and Chancellor Merkel said the decisions taken by last week's EU summit were "more necessary than ever".

"France and Germany are convinced that this agreement will allow Greece to return to sustainable growth," they said.

Last week's marathon EU summit was intended to rescue Greece and bringing the 17-nation eurozone back from the brink of disaster.

Eurozone chief Jean-Claude Juncker said if a referendum rejected the bailout, it could mean bankruptcy for Greece.

"It will depend on the manner in which the question will be exactly formulated and on what the Greeks exactly vote on," he said.

Confidence vote

Some Greek government ministers had been unaware of the referendum plan until it was announced.

The announcement even took Greece's Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos by surprise, Greek media reported.

One MP from the governing Pasok party has resigned, cutting Mr Papandreou's parliament majority to two ahead of Friday's confidence vote.

Six other leading party members have called on him to resign.

The Greek opposition has called for early elections, saying the referendum jeopardises Greece's EU membership.

Antonis Samaras, leader of the main opposition New Democrats, said: "In order to save himself, Mr Papandreou has posed a dilemma of blackmail that puts our future and our position in Europe in danger."

Source: theindependentbd.com

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