France Says Gbagbo Talks Fail, Ouattara Offensive Resumes

Bloomsberg Business Week: France Says Gbagbo Talks Fail, Ouattara Offensive Resumes

April 6 (Bloomberg) -- Talks over the exit of Laurent Gbagbo, the former leader of Ivory Coast, ended unsuccessfully and forces loyal to President-elect Alassane Ouattara renewed their attack on pro-Gbagbo military units, said Alain Juppe, France’s foreign minister.

“The negotiations started yesterday with Mr. Gbagbo have failed,” Juppe said in Parliament today. “They have been interrupted and the forces of Mr. Ouattara have restarted their offensive.”

Gbagbo began discussing his departure from the world’s largest cocoa producer yesterday, after French and United Nations forces destroyed most of his army’s heavy weapons. French and UN troops are not participating in the current attack, Juppe said.

The 65-year-old remains holed up in a bunker under his residence, which was surrounded by the pro-Ouattara Republican Forces fighters. Gunfire broke out in the neighborhood and near the Agban military camp in Deux-Plateaux district at about 6:30 a.m. and continued through the day.

“Fighting is ongoing,” Meite Sindou, a spokesman for the fighters, said by phone. “The talks last night didn’t bring any results.”

Disputed Election

The Republican Forces launched an offensive last week from bases in northern Ivory Coast after a four month stalemate following the country’s disputed Nov. 28 presidential run-off. Gbagbo, who draws much of his support from the south, refused to accept the results, alleging electoral fraud. The UN, U.S., African Union and European Union all recognized Ouattara as the winner.

“It’s not a game of cat and mouse, he’s just the mouse now,” said Pierre Schori, a former Swedish foreign minister who headed the UN mission in the country between 2005 and 2007. “Even if he won’t admit it, I think he is negotiating his exit,” he said by phone from Stockholm today.

Cocoa for July delivery climbed $43, or 1.4 percent, to $3,036 a metric ton at 10:50 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. Prices for the chocolate ingredient have risen as much as 34 percent since the disputed election, advancing to a 32-year high of $3,775 a metric ton on March 4.

Ivory Coast’s defaulted dollar-denominated bond gained 6.7 percent to 54.938 cents on the dollar at 2:56 p.m. in Abidjan, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Mass Killings

The renewed attack comes as Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, said he was “very concerned” about reports of mass killings in western Ivory Coast, according to a statement posted to the court’s website. Moreno-Ocampo’s office said it would continue to “collect information on alleged crimes committed there by different parties to the conflict.”

Gbagbo yesterday accused France of intervening in the crisis, saying it “entered directly into war against the Ivory Coast.”

While he would be willing to leave Ivory Coast “if my departure brings peace to my country,” Gbagbo said in an interview with the Paris-based LCI TV news channel, it’s “far from proven” that it would end the conflict. There’s “no agreement on the political front,” Gbabgo said, and he still believed Ouattara didn’t win the president election.

Gbagbo said his actions weren’t those of a “kamikaze”.

“I like life,” he told LCI. “This is not the voice of a martyr.”

Afghanistan

What with the recent violence in Afghanistan, with innocent people being murdered by members of that "peace loving religion" because of what an idiot priest did in Florida: here's some info on th ecountry.

Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked and mountainous country in south-central Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and east, Iran in the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China in the far northeast.

Economy of Afghanistan
Inside the fruit processing plant at Badam Bagh in Kabul Province
Afghan rug weavers in Herat ProvinceAfghanistan is a member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). It is an impoverished and least developed country, one of the world's poorest. As of 2009, the nation's GDP exchange rate stands at $14 billion and the GDP per capita is $1,000. Its unemployment rate is 35%[174] and roughly 36% of its citizens live below the poverty line. About 42 percent of the population live on less than $1 a day, according to USAID.

The economy has suffered greatly from the 1978 to the present conflict, while severe drought added to the nation's difficulties in 1998–2001. However, due to the infusion of multi-billion dollars in international assistance and investments, as well as remittances from expats, the economy has steadily improved, growing at approximately 12 percent per year during the past six years.[177] It is also due to improvements in agricultural production, which is the backbone of the nation's economy since over 75% of its citizens are involved in this line of work.

Afghanistan is known for producing some of the finest pomegranates, grapes, apricots, melons, and several other fresh and dry fruits, including nuts. According to the World Bank, "economic growth has been strong and has generated better livelihoods" since late 2001. As much as one-third of the nations's GDP came from growing illicit drugs during the mid 2000s. Opium production in Afghanistan has soared to a record in 2007 with some 3.3 million Afghans reported to be involved in the business[181] but then declined significantly in the years following. The Afghan government began programs to reduce the cultivation of poppy and by 2010 it was reported that 24 out of the 34 provinces are free from poppy cultivation.

One of the main drivers for the current economic recovery is the return of over 5 million Afghan expatriates, who brought with them fresh energy, entrepreneurship and wealth-creating skills as well as much needed funds to start up businesses. The Afghan rugs have become a popular product again and this gives the large number of rug weavers in the country a chance to earn more income. While the country's current account deficit is largely financed with the donor money, only a small portion is provided directly to the government budget. The rest is provided to non-budgetary expenditure and donor-designated projects through the United Nations system and non-governmental organizations.

The Afghan Ministry of Finance is focusing on improved revenue collection and public sector expenditure discipline. Since 2003, over 16 new banks have opened in the country, including Afghanistan International Bank, Kabul Bank, Azizi Bank, Pashtany Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, First Micro Finance Bank, and others. Da Afghanistan Bank serves as the central bank of the nation and the "Afghani" (AFN) is the national currency, with an exchange rate of 50 Afghanis to 1 US dollar.

Culture of Afghanistan
Afghans display pride in their religion, country, ancestry, and above all, their independence. Like other highlanders, Afghans are regarded with mingled apprehension and condescension, for their high regard for personal honor, for their clan loyalty and for their readiness to carry and use arms to settle disputes. As clan warfare and internecine feuding has been one of their chief occupations since time immemorial, this individualistic trait has made it difficult for foreign invaders to hold the region.

Afghanistan has a complex history that has survived either in its current cultures or in the form of various languages and monuments. However, many of the country's historic monuments have been damaged in recent wars. The two famous statues of Buddha in Bamyan Province were destroyed by the Taliban, who regarded them as idolatrous. Other famous sites include the cities of Kandahar, Herat, Ghazni and Balkh. The Minaret of Jam, in the Hari River valley, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. A cloak reputedly worn by Muhammad is stored inside the famous Mosque of the Cloak of the Prophet Mohammed in Kandahar City.

Buzkashi is a national sport in Afghanistan. It is similar to polo and played by horsemen in two teams, each trying to grab and hold a goat carcass. Afghan hounds (a type of running dog) also originated in Afghanistan.

Although literacy levels are very low, classic Persian poetry plays a very important role in the Afghan culture. Poetry has always been one of the major educational pillars in Iran and Afghanistan, to the level that it has integrated itself into culture. Persian culture has, and continues to, exert a great influence over Afghan culture. Private poetry competition events known as "musha'era" are quite common even among ordinary people. Almost every homeowner owns one or more poetry collections of some sort, even if they are not read often.

Many of the famous Persian poets of the 10th to 15th centuries stem from what is now known as Afghanistan (then known as Khorasan), such as Jalal al-Din Muhammad Balkhi (also known as Rumi or Mawlānā), Rābi'a Balkhi (the first poetess in the history of Persian literature), Khwaja Abdullah Ansari (from Herat), Nasir Khusraw (born near Balkh, died in Badakhshan), Jāmī of Herāt, Alī Sher Navā'ī, Sanā'ī Ghaznawi, Daqiqi Balkhi, Farrukhi Sistani, Unsuri Balkhi, Anvari, and many others. Moreover, some of the contemporary Persian language poets and writers, who are relatively well-known in Persian-speaking world, include Khalilullah Khalili,[235] Sufi Ashqari,[236] Sarwar Joya, Qahar Asey, Parwin Pazwak and others.

In addition to poets and authors, numerous Persian scientists and philosophers were born or worked in the region of present-day Afghanistan. Most notable was Avicenna (Abu Alī Hussein ibn Sīnā) whose paternal family hailed from Balkh. Ibn Sīnā, who travelled to Isfahan later in life to establish a medical school there, is known by some scholars as "the father of modern medicine". George Sarton called ibn Sīnā "the most famous scientist of Islam and one of the most famous of all races, places, and times." His most famous works are The Book of Healing and The Canon of Medicine, also known as the Qanun. Ibn Sīnā's story even found way to the contemporary English literature through Noah Gordon's The Physician, now published in many languages.

Al-Farabi was another well-known philosopher and scientist of the 9th and 10th centuries, who, according to Ibn al-Nadim, was from the Faryab Province in Afghanistan. Other notable scientists and philosophers are Abu Rayhan Biruni (a notable astronomer, anthropologist, geographer, and mathematician of the Ghaznavid period who lived and died in Ghazni), Abu Zayd Balkhi (a polymath and a student of al-Kindi), Abu Ma'shar Balkhi (known as Albumasar or Albuxar in the west), and Abu Sa'id Sijzi (from Sistan).

Before the Taliban gained power, the city of Kabul was home to many musicians who were masters of both traditional and modern Afghan music, especially during the Nauroz-celebration. Kabul in the middle part of the 20th century has been likened to Vienna during the 18th and 19th centuries.

There are an estimated 60 major Pashtun tribes. The tribal system, which orders the life of most people outside metropolitan areas, is potent in political terms. Men feel a fierce loyalty to their own tribe, such that, if called upon, they would assemble in arms under the tribal chiefs and local clan leaders. In theory, under Islamic law, every believer has an obligation to bear arms at the ruler's call.

Heathcote considers the tribal system to be the best way of organizing large groups of people in a country that is geographically difficult, and in a society that, from a materialistic point of view, has an uncomplicated lifestyle.

The population of nomads in Afghanistan is estimated at about 2-3 million. Nomads contribute importantly to the national economy in terms of meat, skins and wool.

Japan and Surrounding Countries

The Euro Zone (European Union)

The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 27 member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Economic Community (EEC) formed by six countries in the 1950s. In the intervening years the EU has grown in size by the accession of new member states, and in power by the addition of policy areas to its remit.

The Maastricht Treaty established the European Union under its current name in 1993, and introduced, in 1999, the Euro (oy-row) which took over from each country's national currency. The last amendment to the constitutional basis of the EU, the Treaty of Lisbon, came into force in 2009.

EU to boost aid fund by June, Portugal clouds summit

EU to boost aid fund by June, Portugal clouds summit(Reuters) - European leaders agreed on Thursday to increase their financial rescue fund to the full 440 billion euros by June, but avoided discussion of Portugal which is under pressure to seek a bailout following the resignation of its prime minister.

Having said for weeks that they would agree a "comprehensive package" to tackle the euro zone debt crisis by the end of March, the leaders ended up delaying a final decision on boosting their safety net until mid-year.

That agreement at a two-day summit in Brussels was lauded as an accomplishment by Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, but worries about Portugal's political crisis overshadowed the meeting.

Prime Minister Jose Socrates quit on Wednesday after parliament rejected new austerity measures that he had hoped would allow the country to avoid following Greece and Ireland in needing to ask for EU/IMF financial assistance.

He is the second euro zone leader to fall victim to the rolling sovereign debt crisis after Ireland's prime minister was booted out of office last month.

Despite stepping down, Socrates came to the two-day summit and was warmly received by other leaders, diplomats said.

He resisted pressure from his peers to accept a bailout, however, and made it clear that he would hold that line, at least until a new Portuguese government is formed -- probably after early elections in about two months' time.

The fall of the government prompted Fitch to cut Portugal's credit rating by two notches to A-, saying risks to the country's financing had risen after parliament failed to pass fiscal consolidation measures.

The ratings agency warned further downgrades were likely in the next three to six months in the absence of a "timely and credible" EU/IMF support program.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet told reporters as he left the summit that it was crucial for Portugal to stick to the fiscal austerity measures Socrates had proposed.

EU diplomats said Socrates had privately reassured other leaders that no matter what sort of government emerges after new elections, it would stick to the austerity program.

The Portuguese upheaval underscored the wealth of political obstacles the single currency bloc faces in trying to solve a debt crisis that has deepened over the past year.

Only a few days ago, the summit had been expected to deliver a full package that would reassure financial markets, but Thursday's decisions fell short of what some investors had expected only a few days ago.

IMF CONTAGION WORRIES

Senior euro zone officials said Portugal was likely to need 60-80 billion euros in assistance from the EU rescue fund and the International Monetary Fund. No talks have begun yet and will anyway have to wait until a new government is formed.

Brazil and Chile

President Obama spent the weekend, with is family, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Today he will be arriving in Santiago, Chile for photo ops and meetings.

Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 190 million people. It is the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas and the largest lusophone country in the world.

Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of over 4,655 miles. It is bordered on the north by Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and the French overseas department of French Guiana; on the northwest by Colombia; on the west by Bolivia and Peru; on the southwest by Argentina and Paraguay and on the south by Uruguay. Numerous archipelagos form part of Brazilian territory, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz. It borders with all other South American countries except Ecuador and Chile.

Chile
Chile (Chee-lay) officially the República de Chile, is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far south. Along with Ecuador, it is one of two countries in South America that do not border Brazil. The Pacific coastline of Chile is 4000 miles long. Chilean territory includes the Pacific islands of Juan Fernández, Salas y Gómez, Desventuradas and Easter Island. Chile also claims about 480,000 sq mi of Antarctica, although all claims are suspended under the Antarctic Treaty.

The shape of Chile is a distinctive ribbon of land 2,700 miles long and on average 109 miles wide. Its climate varies, ranging from the world's driest desert – the Atacama – in the north, through a Mediterranean climate in the centre, to a rainy temperate climate in the south. The northern desert contains great mineral wealth, principally copper. The relatively small central area dominates in terms of population and agricultural resources, and is the cultural and political center from which Chile expanded in the late 19th century, when it incorporated its northern and southern regions. Southern Chile is rich in forests and grazing lands and features a string of volcanoes and lakes. The southern coast is a labyrinth of fjords, inlets, canals, twisting peninsulas, and islands.

Wave of unrest shakes Syria, crowds torch party HQ

Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest.

The name Syria formerly comprised the entire region of the Levant, while the modern state encompasses the site of several ancient kingdoms and empires, including the Eblan civilization of the third millennium BC. In the Islamic era, its capital city, Damascus, was the seat of the Umayyad Empire and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Empire. Damascus is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.[4] The population is mainly Sunni Muslim, with a large Shia and Alawite population, and significant non-Muslim Christian and Druze minorities. Since the 1960s, Alawite military officers have tended to dominate the country's politics. Ethnically, some 90% of the population is Arab, and the state is ruled by the Baath Party according to Arab nationalist principles, while approximately 10% belong to the Kurdish, Armenian, Assyrians, Turkmen, and Circassian minorities.

Modern Syria was created as a French mandate and attained independence in April 1946, as a parliamentary republic. The post-independence period was rocky, and a large number of military coups and coup attempts shook the country in the period 1949-1970. Syria has been under Emergency Law since 1962, effectively suspending most constitutional protections for citizens, and its system of government is considered non-democratic.[6] Since 1971 the power has been concentrated first to Hafez al-Assad and then to his son Bashar al-Assad. The ruling elite, military and the secret police are largely filled with loyal Alawites, a Syrian minority

Wave of unrest shakes Syria, crowds torch party HQ
DAMASCUS (Reuters) – Crowds set fire to the headquarters of the ruling Baath Party in the Syrian city of Deraa Sunday, residents said, as the wave of unrest in the Arab world shook even one of its most authoritarian states.

The demonstrators also set ablaze the main courts complex and two phone company branches. One of the firms, Syriatel, is owned by President Bashar al-Assad's cousin Rami Makhlouf.

"They burned the symbols of oppression and corruption," an activist said. "The banks nearby were not touched."

Thousands rallied to demand an end to 48 years of emergency law in the southern city, on the third consecutive day of protests emerging as the biggest ever challenge to Syria's ruling party since it seized power nearly half a century ago.

"No, no to emergency law. We are a people infatuated with freedom," marchers chanted, despite the arrival in Deraa of a government delegation to pay condolences to relatives of victims killed by security forces in demonstrations there this week.

Security forces fired tear gas at the protesters. Around 40 people were taken to be treated for gas inhalation at the main Omari mosque in the old city, residents said.

"The mosque is now a field hospital. The security forces know they cannot enter the old city without spilling more blood," one resident said.

Syria has been under emergency law since the Baath Party, which is headed by president Bashar al-Assad, took power in a 1963 coup and banned all opposition.

Makhlouf is under specific U.S. sanctions for what Washington regards as public corruption and has been a target of protesters chanting "thief." He owns several large businesses.

CHILDREN DETAINED

Security forces opened fire Friday on civilians taking part in a peaceful protest in Deraa demanding the release of 15 schoolchildren detained for writing protest graffiti, political freedoms and an end to corruption. Four people were killed.

An official statement said "infiltrators" claiming to be high ranking officers had been visiting security stations and asking security forces to fire at any suspicious gathering.

Citizens should report anyone suspected of trying to fool the security apparatus "into using violence and live ammunition against any suspicious gathering," the statement said.

The government sought to calm discontent by promising to release immediately the 15 children, who had written slogans on walls inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

The statement was a rare instance of Syria's ruling hierarchy responding to popular pressure.

Tens of people arrested Friday have been released, but scores more were still in jail, activists said.

Saturday, thousands of mourners called for "revolution" at the funeral of two of the protesters. Officials later met Deraa notables who presented then with a list of demands.

It included the release of political prisoners, dismantling of secret police headquarters in Deraa, dismissal of the governor, public trial for those responsible for the killings and scrapping of regulations requiring permission from the secret police to sell and buy property.

POLITICAL PRISONERS Non-violent protests have challenged the Baath Party's authority this month, with the largest protests in Deraa drawing thousands of people.

A silent protest in Damascus by 150 people this week demanded the release of thousands of political prisoners. At least one activist from Deraa, Diana al-Jawabra, took part in the protest. She was arrested on charges of weakening national morale, along with 32 other protesters, a lawyer said.

Jawabra, who is from a prominent family, was campaigning for the release of the 15 schoolchildren from her home city. Another woman from Deraa, physician Aisha Aba Zeid, was arrested three weeks ago for airing a political opinion on the internet.

Residents say the two arrests helped fuel the protests in Deraa, a conservative tribal region on the border with Jordan.

Graffiti have appeared on school walls and grain silos in Deraa with phrases such as "the people want the overthrow of the regime" -- the slogan that became the rallying cry of the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions.

Authorities responded by increasing secret police patrols and asking staff at schools and public departments to man their premises around the clock and by requiring IDs and registration for buyers of paint and spray cans.

"These measures only increased popular resentment," one Darea resident said.