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US says Russia holding UN Council ‘hostage’ on Syria
US says Russia holding UN Council ‘hostage’ on Syria (AFP) / 6 September 2013 The United States on Thursday accused Russia of holding the UN Security Council “hostage” over the Syria chemical weapons crisis. With the White House pushing Congress to approve military strikes on Syria, US ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said she could see no way to seek Security Council approval for action against President Bashar Al Assad because of Russia’s blocking. Amid mounting tensions between Washington and Moscow, Power said Russia’s protection of Assad has put the whole Security Council system of handling international crises under strain. “Even in the wake of the flagrant shattering of the international norm against chemical weapons use, Russia continues to hold the council hostage and shirk its international responsibilities,” Power told reporters as Russia hosted US President Barack Obama at the Group of 20 summit. Power, who took over as US envoy to the United Nations one month ago, said the UN Security Council system, in which the five permanent members — Russia, the United States, China, France and Britain — can veto any resolution, had failed the Syrian people. “Instead the system has protected the prerogatives of Russia — the patron of a regime that has brazenly staged the world’s largest chemical weapons attack in a quarter century,” Power said. The envoy spoke after US officials briefed other UN members on evidence that Assad’s forces carried out an attack using banned poison sarin gas near Damascus on August 21. She said the evidence “overwhelmingly” points to an attack by Assad forces. The United States says more than 1,400 people died in the attack, which the Assad government, supported by Russia, has blamed on Syrian rebels. Since an uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011, Russia and China have vetoed three western-proposed resolutions that would have aimed to increase pressure on Assad, without imposing sanctions. The Russian president said this week he would be ready to consider Security Council action if he could be convinced that Assad forces staged the August 21 attack. Power said she did not believe Putin would budge however. “We have seen nothing in President Putin’s comments that suggest that there is an available path forward at the Security Council,” the US envoy said. The Obama administration is seeking approval from lawmakers for military strikes, which could be joined by France. Power’s comments reinforced Obama’s stance that he was ready to order strikes without UN approval. And she stressed US exasperation at the repeated blocking of Security Council resolutions and statements. The resolutions had been proposed hoping that “our common security and our common humanity might prevail,” she said. “Unfortunately, for the past two and half years the system devised in 1945 precisely to deal with threats of this nature did not work as it was supposed to. It has not protected peace and security for the hundreds of Syrian children who were gassed to death on August 21. It is not protecting the stability of the region.” She added: “To stand back would be to endanger not only international peace and security, not only US national security, but, we also believe, the very international system that we have been working these decades to build.” Continue reading
Stocks Mixed As Syria Worries Weigh
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/78a30882-15dc-11e3-b519-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz2e0jj0PQn By Jamie Chisholm Thursday 10:35 BST. Optimism on the global economy is helping nudge many growth-focused assets higher, but the bullishness is contained by worrying over the potential geopolitical fallout of the Syria crisis and some monetary policy uncertainty. Stronger European financials but weaker energy stocks leaves the Stoxx 600 index barely changed after the FTSE Asia-Pacific index rose 0.2 per cent. US index futures point to the S&P 500 on Wall Street opening flat at 1,653. The dollar index is up 0.1 per cent to flirt with one-month highs, while gold is up $1 to $1,392 an ounce. Underpinning investor sentiment is a recent rash of fairly upbeat economic data. Well-received manufacturing and service sector surveys from China and Europe this week have joined with better US figures – such as buoyant car sales in August – to raise hopes of a broadening global recovery. That has lifted industrial commodities of late, and many are mildly firmer again on Thursday, with copper up 0.3 per cent to $3.25 a pound and Brent crude adding 48 cents to $115.39 a barrel. However, oil is also getting support from wariness about the chances of supply disruption should the US attack Syria. The potential for broader political fallout following any such action will be in focus as the G20 meets in Russia, which supports the Damascus government; and fretting over this issue is likely to be suppressing the broader market’s confident tone. China’s vice finance minister has warned that a military strike on Syria would hurt the global economy, and Turkey’s lira, which has been buffeted of late by Syria-linked and emerging market tensions, is 1.3 per cent weaker to trade at a record low of TL2.075 per dollar. Also causing some reticence is possible monetary policy “headline risk”. The session sees strategy announcements from the central banks of Japan, Sweden, the UK and the eurozone – a lot for traders to absorb. Labour market data from the US – in the form of the weekly initial unemployment claims and the ADP private sector jobs survey – will set the scene for Friday’s non-farm payrolls numbers, a report considered crucial in formulating the Federal Reserve’s decision on when to start reducing its bond buying programme. “We expect this Friday’s employment report to seal the deal on a September tapering announcement,” said analysts at Société Générale. US implied borrowing costs are consequently moving up, pulling other highly-rated sovereigns along in their wake. The 10-year Treasury yield is up 4 basis points to 2.93 per cent, flirting with two-year highs, while equivalent duration Bunds are advancing 6bp to show 2.0 per cent for the first time since March 2012. Japanese benchmark bonds are up 1bp at 0.79 per cent after the Bank of Japan concluded its two-day meeting, leaving rates and its asset purchase programme unchanged. In an upbeat statement, the BoJ lifted its assessment of Japan’s economy, which it said appeared to be “recovering moderately”. The yen briefly moved above Y100 versus the dollar, but is now changing hands at Y99.85, just 10 pips weaker on the day. After gaining 5 per cent so far this week, the Nikkei 225 has similarly decided to take time for consolidation, closing up just 0.1 per cent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was up 1.2 per cent, but on the mainland the Shanghai Composite was down 0.2 per cent, highlighting a mixed session for the region. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index lost 0.4 per cent after figures showing a greater than expected trade deficit for July. On the back of below-forecast mineral exports, the deficit reached A$765m after a modest surplus of A$243m in June. “There is nothing here to challenge the growing view that mining investment has already peaked, with little signs of a pick-up in other sectors so far,” said economists with TD Securities. Australia holds its federal election on Saturday, where the opposition Liberal Party candidate is expected to win. The Aussie dollar is seeing some profit taking after bouncing 3 per cent in the past three sessions on reduced expectations for easier monetary policy following stronger than forecast second-quarter GDP data. The Aussie is weaker by 33 pips to US$0.9133. The Indian rupee is moving further away from record lows as the market perceives greater credibility in the Reserve Bank of India’s new chief. Confidence in Raghuram Rajan’s measures to support the currency sees the dollar fall 1.4 per cent to Rs66.14, nudges bond yields lower and has helped boost the Sensex equity gauge by 2.3 per cent. Additional reporting by Sarah Mishkin in Hong Kong Continue reading
Fina World Junior: More gold, records go Down Under
Fina World Junior: More gold, records go Down Under Moni Mathews / 30 August 2013 Swimmers from Down Under once again stamped their class to nudge ahead in the gold rush in the 4th Fina World Junior Swimming Championships at the iconic Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex off the Emirates Highway. The start of the men’s 50m backstroke final at the World Junior Swimming Championships on Thursday. — KT photos by Mukesh Kamal The qualifying honours for the six events on Thursday were spread between six different nations, as the action continued at the complex, rated to be one of the best in the world by the swimmers and the officials taking part here. The talented green and gold capped youngsters had another great night in the late events on Wednesday taking two gold and one bronze to lead the gold medal tally with six, ahead of the US with five and Russia with four. The US remains in the overall lead with 14 medals. Russia is in second with 10 and Australia third with 8. Leading the Australian charge was hot action hero Mack Horton who climbed on to the gold podium for the fourth time with a superb 800m freestyle 7:45.67. Horton took an astonishing nearly 10.3 seconds off the championship record, and winning by over 10 seconds from Jan Micka of Czech Republic (7:56.33) who added the silver to his bronze in the 400m freestyle. Pawel Furtek (7:58.33) took the bronze and Poland’s first medal of the meet. “Missing out on qualifying for Barcelona (world senior Fina meet in July) made me push myself harder in training,” Horton said. Australia also took gold in the crowd pulling 4 x100m freestyle mixed relay. Australia was led out by Luke Percy who had earlier qualified fastest for the 50m freestyle final. Shayna Jack backed up from her bronze in the 100m freestyle to swim the second leg, followed by Regan Leong who had taken gold in the boys 4x100m relay on Day 1. Australia turned in front for the last 50, but Georgia Miller had a fight on her hands with Caeleb Dressel of the US giving his all to catch her. Miller dug deep and hung on for the victory in a championship record 3:28.74. The US took silver and Russia the bronze. In the girls 200m backstroke final Kylie Stewart of the US turned the tables on the 100m gold medallist Daria Ustinova of Russia, taking gold in 2:09.74, a new championship record. The other two finals saw three nations take medals for the first time in the Dubai meet. In the boys 100m butterfly Japan’s Takaya Yasue took gold in 53.01 while Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey beat world breaststroke champion Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania for the gold with a new meet mark. Siobhan said: “I was so nervous, but so happy to swim with an Olympian. Ruta did a good job. It’s my first international competition so to win the gold is great.” New Zealand’s Gabrielle Fa’Amausili finished the girls 50m backstroke in 28.14 to qualify fastest for the semi-finals. The Kiwis who topped the medal count in a previous chapter of the championship have been fairly quiet so far in this event, with only one other appearance in a semi-final to date. Fans brought their colours to the iconic Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex on Thursday Iryna Glavynk of Ukraine qualified second, with Russia’s Daria Ustinova in third. Ustinova already has a gold from the 100m backstroke and a bronze from the 200m backstroke and will be looking to add a third medal to her collection in Friday’s final. South Africa also recorded its first fastest qualification time to date with Ryan Coetzee in the boys 50m butterfly finishing in 23.81. Dylan Carter of Trinidad and Tobago also made it through to the semis. Carter just missed a medal in the 100m backstroke final, but will have two more chances when he appears in both the 50m butterfly and 50m backstroke. The Aussies maintained their form posting the top two qualifying times in the girls 400m freestyle. Remy Fairweather finished in 4:09.75, ahead of teammate and 800m gold medallist Alanna Bowles. Fairweather is favourite for the final, having posted times almost two seconds faster than anyone else in the field prior to the championships. Russia, the dominant nation on Wednesday morning recorded the top two qualifying times for the boys 200m breaststroke. Mikhail Dorinov swam 2:13.40, with countryman Aleksandr Palatov second in 2:13.43. Ippei Watanabe of Japan qualified third. Ruta is one of the hardest working swimmers in this meet, contesting nine events. So far she has collected one gold and two silvers, and will be hoping to add to that after qualifying fastest for the girls 200m individual medley final in 2:15.10. Japan’s Emu Higuchi recorded the second best time, ahead of 400m individual medley gold medallist Ella Eastin of the US. In the final heat of the Day 4 programme of the 6-day event, Great Britain took the honours in the boys 4x200m freestyle relay with a new meet mark time of 7:19.93. Great Britain has yet to win gold, and face tough opposition from the US, Canada and Australia. The race is set to see another Mack Horton-James Guy duel. moni@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
