52 — Vanguard, FRIDAY FRIDAY,, AUGUST 31, 2012
Egypt, UN slam Iran over Syria, Brainstorming over nuclear Bakassi programme Peninsula E GYPT’S president Mohammed Morsi and UN scribe Mr. Ba KiMoon yesterday delivered stinging speeches at a summit of developing nations in Tehran damaging that Iran should show integrity for its nuclear program and its support for Syria. Morsi, the first Egyptian leader to visit Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, did hold back as he urged Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) members to back Syrians trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad, Tehran’s closest Arab ally. Mursi, elected two months ago after a popular uprising toppled Egypt’s long-standing leader Hosni Mubarak, said Assad had lost legitimacy in his fight to crush a 17-month-old revolt in which 20,000 people have been killed.
Mursi’s scathing speech to a summit of non-aligned leaders, hosted by Assad’s Shi’ite ally Iran, prompted Syria’s foreign minister to accuse the moderate Sunni Islamist leader of inciting further bloodshed in Syria. The political broadside against the Syrian president came as rebels said they shot down a fighter plane in northern Syria, where his air force has been bombarding opposition-held towns in a fierce counter-offensive against insurgents. It was the latest strike by Assad’s foes on the air power he has increasingly relied on to crush the uprising. Rebels said this week they attacked a northern military air base and shot down a helicopter that was bombarding a district of Damascus. “The bloodshed in Syria
•Morsi is our responsibility on all our shoulders and we have to know that the bloodshed cannot stop without effective interference from all of us,” Mursi said. “We all have to announce our full solidarity with the struggle of those seeking freedom and justice in Syria, and translate this sympathy into a clear political vision that supports a peaceful transition to a democratic system of rule that reflects
Obama savours boost in consumer range of retail outlets - from spending Costco Wholesale Corp to Limited Brands Inc posting better-thanexpected sales gains.
C
ONSUMER spending got off to a fairly firm start in the third quarter, rising by the most in five months and offering hope economic growth would pick up this quarter. Other data on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits held steady last week, indicating a lack of improvement in the labor market and keeping additional monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve on the table. The Commerce Department said consumer spending increased 0.4 percent in July after a flat reading in June. Last month’s rise in consumption, which accounts for 70 percent of U.S. economic activity, was in line with economists’
the demands of the Syrian people for freedom.” His comments prompted Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem to storm out of the meeting, complaining that Mursi was inciting fighters to “continue shedding Syrian blood”, Syrian state television said. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also
UN meets on Syria HE United Security be attended by ministers T Council has called from Syria’s neighbours for an Turkey, Lebanon and emergency meeting of foreign ministers to discuss the deteriorating situation in Syria. The 15-member council, however, is deadlocked over taking strong action after Russia and China blocked three resolutions that criticised Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s president, and threatened sanctions. France, which is council president for August, hopes the body could unite to deal with the aid crisis and convened Thursday ’s meeting, which will also
W
ITH more than 2,000 overseas, non-EU students potentially facing deportation after a London university, London Metropolitan University (LMU), had its license to teach and recruit overseas students revoked, many overseas students, especially Nigerians, are confused.
Jordan. But less than half the council members are sending ministers, and of the permanent members - the US, China, Russia, Britain and France - only the French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, and his British counterpart, William Hague, will attend. Diplomats said that aside from possible announcements of aid initiatives by individual countries on Thursday, there would be no further action on Syria from the Security Council.
Romney, Ryan brace for White House •Obama expectations. When adjusted for inflation, consumer spending increased 0.4 percent, also the largest increase since February. “The improvement in spending activity suggests that overall economic activity may be off to a fairly decent start in the third quarter,” said Millan Mulraine, senior macro strategist at TD Securities in New York. Reports from U.S. retailers suggested some of the spending momentum carried into August, with a
M
ITT Romney faces a critical test in his White House bid yesterday when he addresses the Republican National Convention, an opportunity to convince millions of Americans that he can forge a path to economic rebirth and provide better leadership than President Barack Obama. It will be Romney ’s biggest television audience to date as much of the nation tunes in, giving some voters their first extended look at the 65year-old former Massachusetts governor who unsuccessfully sought
the Republican nomination in 2008. Romney, who can often come across as stiff, faces the challenge of making Americans feel more comfortable with him. He has a hard act to follow after the ringing “you can trust Mitt” endorsement delivered by his wife, Ann, on Tuesday night, a speech that was widely viewed as one of the most significant ever given by an aspiring first lady. Romney got a strong testimonial on Wednesday night from his vice presidential running mate, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, who generated the most enthusiasm so far at the
Britain to deport 2000 foreign students BY AMAKA ABAYOMI, with agency report
critisised Iran for calling for Israel’s destruction and denying the Holocaust.The United States and Israel had frowned on the decisions by Ban and Mursi to attend the summit.Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly denied the Holocaust and this month called Israel a “cancerous tumor”.
According to the UK Border Agency (UKBA), LMU has its right to sponsor students from outside the EU revoked, and will no longer be allowed to authorise visas as students’ attendance are not being monitored and many have no right to be here. With increased competition and pressure on funding, many UK universities have looked to the lucrative overseas student
market because they pay higher fees than home students. In 2010-11 sessions, 48,580 overseas undergraduates were studying in the UK, about 11 per cent of the total undergraduate population that generates 32 per cent of universities’ fee income. Overall foreign students contribute an estimated £5bn a year to the wider economy, including fees, an amount
which Universities UK says could increase to £16.9bn by 2025. Meanwhile, a task force has been set up to help the affected 2,000 students who have 60 days to find alternative institutions or face deportation. Announcing the move, Wednesday, the UKBA said LMU had ‘failed to address serious and systemic failings’ identified six months ago.
•Romney convention with his address. “After four years of getting the run-around, America needs a turnaround, and the man for the job is Governor Mitt Romney,” said Ryan. As portrayed by Democrats, Romney is alternately a heartless corporate raider, wealthy elitist, tax evader and policy flip-flopper who should not be trusted with the keys to the White House. Despite the attacks, Romney is running even with Obama in the polls in a race that is too close to call. A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Wednesday showed the two men tied at 43 percent each. But Obama has the advantage over Romney in likability, an important characteristic that may mask other problems that the Democratic incumbent has in persuading voters to give him four more years.
S/Africa chargers 270 miners
S
OUTH African author ities have charged 270 miners with murder in the killings of 34 fellow workers, even though police are believed to have fired the fatal shots. The workers were arrested after the deadly clash with police and were charged under a commonlaw provision that faults them for being involved in the clash. Police spokesman Dennis Adrio said that some of those killed in the clash had gunshot wounds in their backs and that weapons were recovered at the scene.
Police arrest Murdoch’s former staff
T
OM Crone, a former senior legal executive at Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper business, has been arrested by police investigating allegations of phonehacking by journalists, media reported on Thursday. London police confirmed they had arrested a 60year-old man at his home in southwest London on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, but declined to name him. However Crone, the former legal chief of Murdoch’s News of the World tabloid on which the police inquiry is centered, was the arrested man, according to Sky News, part of Murdoch’s News Corp group, and other media outlets.
Senegal scraps upper house
S
ENEGALESE President Macky Sall presented plans to scrap the West African nation’s upper house of parliament to raise funds needed to fight annual flooding which killed six and left several neighbourhoods under water last weekend. Sall, who won March elections on a ticket to cut excessive spending on state institutions, said the abolition of the 100-seat Senate would free up eight billion CFA francs a year for urgently needed infrastructure improvements. The measure is likely to be welcomed in poor suburbs of the capital Dakar which suffer flooding every rainy season because of shoddy urban planning.