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Egypt’s Mursi signs disputed Constitution into law
Abe elected Japan’s Prime Minister
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4 dead as Afghan bomber targets US base
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Egypt’s Mursi signs disputed Constitution into law Cairo, December 26 Anxiety about the deepening economic crisis has gripped Egypt in past weeks, with many people rushing to take out their savings from banks and the government imposing new restrictions to reduce capital flight. Results announced on Tuesday showed Egyptians had approved the text with an overwhelming 63.8 per cent, paving the way for a parliamentary election in about two months. The win gives Islamists their third straight electoral victory since veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak was toppled in a 2011 revolution, following their earlier wins in parliamentary and presidential elections. The presidency said Mursi signed a decree enforcing the charter late on Tuesday after the official announcement of the result of a referendum approving the basic law, Egypt's first Constitution since Mubarak's overthrow. The text has sharpened painful divisions in the Arab world's most populous nation and prompted often violent protests on the streets of Cairo. Opposition groups condemn the new basic law as too Islamist and undemocratic, saying it could allow clerics to intervene in the lawmaking process and leave minority groups without proper legal protection. But Mursi, catapulted into power by his Islamist allies, believes adopting the text is key to ending a protracted period of turmoil and uncertainty that has wrecked the economy. He argues the Constitution offers enough protection to all groups, saying many Egyptians are fed up with street protests that have prevented a return to normality and distracted the government from focusing on the economy. An atmosphere of crisis has deepened in Egypt since the vote, with many Egyptians rushing to take out cash from banks and hoarding hard currency savings at home. Sharpening people's concerns, the authorities imposed currency controls to prevent capital flight. Leaving or entering Egypt with more than $10,000 cash is now banned. — Reuters
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Abe elected Japan’s Prime Minister Tokyo, December 26 The powerful lower house named the 58-year-old as the country's new leader following a resounding national election victory for Abe's Liberal Democratic Party earlier this month over the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). "This chamber decides to name Shinzo Abe as Prime Minister," said lower house speaker Bunmei Ibuki after the vote. Lawmakers voted in Abe's favour by 328 votes to 57 for the DPJ's newly chosen leader Banri Kaieda, the industry minister during last year's Fukushima nuclear crisis. Earlier today, the yen tumbled against the dollar on growing speculation that the Bank of Japan will usher in further easing measures to boost the economy -- a key plank of Abe's campaign. As Japan's seventh premier in less than seven years, Abe replaces Yoshihiko Noda whose DPJ suffered a stinging defeat at the elections. The party, which came to power in 2009, was seen as being punished for policy flip-flops and its clumsy handling of last year's atomic disaster at Fukushima. As expected, Noda's Cabinet resigned en masse this morning before the LDP-controlled lower house named Abe as next leader. Abe is expected to form a new Cabinet later in the day as he rushes to draft an extra budget to spur the nation's flagging economy. — AFP
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Tribune To become world’s 4th largest economy after US, China & Japan by 2022 Shyam Bhatia in London India's economy is expected to overtake that of the UK in just over four years time - by 2017 - making it the largest economy in the Commonwealth. By 2022, India will become the world's fourth largest economy. So says the respected UK-based Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), which offers independent economic advice to both government and private sector groups. By 2022, India's economy will be surpassed only by those of the US, which is expected to retain the number one spot, China and Japan. It will be ahead of both Brazil and Germany The other big surprise in the CEBR's prediction is its assessment of the Brazilian economy, which briefly overtook the UK in 2012 before falling back. But Brazil is expected to edge again ahead, confirming its slot as the world's sixth largest economy by 2020, edging up to fifth position by 2022. In fact as early as 2020, the Indian and Brazilian economies will have raced ahead of Germany, the UK, France and Italy. CEBR chief executive Douglas McWilliams commented in a radio interview: "I think it's part of the big economic change, where not only are we seeing a shift from the west to the east, but we're also seeing that countries that produce vital commodities, food and energy and things like that, are doing very well and they're gradually climbing up the economic league table." He added: "The Indians have lost to us at cricket this winter but they are on track to beat us at economics. By 2017 we predict that the Indian economy will be the largest in the Commonwealth. "We are beating some other countries, though. We are poised to overtake France either in 2013 or 2014 as the economic effects of President Hollande's 75% tax policy and the difficulties of the euro drag France down. "We have been neck and neck with Brazil for some time. Last year they overtook us; this year we have overtaken them again. From 2014 onwards, however, their more dynamic economy is likely to pull them decisively beyond us. "CEBR's World Economic League Table (WELT) shows the dramatic changes now taking place in the world's economic geography with slow growing European economies falling back and Asian economies, even though their growth is slowing, catching up." Among the other surprise predictions is the forecast for Indonesia, currently the world's 16th largest economy, which is expected to leapfrog to the top 10 by 2022. As for the Chinese economy, currently 53 per cent the size of the US, this is expected to rise to 83 per cent of the US by 2022. Dramatic falls are predicted for a whole range of European economies, such as Belgium, which is expected to decline from 23 to 33 in its world ranking by 2022, and Austria, which is expected to slide downwards from position 28 to 36.
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4 dead as Afghan bomber targets US base Kabul, December 26 Police Gen Abdul Qayum Baqizai said a local guard who questioned the vehicle driver at the gate of Camp Chapman was killed along with two civilians and
the assailant. The camp is located adjacent to the airport of the capital of Khost province, which borders Pakistan. Chapman and nearby Camp Salerno had been frequently targeted by militants in the past, but violent incidents have decreased considerably in recent months. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in an email that the bomber targeted the Afghan police manning the gate and Afghans working for the Americans entering the base. He claimed high casualties were inflicted. NATO operates with more than 1,00,000 troops in the country, including some 66,000 American forces. It is handing most combat operations over to the Afghans in preparation for a pullout from Afghanistan in 2014. Militant groups, including the Taliban, rarely face NATO troops head-on and rely mainly on roadside bombs and suicide attacks. NATO forces and foreign civilians have also been increasingly attacked by rogue Afghan military and police, eroding trust between the allies. Yesterday, the Interior Ministry said a policewoman who killed an American contractor in Kabul a day earlier was a native Iranian who came to Afghanistan and displayed "unstable behaviour" but had no known links to
militants. — AP
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India votes for resolution on resumption of arms treaty talks Osama paid Rs 50,000 bribe Indian man indicted in insider trading
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Tokyo, December 26
