15 Around the world monday, june 9, 2014
guyanatimesgy.com
Gunmen attack China’s trade surplus rises Karachi’s Jinnah to US$36B in May International Airport
China’s latest trade data adds to recent concerns of a slowdown
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Thick smoke could be seen above the airport
eavily armed gunmen have attacked Karachi international airport in Pakistan, killing at least nine people. Hospital sources say three of the gunmen who attacked Jinnah International Airport’s old terminal have also been killed. Security personnel have sealed off the airport and army commandos have been called in, with gunfire continuing. All operations at the terminal have been suspended and all flights to the airport are being diverted. Staff members are being evac-
uated. At least 14 people have been wounded. The dead terminal staff were said to be mostly security guards from the Airport Security Force (ASF) but also airline workers. Dawn News said the gunmen had infiltrated from the Fokker Gate area. Some reports said they had cut through a barbed wire fence. There is no indication yet who is carrying out the attack. An ASF spokesman told Agence France-Presse that the gunmen had reached the runway and that a “gun battle is continu-
ing between terrorists and [armed] forces”. An AFP reporter saw used gun magazines littering the engineering section where the first exchange took place and said that the previously heavy gunfire was now more sporadic. However, the reporter later heard two huge blasts at the airport. Dawn reported that some attackers had managed to get inside a plane. Hammad, a diplomat staying near the airport, told the BBC he had gone on to his rooftop and could see a plane on fire in the airport. (Excerpt from BBC News)
Sisi promises to defeat ‘terrorism’ in Egypt
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bdel Fattah el-Sisi has used his first speech as Egypt’s President to promise to “defeat terrorism”, saying that security is a priority and that he has no time for reconciliation with opponents. Hours after his inauguration on Sunday, the former Army General said there would be a new era for all except those who “turn to crimes and violence”. “Defeating terrorism and achieving security is the top priority,” said Sisi, adding there would be “no leniency and truce with those who resort to vio-
lence”. “I am looking to a new era built on reconciliation and tolerance ... except with those who committed crimes or used violence as a tool,” he said. “I am saying clearly that those who shed the blood of the innocent and killed ... the sons of Egypt, they don’t have a place.” Sisi rose to power after deposing the Brotherhoodbacked Mohamed Morsi from the presidency last year on a wave of popular protest. The Brotherhood has since been designated a “terrorist organisation” by
authorities. Fawaz Gerges, a Professor of international relations at the London School of Economics, told Al Jazeera that the speech was clear in intent – Sisi would not entertain dissent. “He started his speech by saying that he was the President of all Egyptians but he made it clear that there would be no reconciliation with groups who opposed him,” he said. “He sent a message to the Muslim Brotherhood that he did not believe in reconciliation.” (Excerpt from Al
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on Saturday conveyed the feeling that a line had been drawn under six months of unprecedented and bloody upheaval which toppled his predecessor, Viktor Yanukovych. But behind the euphoria that Ukraine might now, at last, start to “Live in a new way”, as Poroshenko’s campaign slogan has promised, lies the reality of
the General Administration of Customs said. The figures will add to recent concern about the state of the Chinese economy. It has shown signs of weakness amid poor data from the manufacturing and retail sectors. The country’s Commerce Ministry had hoped the trade picture would pick up in May. Some experts believe the weak trade figures are partly due to an unnatural com-
seething separatism in the east in which Ukraine sees Moscow’s hand, and Russia’s opposition to his plans to lead Ukraine into mainstream Europe. Poroshenko’s blunt refusal to accept the loss of Crimea in a combative inaugural speech puts him further at odds with Putin. (Excerpt from Reuters)
from BBC News)
Indian students swept away by water in Himachal Pradesh
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ome 24 students from a college in Hyderabad have been swept away by a sudden surge of water in Himachal Pradesh, officials say. A search is on for the missing students following the surge of the Beas River in the Kullu valley. One state official said the surge was a result of water being released from an upstream
dam. The students had reportedly left a bus to take photographs when the surge occurred. The incident took place some 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the state capital, Shimla, as the students were travelling to the popular tourist resort of Manali. The BBC’s Baldev Chauhan in Shimla says an-
gry locals and tourists have blocked traffic on the busy road, asking why there was no warning before the dam released the water. Himachal Transport Minister G S Bali said: “Rescue teams are looking downstream for the missing in the dark. They are engineering students of the VNR college, Hyderabad. (Excerpt from
BBC News)
Pope and Middle East leaders pray for peace
Jazeera)
Ukraine’s Poroshenko plans new team to take on Putin, build ties with West kraine’s newly-installed President Petro Poroshenko is set to remake a governing team which will handle the crisis with Russia, with talks on gas prices today providing an early test of his new relationship with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Poroshenko’s swearingin as President at a pompfilled, but relaxed, ceremony
hina’s exports grew in May, but a drop in imports signalled a possible weakening of demand in the world’s secondlargest economy. The country’s exports rose by seven per cent in May compared with 12 months before. But imports fell by 1.6 per cent on a year earlier. It meant the nation’s trade surplus widened sharply to US$35.9 billion, from April’s US$18.5 billion,
parison with last year, when there was a glut of fake invoicing of exports as a way of getting around impending currency restrictions. There has been a crackdown on such activities since May 2013. “The data shows that the country’s exports growth has returned to a normal level and will continue to improve,” Customs Office Spokesman Zheng Yuesheng told state television. Exports to the US were up by 6.3 per cent in May, down from a rise of 12 per cent in April. Shipments to the EU rose by 13.4 per cent, down from an increase of 15.1 per cent the previous month. The Chinese Government is aiming for total trade to grow 7.5 per cent this year. Last year, trade grew by 7.6 per cent, below the official target of eight per cent. (Excerpt
All three leaders called for dialogue
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ope Francis has told the Israeli and Palestinian presidents that they “must respond” to their people’s yearning for peace in the Middle East and find “the strength to persevere in undaunted dialogue”. The Pope made his appeal on Sunday to Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas during a prayer meeting among Jews, Christians, and Muslims
at the Vatican. “Peacemaking calls for courage, much more so than warfare,” he said. “Instil in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace.” Abbas said he asked God to “bring comprehensive and just peace to our country and region so that our people and the peoples of the Middle East and the whole world would enjoy the fruit of peace, stability
and coexistence”. Peres said: “It is within our power to bring peace to our children. This is our duty, the holy mission of parents.” Francis said he hoped the prayer meeting would mark “a new journey” toward peace in the Middle East. The session, in the Vatican gardens, marked the first time the two presidents have met in public in more than a year. The meeting was arranged on the second day of Francis’ visit to the Holy Land last month, where he called for Palestinians and Israelis to work together, saying a breakdown in talks was “unacceptable”. The prayers from the world’s three main monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, focus on three themes: “creation”, “invocation for forgiveness” and “invocation for peace.” (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)