Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Nigeria 'bows to pressure to devalue currency'
For months, Nigeria has been in the grips of a severe foreign currency shortage. As oil prices plummeted so did the country’s foreign currency earnings meaning there was less cash to pay for imports. Unlike other major petroleum producers – such as Russia – Nigeria refused to devalue its currency. The country’s president wanted Nigerian businesses to make what they could not import. He wanted to diversify the economy away from the oil industry. But that policy led to widespread shortages of raw materials, machine parts, and supermarket products.
The new exchange rate will be welcomed by businesses that were forced onto the black market in order to pay for their imports. On occasions they were paying almost double the official rate for dollars. Foreign investors may also be tempted back as they will get more value for their money. But the new exchange rate is likely to push up already high inflation. And that will hurt tens of millions of Nigerians who live in abject poverty.
Nigeria 'bows to pressure to devalue currency'
For months, Nigeria has been in the grips of a severe foreign currency shortage. As oil prices plummeted so did the country’s foreign currency earnings meaning there was less cash to pay for imports. Unlike other major petroleum producers – such as Russia – Nigeria refused to devalue its currency. The country’s president wanted Nigerian businesses to make what they could not import. He wanted to diversify the economy away from the oil industry. But that policy led to widespread shortages of raw materials, machine parts, and supermarket products.
The new exchange rate will be welcomed by businesses that were forced onto the black market in order to pay for their imports. On occasions they were paying almost double the official rate for dollars. Foreign investors may also be tempted back as they will get more value for their money. But the new exchange rate is likely to push up already high inflation. And that will hurt tens of millions of Nigerians who live in abject poverty.
Warning Over New Terror Attacks In France
Intelligence suggests that small groups of extremists are planning attacks in France and Belgium after leaving Syria.
Belgian intelligence services informed their French counterparts, who have now advised police across France.
A French security official said the authorities remained "very cautious" about the information because they received such communications routinely.
The official added that it was unclear whether there was any link to the murder of a senior policeman and his partner on Monday by a man who pledged allegiance to Islamic State.
The government's overall understanding of the threat had not changed, the official said.
French authorities are also on high alert over concerns that extremists could be planning to target the Euro 2016 football tournament.
A Belgian newspaper, Derniere Heure, citing Belgium's anti-terror office, reported that fighters with access to weapons may have left Syria about 10 days ago, bound for Belgium and France.
The paper said it had obtained an alert, saying that fighters travelling without passports were believed to be trying to reach Europe by boat via Turkey and Greece.
Possible targets were said to be a Brussels shopping centre, an American fast-food chain and police.
Belgium's security threat analysis centre said it would not be changing its advice.
We are still on level three, quite a high level of threat," said Crisis Centre spokesman Benoit Ramacker.
Level three - of four - means the threat is considered serious, possible and probable.
Belgium has been on level three or above since the Paris attacks in November.
Mr Ramacker declined to comment on the latest intelligence, saying "there is a lot of information coming in."
Sir Philip Green: 'We'll Sort' BHS Pensions
Sir Philip Green has apologised for the sale of BHS and its "sad" collapse, telling an MPs' inquiry he is finding a solution to the £571m pension deficit - pledging "we'll sort it".
The retail tycoon said he took ultimate responsibility for the pension shortfall under questions from the joint Business and Work & Pensions committees.
It has proved to be the combative and tetchy session that was predicted - lasting more than four hours so far.
On the controversial sale of BHS last year for £1 to Dominic Chappell's Retail Acquisitions, Sir Philip said he would "1,000,000%" never have sold BHS to him had advisers told him not to - despite a Goldman Sachs 'sniff test' identifying he had previously been declared bankrupt.
He added that Retail Acquisitions was fully aware of the pension liability - insisting it was in the firm's due diligence - but in hindsight "we found the wrong buyer" and he was "sorry" the deal was done with the loss of 11,000 jobs.
Sir Philip looked to dominate the exchanges with MPs from the off and was accused of being "thin-skinned" for taking issue with many lines of questioning.
He argued it was unreasonable for him to have seen every bit of paper and been told everything. At one stage the billionaire even asked a committee member, Richard Fuller, to stop staring at him because it was making him uncomfortable.
He first told the committee: "Nothing is more sad than how this has ended and I hope during the morning you will hear that there was no intent on my part for anything to be like this and didn't need to be like this.
"I just want to apologise to all the BHS people who are involved in this and have been involved".
He admitted mistakes were made in the running of BHS under his watch - including on stock purchases and going online late.
The Topshop tycoon said he had "too strong an emotional tie" with BHS and had probably held onto it for too long and should have sold in 2002 to escape expensive leases that were already in the business before he bought it in 2000.
He was asked to account for £400m in dividends exceeding profits between 2002 and 2004. He dismissed that insisting profits over the period totalled £537m and his Arcadia retail empire had injected £600m into BHS.
However, he did acknowledge an ongoing £20m annual payment to his wife from the purchase of BHS by Arcadia.
He went on to describe a "disconnect" with pension trustees and was never involved with their strategy, arguing he could not do everything in a very large company. He admitted communication was poor but he was "not in charge of the pension fund".
He apologised for not getting involved in tackling a growing deficit until 2012 and said he took responsibility for its size but added that the pensions regulator had failed to make contact until recently.
Following lengthy exchanges, the billionaire confirmed he was working with Deloitte on a plan to ensure the 20,000 members of the schemes get a solution but he stopped short of committing that each person would get their full entitlement.
His remarks implied his likely contribution would be higher than the £275m cost of paying benefits under the Pension Protection Fund.
Boy, 2, Snatched By Alligator At Disney Resort
Police are searching for a child who was snatched by an alligator near Disney's Magic Kingdom Park in Florida.
The two-year-old boy was paddling in a foot of water on a beach beside the Seven Seas Lagoon at 9pm when the animal attacked and dragged him away.
Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said: "The father was there nearby and the alligator came up and attacked. The father struggled and tried to get his son and was not successful and he alerted others nearby to assist him."
The mother also tried to rescue the boy and a nearby lifeguard was told of the attack, Demings said.
"We have in excess of 50 law-enforcement personnel at the scene actively searching the lake," he added.
"As a father and a grandfather, we are hoping for the best in the circumstances but, based upon my 35 years of law enforcement experience, we know we have some challenges ahead of us."
Police have cordoned off the area near the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa while boats and a helicopter search the 14ft-deep man-made lagoon which is bordered by three holiday resorts and sand beaches.
Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Wahaler said everyone at the resort was devastated and that Disney is helping the family.
When asked if the resort was aware of alligators on the property, Ms Wahaler advised there were signs that said "no swimming".
Sheriff Demings said there had been no other recent reports of similar alligator attacks on the lake.
"We have no record of this happening before," he said.
It is not clear if the child's family, who are from Nebraska, were staying at the resort.
Magic Kingdom Park is one of four theme parks in the Walt Disney World Resort.
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Zayn Malik Opens Up (a Bit) About Leaving One Direction
In a new interview with Dazed, Zayn Malik — former boy band member and current R&B heartthrob — opens up just a little bit about his departure from the mega-popular group and his flourishing independent music career.
The 23-year-old Brit is riding high on the success of his first solo album, Mind of Mine, which debuted at #1 on US and UK charts. But his stardom hasn’t come without controversy: there have been the racial slurs leveled at him on account of his religious and ethnic background; he’s had to cancel concert appearances due to anxiety; and, of course, he still deals with backlash from his decision to break free of the boy band.
On that point, at least, Malik has a message for his fans. “Yeah… Sorry about that,” he relays to Dazed.
But it looks like Malik isn’t getting too cut up about having moved on. It helps to have fans in high places, and apparently even Taylor Swift is on board with his solo career.
“At [girlfriend] Gigi [Hadid]‘s house we briefly spoke and she told me she really enjoyed the album. It was nice to get some feedback. She said she thought I was cool and I kind of blushed a bit and didn’t know how to take it,” he says.
Malik, who grew up speaking both English and Urdu (his father is of Pakistani heritage), also gives some background into the genre-bending Urdu-language song he put on his album.
“It’s a religious style of music that’s like a deep meditation prayer where you just sit and sing the same melody over and over – it’s meant to get you into a trance state… my dad used to listen a lot to that style of music. So that influenced me from an early age,” he told Dazed. “I just mixed my Urdu speaking with lyrics I was writing down in English and that’s what I came up with.”
It’s certainly not something he could have done within the confines of One Direction’s music.
“I’m free at last,” he says in the interview.
The 23-year-old Brit is riding high on the success of his first solo album, Mind of Mine, which debuted at #1 on US and UK charts. But his stardom hasn’t come without controversy: there have been the racial slurs leveled at him on account of his religious and ethnic background; he’s had to cancel concert appearances due to anxiety; and, of course, he still deals with backlash from his decision to break free of the boy band.
On that point, at least, Malik has a message for his fans. “Yeah… Sorry about that,” he relays to Dazed.
But it looks like Malik isn’t getting too cut up about having moved on. It helps to have fans in high places, and apparently even Taylor Swift is on board with his solo career.
“At [girlfriend] Gigi [Hadid]‘s house we briefly spoke and she told me she really enjoyed the album. It was nice to get some feedback. She said she thought I was cool and I kind of blushed a bit and didn’t know how to take it,” he says.
Malik, who grew up speaking both English and Urdu (his father is of Pakistani heritage), also gives some background into the genre-bending Urdu-language song he put on his album.
“It’s a religious style of music that’s like a deep meditation prayer where you just sit and sing the same melody over and over – it’s meant to get you into a trance state… my dad used to listen a lot to that style of music. So that influenced me from an early age,” he told Dazed. “I just mixed my Urdu speaking with lyrics I was writing down in English and that’s what I came up with.”
It’s certainly not something he could have done within the confines of One Direction’s music.
“I’m free at last,” he says in the interview.
Obama slams Trump's anti-Muslim rhetoric
US president responds to criticism of his administration for not using phrase 'radical Islam' as political taking point.
US President Barack Obama has called the debate surrounding "radical Islam" a political distraction, stressing that calls for tougher talk on terrorism and a strict ban on Muslim immigration would make Muslim Americans feel betrayed by their government.
Obama told reporters after meeting with the US national security council on Tuesday that Orlando shooting that left 49 people dead, or any attack organised by groups like the ISIL, also known as ISIS, was not possible to prevent by using the label.
"The killer was an angry, disturbed, unstable, young man who became radicalised," he said, adding that Islam had nothing to do with the attack.
"What exactly would using that label accomplish? What exactly would it change? Would it make ISIL less committed to trying to kill Americans? Would it bring in more allies? ... The answer is: none of the above," he said.
"Calling a threat by a different name does not make it go away. This is a political distraction."
He said US intelligence and military staff know well who the enemy is and they work countless hours to protect "all Americans including politicians who tweet and appear on cable news shows".
War against ISIL
Obama said the idea that the administration is confused about the enemy "would come as a surprise to the thousands of terrorists who we've taken off the battlefield".
While parrying his political foes, Obama also sought to show Americans that the war against the ISIL in Syria, Iraq and Libya, while slow, was being won.
He said the number of foreign fighters joining the armed groups was plummeting.
"ISIL lost nearly half of the populated territory it had in Iraq and it will lose more. ISIL continues to lose ground in Syria as well," Obama said.
"In short, our coalition continues to be on offense. ISIL is on defense."
Obama's remarks were his first reaction to Donald Trump's speech on Monday after Sunday's mass shooting, and perhaps his strongest yet on the threat he sees the Republican candidate poses to the US politics and security.
Obama said Trump's plan to bar foreign Muslims from entering the US ignored America's history of targeting ethnic and religious groups amid period of anxiety and would undermine American values.
"If we ever abandon those values, we would not only make it a lot easier to radicalise people here and around the world, but we would have betrayed the very things we are trying to protect." Obama said. "And then the terrorists would have won and we cannot let that happen. I will not let that happen."
Obama said that treating Muslim-Americans differently would not make the US safer.
"Are we going to start treating all Muslim Americans differently? Are we going to start subjecting them to special surveillance? are we going to start discriminating them because of their faith?"
"We're starting to see where this kind of rhetoric and loose talk and sloppiness about who exactly we're fighting, where this can lead us."
The US president said it would make the country less safe by fueling the notion among followers of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) that the West hates Muslims.
"They want us to validate them by implying that they speak for those billion plus people, that they speak for Islam. That's their propaganda, that's how they recruit," he said.
"And if we fall into the trap of painting all Muslims with a broad brush and imply that we are at war with an entire religion, then we are doing the terrorists work for them."
US President Barack Obama has called the debate surrounding "radical Islam" a political distraction, stressing that calls for tougher talk on terrorism and a strict ban on Muslim immigration would make Muslim Americans feel betrayed by their government.
Obama told reporters after meeting with the US national security council on Tuesday that Orlando shooting that left 49 people dead, or any attack organised by groups like the ISIL, also known as ISIS, was not possible to prevent by using the label.
"The killer was an angry, disturbed, unstable, young man who became radicalised," he said, adding that Islam had nothing to do with the attack.
"What exactly would using that label accomplish? What exactly would it change? Would it make ISIL less committed to trying to kill Americans? Would it bring in more allies? ... The answer is: none of the above," he said.
"Calling a threat by a different name does not make it go away. This is a political distraction."
He said US intelligence and military staff know well who the enemy is and they work countless hours to protect "all Americans including politicians who tweet and appear on cable news shows".
War against ISIL
Obama said the idea that the administration is confused about the enemy "would come as a surprise to the thousands of terrorists who we've taken off the battlefield".
While parrying his political foes, Obama also sought to show Americans that the war against the ISIL in Syria, Iraq and Libya, while slow, was being won.
He said the number of foreign fighters joining the armed groups was plummeting.
"ISIL lost nearly half of the populated territory it had in Iraq and it will lose more. ISIL continues to lose ground in Syria as well," Obama said.
"In short, our coalition continues to be on offense. ISIL is on defense."
Obama's remarks were his first reaction to Donald Trump's speech on Monday after Sunday's mass shooting, and perhaps his strongest yet on the threat he sees the Republican candidate poses to the US politics and security.
Obama said Trump's plan to bar foreign Muslims from entering the US ignored America's history of targeting ethnic and religious groups amid period of anxiety and would undermine American values.
"If we ever abandon those values, we would not only make it a lot easier to radicalise people here and around the world, but we would have betrayed the very things we are trying to protect." Obama said. "And then the terrorists would have won and we cannot let that happen. I will not let that happen."
Obama said that treating Muslim-Americans differently would not make the US safer.
"Are we going to start treating all Muslim Americans differently? Are we going to start subjecting them to special surveillance? are we going to start discriminating them because of their faith?"
"We're starting to see where this kind of rhetoric and loose talk and sloppiness about who exactly we're fighting, where this can lead us."
The US president said it would make the country less safe by fueling the notion among followers of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) that the West hates Muslims.
"They want us to validate them by implying that they speak for those billion plus people, that they speak for Islam. That's their propaganda, that's how they recruit," he said.
"And if we fall into the trap of painting all Muslims with a broad brush and imply that we are at war with an entire religion, then we are doing the terrorists work for them."
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