Euro zone closer to new anti-crisis package

Germany and France have reached a consensus on steps to boost economic coordination within the euro zone as part of a comprehensive anti-crisis package that will also see the scope of Europe's bailout fund bolstered.

German officials said on Wednesday that Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy would present joint proposals to strengthen policy coordination in the 17-nation bloc at an EU summit in Brussels on Friday.

German Deputy Finance Minister Joerg Asmussen sent the strongest signal yet that Berlin was prepared to give new powers to the euro zone's rescue fund in exchange for fiscal discipline commitments by other euro members.

"We have always said that we would do all that is necessary to defend the stability of the euro zone as a whole," Asmussen told a conference in Frankfurt.

"That might include revising the scope and efficiency of the EFSF," he said, referring to the 440 billion euro ($609 billion) European Financial Stability Facility.

No final agreement on a new strategy for combating the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis is expected before a March 24-25 summit, but markets are already welcoming signs that European leaders are zeroing in on a deal to stem contagion from Greece and Ireland to vulnerable countries like Portugal and Spain.

Chaos in Cairo as Mubarak backers, opponents clash

CAIRO – Thousands of supporters and opponents of President Hosni Mubarak battled in Cairo's main square Wednesday, raining stones, bottles and firebombs on each other in scenes of uncontrolled violence as soldiers stood by without intervening. Government backers galloped in on horses and camels, only to be dragged to the ground and beaten bloody.

At the one of the fighting's front lines, next to the famed Egyptian Museum at the edge of Tahrir Square, pro-government rioters blanketed the rooftops of nearby buildings and dumped bricks and firebombs onto the crowd below — in the process setting a tree ablaze inside the museum grounds.

On the street, the two sides crouched behind abandoned trucks and pummeled each other with hurled chunks of concrete and bottles. Some among the more than 3,000 government supporters waved machetes as their anti-Mubarak rivals filled the air with a ringing battlefield din by banging metal fences with sticks.

The Health Ministry announced one dead — a soldier who fell off a nearby highway overpass — and more than 400 people injured. Bloodied young men staggered or were carried into makeshift clinics set up in mosques and alleyways by the anti-government side.

Protesters pleaded for protection from soldiers stationed at the square, who refused. Soldiers did nothing to stop the violence beyond firing an occasional shot in the air and no uniformed police were in sight. Some protesters wept and prayed in the square where around 10,000 had massed Wednesday morning and where only a day before they had held a joyous, peaceful rally of a quarter-million, the largest yet in more than a week of demonstrations demanding Mubarak leave power.

Protesters contended there were plainclothed police among their attackers, showing police ID badges they said were wrested off them. Others, they said, were paid by the regime to assault them — a tactic that security forces have used in the past.

47 Bangladeshis arrested in UK for working illegally - 31 January

Forty-seven Bangladeshi nationals were arrested in the UK in December and January as they were found working illegally during the British Border Agency-enforced operations.

“During the period, a Bangladeshi man has been jailed for 16 months in Scotland for facilitating the unlawful entry of migrants to the UK. He will be liable to deportation on release from prison,” the British High Commission said Monday.

The UK mission in a release said the 46 Bangladeshi men and one woman were found with other nationalities working illegally in widespread enforcement operations in England, Scotland and Wales over two months.

“They were apprehended in restaurants, takeaways, a food factory and a shop, and had committed a range of immigration offences, including staying in the UK after their visas expired, entering the UK illegally and working in breach of their visa conditions. Steps are being taken to return all those apprehended to Bangladesh.”

Fines of up to £10,000 will be imposed on the employers for every illegal worker found in their business, unless the employers can prove that they carried out the correct right-to-work checks on the employees.

Immigration Minister Damian Green said, “These operations are among many being carried out across the country following the success of a major crackdown on immigration crime during the summer 2010, which generated a large number of arrests, cash seizures, prosecutions and intelligence which the UK Border Agency is using to disrupt more of the activities of people involved in facilitating immigration crime.”

To justify the sweeping action the British minister said, “Illegal immigration puts huge pressure on public finances at a time when the country can least afford it. Together with the police and the Serious Organised Crime Agency we will continue to make life as difficult as possible for those who cheat the immigration system.”

In addition, a man was stopped at Birmingham airport when he attempted to use a forged document to pose as a student in order to work in the UK, Green said, adding that he was returned to Bangladesh where he lost his appeal against removal.

Damian Green said, “I believe attracting talented students from abroad is vital to the UK, but we must clamp down on abuse and be more selective about who can come here and how long they can stay. Too many students arriving to study at below-degree level have been coming here with a view to living and working, rather than studying. We need to stop this abuse.”

Demo against airport at Arial Beel Police-protesters clash leaves police officer killed, over 100 injured

A police official was killed and over 100 others injured as a massive demonstration against the proposed Bangabandhu International Airport at Arial Beel Monday erupted into rioting between law-enforcers and the protesters.

Sub-Inspector Motiur Rahman succumbed to his injuries on arrival at Mitford Hospital in the capital.

Additional SP Saiful Islam confirmed the death of the police SI and said, “The injured officer and others were rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and Mitford Hospital. SI Motiur died at Mitford. Of the injured, seven are in critical condition.”

Saiful Islam, however, claimed the situation in the area was brought under control with the help of the elite-force RAB at about 3:15 pm.

Earlier at 1pm, Nimtali Bridge area in Sirajdikhan upazila turned into a veritable battlefield as police and protesters locked into clashes during the blockade programme sponsored by Arial Beel Raksha Committee.

Witnesses said police used water cannon, fired teargas shells and bullets to disperse the demonstrating people.

Earlier in the morning, people wielding sticks swarmed out of villages onto the street and blockaded the Dhaka-Mawa Highway on a stretch of eight kilometers.

Shahjahan Badal and other leaders of the resistance committee said that scores of people were injured in police action.

Officer-in-Charge of Srinagar Police Station Sakhawat Hossain told banglanews that people blockaded the highway at about 10 am. They also vandalized vehicles, set fire to a motorcycle of a journalist and attacked some other journalists.

“Despite repeated request to calm down, the protesters attacked police with brick chips and sticks. Under the circumstances, police used tear shell and rubber bullets to bring the situation under control,” the OC said.

The committee made the announcement of the road-blockade plan last Thursday, as part of their ongoing protests against the selection of the airport site.

In a latest development, leader of the opposition and ex-PM Khaleda Zia expressed her BNP party’s solidarity with the movement of the locals against the massive scheme on transforming the vast water-body into an airport-cum-new city after the name of country’s founding father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Shops in Nimtali, Hasara and Srinagar areas remained closed in what looked like a hartal-like situation.

Security was beefed up on both sides of Dhaleswari Bridge and Keraniganj, Nimtali, Hasara and Srinagar areas.Earlier on December 27, some 30,000 people formed an 8-km-long human chain from Shologhar to Nimtali in Srinagar upazila on the same issue.

The process of acquiring land for constructing the planned Bangabandhu International Airport has begun, as the government moves to start at the soonest the massive construction works that are estimated to cost some Tk 50,000 crore.

Of the total 25,000-acre area, 10,895 acres of the wetlands are in Srinagar upazila of Munshiganj, and 7,017 acres in Nawabganj and 7,188 acres in Dohar of Dhaka.

Anti-Mubarak protesters dominate Cairo Protesters have taken over the centre of the Egyptian capital Cairo on the sixth day of demonstrations against

Protesters have taken over the centre of the Egyptian capital Cairo on the sixth day of demonstrations against the rule of President Hosni Mubarak.

The police, who have been involved in violent clashes with protesters in recent days, have largely disappeared from the streets.

There is a heavy military presence in the city, but soldiers are not intervening.
Meanwhile, al-Jazeera's broadcasts via an Egyptian satellite have been halted, the BBC reports.

The Egyptian government had earlier ordered the Arabic TV channel, which has been showing blanket coverage of the protests, to shut down its operations in the country.
Clashes between protesters and the security forces - mostly riot police - are reported to have left at least 100 people dead across Egypt since rallies began on Tuesday.

Thousands have been injured as violence has flared in cities including Cairo, Suez and Alexandria.

In Cairo, many protesters defied an overnight curfew to camp out in Tahrir (Liberation) Square, the focal point of the demonstrations in the city.

Chants of "Mubarak, Mubarak, the plane awaits" could be heard on Sunday morning, a reference to protesters' hopes that President Mubarak will step down and leave Egypt.
Many protesters once again climbed onto tanks and armoured vehicles around the square, with many soldiers apparently on friendly terms with the anti-Mubarak demonstrators.

Sunday is the start of the working week in the Middle East, but many businesses in the capital are closed. Internet access remains intermittent.

The BBC's Jeremy Bowen says that although key government buildings are under heavy guard, there appears to be a vacuum of authority in large areas of the city.
Throughout the city, armed citizens' groups have formed to respond to the widespread looting and disorder that has accompanied the growing sense of lawlessness.
Across Egypt, thousands of prisoners are reported to have escaped from jails after overpowering their guards.

TRAVEL ADVICE

Western leaders have urged President Mubarak to avoid violence and enact reforms.
Mr Mubarak has appointed a vice-president - intelligence chief Omar Suleiman - as he struggles to regain control. Aviation Minister Ahmed Shafiq has been appointed prime minister.

Sunday saw a number of Egyptian political movements issue a joint statement calling on leading opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei to form a transitional government.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his government is watching events in Egypt carefully, and hoping to maintain peaceful relations with its Arab neighbour.
The Rafah crossing between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip is closed, Palestinian officials say.

The US government, which previously had advised US citizens against non-essential travel to Egypt, is now advising Americans in Egypt to consider leaving the country as soon as possible.

The UK has advised against all but essential travel to Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor and Suez.

A number of other European countries have also advised against visiting the country.
The unrest in Egypt follows an uprising in Tunisia two weeks ago which toppled President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali after 23 years in power.

Apple begins iPad sales in India

Apple Inc's popular iPad tablets finally hit Indian stores on Friday, nearly 10 months after its US sales began, giving more options to customers in the world's fastest-growing mobile market that is also seeing a surge in sales of smartphones and other high-end devices.

Apple is selling the iPad through its authorised resellers and partner stores across the country, an India-based company spokesman told Reuters. Apple has priced the iPad in India between 27,900 rupees and 44,900 rupees ($612-$985), depending on the model.

The iPad model with 16 GB of memory that works only on Wi-Fi is priced at 27,900 rupees, while the one that can operate on both Wi-Fi as well as third-generation (3G) mobile networks costs 34,900 rupees.

Customers have the option to buy an iPad with 16, 32 or 64 GB of memory and can choose a model that works only on Wi-Fi or on both Wi-Fi and 3G.

The 64 GB iPad model that operates on both Wi-Fi and 3G costs 44,900 rupees, according to Apple's website. iPad India prices and details, click r.reuters.com/gag77r

Apple first introduced the iPad in January last year and began sales in April. The company shipped a total 14.79 million iPads as of Dec 25 last year and research firm iSuppli expects 36.5 million to be sold in 2011.

The India launch comes at a time when the company is expected to announce in weeks the next version of the iPad, known as iPad 2. Last month, Asian manufacturers sources told Reuters that Apple was working on a smaller iPad tablet with built-in cameras that could ship early this year.
The current iPad has a 9.7-inch screen.

Apple's iPad will compete in India with tablet computers from Samsung Electronics and Dell Inc who launched the devices in 2010. Samsung, which started selling its Galaxy Tab tablet computer in India in November last year, expected total industry tablet sales of 750,000 to 1 million units in one year.
India is the world's second biggest mobile market after China with 730 million mobile customers, but the price-sensitive market is still small in base for sales of smartphones.

($1=45.6 rupees)

Mubarak dismisses Egypt's government

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak refused on Saturday to bow demands that he resign, after ordering troops and tanks into cities in an attempt to quell an explosion of street protest against his 30-year rule.

Mubarak dismissed his government and called for national dialogue to avert chaos after a day of battles between police and protesters angry over poverty and autocratic rule.

Medical sources said at least 24 people had been killed and over a thousand injured in clashes in Cairo, Suez and Alexandria.

The unprecedented unrest has sent shock waves through the Middle East, where other autocratic rulers may face challenges, and unsettled global financial markets on Friday. US President Barack Obama said he had spoken with Mubarak and urged "concrete steps that advance the rights of the Egyptian people".

Demonstrators at first cheered tanks and armoured cars as they filed through Cairo and Suez, but the mood appeared to change. The army, deployed for the first time in four days of protests, cleared Cairo's Tahrir square towards midnight.

Shortly after Mubarak's speech, protesters drifted back in their hundreds, defying a curfew.

"It is not by setting fire and by attacking private and public property that we achieve the aspirations of Egypt and its sons, but they will be achieved through dialogue, awareness and effort," said Mubarak, in his first public appearance, on state television, since unrest broke out four days ago.

Shots were heard in the evening near parliament and the headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Party was in flames, the blaze lighting up the night sky. Cars were set alight and police posts torched.

US AID

Mubarak, long a close ally of Washington and beneficiary of US aid, has justified his autocratic style partly by citing a danger of Islamist militancy. The Muslim Brotherhood opposition, however, appears to have played little role in the unrest.

Mubarak made clear he had no intention to resign over the protests, triggered by the overthrow two weeks ago of Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Al Ben Ali. Street protests in Tunis focused on similar issues of poverty and political repression.

Demonstrations have also flared in Yemen.

"There will be new steps towards democracy and freedoms and new steps to face unemployment and increase the standard of living and services, and there will be new steps to help the poor and those with limited income," Mubarak said.

"There is a fine line between freedom and chaos and I lean towards freedom for the people in expressing their opinions as much as I hold on to the need to maintain Egypt's safety and stability," he added.

Obama also called on the Egyptian government to halt interference in access to the Internet, mobile phone service and Internet social networks that have been used by protesters.

"I want to be very clear in calling upon the Egyptian authorities to refrain from any violence against peaceful protesters," he said.

Anthony Skinner, Associate Director of political risk consultancy Maplecroft, said Mubarak's conduct was reminiscent of that of Ben Ali in his final days in power.

UNCHARTED TERRITORY

"Mubarak is showing he is still there for now and he is trying to deflect some of the force of the process away from himself by sacking the Cabinet.

"We will have to see how people react but I don't think it will be enough at all. I wouldn't want to put a number on his chances of survival -- we really are in uncharted territory."

Markets were hit by the uncertainty. US stocks suffered their biggest one-day loss in nearly six months, crude oil prices surged and the dollar and US Treasury debt gained as investors looked to safe havens.

"I think the next two to three weeks, the crisis in Egypt and potentially across the Middle East, might be an excuse for a big selloff of 5 to 10 percent," said Keith Wirtz, president and chief investment officer at Fifth Third Asset Management in Cincinnati, Ohio.


Many protesters are young men and women. Two thirds of Egypt's 80 million people are below 30 and many have no jobs. About 40 percent of Egyptians live on less than $2 a day.

Elections were due to be held in September and until now few had doubted that Mubarak would remain in control or bring in a successor in the shape of his 47-year-old son Gamal.