Posts for 'World' Category

Pakistan’s President Zardari meets British PM David Cameron today at Cameron’s official country residence, Chequers. The meeting comes in the wake of a diplomatic spat between the two countries prompted by comments made by the British PM about Pakistan promoting the export of terror. The fight against terrorism, aid for flood victims and economic relations are due to be on the agenda.

Moscow smog - Just when things couldn’t get any worse for Muscovites, temperatures are set to reach 40 C on Friday with heavy smog set to descend upon the city. Smoke from forest and peat fires, mixed with general city pollution means that the smog has turned toxic, raising health fears for the city’s population.

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Just a week ago, Mary Muthui was selling dozens of football scarves, beanie hats and vuvuzelas every day from her stall at the Rosebank Mall crafts market in northern Johannesburg. But on Tuesday – just two days after the end of South Africa’s World Cup – the 28-year-old was struggling to sell anything at all and her prices had been steeply reduced.

The standard vuvuzela – a plastic flute painted in South African colours – could be bought for only R60, less than half than it would have cost when the cup competition was in full fling. “They were very popular,” explained Ms Muthui. “I got them from the Ethiopian traders in town and they brought them in from China.”

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About 1,000 police officers stood in for the stewards at the game, between Italy and Paraguay in Cape Town. Fans said there appeared to be no security problems at the match, which ended in a 1-1 draw. Earlier, riot police in Durban fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of stewards protesting over pay.

South Africa's World Cup chief, Danny Jordaan, said it was "unacceptable" for the stewards to be trying to disrupt the games.He said it was an "employer-employee wage dispute".

Protesting stewards in Durban told reporters they had received 190 rand (£17; $25) for their work, but they had been promised much more.The firm employing the stewards, Stallion Security, told AFP news agency that the workers had been "misled" by jealous commercial rivals who failed to get the World Cup tender.

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South Africa started the day in shock but ended the first day of the World Cup with a smile after the Bafana Bafana earned the respect of the footballing world. The metropolis of Johannesburg was nearly bursting with excitement as the nation awoke to the biggestsporting event in Africa's history, but suffered a major reality check when the news filtered through of the death of Nelson Mandela's great grand-daughter in a Soweto car crash.

South Africa paused to share the grief of the Mandela family, but the millions who had been given the afternoon off work and brought city to a standstill, soon refocused on Soccer City. On approach, the massive calabash-shaped stadium sounded like the world's largest beehive as the thousands of vuvuzela horns produced the noise of a billion bees.

Just when you thought the racket could not get any louder, three fighter jets from the South African Air Force blasted over the top of the stadium to signal the start of the opening ceremony, temporary drowning out the deafening sound of the country's favourite instrument.

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This was supposed to be the easiest week in the tumultuous tenure of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

He had settled key differences with US President Barack Obama, received an invitation for a kiss-and-make-up session.

At the White House and come to Canada for a large pro-Israel rally and a meeting with Stephen Harper, perhaps the world’s most pro-Israel prime minister.

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Injury-plagued paceman Shoaib Akhtar said Thursday he dreams of winning the World Cup for Pakistan next year, despite a series of setbacks and scandals that have kept him out of the game.

The 34-year-old paceman, who has not played for the Pakistan national team since May last year, took 6-52 in a domestic one-day match on Wednesday night, furthering his comeback campaign.

"I am fit and bowling in rhythm," Akhtar told reporters. "I know the problems I have faced in my career, but the dream to feature in the final of the 2011 World Cup in Mumbai is still alive and I want to help Pakistan win the World Cup in a year's time."

India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will host the tenth World Cup between February and April next year. Akhtar's 13-year career has been plagued by injuries and discipline problems, the latest of which ended in a record fine of seven million rupees (83,000 dollars) in February.

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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad mentioned five offers for reaching a world free of nuclear weapon. Speaking in International Conference on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation in Tehran, Ahmadinejad said, “the motto of nuclear disarmament has not been implemented so far and the IAEA has failed to success in carrying out its duties.”

“Biologic, chemical and nuclear arsenals are being expanded further and arm race is increasing.” Production and stockpiling nuclear weapons as well as policies adopted by the countries owning such arms are the biggest elements of insecurity, he said adding, “annihilation of nuclear weapons and removing nuclear threat is the biggest service to lasting security.”

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Without naming Pakistan's A Q Khan operation, India on Tuesday reminded the world of the dangers of "clandestine proliferation networks" and asked the world to join hands to combat trafficking of nuclear materials. "Clandestine proliferation networks have flourished and led to insecurity for all, including and especially for India," Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told 47 world leaders gathered at the Nuclear Security Summit here.

"We must learn from past mistakes and institute effective measures to prevent their recurrence," the prime minister said in his intervention on the concluding day of the summit. "The danger of nuclear explosives or fissile material and technical know-how falling into the hands of non-state actors continues to haunt our world," he said.

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President Barack Obama and presidents, prime ministers and other top officials from 47 countries start work Monday on a battle plan to keep nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands.Confronting what he calls the "single biggest threat to U.S. security," Obama is looking for global help in his goal of ensuring all nuclear materials worldwide are secured from theft or diversion within four years.

On the eve of what would be the largest assembly of world leaders hosted by an American president since 1945  the San Francisco conference to found the United Nations — Obama said nuclear materials in the hands of al-Qaida or another terrorist group "could change the security landscape in this country and around the world for years to come."

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Dozens of world leaders are to gather in Washington next week for an unprecedented meeting on nuclear security, and U.S. President Barack Obama hopes they can agree on how to keep atomic bombs out of terrorists' hands.

Although the gathering of 47 countries will not focus on individual nations, the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea are expected to come up in Obama's bilateral meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao and other leaders.

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