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Reuters

  • British finance minister upbeat on slowing China economy

    A string of downbeat activity data combined with wild price swings in the stock markets and a surprise currency devaluation in August have fueled fears that the Chinese economy may be slowing more sharply than was expected earlier, putting Beijing’s 2015 growth target of 7 percent at risk.

    “China is going through a very necessary and challenging transformation which is essential so that China’s economy can go on creating good careers and good jobs and higher living standards for your 1.3 billion people,” he said at the start of a five-day trip to China.

    “I think the message I would say to China is, carry on with the reform, carry on with the change you’re making.”

    Osborne said he was “very deliberately” visiting the Shanghai stock exchange on Tuesday and would be talking about what had happened on the financial markets over the summer.

    “Of course there have been ups and downs. We’ve seen that through the summer. In our estimation the spillover effects, the impact of that on other financial markets, has been relatively limited,” he said, speaking to an audience of Chinese technology executives.

    “And if you look at the broader picture in China, even if it’s not growing at double digits the way that it once did it is still creating an economy at least the size of the United Kingdom in the next five years. So it’s a massive source of global growth going forward.”

    Despite disagreements over human rights and the former British colony of Hong Kong, China values Britain’s staunch defense of free trade and lack of obstacles to investing in Britain. Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Britain next month.

    London has been especially keen to attract Chinese banks and encourage offshore trade in the yuan to bolster its position as the world’s main center for foreign exchange trading.

    “There is no economy in the west that is as open to Chinese investment as the United Kingdom,” said Osborne, who is currently frontrunner to succeed Prime Minister David Cameron as Conservative leader ahead of the 2020 election.

    “We welcome Chinese investment. There is huge amounts of Chinese investment coming into Britain at the moment. Indeed we are attracting more investment than Germany, France and Italy put together into the UK.”

  • Now you see it, now you don't: invisibility cloak nears reality

    Scientists said on Thursday they have successfully tested an ultra-thin invisibility cloak made of microscopic rectangular gold blocks that, like skin, conform to the shape of an object and can render it undetectable with visible light.

    The researchers said while their experiments involved cloaking a miniscule object they believe the technology could be made to conceal larger objects, with military and other possible applications.

    The cloak, 80 nanometers in thickness, was wrapped around a three-dimensional object shaped with bumps and dents. The cloak’s surface rerouted light waves scattered from the object to make it invisible to optical detection.

    It may take five to 10 years to make the technology practical to use, according to Xiang Zhang, director of the Materials Sciences Division of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

    “We do not see fundamental roadblocks. But much more work needs to be done,” said Zhang, whose research was published in the journal Science.

    The technology involves so-called metamaterials, which possess properties not present in nature. Their surfaces bear features much smaller than the size of a wavelength of light. They redirect incoming light waves, shifting them away from the object being cloaked.

    The cloaking “skin” boasts microscopic light-scattering antennae that make light bouncing off an object look as if it were reflected by a flat mirror, rendering the object invisible.

    “The fact that we can make a curved surface appear flat also means that we can make it look like anything else. We also can make a flat surface appear curved,” said Penn State University electrical engineering professor Xingjie Ni, the study’s lead author.

    The researchers said they overcame two drawbacks of previous experimental microscopic cloaks that were bulkier and harder to “scale up,” or become usable for larger objects.

    Ni said the technology eventually could be used for military applications like making large objects like vehicles or aircraft or even individual soldiers “invisible.”

    Ni also mentioned some unconventional applications.

    How about a cloaking mask for the face? “All the pimples and wrinkles will no longer be visible,” Ni said. How about fashion design? Ni suggested a cloak that “can be made to hide one’s belly.”

  • Turkish jets hit Kurdish militant camps in Iraq, at least 55 killed: sources

    The jets took off from a base in Diyarbakir, in Turkey’s southeast, and later returned without damage, the sources said.

    Turkey’s largely Kurdish southeast has been hit by almost daily waves of deadly fighting between PKK militants and security forces since the collapse of a ceasefire in July.

    Security forces have responded by launching frequent bombing raids into mountainous northern Iraq where the PKK has camps. It is the worst violence NATO member Turkey has seen in two decades, coinciding with fighting across the border in Syria involving government troops and Islamic State militants.

    The PKK began its separatist insurgency in 1984, triggering a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people. The group, which says it is now fighting for greater Kurdish autonomy, is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.

    President Tayyip Erdogan has promised the fight will go on until “not one terrorist is left”. The conflict has flared up as Turkey prepares for a parliamentary election on Nov. 1 following an inconclusive June vote.

  • U.S. says Assad must go, timing down to negotiation

    Speaking after talks with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond in London, Kerry called on Russia and Iran to use their influence over Assad to convince him to negotiate a political transition.

    Kerry said the United States welcomed Russia’s involvement in tackling the Islamic State in Syria but a worsening refugee crisis underscored the need to find a compromise that could also lead to political change in the country.

    “We need to get to the negotiation. That is what we’re looking for and we hope Russia and Iran, and any other countries with influence, will help to bring about that, because that’s what is preventing this crisis from ending,” said Kerry.

    “We’re prepared to negotiate. Is Assad prepared to negotiate, really negotiate? Is Russia prepared to bring him to the table?”

    Russia’s buildup at Syria’s Latakia airbase has raised the possibility of air combat missions in Syrian airspace. Heavy Russian equipment, including tanks, helicopters and naval infantry forces, have been moved to Latakia, U.S. officials say.

    Kerry said of Assad’s removal: “For the last year and a half we have said Assad has to go, but how long and what the modality is …that’s a decision that has to be made in the context of the Geneva process and negotiation.”

    Kerry added: “It doesn’t have to be on day one or month one … there is a process by which all the parties have to come together and reach an understanding of how this can best be achieved.”

    Kerry said he did not have a specific time frame in mind for Assad to stay. “I just know that the people of Syria have already spoken with their feet. They’re leaving Syria.”

    Hammond, who on Sept. 9 said Britain could accept Assad staying in place for a transition period, said Assad could not be part of Syria’s long-term future “but the modality and timing has to be part of a political solution that allows us to move forward.”

    Hammond said the situation in Syria was now more complicated with Russia’s increased military involvement in the country.

    “Because of the Russian engagement the situation in Syria is becoming more complicated and we need to discuss this as part of a much bigger problem – the migration pressures, the humanitarian crisis in Syria as well as the need to defeat ISIL,” he said.

    Kerry and Hammond said they also discussed conflicts in Yemen, Libya and Ukraine.

  • Putin gives go-ahead to Belarus airbase plan

    Saturday’s announcement, which comes at a time of tension with the West over Russian involvement in Ukraine and Syria, may also signal the Kremlin’s interest in keeping unpredictable Belarus within its geopolitical orbit.

    Putin said in a statement he had agreed a government proposal to sign a deal for the military airbase and ordered defense and foreign ministry officials to start talks with Belarus. The plan is not expected to face major obstacles.

    The idea of setting up an airbase in the ex-Soviet republic was revealed by Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in 2013, and follows a 2009 agreement under which Russia and Belarus agreed to defend their common external frontier and airspace.

    Russian defense officials have said the base would be used to station Su-27 fighters. Russia already has some fighter aircraft in Belarus but this would be the first full-scale base there since Soviet times.

    Russia has scaled back its military presence abroad, closing bases in distant Cold War allies such as Cuba and Vietnam.

    However, a naval base at Tartus in Syria has recently become the focus of world attention as Russia has boosted its troop presence there in a move seen as bolstering its diplomatic influence in the region.

    Russia already has military bases in ex-Soviet neighbors Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, which like Belarus are also members of a Eurasian Economic Union that Putin sees as the embryo of a new geopolitical bloc.

    Last year Russia annexed the Ukrainian province of Crimea, partly due to fears it would be pushed out of its large naval base in the Crimean port of Sevastopol.

    The creation of a base in Belarus may also be a signal to the West that Russia will not tolerate intrusion in its traditional sphere of influence.

    Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, is seen as a long-standing Russian ally and is often criticized in the West for his record on human rights.

    He has a reputation for being unpredictable because of his common practice of playing off Russia against the West.

    Spooked by Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Poland and the Baltic states have repeatedly asked NATO to station forces permanently in their territories along the alliance’s eastern flank in Russia’s vicinity.

  • Egypt's Sisi swears in new government, keeps ministers in key posts

    Sisi named former head of the state oil company Tarek al-Mullah as petroleum minister, charged with easing the country’s energy crisis and attracting more foreign investment in a strategic sector.

    Mullah succeeds Sherif Ismail, seen as one of the best-performing ministers, who became prime minister.

    The new government faces many challenges.

    Islamic State, which seized large parts of Iraq and Syria, has gained the backing of the most active militant group in Egypt, the recently renamed Sinai Province.

    Militants have stepped up attacks on Egyptian soldiers and police since the army toppled Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in 2013 after mass protests against his rule. Hundreds have been killed in bombing and shooting attacks.

    Egypt is struggling to get large volumes of foreign investment after years of political turmoil triggered by the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak, even though Sisi’s economic reforms have won praise.

    The new cabinet includes 16 new ministers out of 33 in total but few important posts were handed to newcomers. The defense, foreign and justice ministers all kept their jobs as did most economy-related ministers such as planning and supplies.

    “They could not find candidates and the main reason is that no one wants to be minister for three months; it is not enough time,” said Said Sadek, professor of political sociology.

    Egypt holds a long-awaited parliamentary election in October and the new chamber will have a say over the government and can even reject Sisi’s choice for prime minister, according to the country’s constitution.

    The election concludes in November and a new government is likely to be named after the results are announced.

    As army chief, Sisi orchestrated the overthrow of Mursi, Egypt’s first freely-elected president.

    Sisi promised to deliver democracy and went on to become elected president. Critics say he has stifled dissent under the toughest security crackdown in the country’s history, allegations the government denies.

    Security forces killed hundreds of Islamists and jailed thousands of others. Prominent secular activists have also been jailed.

    “This will be a caretaker government, not a political one. There are no politicians and one of the problems with Egyptian politics is we don’t see politicians as ministers. Even the prime minister is not a politician,” said Sadek.

    He added that the reason several ministries had been merged was due to the lack of candidates willing to accept posts.

    “I see nothing that indicates this is a new government,” said Wahid Abdel Meguid, political analyst at the Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies. “Even the new ministers used to be ministers before.”

    Sisi kept central bank governor Hisham Ramez in place and appointed Nabil Sadek as prosecutor general more than two months after the previous office holder was assassinated by a car bomb on his way to work.

  • Fed's Lacker says economy strong enough for higher rates

    Fed policymakers on Thursday voted to keep the Fed’s target interest rate at between zero and a quarter point.

    “Such exceptionally low real interest rates are unlikely to be appropriate for an economy with persistently strong consumption growth and tightening labor markets,” Lacker said in a statement.

    He was the lone dissenter among the 10 Fed officials who voted at the meeting. Lacker said the Fed’s target should rise by a quarter point.

    Lacker has a history of dissent in Fed policy meetings. In 2012, he voted against eight straight policy decisions by the central bank. At the time he was urging the Fed to wind down asset purchases that were aimed at stimulating the economy.

    Regarding Thursday’s decision at the Fed, Lacker said a rebound in consumer spending and “tightening labor markets” meant the economy no longer needed zero interest rates.

    He said keeping interest rates at their current level deviated from the way the Fed has responded to the economy in the past, which was dangerous because public understanding of the Fed’s behavior was “an essential foundation for the monetary stability we currently enjoy.”

    “Such departures are risky and raise the likelihood of adverse outcomes,” Lacker said.

  • Dubai ruler's 34-year-old son dies in a heart attack

    Sheikh Rashid, eldest son of the Prime Minister and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, suffered a heart attack on Saturday morning, the agency said.

    WAM said prayers will be held at Zabeel mosque this evening, followed by funeral at the Umm Harir cemetery in Bur Dubai.

    Sheikh Rashed bin Mohammad Al-Maktoum at the 15th Asian Games in Doha

    Details from Dubai Media Office

    The emirate’s official media office made several tweets on the sad occasion, including one which said that a 3 day period of mourning had been announced by the Ruler of Dubai’s Court.

     

     

    Prime Minister sends condolences

    Web Desk adds: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has condoled the demise of Sheikh Rashid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum as has the Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif

  • Decade of Emmys show little change in women behind the scenes on TV

    But a study released this week examining women in key behind-the-scenes TV roles, found little has changed in the past decade.

    Nominations for the 67th Emmy Awards, which air Sunday, reflect a large gender disparity as women make up only 25 percent of this year’s nominated writers, directors, editors and producers.

    That percentage has shown little improvement over 10 years, according to a report conducted by nonprofit the Women’s Media Center, which examined Emmy nominations for writing, directing, editing and producing from 2006 through 2015.

    Women accounted for 28 percent of nominees in producing categories, 18 percent in editing, 13 percent in writing and just 8 percent in directing categories.

    “The men and women in these roles have the power to decide and mold what the story is, who is in the story, and how the story is told,” said Julie Burton, president of the Women’s Media Center in a statement.

    Having women behind the scenes “is crucial to making sure women’s experiences, perspectives, voices, and images are part of any story,” Burton added.

    Washington, D.C.-based Women’s Media Center was founded by actress Jane Fonda, poet Robin Morgan and journalist Gloria Steinem in 2005, aiming to promote women in media.

    And change may be on the horizon. Schumer this year landed four Emmy nods including best directing in a variety series for “Inside Amy Schumer,” only the second time in 10 years that a woman has been nominated in that race.

    Female writers of AMC’s period drama “Mad Men” accounted for 10 out 15 nominations for the show in best drama series writing since 2006.

    Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” a frequent nominee in the outstanding writing for a variety series category, has four women on its writing staff this year, up from just one in 2006.

    The female nominees in that category have thus increased from 6 percent in 2006 to 23 percent in 2015.

    “If more women were hired as writers, directors, editors, producers, and especially as creators and executive producers, the talent pool for nominations would be more reflective of the overall population and audience,” Burton said.