সোমবার, ৫ আগস্ট, ২০১৩

Islamist militants attack Somali capital, plan more before Ramadan ends

By Abdi Sheikh

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Islamist militants set off several explosions in the Somali capital on Sunday, their spokesman said, demonstrating the rebels' ability to attack the heart of government-controlled areas despite security gains.

The guerilla-style attacks were typical of al Shabaab rebels who have waged a six-year campaign to impose their strict interpretation of Islamic law on the country.

The militants had fired five mortar shells and hurled several grenades, wounding at least two women, senior police officer Abdiqadir Mohamud said.

Somali security forces responded with volleys of gunfire, witnesses said. Casualty numbers were thought to be low.

"We started a massive military operation across Mogadishu at dusk. It will go on until tomorrow morning," said rebel spokesman Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, promising more attacks over the next few days as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan ends.

Al Shabaab said late last month the rise in coordinated attacks conducted by its fighters pointed to its enduring strength and at the time warned of more attacks in Ramadan.

The African Union peacekeeping force, known as AMISOM, has struggled to control areas won back from al Shabaab. The central government extends little influence beyond the capital where security has improved since peacekeepers flushed the militants out of their bases two years ago.

Uganda's Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa told leaders from troop contributing countries - including Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Djibouti and Sierra Leone - at a summit in Uganda on Sunday that AMISOM had been stretched to its operational limit. But a summit communique stopped short of calling for extra troops.

"I am afraid the remaining nights of Ramadan will be the worst for Mogadishu," local elder Farah Bulle told Reuters. "They have managed to indoctrinate many fighters to die in the holy month."

The blasts came just as people broke the day's Ramadan fast.

"We heard big crashes while we ate iftar (the evening meal). We ran inside with our plates, taking cover from what sounded like mortar shells," mother-of-three Fatuma Osman told Reuters by telephone from Mogadishu's "Kilometre 5" district.

Residents said the coastal capital, which was a battle zone and much of which still lies in ruins after two decades of conflict, was quiet after the initial flurry of blasts.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/islamist-militants-attack-somali-capital-plan-more-ramadan-062712294.html

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Facebook Names Ex-Motorola VP as First CMO

Facebook on Sunday named Gary Briggs, formerly a VP of marketing at Motorola, as the social giant?s first chief marketing officer. According to Ad Age, which broke the story, Briggs replaces VP of product marketing Eric Antonow, who has led Facebook?s marketing efforts since 2010.

Source: http://allthingsd.com/20130804/facebook-names-ex-motorola-vp-as-first-cmo/

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রবিবার, ৪ আগস্ট, ২০১৩

US slams China over worsening human rights record

China National News (ANI) Saturday 3rd August, 2013

A U.S. human rights official has said China's human rights record continues to be of a very poor standard and way short of acceptable international standards.

Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Uzra Zeya expressed concern about Chinese authorities treating relatives of dissidents, the Christian Science Monitor reports.

Zeya was in Beijing to attend the 18th round of the annual human rights dialogue between the U.S. and China.

Meanwhile, human right activists have criticised the talks for being more of a diplomatic exercise than a serious tool to press China on the human right issues.

More than a dozen activists have been arrested in recent weeks in connection with the New Citizens Movement, a public campaign urging government officials to disclose their assets in a bid to curb corruption in the country. (ANI)

Source: http://www.chinanationalnews.com/index.php/sid/216211666/scat/9366300fc9319e9b

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Facebook Embedded Posts; Microsoft Renaming SkyDrive; Starbucks Gets Google Wi-Fi

Embed Facebook Post

Topping tech headlines Wednesday, Facebook began rolling out the ability to embed posts on third-party sites.

Just as you might embed a tweet or an Instagram photo on your blog, Facebook users can now copy and paste a snippet of code to share their posts. To add, click the arrow on the top right of a post and select "Embed Post." The option is available only for public posts. Facebook is partnering with Bleacher Report, CNN, Huffington Post, Mashable, and People to start, but plans a broader rollout soon.

In other news, Microsoft has agreed to rebrand its SkyDrive cloud service after losing a trademark case against the U.K.'s British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSkyB). The company has granted Redmond some time to make the transition; neither provided details on how long it will take. The announcement comes from a June decision by the English High Court, which found Microsoft guilty of infringing on BSkyB's trademark. Redmond initially planned to appeal, but has reconsidered.

Meanwhile, Starbucks is ditching its current AT&T Wi-Fi setup for a partnership with Google. An 18-month rollout will begin in August, with all 7,000 company-operated U.S. Starbucks stores on track to get free Google wireless access. Once the new system is in place, customers will be able to surf the Web at speeds up to 10 times faster than before; those in a Google Fiber city will get connected up to 100 times faster.

Also making headlines Wednesday:

  • Motorola Reveals More X8 Chip Details: Motorola's director of product development explained the details of the new processing system that's probably going in the company's long-awaited Moto X phone.
  • Samsung Adds Evernote Photo Syncing to Wi-Fi Smart Camera: Samsung's WB250F SMART camera is getting a little smarter, with the integration of the Evernote note-taking application.
  • Microsoft Struggling to Move Surface Tablets: Microsoft is clearly struggling to move its Surface tablet, according to new financial filings.
  • Microsoft Office Lands on Android Phones: Microsoft announced that its Office 365 suite is now available for Android phones.
  • Samsung Denies Manipulating Galaxy S4 for Better Benchmark Results: Samsung denied intentionally manipulating the Galaxy S 4 to produce more favorable benchmark results.
  • Zynga Sues 'Bang With Friends' for Trademark Infringement: Zynga is going after the developers of "Bang With Friends" for infringing on the trademark for its "With Friends" family of games.
  • Nintendo Sells Only 160K Wii U Consoles in Q2: Despite a recent boost in profit, Nintendo continues to lick its wounds following a slow quarter of Wii U sales.
  • Samsung Galaxy S III Tops iPhone in Customer Satisfaction: Samsung continues to get it right in the customer satisfaction department, according to a new study.
  • Apple Now Accepting iMessage Spam Reports: Apple has finally implemented a method for reporting iMessage spam.
  • Report: Facebook to Sell 'TV Ads' at $2.5M a Pop: The social network plans to start selling 15-second daily video spots to advertisers later this year to "break the long-held dominance" of TV over ad budgets.

Source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2422583,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05039TX1K0000750

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শনিবার, ৩ আগস্ট, ২০১৩

Authorisation for Debt Management Firms - Askaboutmoney.com

The Central Bank of Ireland (?the Central Bank?) today (30 July 2013) issues a consultation paper on draft standards for the regulation of the debt management sector.

Following the enactment of the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 (?the Act?) on 11 Jul 2013 the Central Bank became the competent authority for the regulation and authorisation of debt management firms.

Consultation on the Authorisation Requirements and Standards for Debt Management Firms (CP70), sets out draft authorisation requirements and ongoing standards for the debt management sector and is open for submissions from interested parties until 23 September 2013.

Bernard Sheridan, Director of Consumer Protection said: ?The proposals set out a robust set of requirements for what is an important sector, particularly for the clients of debt management firms many of whom struggle to manage their financial commitments and seek advice and assistance from these firms. The standards drawn up are reasonable, and have been informed by assessing the experiences of the debt management sectors in other jurisdictions and evaluating relevant standards internationally.

Response to Consultation on the Authorisation Requirements and Standards for Debt Management Firms?. Please make your submissions electronically by email to debtmanagementservices@centralbank.ie

Friends, community groups, politicians, etc will be able to continue to give this advice, as long as they don't charge for it.

Quote:

10.5 Debt Management Firm means a person who for remuneration provides debt management services to one or more consumers, other than an excepted person;
10.6 Debt Management Services means?
(a) giving advice about the discharge of debts (in whole or in part), including advice about budgeting in connection with the discharge of debts,
(b) negotiating with a person?s creditors for the discharge of the person?s debts (in whole or in part), or
(c) any similar activity associated with the discharge of debts;

Source: http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=181046

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শুক্রবার, ২ আগস্ট, ২০১৩

Britain holds up U.S. pop singer's export of Jane Austen ring

By Li-mei Hoang

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's government is trying to prevent U.S. pop singer Kelly Clarkson from taking a rare turquoise and gold ring, once owned by 19th century novelist Jane Austen, out of the country.

The singer, who became the first contestant to win American Idol more than a decade ago, bought the antique ring at an auction last year for more than 150,000 pounds.

Culture minister Ed Vaizey placed a temporary export bar on the ring, which stops it leaving the country, and appealed for a UK buyer to come forward and save it for the nation.

"She (Austen) is one of our greatest writers and greatest national treasures and I think people will feel very strongly about it," Vaizey told BBC radio on Friday.

The ring is one of only three surviving pieces of jewellery known to have belonged to the author of such classics as "Pride and Prejudice", "Sense and Sensibility and "Emma". It comes with papers documenting its history within her family.

Buyers have until September 30 to match the 152,450 pound price Clarkson paid for the ring.

If a UK institution or private buyer does not come forward, the export licence for the ring will be granted to Clarkson, who is said to be a "huge fan" of Austen.

But the decision on the export licence can be extended to December 30 if proof emerges of a serious intention to raise funds.

A spokesperson for Clarkson could be not reached.

(Reporting by Li-mei Hoang, editing by Paul Casciato)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/britain-holds-u-pop-singers-export-jane-austen-114322406.html

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India Housing Bubble Still Expanding

This is a guest post from by Deepak Shenoy, an economic blogger at Capital Mind in India. Charts and analysis that follow are from Deepak.

RBI has released the latest data for their House Price Index and it looks like the mad pace of real estate price growth has mellowed, but only slightly. Price growth at an all India basis is now 19% from last year.

Unfortunately, RBI has not released information about transactions, so we don?t know if volumes are up or down.

Housing prices were very high last quarter as well, with prices up 26% year on year. However, every city is different; some cities seem to have slowed down price growth while others have picked up pace significantly.

Mumbai and Delhi Still Red-Hot, But Slower Than Earlier Quarter

Mumbai shows YoY growth of just 11% after a scorching 30% growth in the December quarter (year on year).

Delhi, though, continues to be in scorched earth territory, moving up 33% from last year. Prices have gone up an annualized 30% or more since September 2011, and the index has now reached 259 from a 100 in March 2009 (a compounded growth of 27%, the highest of all cities).

Bangalore and Chennai Show Faster Growth

Bangalore hit 5% price growth in Q4 (March 2013). This is benign, for now.

Chennai is now at 26% price growth and again, looks like it has gone out of control.

Kolkata and Lucknow: The Hot Air Balloons

Kolkata has gone absolutely nuts with a 63% price growth, taking its own compounded price growth from 2009 to 27%, just behind Delhi.
Lucknow, with 29% YoY growth, is still among the fastest growers.
Note that the drop in transaction volumes in the previous quarter seems to have had no impact on price growth.

Jaipur grows 18%, Ahmedabad remains at 9%

Jaipur prics are up the highest since December 2010 (on a yoy growth basis).

Ahmedabad shows signs of softening, though prices have grown slower in the 2010-11 time frame.

Kanpur the weakest link

Kanpur shows a drop of over 21% on prices. Last time I was told of some inaccuracies in Kanpur in that much of the price is in ?black? (paid in cash) and thus not recorded.

Compounded Growth Rate Since 2009 at 21%

As of March 2013, Prices have more than doubled since 2009. The All-India Index is at 211, from 100 in March 2009.

The bubble is intact.

But is the bubble bursting? QoQ growth is the second lowest since the data has been recorded ? an all India QoQ growth level of 2.1% (versus 6.4% last quarter).

Credit will be constrained from July onwards, so it is quite likely that price growth is hit. Already, rental prices have flattened or reduced, and commercial rents and prices are down (speaking of the June quarter, from anecdotal information). A credit crunch could well cause developer defaults, and then prices will truly fall. For now, the bubble is well and truly visible.

End Deepak?

Needless to say? (but I am going to say it anyway), this India housing bubble is going to end very badly, especially for those who got in recently.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Disclaimer:The content on this site is provided as general information only and should not be taken as investment advice. All site content, including advertisements, shall not be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell any security or financial instrument, or to participate in any particular trading or investment strategy. The ideas expressed on this site are solely the opinions of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions of sponsors or firms affiliated with the author(s). The author may or may not have a position in any company or advertiser referenced above. Any action that you take as a result of information, analysis, or advertisement on this site is ultimately your responsibility. Consult your investment adviser before making any investment decisions.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MishsGlobalEconomicTrendAnalysis/~3/bKH89Iq9R1c/india-housing-bubble-still-expanding.html

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