Stockholm rioting continues for fifth night
Police in Stockholm are to seek reinforcements after youths set cars ablaze and threw stones at police for a fifth night running, officials said.
About 30 cars were set on fire in poorer districts in north-western and south-western parts of the Swedish capital on Thursday night, with rioters causing widespread damage to property, including schools. However, a police spokesman said the overnight violence was less intense than in previous nights.
Despite Sweden's reputation for equality, the rioting has exposed a faultline between a well-off majority and a minority, often young people with immigrant backgrounds, who cannot find work, lack education and feel marginalised.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may...:Position8
Analysis: Markets face rough summer ride as Fed pullback feared
(Reuters) - For the past few months, the Federal Reserve has been squarely in the financial markets' corner, thanks to its massive dollops of monetary stimulus. But signs that the central bank is discussing reducing that support by purchasing fewer bonds mean that trading is likely to get bumpier in coming months.
The Fed's evolving stance was made apparent by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's remarks to Congress Wednesday, where he laid out the conditions that might cause the Fed to reduce its $85 billion a month buying of Treasuries and mortgage-backed bonds.
U.S. stock and bond markets were whipsawed - the S&P 500 rose dramatically On Wednesday, only to fall sharply in its largest one-day point swing since early November, and bond yields rose above 2 percent to a 10-week high. On Thursday, both markets stabilized.
Volatility has been low over the past few months. The 50-day moving average of the CBOE volatility index, Wall Street's favorite fear gauge, hit a six-year low last week. In the past two days it rose as much as 13 percent, but it remains at historically low levels. That may change, depending on future remarks and moves by the Fed.
"As you start hearing about the Fed tapering off asset purchases I wouldn't be surprised if that spooks investors and you begin to see volatility pick up," said Joseph Tanious, global market strategist at JPMorgan Funds.
Fed officials say they will need more signs of sustained improvement in the economy and the labor market before reducing the bond buying that has lowered borrowing costs, underpinned a rebound in housing, and helped to boost stocks to record levels.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/2...9120130523
Attorney General Holder approved warrant to search Fox News reporter's emails
A law enforcement official says US Attorney General Eric Holder personally approved the warrant that gave the Justice Department access to Fox News reporter James Rosen’s private e-mails.
President Barack Obama on Thursday said that Holder would review Justice Department guidelines on dealing with journalism investigations. The government has been accused of violating journalists’ constitutional rights by secretly obtaining Associated Press phone records and Rosen’s personal e-mails to find the sources of information leaks.
“I am troubled by the possibility that leak investigations may chill the investigative journalism that holds government accountable,” Obama said during his speech on counter-terrorism policy on Thursday. “Journalists should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs.”
But while the president announced that Holder would look into the Justice Department’s policies regarding the matter, a law enforcement official told NBC News that Holder was personally responsible for signing off on the 44-page warrant that gave the department access to Rosen’s e-mail account.
This warrant called Rosen a “co-conspirator” in a leak investigation from June 2009, which revealed North Korea’s intention to conduct a nuclear test despite US sanctions. The warrant also allowed the Justice Department to track Rosen’s movements in and out of the State Department and all communications with his source, security adviser Stephen Jin-woo Kim.
http://rt.com/usa/holder-warrant-fox-rosen-764/
French special forces intervene in Niger amid Al-Qaeda attacks
French special forces assisted Nigerien troops in an operation at an army base in Niger to flush out Al-Qaeda-linked militants suspected of a string of deadly attacks Thursday in the West African country.
At least 21 people were killed and dozens more wounded in coordinated car bombings and assaults on a uranium mine run by French company Areva in the town of Arlit, and at a military base in the city of Agadez in northern Niger.
"As I speak, the situation has been brought under control in particular in Agadez, where our special forces have intervened to support Nigerien forces at the request of President [Mahamadou] Issoufou," French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told BFM television.
Niger’s Defense Minister, Karidjo Mahamadou, told AP that two terrorists had been killed and two hostages – believed to be cadets at the military camp – were released as a result of the offensive, which took place at dawn on Friday.
http://rt.com/news/france-niger-operation-islamist-762/
Obamacare Loophole Provides Incentive For Employers To Hire Illegal Aliens Over US Citizens
A loophole in President Obama’s healthcare plan makes it very attractive for US employers to hire illegal immigrants on the Pathway to Citizenship instead of hiring legal US citizens. And if it’s not fixed before the bill passes, millions of jobs across America will be filled by illegal aliens.
According to the immigration reform bill, any illegal immigrant who’s been in the U.S. since on or before December 31, 2011, may apply for provisional status. Assuming he meets all of the legal requirements along the way, within 13 years he may be granted lawful permanent resident status.
During that 13-year time frame the immigrant must be employed by a U.S. employer and must be able to provide proof of employment.
Under Obamacare, employers with more than 50 employees are required to either provide healthcare benefits or pay a $3,000 fine every time one of their workers has to subscribe to Obamacare’s insurance exchange subsidies.
However – and here’s the catch – during that 13-year interim period, the immigrant is not eligible for any federal benefits, which includes Obamacare. So the employer doesn’t have to provide healthcare benefits because the illegal immigrant couldn’t apply for Obamacare subsidies if he wanted to.
How does this affect the average American? Obviously, employers will save money when they hire an illegal because they won’t have to provide health insurance. Scarier still, they can actually afford to offer higher wages to illegals so they can hire them in place of legal American citizens.
http://www.infowars.com/obamacare-loopho...-citizens/
Yemen's main oil export pipeline sabotaged, crude flow halted
Yemen’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on Friday that the pipeline in Serwah was exploded by “subversive elements.”
The key pipeline, which carries oil to an export terminal on the Red Sea shore, had been pumping around 125,000 barrels per day (bpd), Reuters quoted an industry source as saying.
Oil revenues make up more than 70 percent of Yemen’s state budget. Oil and gas products also account for over 90 percent of Yemen's exports.
Insurgents and tribesmen have repeatedly attacked oil and gas pipelines in Yemen over the past two years in a bid to win concessions from the central government, causing fuel shortages and slashing export earnings in the impoverished country.
In December 2012, at least 17 people were killed after the Yemeni Army launched an offensive against tribesmen suspected of sabotaging the pipeline.
Official figures show lost production due to pipeline attacks in the east cost the Yemeni government more than USD one billion in 2012, while oil exports fell by 4.5 percent.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/05/24/...sabotaged/
China Bluntly Tells North Korea to Enter Nuclear Talks
BEIJING — The Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, bluntly told a North Korean envoy Friday that his country should return to diplomatic talks designed to rid North Korea of its nuclear weapons, according to a state-run Chinese news agency.
“The denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and lasting peace on the peninsula is what the people want and also the trend of the times,” Mr. Xi said in a meeting at the Great Hall of the People with Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae, a personal envoy of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, the China News Service reported.
Vice Marshal Choe, who has been in Beijing for three days on a mission to repair the prickly relationship between North Korea and China, handed Mr. Xi a letter from Mr. Kim. The contents were not disclosed.
In telling the North it should return to the negotiating table, Mr. Xi appeared to strike a stern tone, saying, “The Chinese position is very clear: no matter how the situation changes, relevant parties should all adhere to the goal of denuclearization of the peninsula, persist in safeguarding its peace and stability, and stick to solving problems through dialogue and consultation.”
The Chinese leader called for resuming the so-called six-party talks, the diplomatic effort among six countries including China and the United States that collapsed in 2008 when North Korea walked out.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/25/world/...d=all&_r=0
Pope calls for global, ethical finance reform, end to cult of money
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis called for global financial reform that respects human dignity, helps the poor, promotes the common good and allows states to regulate markets.
"Money has to serve, not to rule," he said in his strongest remarks yet as pope concerning the world's economic and financial crises.
A major reason behind the increase in social and economic woes worldwide "is in our relationship with money and our acceptance of its power over ourselves and our society," he told a group of diplomats May 16.
"We have created new idols" where the "golden calf of old has found a new and heartless image in the cult of money and the dictatorship of an economy which is faceless and lacking any truly humane goal."
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories...302173.htm