Eyeing holiday sales, more U.S. retailers to open on Thanksgiving
By Lisa Baertlein 2 hours ago
View galleryPeople shop at The Grove mall in Los Angeles November 26, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy NicholsonBy Lisa Baertlein(Reuters) – Macy’s Inc and a slew of other U.S. retailers are opening on Thanksgiving for the first time ever in a bare-knuckled brawl for a bigger slice of overall holiday sales.But it might not be so easy to lure most Americans from their turkey and football – particularly if the weather is foul.Department store rivals Kohl’s Corp and J.C. Penney Co Inc led a string of Thanksgiving opening announcements after Macy’s said it would open its U.S. stores on the popular holiday, ending a 155-year tradition.Sales trends, survey results and an online „Save Thanksgiving” backlash suggest that shoppers may resist the urge to splurge on the popular holiday.But with six fewer shopping days this year than in 2012, retailers who get nearly half of annual profits during winter holiday season are nibbling away at Thanksgiving.Target Corp, Best Buy Co Inc and Toys R Us are opening earlier on Thursday than they did last year.Kmart is opening at 6 a.m. and many will offer so-called doorbuster deals starting as early as 6 a.m. EST (1100 GMT) on Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, many Wal-Mart Stores Inc U.S. locations will be open all day with Thanksgiving specials offered beginning at 6 p.m.”The ones that are opening earlier are going to get more sales, but in the end, I don’t think the overall pie gets any bigger. It’s just a share gain,” said Brian Yarbrough, a retail analyst with Edward Jones.He also estimates that overall sales for November and December will be up 2.8 percent. That is more conservative than the 3.9 percent jump forecast by the National Retail Federation.The profit on those extra sales will depend on whether the eye-catching doorbuster sale prices are margin-squeezing loss leaders, analysts said.WEATHER EFFECT?The NRF expects up to 140 million shoppers to hit U.S. stores during the Thanksgiving weekend, slight more than the 139 million who turned out last year.A wintry blast of heavy rain, wind and snow across the eastern United States disrupted Thanksgiving travel plans for many on Wednesday, but colder temperatures and drier conditions from Thursday in many U.S. markets means limited impact to business over the big shopping weekend, said Evan Gold, senior vice president of client services at Planalytics.The storm „is providing some challenges for people to get to grandma’s house, but the reality is, from a business perspective, it’s the ideal scenario,” Gold said. „Everything’s going to clear out. It is going to be cold and dry which are the two things you want for foot traffic over Black Friday weekend.”At Macy’s flagship store in New York City, five hundred employees will be working on Thanksgiving Day. The store, two blocks from the Empire State Building and one of the Big Apple’s most visited tourist sites, will be open for 26 straight hours, starting on Thursday at 8 p.m. EST, spokeswoman Elina Kazan said.INCOME GAP-While U.S. home prices and stock market gains have many upper-income shoppers feeling more confident, data from ConsumerEdge Research’s tracking study indicates that there may have been a sharp pullback in consumer spending so far this month.Low-income shoppers, who often face dismal work prospects and struggle to make ends meet, have been hard hit this year by a reduction in government food stamp benefits.High earners are better off, but they are concerned about rising healthcare costs and the prospect of yet another U.S. government debt fight on Capitol Hill early next year. They also worry that home and stock prices may be topping out and that the job market may not see further gains.”They’re not rushing out on huge shopping sprees,” said ConsumerEdge analyst Peter Reidhead. „We’d be surprised if a strong upswing in December can offset the weak November results and the shorter shopping cycle.”A new survey from Deloitte suggests that fewer shoppers will hit stores on Thanksgiving and Black Friday this year versus last year.Among holiday weekend shoppers, 13 percent plan to shop in stores on Thanksgiving, down from 23 percent last year, according to the online survey of 1,000 consumers.Black Friday has for years been the official kickoff of holiday shopping season and is still is predicted by ShopperTrak to be this year’s biggest day of the season for sales and traffic. This year, 53 percent of survey respondents said they planned to shop the on the day after Thanksgiving – down from 63 percent in 2013.Holiday weekend shoppers also said they planned to split their budget evenly between online and in-store purchases.”Thanksgiving is the fastest growing day for e-commerce during the holiday season,” said Andrew Lipsman, comScore’s vice president of marketing and insights. „There is a broader cultural norm where people feel it’s OK to shop on Thanksgiving.”(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles, Dhanya Skariachan, Phil Wahba and Marina Lopes in New York)Americans mark Thanksgiving Day with travel, parades, shopping
By Barbara Goldberg 7 hours ago
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By Barbara GoldbergNEW YORK (Reuters) – Millions of Americans will gather on Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving – stuffing turkeys for feasts, braving high winds along parade routes and planning for the holiday shopping madness as soon as the pumpkin pies have been gobbled up.Nose-diving morning temperatures that are expected after a rainy, snowy evening along the East Coast may make for slick conditions during one of the nation’s busiest travel times.In New York City, the threat of high winds could ground Snoopy, Sonic the Hedgehog and other giant helium balloons in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. City regulations prohibit them from flying when sustained winds top 23 miles per hour (37 km per hour), and gusts exceed 34 mph.The 87th year of the parade has proved to be among its most controversial with rocker musician Joan Jett, who is a vegetarian and animal-rights activist, moved off the South Dakota tourism float – but still in the parade – after cattle ranchers complained.The parade, expected to be viewed by 50 million people on television and some 3 million more along its route through Manhattan, still includes SeaWorld’s float despite an outcry over keeping orcas in captivity by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the animal-rights group.View gallery.”
Justin Felix, 6, eats a slice of pumpkin pie at the Los Angeles Mission on skid row for an early Tha …In an extremely rare coincidence this year, Thanksgiving overlaps with the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, sparking the nickname Thanksgivukkah and adding to some dinner tables a turkey-shaped menorah – called a Menurkey – designed by an enterprising 10-year-old boy, Asher Weintraub of New York.In complicated calculations of the Gregorian and Jewish calendars, the two holidays will not fall on the same day again until 2070, according to the Jewish website Chabad.org.In another first, some retailers are opening on Thanksgiving evening to offer the earliest „Black Friday” shopping deals ever. About 140 million people are expected to shop over the four-day weekend, traditionally the start of the holiday shopping season, according to the National Retail Federation.That move has prompted protests and an online petition drive by critics who say it takes workers away from their families on the holiday.With 43 million Americans expected to make trips over the long holiday weekend, according to travel group AAA, a wintry blast of heavy rain, wind and snow across the eastern United States that started on Wednesday snarled roadways and airports.View gallery.”
Travelers wait to board a train at Pennsylvania Station in New York November 27, 2013. A wintry blas …Even after arriving safely, families may find new challenges in the kitchen this holiday. Butterball LLC, for the first time has reported a shortage of large, fresh turkeys and the cause of the deficiency is under investigation, company spokeswoman Megan Downey said in an email message.Perhaps the biggest surprise this Thanksgiving is the upending of two common perceptions about turkeys and men.Butterball conducted research and found 84 percent of men take part in Thanksgiving meal preparation.More surprising, it found when it comes to cooking the holiday bird and its trimmings, men are more likely than women to ask for directions.(Additional reporting by Curtis Skinner, Elizabeth Dilts and Ian Simpson; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Maureen Bavdek)Congress wary, but unlikely to blow up Obama’s Iran deal
By Olivier Knox, Yahoo News November 26, 2013 5:34 AM
View galleryFrom left, British Foreign Secretary William Hague, Germany’s Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius gather at the United Nations Palais, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2013, in Geneva, Switzerland. A deal has been reached between six world powers and Iran that calls on Tehran to limit its nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief, the French and Iranian foreign ministers said early Sunday. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, Pool)Congress didn’t exactly sound the trumpets and roll out the red carpet for President Barack Obama’s fragile interim deal with Iran — but it’s increasingly clear that lawmakers don’t want to blow it up with new sanctions, either.Instead, wary members seem set to adopt the same approach Obama has taken to Iran’s nuclear commitments — in the words of Ronald Reagan, “Trust, but verify.”“The administration has gotten what it wants: Space for negotiations. And it will continue to get what it wants: Space. But not without consequences or repercussions if Iran breaks faith,” a top Democratic aide close to the process told Yahoo News.Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid appeared to put on the brakes on Monday when he reversed course on his previously strong message of support for toughening economic sanctions on Iran.“The Senate must be prepared to move forward with a new bipartisan Iran sanctions bill, when the Senate returns after Thanksgiving recess. And I am committed to do so,” Reid had said Thursday. The wily Nevada lawmaker had notably endorsed the idea of new sanctions targeting Iran’s oil sector.Come Monday, Reid sounded a lot more cautious.“I said when we come back, we will take a look at this to see if we need stronger sanctions,” he told NPR’s Diane Rehm.Reid said he would task Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson, D-S.D., and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez, D-N.J., with examining the interim deal announced late Saturday.“They will study this, they will hold hearings if necessary, and if we need work on this, if we need stronger sanctions, I am sure we will do that,” Reid said. “We will move forward appropriately.”What would “appropriately” look like? Some congressional Republicans expressed profound skepticism that Reid would do anything the White House opposes, with one saying that would amount to a “black eye” for an already weakened president.“We do not think there should be new sanctions passed during the course of the negotiations,” an administration official told reporters on a conference call Monday.If Iran refuses to implement any part of the interim deal, “it’s not going to be difficult to pass sanctions,” the official said. “So there’s no urgency to get a piece of legislation passed now … that hammer can drop at a moment’s notice.”But other sources inside Congress and the administration played down prospects that lawmakers would do nothing. It’s virtually a foregone conclusion that Secretary of State John Kerry and other senior diplomats will be called to justify the arrangement and provide frequent updates on Iranian compliance.And legislation is far from ruled out. Congress is looking at options, such as new sanctions that don’t go into effect until the interim agreement’s six-month lifespan slips by without a comprehensive deal — or unless Iran fails to implement any key aspect of the deal.That approach appears to have found favor with the powerful American Israel Political Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which pressed Congress to adopt new sanctions “so that Iran will face immediate consequences should it renege on its commitments or refuse to negotiate an acceptable final agreement.”To make things a bit easier on the White House, new punitive measures also could come with potent presidential “waiver” powers that would let Obama set them aside under some circumstances. And lawmakers could agree to hold off on sanctions in return for frequent, formal updates from the administration on Iran’s compliance with some as yet undefined benchmarks.“I don’t really see a way where nothing happens,” said the anonymous Democratic aide. “Congress will hope for the best but prepare for the worst, but we will not detonate — maybe an unfortunate choice of words — detonate the negotiations.”That note of caution also echoed through the first formal public reaction from Menendez, who has not hesitated to call out the administration for being insufficiently tough on Iran.”I expect that the forthcoming sanctions legislation to be considered by the Senate will provide for a six-month window to reach a final agreement before imposing new sanctions on Iran, but will at the same time be immediately available should the talks falter or Iran fail to implement or breach the interim agreement,” he said.(Obama likes to claim credit for toughening sanctions on Iran, but back on Dec. 1, 2011, Menendez sharply scolded the administration for its “outrageous” attempts to water down a measure aimed at tightening the economic vise on Iran. “You have rebuffed it every step of the way,” Menendez scolded top diplomat Wendy Sherman, Obama’s point person on the Iran dossier. The legislation passed and Obama signed it into law.)“I think you’ll have sanctions coming out in the next couple of weeks, actually, that will be bipartisan and tie the sanctions to the endgame,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R.-S.C., told CNN.On the House side, plenty of lawmakers have called for fresh legislation — but Republican House Speaker John Boehner’s reaction to news of the deal was a measured pledge to bring “healthy skepticism and hard questions” to oversight of the accord. Boehner, who controls the House schedule, made no mention of new sanctions.If somehow the delicate balancing act fails, “the president obviously has a possibility of a veto,” Kerry told reporters when the deal was announced.“But I don’t think it should come to that. We don’t want it to come to that,” he added. “I believe Congress will see the wisdom of pursuing this.”Obama phones Saudi King Abdullah about Iran nuclear deal: White House
View galleryU.S. President Barack Obama speaks to workers on the economy at DreamWorks Animation in Glendale, California …
13 hours ago
View galleryU.S. President Barack Obama speaks to workers on the economy at DreamWorks Animation in Glendale, California …WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama phoned Saudi King Abdullah on Wednesday to discuss the interim deal between Iran and six world powers to curb Tehran’s nuclear program, and emphasized that it will be important for Iran to follow through on commitments made in the deal, the White House said.Obama and the king agreed to talk regularly as negotiations continue on a longer-term agreement „that would resolve the international community’s concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear program,” the White House said.Saudi Arabia had given its qualified approval to the deal earlier this week.(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Eric Walsh)
Obamacare small business online sign-up delayed
View galleryA man looks over the Affordable Care Act (commonly known as Obamacare) signup page on the HealthCare.gov website in New York in this October 2, 2013 photo illustration. Regardless of how smoothly the Obama administration can make HealthCare.gov work, some Americans who want health coverage by Jan. 1 might not be able to get it. The problem, according to insurance industry officials, is that the administration is behind schedule building the computer program needed to help insurers verify consumers’ information against government enrollment records from the new online Obamacare marketplaces. REUTERS/Mike Segar/Files (UNITED STATES – Tags: HEALTH SOCIETY POLITICS)In another bit of bad news for Americans seeking coverage under Obamacare, President Barack Obama’s administration on Tuesday announced a yearlong delay of online sign-ups for some small businesses seeking coverage for their employees under his signature health care law.The delay, which runs through 2014, affects employers who would have gone through the badly troubled HealthCare.gov web site because they operate in states where the federal government runs health insurance marketplaces known as exchanges, according to an official at the Department of Health and Human Services.The announcement, unveiled with millions of Americans on the road for the Thanksgiving holiday, came just days before the administration’s self-imposed Nov. 30 deadline for making sure that the website works for “the vast majority” of those trying to use it.“For 2014, small employers will use ‘direct enrollment’ rather than HealthCare.gov in states where the federal government is running the Marketplace,” the HHS official said on condition of anonymity. “This means they will enroll their employees in coverage through an agent, broker, or insurer that offers a certified SHOP plan, the same way most businesses get coverage today. This allows small employers to sign up for coverage through offline enrollment while CMS works on creating a smoothly functioning online experience in the SHOP Marketplace.”SHOP refers to the Small Business Health Options Program, which has seen its online enrollment pushed back before. Politico first reported the news.Republicans pounced. “With each passing day, it’s clear how much worse ObamaCare is than a website full of glitches,” said Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus. „It’s time we stop delaying pieces of ObamaCare and instead scrap it and start over with common sense reforms.”
By Olivier Knox, Yahoo News 18 hours ago
View galleryA man looks over the Affordable Care Act (commonly known as Obamacare) signup page on the HealthCare.gov website in New York in this October 2, 2013 photo illustration. Regardless of how smoothly the Obama administration can make HealthCare.gov work, some Americans who want health coverage by Jan. 1 might not be able to get it. The problem, according to insurance industry officials, is that the administration is behind schedule building the computer program needed to help insurers verify consumers’ information against government enrollment records from the new online Obamacare marketplaces. REUTERS/Mike Segar/Files (UNITED STATES – Tags: HEALTH SOCIETY POLITICS)In another bit of bad news for Americans seeking coverage under Obamacare, President Barack Obama’s administration on Tuesday announced a yearlong delay of online sign-ups for some small businesses seeking coverage for their employees under his signature health care law.The delay, which runs through 2014, affects employers who would have gone through the badly troubled HealthCare.gov web site because they operate in states where the federal government runs health insurance marketplaces known as exchanges, according to an official at the Department of Health and Human Services.The announcement, unveiled with millions of Americans on the road for the Thanksgiving holiday, came just days before the administration’s self-imposed Nov. 30 deadline for making sure that the website works for “the vast majority” of those trying to use it.“For 2014, small employers will use ‘direct enrollment’ rather than HealthCare.gov in states where the federal government is running the Marketplace,” the HHS official said on condition of anonymity. “This means they will enroll their employees in coverage through an agent, broker, or insurer that offers a certified SHOP plan, the same way most businesses get coverage today. This allows small employers to sign up for coverage through offline enrollment while CMS works on creating a smoothly functioning online experience in the SHOP Marketplace.”SHOP refers to the Small Business Health Options Program, which has seen its online enrollment pushed back before. Politico first reported the news.Republicans pounced. “With each passing day, it’s clear how much worse ObamaCare is than a website full of glitches,” said Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus. „It’s time we stop delaying pieces of ObamaCare and instead scrap it and start over with common sense reforms.”U.S. affirms support for Japan in islands dispute with China
View galleryJapan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s PC3 surveillance plane flies around the disputed islands in the East …By Mark Felsenthal and David AlexanderWASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States pledged support for ally Japan on Wednesday in a growing dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea and senior U.S. administration officials accused Beijing of behavior that had unsettled its neighbors.U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel assured his Japanese counterpart in a phone call that the two nations’ defense pact covered the small islands where China established a new airspace defense zone last week and commended Tokyo „for exercising appropriate restraint,” a Pentagon spokesman said.China’s declaration raised the stakes in a territorial standoff between Beijing and Tokyo over the area, which includes the tiny uninhabited islands known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.The United States defied China’s demand that airplanes flying near the islands identify themselves to Chinese authorities, flying two unarmed B-52 bombers over the islands on Tuesday without informing Beijing.It was a sharp reminder to China that the United States still maintains a large military presence in the region despite concerns among U.S. allies that President Barack Obama’s „pivot to Asia” strategy has borne little fruit.In a previously announced trip, Vice President Joe Biden will visit China, Japan and South Korea next week. He will seek to ease tensions heightened by China’s declaration, senior administration officials said.Washington does not take a position on the sovereignty of the islands but recognizes that Tokyo has administrative control over them and the United States is therefore bound to defend Japan in the event of an armed conflict.Some experts say the Chinese move was aimed at eroding Tokyo’s claim to administrative control over the area.View gallery.”
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden walks on top of the lock gates during a visit to the Miraflores Locks …China’s Defense Ministry said it had monitored the U.S. bombers on Tuesday. A Pentagon spokesman said the planes had not been observed or contacted by Chinese aircraft.‘FRICTION AND UNCERTAINTY’-In a conference call with reporters, senior U.S. administration officials said China’s declaration raised serious concerns about its intentions.”It causes friction and uncertainty, it constitutes a unilateral change to the status quo in the region, a region that’s already fraught. And it increases the risk of miscalculation and accidents,” one of the officials said.China’s declaration of a defense zone affects not only Japan but aircraft from other countries throughout the world that routinely fly over the area.The U.S. government has advised U.S. airlines to take necessary steps to operate safely over the East China Sea.State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States was trying to determine whether China’s new rules apply to commercial airlines in addition to military aircraft.Asked whether U.S. carriers would advise Chinese officials of their flight plans, Psaki said, „I wouldn’t go that far, we’re still looking at it.”Biden will raise the issue of the defense zone directly with policymakers in Beijing, the official said. „It also allows the vice president to make the broader point that there’s an emerging pattern of behavior that is unsettling to China’s own neighbors.”The official said it raised questions about „how China operates in international space and how China deals with areas of disagreement with its neighbors.”The Pentagon signaled that more military flights into the defense zone claimed by China can be expected.Colonel Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, told Reuters, „We’ll continue to conduct operations in the region, as we have” in the past. He declined to offer details on timing.In addition to the U.S. B-52 flights on Tuesday, flights of Japan’s main airline similarly ignored Chinese authorities while flying through the zone.Japan Airlines and ANA Holdings said they had stopped giving flight plans and other information to Chinese authorities following a request from the Japanese government.Both said they had not experienced any problems when passing through the zone. Japan’s aviation industry association said it had concluded there was no threat to passenger safety by ignoring the Chinese demands, JAL said.(Reporting by Mark Felsenthal, David Alexander, Phil Stewart and Lesley Wroughton; Writing by Jim Loney and Alistair Bell; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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VIENNA (AP) — After keeping away inspectors for two years, Iran has invited the U.N. nuclear agency to a facility linked to a still unfinished reactor that could produce enough plutonium for up to two warheads a year, the agency’s head said Thursday.The invitation to visit the heavy water plant in the central city of Arak on Dec. 8 comes less than a week after a landmark nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers to freeze its nuclear program for six months in return for limited relief from economic sanctions.The invite is not part of the six-power deal. But it shows Tehran is starting to comply with separate commitments to open previously off-limits sites to inspectors of the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency.The status of the Arak plant had been one of the major issues during negotiations leading to last weekend’s agreement in Geneva.Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Wednesday some construction will continue at Arak. When completed, Arak could produce plutonium which could be used for nuclear weapons, although Iran insists its program is entirely for peaceful purposes such as producing electricity, and for scientific and medical research.
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.Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – On a sweltering November afternoon, 10-year-old Alaa skips barefoot along a road in Gaza City picking up festering bags of rubbish and throwing them onto his father’s donkey-drawn cart.This has become the face of rubbish collection in Gaza since a critical fuel shortage has idled all the regular rubbish trucks, leaving the job to those with a slightly more primitive form of transportation.For 55-year-old Mahmud Abu Jabal, it is a seemingly endless battle to clear away the mounds of rubbish which are rapidly amassing in streets across Gaza.At any other time, the traffic police would ensure he keeps away from the middle of the road to allow cars to pass, but he now has free reign to go where he pleases.People like Abu Jabal, who own a donkey and cart, are being increasingly relied on by Gaza’s Islamist Hamas government as the fuel crisis worsens.”In the past few days there’s been more pressure on us and more rubbish collecting work,” he told AFP.View gallery.”
Palestinian workers use a donkey cart to collect rubbish from the Yarmuk waste dump in Gaza City, on …”At first we were tasked with picking up the rubbish outside the hospital, but now we’ve had to take collections from outside people’s homes as well.”It may be a crisis for the impoverished Palestinian enclave but, for him, it’s an opportunity to work he would not otherwise get.”If not for the fuel crisis, there wouldn’t be this work opportunity,” he says, explaining that the authorities are paying him a monthly wage of 700 shekels (around $200/145 euros).”It really isn’t enough to feed my entire family of 12 and look after the donkey, but it’s better than nothing,” he shrugs.On November 1, Hamas’s energy authority announced that Gaza’s sole power plant, which supplies 30 percent of the Strip’s electricity needs, had stopped working because there was not enough fuel to power it.View gallery.”
Palestinian workers use a donkey cart to collect rubbish from the Yarmuk waste dump in Gaza City, on …But it was only on Sunday that Hamas announced that the regular bin lorries would also stop working.”Dustbin lorries have stopped doing their rounds, during which they were gathering 1,700 tonnes of garbage per day throughout Gaza,” municipalities minister Mohammed al-Fira told a news conference.Since then, the Strip has been relying on some 430 horse- or donkey-drawn carts to keep the streets clean, with around 500 workers getting up at dawn to collect the rubbish and take it to temporary dumps.Fira warned that the growing mountain of rubbish was likely to pose a health risk to Gaza’s 1.7 million residents.Worst fuel crisis everView gallery.”
A taxi crosses the bridge over garbage and sewage in Wadi Gaza, a low-lying farming area south of Ga …Gaza is suffering the most serious fuel crisis in its history, causing daily power outages of up to 16 hours.Hospitals, water and sanitation plants, businesses and private homes are all being hit.Hamas has blamed the power outage on Egypt’s destruction of cross-border tunnels used for bringing in diesel and has also accused the Western-backed Palestinian Authority of charging inflated prices for fuel.Since early 2011, the smuggling tunnels have been the main source for the supply of fuel to the enclave, according to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA.That supply almost completely dried up this summer after the Egyptian army began demolishing the tunnels in earnest following its overthrow in July of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, rapidly souring relations between Hamas and Cairo.View gallery.”Palestinian workers use a donkey cart to collect rubbish from the Yarmuk waste dump in Gaza City, on …”It is estimated that in November, less than 20,000 litres of fuel per week entered Gaza via the tunnels, compared with nearly 1 million litres per day until June 2013,” said an OCHA update on the situation.”Fuel is needed immediately to restore the operation of critical services, most urgently health and WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) facilities,” it said.On the streets, meanwhile, Gazans are simply doing what they can to get by as the filth accumulates.School teacher Rim Abu Safiya told AFP she was afraid to let her students anywhere the stinking heap of garbage outside the school gates.”I’m afraid the kids will catch some nasty illness,” she said. „It’s extremely unhygienic.”Gaza City’s health and environment director, Abdel Rahim Abu al-Qumbaz, said the situation was deteriorating.”Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of rubbish now litter Gaza’s streets,” he told AFP.”There are more flies than I’ve ever seen in my life.”
By Mark Felsenthal and David Alexander 9 hours ago
View galleryJapan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s PC3 surveillance plane flies around the disputed islands in the East …By Mark Felsenthal and David AlexanderWASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States pledged support for ally Japan on Wednesday in a growing dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea and senior U.S. administration officials accused Beijing of behavior that had unsettled its neighbors.U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel assured his Japanese counterpart in a phone call that the two nations’ defense pact covered the small islands where China established a new airspace defense zone last week and commended Tokyo „for exercising appropriate restraint,” a Pentagon spokesman said.China’s declaration raised the stakes in a territorial standoff between Beijing and Tokyo over the area, which includes the tiny uninhabited islands known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.The United States defied China’s demand that airplanes flying near the islands identify themselves to Chinese authorities, flying two unarmed B-52 bombers over the islands on Tuesday without informing Beijing.It was a sharp reminder to China that the United States still maintains a large military presence in the region despite concerns among U.S. allies that President Barack Obama’s „pivot to Asia” strategy has borne little fruit.In a previously announced trip, Vice President Joe Biden will visit China, Japan and South Korea next week. He will seek to ease tensions heightened by China’s declaration, senior administration officials said.Washington does not take a position on the sovereignty of the islands but recognizes that Tokyo has administrative control over them and the United States is therefore bound to defend Japan in the event of an armed conflict.Some experts say the Chinese move was aimed at eroding Tokyo’s claim to administrative control over the area.View gallery.”U.S. Vice President Joe Biden walks on top of the lock gates during a visit to the Miraflores Locks …China’s Defense Ministry said it had monitored the U.S. bombers on Tuesday. A Pentagon spokesman said the planes had not been observed or contacted by Chinese aircraft.‘FRICTION AND UNCERTAINTY’-In a conference call with reporters, senior U.S. administration officials said China’s declaration raised serious concerns about its intentions.”It causes friction and uncertainty, it constitutes a unilateral change to the status quo in the region, a region that’s already fraught. And it increases the risk of miscalculation and accidents,” one of the officials said.China’s declaration of a defense zone affects not only Japan but aircraft from other countries throughout the world that routinely fly over the area.The U.S. government has advised U.S. airlines to take necessary steps to operate safely over the East China Sea.State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States was trying to determine whether China’s new rules apply to commercial airlines in addition to military aircraft.Asked whether U.S. carriers would advise Chinese officials of their flight plans, Psaki said, „I wouldn’t go that far, we’re still looking at it.”Biden will raise the issue of the defense zone directly with policymakers in Beijing, the official said. „It also allows the vice president to make the broader point that there’s an emerging pattern of behavior that is unsettling to China’s own neighbors.”The official said it raised questions about „how China operates in international space and how China deals with areas of disagreement with its neighbors.”The Pentagon signaled that more military flights into the defense zone claimed by China can be expected.Colonel Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, told Reuters, „We’ll continue to conduct operations in the region, as we have” in the past. He declined to offer details on timing.In addition to the U.S. B-52 flights on Tuesday, flights of Japan’s main airline similarly ignored Chinese authorities while flying through the zone.Japan Airlines and ANA Holdings said they had stopped giving flight plans and other information to Chinese authorities following a request from the Japanese government.Both said they had not experienced any problems when passing through the zone. Japan’s aviation industry association said it had concluded there was no threat to passenger safety by ignoring the Chinese demands, JAL said.(Reporting by Mark Felsenthal, David Alexander, Phil Stewart and Lesley Wroughton; Writing by Jim Loney and Alistair Bell; Editing by Peter Cooney)Iran invites UN experts to Arak heavy water plant
By GEORGE JAHN 9 minutes ago
View gallery VIENNA (AP) — After keeping away inspectors for two years, Iran has invited the U.N. nuclear agency to a facility linked to a still unfinished reactor that could produce enough plutonium for up to two warheads a year, the agency’s head said Thursday.The invitation to visit the heavy water plant in the central city of Arak on Dec. 8 comes less than a week after a landmark nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers to freeze its nuclear program for six months in return for limited relief from economic sanctions.The invite is not part of the six-power deal. But it shows Tehran is starting to comply with separate commitments to open previously off-limits sites to inspectors of the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency.The status of the Arak plant had been one of the major issues during negotiations leading to last weekend’s agreement in Geneva.Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Wednesday some construction will continue at Arak. When completed, Arak could produce plutonium which could be used for nuclear weapons, although Iran insists its program is entirely for peaceful purposes such as producing electricity, and for scientific and medical research.Iran had scheduled completion for next year, a timetable described by experts as too ambitious.View gallery.”
FILE – In this Sunday, Nov. 24, 2013, file photo released by the Iranian Students News Agency, ISNA, …U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Zarif’s comments didn’t constitute a violation of the agreement, even though Iran effectively pledged to freeze advancement at the facility.Iran’s decision to allow inspectors to visit the Arak heavy water plant was announced by IAEA chief Yukiya Amano to the agency’s 35-nation board. It will enable inspectors to get a clearer picture of how far work has advanced at that site.IAEA employees have had some access to the reactor, 250 kilometers (150 miles) southwest of Tehran. But they haven’t been able to inspect the plant on the same site since 2011. Heavy water helps control nuclear activity of the fuel rods used in some reactor types.Beyond commitments on the Arak reactor under the Geneva nuclear deal, Iran also agreed to limit uranium enrichment. It pledged to stop enriching uranium to a stage that is only a technical step away from concentration needed to arm nuclear warheads and to keep its stockpile of lower enriched uranium from expanding.A senior Iranian official said Thursday that Iran would increase its low-level uranium enrichment. Iranian nuclear chief Ali Akhbar Salehi told the IRNA news agency that centrifuges previously used for higher-level enrichment would now be turned to produce low-enriched uranium.He didn’t elaborate. But the Geneva deal doesn’t prohibit Iran from making more enriched uranium. It stipulates only that all newly-produced material must be turned into oxide, which is difficult to reconvert.Amano’s agency will expand its monitoring of Iran as part of the Geneva deal to make sure Tehran lives up to its commitments.Diplomats told The Associated Press on Wednesday the agency probably won’t be in a position to start on that role until January. While giving no dates, Amano indirectly confirmed some delays, telling the meeting Thursday that implementation will „take some time.”
Donkeys turn binmen as Gaza fuel crisis bites
By Adel Zaanoun 3 hours ago
View gallery .Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – On a sweltering November afternoon, 10-year-old Alaa skips barefoot along a road in Gaza City picking up festering bags of rubbish and throwing them onto his father’s donkey-drawn cart.This has become the face of rubbish collection in Gaza since a critical fuel shortage has idled all the regular rubbish trucks, leaving the job to those with a slightly more primitive form of transportation.For 55-year-old Mahmud Abu Jabal, it is a seemingly endless battle to clear away the mounds of rubbish which are rapidly amassing in streets across Gaza.At any other time, the traffic police would ensure he keeps away from the middle of the road to allow cars to pass, but he now has free reign to go where he pleases.People like Abu Jabal, who own a donkey and cart, are being increasingly relied on by Gaza’s Islamist Hamas government as the fuel crisis worsens.”In the past few days there’s been more pressure on us and more rubbish collecting work,” he told AFP.View gallery.”Palestinian workers use a donkey cart to collect rubbish from the Yarmuk waste dump in Gaza City, on …”At first we were tasked with picking up the rubbish outside the hospital, but now we’ve had to take collections from outside people’s homes as well.”It may be a crisis for the impoverished Palestinian enclave but, for him, it’s an opportunity to work he would not otherwise get.”If not for the fuel crisis, there wouldn’t be this work opportunity,” he says, explaining that the authorities are paying him a monthly wage of 700 shekels (around $200/145 euros).”It really isn’t enough to feed my entire family of 12 and look after the donkey, but it’s better than nothing,” he shrugs.On November 1, Hamas’s energy authority announced that Gaza’s sole power plant, which supplies 30 percent of the Strip’s electricity needs, had stopped working because there was not enough fuel to power it.View gallery.”Palestinian workers use a donkey cart to collect rubbish from the Yarmuk waste dump in Gaza City, on …But it was only on Sunday that Hamas announced that the regular bin lorries would also stop working.”Dustbin lorries have stopped doing their rounds, during which they were gathering 1,700 tonnes of garbage per day throughout Gaza,” municipalities minister Mohammed al-Fira told a news conference.Since then, the Strip has been relying on some 430 horse- or donkey-drawn carts to keep the streets clean, with around 500 workers getting up at dawn to collect the rubbish and take it to temporary dumps.Fira warned that the growing mountain of rubbish was likely to pose a health risk to Gaza’s 1.7 million residents.Worst fuel crisis everView gallery.”A taxi crosses the bridge over garbage and sewage in Wadi Gaza, a low-lying farming area south of Ga …Gaza is suffering the most serious fuel crisis in its history, causing daily power outages of up to 16 hours.Hospitals, water and sanitation plants, businesses and private homes are all being hit.Hamas has blamed the power outage on Egypt’s destruction of cross-border tunnels used for bringing in diesel and has also accused the Western-backed Palestinian Authority of charging inflated prices for fuel.Since early 2011, the smuggling tunnels have been the main source for the supply of fuel to the enclave, according to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA.That supply almost completely dried up this summer after the Egyptian army began demolishing the tunnels in earnest following its overthrow in July of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, rapidly souring relations between Hamas and Cairo.View gallery.”Palestinian workers use a donkey cart to collect rubbish from the Yarmuk waste dump in Gaza City, on …”It is estimated that in November, less than 20,000 litres of fuel per week entered Gaza via the tunnels, compared with nearly 1 million litres per day until June 2013,” said an OCHA update on the situation.”Fuel is needed immediately to restore the operation of critical services, most urgently health and WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) facilities,” it said.On the streets, meanwhile, Gazans are simply doing what they can to get by as the filth accumulates.School teacher Rim Abu Safiya told AFP she was afraid to let her students anywhere the stinking heap of garbage outside the school gates.”I’m afraid the kids will catch some nasty illness,” she said. „It’s extremely unhygienic.”Gaza City’s health and environment director, Abdel Rahim Abu al-Qumbaz, said the situation was deteriorating.”Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of rubbish now litter Gaza’s streets,” he told AFP.”There are more flies than I’ve ever seen in my life.”As EU leaders meet, no deal with Ukraine for now
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VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — As leaders of the European Union gather for a summit discussing the bloc’s eastern expansion, both EU and Ukrainian officials said Thursday the suspension of talks on closer ties could still be revived after the two-day meeting.Faced with pressure from Russia, Ukraine’s leaders last week shelved plans for further integration with the EU, sparking massive protests at home setting back EU plans to pry a nation of 46 million people loose from Moscow’s orbit. Russia would like Kiev to join a separate union that aims to rival the EU.The association agreement with Ukraine, with its provisions for closer trade ties, was supposed to be the signature event of the two-day summit in this former Soviet republic — now an EU member — and a clear indication the EU was pushing its geopolitical clout ever more eastward, right up to the Russian border.Instead, the formal initialing of similar agreements with another two former Soviet republics, Georgia and Moldova, with populations of 4.5 million and 3.6 million respectively, will have to do as a possible summit highlight.Pat Cox, the former European Parliament president who is now leading an EU monitoring mission in Ukraine, said that „Ukraine, as a sovereign state, is entitled to say ‘yes,’ ‘no’ or ‘maybe’ — and it seems to be ‘maybe’ at the moment.”Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister, Serhiy Arbuzov, indicated that the suspension of the signature of a far-reaching association agreement was not final.View gallery.”
From left, European Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Fuele, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskai …”My presence here means that we continue to work, are ready to meet and look for solutions,” Arbuzov, a staunch ally of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, said, according to the Interfax news agency.”I am sure that we will find a solution,” he said Thursday, adding that his country „needs Europe, a European course.”Thousands of people have kept up daily protests in Ukraine’s capital against Yanukovych’s decision to drop further EU integration for closer ties with Russia. It was mass popular protests in 2004, known as the Orange Revolution, that brought down Yanukovych, and he is wary of a repeat of the same scenario now.Analysts believe that Yanukovych is trying to play both sides, while attempting to secure a better short-term deal with Moscow.”The Yanukovych line at Vilnius seems to be to play for time-keep options open, and come away with something which he can then use in negotiations with Russia likely next week over a gas-financing deal,” said Tim Ash, chief emerging-markets economist at Standard Bank in London.View gallery.”
Former European Parliament President and EU-Ukraine mediator Pat Cox, center left, stands with Ukrai …”He probably hopes he can get enough ‘warm words’ from EU leaders in terms of the EU integration process to calm the mood on the streets, and take momentum out of street demonstrations,” Ash said.The EU itself seems resigned to play the waiting game.EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said he is „ready to resume the preparations for the signature of the association agreement as soon as Ukraine is ready.”___Follow Raf Casert on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/rcasert
By MARIA DANILOVA and RAF CASERT 2 hours ago
View gallery VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — As leaders of the European Union gather for a summit discussing the bloc’s eastern expansion, both EU and Ukrainian officials said Thursday the suspension of talks on closer ties could still be revived after the two-day meeting.Faced with pressure from Russia, Ukraine’s leaders last week shelved plans for further integration with the EU, sparking massive protests at home setting back EU plans to pry a nation of 46 million people loose from Moscow’s orbit. Russia would like Kiev to join a separate union that aims to rival the EU.The association agreement with Ukraine, with its provisions for closer trade ties, was supposed to be the signature event of the two-day summit in this former Soviet republic — now an EU member — and a clear indication the EU was pushing its geopolitical clout ever more eastward, right up to the Russian border.Instead, the formal initialing of similar agreements with another two former Soviet republics, Georgia and Moldova, with populations of 4.5 million and 3.6 million respectively, will have to do as a possible summit highlight.Pat Cox, the former European Parliament president who is now leading an EU monitoring mission in Ukraine, said that „Ukraine, as a sovereign state, is entitled to say ‘yes,’ ‘no’ or ‘maybe’ — and it seems to be ‘maybe’ at the moment.”Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister, Serhiy Arbuzov, indicated that the suspension of the signature of a far-reaching association agreement was not final.View gallery.”From left, European Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Fuele, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskai …”My presence here means that we continue to work, are ready to meet and look for solutions,” Arbuzov, a staunch ally of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, said, according to the Interfax news agency.”I am sure that we will find a solution,” he said Thursday, adding that his country „needs Europe, a European course.”Thousands of people have kept up daily protests in Ukraine’s capital against Yanukovych’s decision to drop further EU integration for closer ties with Russia. It was mass popular protests in 2004, known as the Orange Revolution, that brought down Yanukovych, and he is wary of a repeat of the same scenario now.Analysts believe that Yanukovych is trying to play both sides, while attempting to secure a better short-term deal with Moscow.”The Yanukovych line at Vilnius seems to be to play for time-keep options open, and come away with something which he can then use in negotiations with Russia likely next week over a gas-financing deal,” said Tim Ash, chief emerging-markets economist at Standard Bank in London.View gallery.”Former European Parliament President and EU-Ukraine mediator Pat Cox, center left, stands with Ukrai …”He probably hopes he can get enough ‘warm words’ from EU leaders in terms of the EU integration process to calm the mood on the streets, and take momentum out of street demonstrations,” Ash said.The EU itself seems resigned to play the waiting game.EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said he is „ready to resume the preparations for the signature of the association agreement as soon as Ukraine is ready.”___Follow Raf Casert on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/rcasertTurkey’s envoy to Cairo returns home amid spat
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Istanbul (AFP) – Turkey’s ambassador to Cairo has returned home after being expelled in a diplomatic spat over Ankara’s support for Egypt’s ousted Islamist president, the foreign ministry said Thursday.The row erupted at the weekend after Turkish Prime Minister Prime Recep Tayyip Erdogan again criticised the military „coup” in Egypt that ousted president Mohamed Morsi in July.Egypt kicked out the Turkish ambassador, prompting Ankara to declare the Egyptian envoy „persona non grata” and downgrading diplomatic relations.The Turkish envoy Huseyin Avni Botsali landed in Istanbul late Wednesday and left the airport without making any comments, the foreign ministry said.Turkish President Abdullah Gul has voiced hope that relations would be put on a better footing soon, saying after Egypt’s decision on Saturday that the situation was „temporary”.But Erdogan remains unapologetic.”We will not stop saying what is right and standing by the Egyptian people just because the coup-installed government in Egypt is disturbed,” he said on Tuesday.Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted government had forged an alliance with Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood after the Islamist leader won Egypt’s first free presidential election in June last year.Turkey, a predominantly Sunni Muslim country, has found itself increasingly isolated in the Middle East and now has no ambassadors in Egypt, Israel and Syria.
3 hours ago
View gallery Istanbul (AFP) – Turkey’s ambassador to Cairo has returned home after being expelled in a diplomatic spat over Ankara’s support for Egypt’s ousted Islamist president, the foreign ministry said Thursday.The row erupted at the weekend after Turkish Prime Minister Prime Recep Tayyip Erdogan again criticised the military „coup” in Egypt that ousted president Mohamed Morsi in July.Egypt kicked out the Turkish ambassador, prompting Ankara to declare the Egyptian envoy „persona non grata” and downgrading diplomatic relations.The Turkish envoy Huseyin Avni Botsali landed in Istanbul late Wednesday and left the airport without making any comments, the foreign ministry said.Turkish President Abdullah Gul has voiced hope that relations would be put on a better footing soon, saying after Egypt’s decision on Saturday that the situation was „temporary”.But Erdogan remains unapologetic.”We will not stop saying what is right and standing by the Egyptian people just because the coup-installed government in Egypt is disturbed,” he said on Tuesday.Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted government had forged an alliance with Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood after the Islamist leader won Egypt’s first free presidential election in June last year.Turkey, a predominantly Sunni Muslim country, has found itself increasingly isolated in the Middle East and now has no ambassadors in Egypt, Israel and Syria.Europe bans South African citrus imports over disease fears
By Charlie Dunmore 51 minutes ago By Charlie Dunmore BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union on Thursday banned most imports of South African citrus for the remainder of this year over fears that a fungal disease found in dozens of shipments could spread to the 28-nation bloc.The ban follows the interception of 36 citrus consignments this year from the EU’s chief summer supplier that were contaminated with the fungal black spot disease, which is not currently found in Europe.Earlier this month, Reuters reported that the European Commission was set to propose the ban following pressure from citrus growers in southern Europe.”The introduction of citrus black spot into the EU territory would pose a serious threat to the EU’s citrus-producing areas. For that reason, it is necessary to further restrict the import of citrus fruit from South Africa,” the Commission said in a statement confirming the move.The ban will apply to all South African citrus shipments from regions where the disease is present, which covers the bulk of the country’s production.Initially the ban will apply only to the 2012-2013 harvest, which ended in October. It will, therefore, have little immediate impact because the exports to Europe dry up around October anyway.But EU officials have warned that the restrictions could be extended into next year if an ongoing study by the bloc’s food safety watchdog finds that the disease could take hold in Europe’s estimated 500,000 hectares of citrus groves.That would threaten South Africa’s 600,000 tonnes of citrus fruit exports to Europe each year – mainly oranges, lemons, limes and tangerines – worth some 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion).South Africa supplies about a third of the bloc’s total citrus imports and is the main source of oranges for the juice drunk by consumers in Britain, Germany and France during the European summer months.The ban comes at a sensitive time, because the European Union is seeking South Africa’s support to unlock stalled trade deals with sub-Saharan Africa.While harmless to humans, citrus black spot causes unsightly lesions on the fruit and leaves, reducing both harvest quality and quantity. There is no known cure, but fungicides can be used to control the spread of the disease.It is found in many citrus-growing regions in the southern hemisphere as well as in China and the United States but has never established itself in Europe.In a draft scientific opinion published in July, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said the chance of citrus black spot taking in hold in Europe was „moderately likely”.But it added there was a high level of uncertainty due to a lack of knowledge over how the disease would respond to the EU climate.EFSA’s assessment is due to be completed by the end of this year.(editing by Jane Baird)
UK clashes with EU over plan to curb migrant benefits
View galleryBritain’s Prime Minister David Cameron reaches into his pocket as he arrives for the official photograph …By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister David Cameron unveiled plans to limit European Union migrants’ access to welfare in Britain and said he wanted eventually to restrict migrants from poorer EU states relocating to richer ones, stirring a row with the European Commission.Cameron’s Conservatives risk seeing their vote split at European elections next year and at a national election in 2015 by the anti-immigration UK Independence Party (UKIP) and he is under pressure from his own party to get tough on the issue.Trailing in opinion polls, Cameron said he shared deep concerns about a possible influx of Romanians and Bulgarians next year when EU restrictions on those two countries expire, something UKIP says could lead to millions of new migrants.”The EU of today is very different from the EU of 30 years ago,” he wrote in an article for the Financial Times.”We need to face the fact that free movement has become a trigger for vast population movements caused by huge disparities in income. That is extracting talent out of countries that need to retain their best people and placing pressure on communities.”Cameron said he planned to change British law so that new EU migrants would have to wait three months before they could obtain unemployment benefits.Newcomers would not be eligible for housing benefits and would lose the right to unemployment benefits after six months unless they proved they had a realistic chance of finding work.His longer term idea of limiting free movement of migrants from poorer EU states would form part of his renegotiation of Britain’s membership of the EU, he said. Cameron has promised to reshape Britain’s EU ties before an in/out referendum after 2015 if he is re-elected amid skepticism about the EU.LEGAL CHALLENGE?–His idea of reforming the EU’s freedom of movement rules would need to be negotiated with other member states and could face a legal challenge from the European Commission.The EU executive has not said whether or not it will take legal action, but has made it clear it would „rigorously” oppose attempts to restrict freedom of movement, a central tenet of the EU’s 500-million-people single market.The Commission told Britain on Wednesday that EU freedom of movement rules were non-negotiable and that London had to accept them if it wanted to remain in the bloc’s single market.”If Britain wants to leave the single market, you should say so. But if Britain wants to stay a part of the single market, free movement applies. You cannot have your cake and eat it, Mr Cameron!” Viviane Reding, vice-president of the EU executive, told Reuters.Cameron’s longer-term idea of restricting freedom of movement for migrants from poorer countries included capping the annual number of EU migrants or withholding full freedom of movement rights until a country achieved a certain gross domestic product per head, he said.”Britain, as part of our plan to reform the EU, will now work with others to return the concept of free movement to a more sensible basis,” he wrote.British officials said Germany, Austria and the Netherlands shared Cameron’s concerns and were potential allies.Britain’s previous Labour government waived transitional controls for migrants from new EU members states, something Cameron called a „monumental mistake”.That, he said, meant 1 million people from central and Eastern Europe were now living in Britain.Laszlo Andor, the European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, said the kind of „unilateral rhetoric” Cameron was indulging in on immigration was unhelpful.”This is an unfortunate over-reaction. We would need a more accurate presentation of the reality, not under such hysteria which sometimes happens in the UK,” he told BBC radio.”Unilateral rhetoric … is not really helpful. It risks presenting the UK as a kind of nasty country. We have to look into the situation collectively and act proportionately.”
By Andrew Osborn 18 hours ago
View galleryBritain’s Prime Minister David Cameron reaches into his pocket as he arrives for the official photograph …By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister David Cameron unveiled plans to limit European Union migrants’ access to welfare in Britain and said he wanted eventually to restrict migrants from poorer EU states relocating to richer ones, stirring a row with the European Commission.Cameron’s Conservatives risk seeing their vote split at European elections next year and at a national election in 2015 by the anti-immigration UK Independence Party (UKIP) and he is under pressure from his own party to get tough on the issue.Trailing in opinion polls, Cameron said he shared deep concerns about a possible influx of Romanians and Bulgarians next year when EU restrictions on those two countries expire, something UKIP says could lead to millions of new migrants.”The EU of today is very different from the EU of 30 years ago,” he wrote in an article for the Financial Times.”We need to face the fact that free movement has become a trigger for vast population movements caused by huge disparities in income. That is extracting talent out of countries that need to retain their best people and placing pressure on communities.”Cameron said he planned to change British law so that new EU migrants would have to wait three months before they could obtain unemployment benefits.Newcomers would not be eligible for housing benefits and would lose the right to unemployment benefits after six months unless they proved they had a realistic chance of finding work.His longer term idea of limiting free movement of migrants from poorer EU states would form part of his renegotiation of Britain’s membership of the EU, he said. Cameron has promised to reshape Britain’s EU ties before an in/out referendum after 2015 if he is re-elected amid skepticism about the EU.LEGAL CHALLENGE?–His idea of reforming the EU’s freedom of movement rules would need to be negotiated with other member states and could face a legal challenge from the European Commission.The EU executive has not said whether or not it will take legal action, but has made it clear it would „rigorously” oppose attempts to restrict freedom of movement, a central tenet of the EU’s 500-million-people single market.The Commission told Britain on Wednesday that EU freedom of movement rules were non-negotiable and that London had to accept them if it wanted to remain in the bloc’s single market.”If Britain wants to leave the single market, you should say so. But if Britain wants to stay a part of the single market, free movement applies. You cannot have your cake and eat it, Mr Cameron!” Viviane Reding, vice-president of the EU executive, told Reuters.Cameron’s longer-term idea of restricting freedom of movement for migrants from poorer countries included capping the annual number of EU migrants or withholding full freedom of movement rights until a country achieved a certain gross domestic product per head, he said.”Britain, as part of our plan to reform the EU, will now work with others to return the concept of free movement to a more sensible basis,” he wrote.British officials said Germany, Austria and the Netherlands shared Cameron’s concerns and were potential allies.Britain’s previous Labour government waived transitional controls for migrants from new EU members states, something Cameron called a „monumental mistake”.That, he said, meant 1 million people from central and Eastern Europe were now living in Britain.Laszlo Andor, the European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, said the kind of „unilateral rhetoric” Cameron was indulging in on immigration was unhelpful.”This is an unfortunate over-reaction. We would need a more accurate presentation of the reality, not under such hysteria which sometimes happens in the UK,” he told BBC radio.”Unilateral rhetoric … is not really helpful. It risks presenting the UK as a kind of nasty country. We have to look into the situation collectively and act proportionately.”Arab Idol Assaf appeal for UN Palestinian agency
View gallery Palestinian winner of „Arab Idol” Mohammed Assaf performs in the West Bank city of Ramallah on July 1, 2013 (AFP Photo/Abbas Momani) UNITED NATIONS (United States) (AFP) – Arab Idol winner Mohammed Assaf on Tuesday joined appeals to raise money for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) says it may not be able to pay staff wages in December because of a $36 million budget deficit.Assaf, who is from Gaza and was catapulted into the international spotlight by winning the Arab Idol talent series this year, said the agency was crucial for the survival of Palestinians.”I call upon all to help fund and support UNRWA because that is the only way the people can survive and have a bit of hope at the end of the tunnel,” Assaf, who is on a US concert tour, said through a translator.The singer, who is a goodwill ambassador for the agency, said he misses his family in Gaza and he was not sure when he would be able to return to the blockaded territory.”I will never forget my roots,” said Assaf, 24, who was born in Libya but spent most of his life in the Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza.”I want to go back there soon to see my parents, but I am not going to give a date,” he said. „I miss my family, they cannot be here because of the blockade.”(Additional reporting by Peter Griffiths and Adrian Croft and Luke Baker in Brussels; Editing by Ralph Boulton)
November 26, 2013 5:50 PM
View gallery Palestinian winner of „Arab Idol” Mohammed Assaf performs in the West Bank city of Ramallah on July 1, 2013 (AFP Photo/Abbas Momani) UNITED NATIONS (United States) (AFP) – Arab Idol winner Mohammed Assaf on Tuesday joined appeals to raise money for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) says it may not be able to pay staff wages in December because of a $36 million budget deficit.Assaf, who is from Gaza and was catapulted into the international spotlight by winning the Arab Idol talent series this year, said the agency was crucial for the survival of Palestinians.”I call upon all to help fund and support UNRWA because that is the only way the people can survive and have a bit of hope at the end of the tunnel,” Assaf, who is on a US concert tour, said through a translator.The singer, who is a goodwill ambassador for the agency, said he misses his family in Gaza and he was not sure when he would be able to return to the blockaded territory.”I will never forget my roots,” said Assaf, 24, who was born in Libya but spent most of his life in the Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza.”I want to go back there soon to see my parents, but I am not going to give a date,” he said. „I miss my family, they cannot be here because of the blockade.”(Additional reporting by Peter Griffiths and Adrian Croft and Luke Baker in Brussels; Editing by Ralph Boulton)
