Eurozone economic activity 'hits a two-year high'

Eurozone economic activity rose at its fastest pace in November for two years, according to an influential survey.

The latest Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) figure rose to 53.7, up from 53 in the previous month, confirming the bloc's recent economic recovery.

The growth was driven by manufacturing output, which scored 54.6, its fastest growth since September 2007.

Figures released earlier this month showed that the eurozone emerged from recession between July and September.

'Fragile' growth

Any PMI score above 50 indicates an expansion in economic activity.

"The November survey suggests that the eurozone continued to expand at a robust pace, raising hopes that GDP growth in the final three months of the year could outpace the 0.4% rise seen the third quarter," said Chris Williamson at Markit Economics, which compiles the PMI.

But he added that the new orders index fell to its lowest level since February. This, together with rising unemployment, "highlighted the fragility of the recovery," he said.

Despite the two-year high, analysts were not getting carried away by the survey.

"The eurozone numbers are not going to set anything alight," said Peter Dixon at Commerzbank.

"It's an expansion that is consistent with [a recovery] which is slow and steady and [the eurozone economy] will probably continue to expand for some months to come, but I don't think we should be expecting a massive pick-up in activity from here."

BBC News

Iran war games to defend nuclear sites

Iran has begun five days of large-scale war games to simulate attacks on its nuclear sites, officials said, warning it will retaliate if provoked.

The head of Iran's air defence said the aim of the exercises was to thwart aerial reconnaissance and air attacks.

Another official warned Tehran would retaliate with a missile strike on Tel Aviv, if it was attacked by Israel.

Iran is under intense pressure over its nuclear programme, which critics say is intended to produce nuclear weapons.

The US and Israel have not ruled out the prospect of a military attack to prevent Iran developing nuclear bombs. Tehran insists its programme is peaceful.

Annihilation warning

The head of Iran's air defence, Brig Gen Ahmad Mighani, told state media the aim of the war games, which will cover an area of 600,000 sq km (230,000 sq miles), was "to display Iran's combat readiness and military potentials.

IRAN'S NUCLEAR SITES
Map showing Iranian nuclear sites
Iran insists that all its nuclear facilities are for energy, not military purposes
Bushehr: Nuclear power plant
Isfahan: Uranium conversion plant
Natanz: Uranium enrichment plant, 4,592 working centrifuges, with 3,716 more installed
Second enrichment plant: Existence revealed to IAEA in Sept 2009. Separate reports say it is near Qom, and not yet operational
Arak: Heavy water plant

Key nuclear sites in detail
A high-stakes game
Q&A: Iran and the nuclear issue

"Due to the threats against our nuclear facilities it is our duty to defend out nation's vital facilities," he said.

Meanwhile, Mojhtaba Zolnoor, an aide to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned Iran would respond to any Israeli attack.

"If the enemy attacks Iran, our missiles will strike Tel Aviv," he was quoted as saying by the official Irna news agency.

The commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards' air force wing said Iran's air defence forces would "annihilate" Israeli warplanes if they attacked.

"Their [Israeli] F-15 and F-16 fighters will be trapped by our air defence forces and will be annihilated," Amir Ali Hajizadeh told Iran's Fars news agency.

"Even if their planes escape and land at the bases from which they took off, their bases will be struck by our destructive surface-to-surface missiles."

Deal in doubt

The exercises come as the UN Security Council's permanent members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - plus Germany, urge Tehran to reconsider its rejection of a proposal that would see some of its nuclear material being enriched outside Iran and returned as fuel rods.

The deal - brokered by the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency - envisages Iran sending about 70% of its low-enriched uranium to Russia and France, where it would be processed into fuel rods for a research reactor in Tehran.

Such a process would prevent Iran enriching uranium to the degree necessary to make a bomb, the UN says.

But Iran has rejected a key part of the deal, seeking further guarantees.

The UN Security Council has called on Iran to stop uranium enrichment and has approved three rounds of sanctions - covering trade in nuclear material, as well as financial and travel restrictions.

BBC News

How Do You Feel When You Are Being Criticized?

It is quite natural for individuals to feel embarrassed, hurt or discouraged when their thoughts, opinions, suggestions, performances, etc are being criticized by other individuals in the society, community or public forum. Criticism can help people to improve on what they have already done, but it can also be a source of discouragement to other people who easily get discouraged at the slightest encounter with difficulties or challenges of life.

Some Individuals expect encouragements from others after a performance, delivering speeches, displaying their skills, publishing their works, etc, but when criticisms are received instead, the feeling that creeps in is usually a bad one. On the other hand, some people want their works, performances, skills, etc to be criticized so that they can easily locate the areas that need to be improved on in whatever they do. Those people who want to be criticized also expect their critics to be constructive, which means that the criticisms should be useful and helpful to improving on what they have already done.

But the question is: how do you feel when you or your works are being criticized? Do you feel bad, discouraged, embarrassed or hurt? If this is so, what you have to know is that in whatever you do, there is always somebody by the side who will tell you that you are wrong. This is a fact, but how you react or respond to this will go a long way in determining the kind of person you wish to become, and to a large extent, it determines the kind of height you are able to attain in life. People must talk, you cannot stop them from doing so, but you can stop them from influencing your positive judgments. You have to learn how to lay strong foundation with the stones that people throw at you in order to come out stronger and better. You have to conquer the bad feeling that criticisms bring by giving it positive interpretations.

Have you stopped doing what you are supposed to be doing because people have told you that you are wrong? All you need to do is try to make amendments where they will be needed, and continue to give your best and do your best to ensure that you are on the right part.

Whenever you desire to do something that is important to you in every aspects of life, expect to encounter oppositions and criticisms on your way because everybody cannot feel the same way you do, but the way you handle these oppositions and criticisms surely helps you to improve on the skills you already have. Whenever you feel that your critics are not trying to be constructive, ignore them, and keep searching for the tools that will help to put your works or skills in the right shape.

Historians Should Explain this if They Can

Whenever I come across these incidents in American history, I have continued to wonder if they were just mere coincidence or maybe they were predestined to happen the way they followed in sequence. I am now calling on historians to try and give explanation for this, if they can.

Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.
John .F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.
Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.
John .F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.
Both were particularly concerned with Civil rights.
Both wives lost their children while living in the White House.
Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.
Both Presidents were shot in the head.
Now it will be getting really weird.
Lincoln’s Secretary was named Kennedy.
Kennedy’s Secretary was named Lincoln.
Both Presidents were assassinated by Southerners.
Both were succeeded by Southerners named Johnson.
Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.
Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.
John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839.
Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939.
Both assassins were known by their three names.
Both names are composed of fifteen letters.
Lincoln was shot at the theater named “Ford”.
Kennedy was shot in a car named “Lincoln” made by “Ford”.
Lincoln was shot in a theater and his assassin ran and hid in a warehouse.
Kennedy was shot from a warehouse, and his assassin ran and hid in a theater.
Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials.
And here is the kicker……..
A week before Lincoln was shot, he was in Monroe Maryland.
A week before Kennedy was shot, he was with Marilyn Monroe
Weird, isn’t it. You can pass it on to as many people as you can, because this is one history lesson that people would not mind reading any day.

Youth and Unemployment in Africa: A Panacea

Unemployment has been a perennial problem in Nigeria and Africa at large. Every regime promises to address the issue of unemployment but in the end we see that the problem keeps on increasing. The rate of unemployment now is alarming and it is obvious that African governments are helpless in the face of this intimidating challenge. The youth in this case are the most affected. The majority of African youths are jobless. They parade around all the cities looking for jobs which are not there. This explains why the number of unemployed is most in the cities in Africa than in the rural areas. Frustrated by lack of job, some of these job seekers resort to crime in order to make ends meet. To them it is either they get a job or they become social misfits. But the fact is that there are no jobs for the teeming youths who are becoming restive by the day. Violence and crime are on the increase.
Most times we blame the government for unemployment. If government will initiate good policies that can boost economic development that will at least increase the rate of employment. Again it is evident that most African governments do not care about the welfare of the masses. In this case, what do the youth do? Should you sit and blame government while you perish in hunger? Even if governments start creating jobs, do you think that governments will employ all the job seekers in the continent? Definitely not. There is no way that can be possible. In the West it is not the Government that employs most workers but companies, corporations, organizations, banks, etc owned by private individuals. Therefore, government alone cannot solve the problem of unemployment. It is individuals that can solve their unemployment challenge and that of others. That is how it is in the West. Individuals establish companies. By that they solve their problem of joblessness. In addition they create job for others.
In Africa the problem of unemployment can only be solved when the youths discard their old and wrong ‘dependency mentality’ that once you are a graduate or school leaver, government will give you a job. It is a dependency mentality. When government does not create jobs, people with this mentality get frustrated and disappointed. No wonder violence is on the increase in Africa. So the first step towards overcoming unemployment is cultivating the right mentality of self employment. You did not go to higher institution to learn how to become a servant. Open your brain and see opportunities all around you.
Some are looking for job in banks, companies, firms, etc. Have you asked yourself: who founded those banks, companies and firms? Are they superior beings? If they are human beings like you, then why can you not found one? The rich dad in Robert Kiyosaki’s ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ will always advise his son to put his brain to work. That is all you need. If those people who are not graduates can be making it on their own, what about you? Use you brain. Think of what you can do - a service you can render and people will be happy to part with their money in return. That is it. You have something you know how to do best. You have talents, potentials in you. Do not allow them to rust where you are looking and desiring to work in the ‘brain child’ of others. I may not wish to tell you the disappointments and frustrations that follow job seekers as well as employees. You may have known them already but let me tell you that there is fulfillment in self employment. There is freedom and there is prestige in being independent.
Right mentality leads to right attitude. The worst thing that can happen to a man is self rejection. Dependency mentality has elements of self rejection in it. It makes you not to believe in your abilities to create jobs. So you resign your happiness to whims and caprices of government, who as it appears, has rejected your service. That is too bad.
Obstacle to self employment is not lack of money as some have believed. It is lack of good ideals/goals and pride. Most unemployed youths have no plan of working for themselves. First of all, set goals for your life, meditate on them, and I tell you, where there is a will there is a way. Goal setting is the starting point of every achievement and not money. Another obstacle is pride. Many believe that because they are graduates they cannot start small. It is a lie. You have to start from somewhere. Before you become a graduate you passed through nursery/primary school. That is how the journey is. Bury your pride (what is your pride when you have no job and are without money). According to Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, the world has the habit of making room for the man whose actions show that he knows where he is going. It is not where you start from that matters but where you are going. Therefore develop good ideals/goals for your life and start from somewhere so that you can actualize your goals.
Your generation is looking up to you. So think and create a job for yourself and others or sit and wait until government gives you a job. The choice is yours!

The Power of Belief

Before I go on to discuss the topic I will like to let you know that you are a unique being with unique qualities. You are wonderfully made by God the creator, loaded with potentials to become what you want to be. You are full of abilities to achieve just what you want to achieve. In fact you have the power to effect any desired changes. And that is the power of belief. God packed every thing you need to live inside of you: your heart, lungs, kidney, brain, blood, etc are all inside of you. Likewise, the power for you to succeed is in you and not in anyone else. The only thing you have to do is to have belief in yourself, believe in your God-given abilities. This is sine-qua-non of success in life.

The power of belief is so great a force that it can either make or mar someone’s success depending on what type of belief he has about himself. It is a force that shapes our realities. This is to say that your belief determines what you can get in life; how far you can go in life and what you do with your life. Little wonder men say that you are what you believe.

At this point I will like to tell you that there is a positive and negative belief. It may also interest you to know that both have the same magnitude of power. While the former has the power to bring positive changes the latter saps an individual the power to make any progress towards the direction of success. A positive belief is a belief in the possibilities whereas a negative belief is a belief in the impossibilities. The former is a belief in one’s abilities while the latter is a belief in one’s disabilities. Positive belief is optimistic but negative belief is pessimistic. Sadly enough many people believe in impossibilities and They know all the rules that will not work, this is why they fail. It is not because God did not give them the abilities. It is because they do not believe in their God-given abilities.

According to our belief so shall it be to us. What do you believe about yourself? Have you realized that you have all it takes to be great? Do you know that God has put in you the power to be successful? Have you known that God’s deposits in you can only be activated through positive belief? Of course, God put all you need in you so that you can excel but you need to believe in those talents He deposited in you. Believe in the abilities God put in you; believe that you are made unique to contribute uniquely to your generation. Otherwise your belief will be negative and can only attract negative things to you.

Who has ever doubted what God made and still succeeded? You are that which God made. Therefore believe in yourself.

China joins supercomputer elite

China has become one of a handful of nations to own one of the top five supercomputers in the world.

Its Tianhe-1 computer, housed at the National Super Computer Center in Tianjin was ranked fifth on the biannual Top 500 supercomputer list.

The machine packs more than 70,000 chips and can compute 563 trillion calculations per second (teraflops).

It is used for petroleum exploration and engineering tasks such as simulating aircraft designs.

However, the fastest machine is the US-owned Jaguar supercomputer, which now boasts a speed of 1.759 petaflops.

One petaflop is the equivalent of 1,000 trillion calculations per second.

The Cray computer has more than 220,000 chips and is owned by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. It is used to conduct research in climate science, materials science and nuclear energy amongst other areas.

TOP FIVE SUPERCOMPUTERS
Jaguar, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, US. (1.759 petaflops; 224,162 processors)
Roadrunner, Los Alamos National Laboratory, US (1.042 petaflops; 122,400 processors)
Kraken XT5, University of Tennessee, US(831.7 teraflops; 98,928 processors)
Jugene, Forschungszentrum Juelich, Germany (835.5 teraflops; 294,912 processors)
Tianhe-1, National SuperComputer Center, China (563.1 teraflops; 71,680 processors)
Source: Top 500 Supercomputers

It has taken the top slot from another US machine, nicknamed Roadrunner.

The IBM computer is owned by the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and was the first machine to push through the petaflop barrier.

It is currently able to run at 1.042 petaflops and uses the powerful "cell" chip designed for the PlayStation 3.

It is used to monitor the US nuclear stockpile, as well as conduct research into astronomy, genomics and climate change.

The Top 500 list is dominated by machines in the US, which is home to 277 of ranked systems. It has eight of the top 10 machines.

Europe has 153 systems on the list, including the world's fourth most powerful machine. The IBM BlueGene/P supercomputer at the Forschungszentrum Juelich (FZJ) in Germany is the fastest machine outside the US and is able to run at more than 800 teraflops.

The UK has the largest number of European machines on the list, with 44 systems.

BBC News

US demands Afghan 'bribery court'

The Afghan president must set up a "major crimes tribunal" and an anti-corruption commission, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says.

She told ABC television that Hamid Karzai "can do better".

The Afghan leader - recently re-elected in a poll marred by fraud allegations - has come under growing Western pressure to deal with corruption.

One of Mr Karzai's spokesmen insisted the Afghan leader's administration was "serious" about tackling corruption.

The American ambassador in Kabul has warned against a US troop surge unless Mr Karzai takes action against corruption.


Now we believe that President Karzai and his government can do better
Hillary Clinton
US Secretary of State

His views are at odds with US generals recommending a major troop deployment.

Afghanistan's chief prosecutor has said he has a list of senior officials and ministers suspected of taking bribes, but refused to publish their names.

Chief prosecutor Ishaq Aluko told the BBC last week that he had asked the president and Supreme Court to set up a special court to deal with the cases.

The presidential election in August was tainted with accusations of fraud and vote-rigging. Mr Karzai's main rival pulled out of a run-off vote.

No aid

Mrs Clinton, in an interview on ABC, said Washington expects "a major crimes tribunal" to be set up and "an anti-corruption commission established and functioning".

She said the Afghan government needed to take action against people who have "taken advantage of the money that has poured into Afghanistan" in the past eight years.

She said she had made it clear that civilian aid would not be given unless the US could track it if it went to government ministries.

Mrs Clinton said the goal of the US was to defeat al-Qaeda, and help Afghans defend themselves against the Taliban.

"Now we believe that President Karzai and his government can do better," she said.

People's needs

"We've delivered that message. Now that the election is finally over, we're looking to see tangible evidence that the government, led by the president but going all the way down to the local level, will be more responsive to the needs of the people."

Corruption in Afghanistan - which is the world's largest producer of opium - is linked mainly to illegal drugs, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

It has also said the unprecedentedly large amount of international assistance, and pressure to spend resources quickly, also contribute to corruption.

Afghanistan is regularly listed as among the worst five countries - out of 180 - for corruption by watchdog groups.
BBC News

No public probe into Iraq 'abuse'

Fresh allegations of abuse by the UK military in Iraq do not warrant a new public inquiry, the Armed Forces Minister Bill Rammell has said.

He told the BBC the claims were taken seriously and would be investigated but that allegations did not mean facts.

He said a special unit within the Ministry of Defence, overseen by him, had been set up to examine the claims.

Lawyers for former Iraqi detainees want an inquiry into 33 abuse claims, which include the rape of a 16-year-old boy.

'Sexually humiliated'

Mr Rammell said there should not be a wider public inquiry because each case first had to be examined and disciplinary action taken if there was evidence of wrongdoing.

He said: "There is no credible evidence that endemic abuse was a coherent part of the way our military operated."

The "vast, vast majority" of the 120,000 British soldiers who had served in Iraq had adhered to "the highest standards of behaviour," he added.

Phil Shiner, Iraqis' lawyer: Abuse in army is 'systematic'

Earlier, Mr Rammell told the BBC seven of the allegations had come in within the last month, and the rest date back "significantly beyond that period".

A public inquiry is already under way into the death of Iraqi civilian Baha Mousa, who died in British custody with 93 separate injuries.

A report by the Independent newspaper said 33 cases of alleged abuse had now come to light.

One claimant alleges he was raped by two British soldiers in 2003, while others say they were stripped naked, abused and photographed, the Independent said.

Another detainee said that when he was arrested he was kicked and hit, and an electric baton was used on parts of his body.

'Random detentions'

A fellow Iraqi, detained in 2006, claimed he was sexually humiliated.

The lawyers said that since the British withdrawal from Basra in the summer, they had heard a host of allegations of abuse dating back to 2003.

Mr Rammell added: "While there have been instances when individuals have behaved badly, only a tiny number of individuals have been shown to have fallen short of our high standards."

A legal letter was given to the MoD last week by the Iraqis' lawyer, Phil Shiner.

Mr Shiner is asking for a judicial review of the cases.

I met this boy and it was extremely difficult taking his statement because he broke into tears many times and I had to comfort him
Mazin Younis

He said: "I have it on good authority that there are hundreds of cases that are going uninvestigated.

"But if you are an Iraqi and terrible things have happened to you then how would you know that we have a judicial system in this country to deal with it?

"My guess is that many of them will remain buried."

Mazin Younis, the Iraqi human rights campaigner who has been compiling the allegations, said many alleged victims waited years before coming forward because they were afraid of what would happen if they complained.

"They all feared that the British would come back and punish them. Now the British are out," he told the BBC.

He said many people were detained at random and abused.

"The norm, kind of is for a large number of troops - 50 to 100 - to raid a house, take all the men with them.

"When I say take them they will be beating, kicking them and hooding them."

Mr Younis said some of the alleged cases were similar to cases of sexual humiliation seen at the US detention centre Abu Ghraib and that only a full public inquiry would establish what had really happened.

He described meeting the 16-year-old boy who said he had been raped by two soldiers.

"I met this boy and it was extremely difficult taking his statement because he broke into tears many times and I had to comfort him," he said.

BBC News

9/11 suspects face New York trial

he alleged 9/11 mastermind will be transferred from Guantanamo to New York for a trial in which the death penalty will be sought, the US has confirmed.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others would be tried in a civilian court near Ground Zero, the attorney general said.

Five other Guantanamo detainees would face military trials, Eric Holder said.

The move is part of US President Barack Obama's efforts to close Guantanamo, but some relatives of 9/11 victims say they oppose a federal court trial.

"Today I am announcing that the Department of Justice will pursue prosecution in federal court of the five individuals accused of conspiring to commit the 9/11 attacks," Mr Holder told a news conference.


I am absolutely convinced that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be subjected to the most exacting demands of

justice

Barack Obama

In quotes: US reaction
A triumph of justice?
New York voices

"I fully expect to direct prosecutors to seek the death penalty against each of the alleged 9/11 conspirators."

Four men - the two Yemenis, a Saudi and a Pakistani-born Kuwaiti - will face trial alongside Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused of helping finance and plan the attacks of 11 September 2001 in which nearly 3,000 people were killed.

Responsibility for the case will go to the Southern District of New York, with proceedings taking place at a court not far from where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center fell.

No date was given for a trial, but US media reports say Congress needs at least 45 days' notice before the detainees can be transferred to the US.

'Unnecessary risk'

The five men had until now been facing prosecution at US military commissions in Guantanamo. The government had faced a 16 November deadline to decide how to proceed in their cases.


Paul Reynolds
Paul Reynolds, BBC World Affairs correspondent
The decision to prosecute in a federal court is a major step towards President Obama's target of closing Guantanamo by 22 January. However, problems remain.

About 70 prisoners are in limbo. There is not enough useable evidence for a military or a civilian trial yet no other country will so far take them and release is seen as too dangerous.

Guantanamo Bay, as the attorney general indicated, is therefore unlikely to close by the deadline.

The announcement also confirmed military commissions will go ahead in some cases, so the move to civilian trials is not a general one.

It remains to be seen whether the trial will accept any alleged confession by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed as it might have been based on water-boarding, or whether, in a courtroom close to Ground Zero, he will seek to glory in the attacks.

Mr Holder said he was confident that the defendants would get a fair trial that was "open to the public and open to the world".

Of the five detainees referred for military commission trials, one is Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, accused in connection with the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen.

Speaking in Tokyo ahead of Mr Holder's announcement, Mr Obama said Khalid Sheikh Mohammed would face "most exacting demands of justice". Mr Mohammed has been described by US investigators as "one of history's most infamous terrorists". They say he has admitted being responsible "from A to Z" for the 9/11 attacks.

Believed to be the number three al-Qaeda leader, he was captured in Pakistan in March 2003. He told a pre-trial hearing at Guantanamo in December 2008 that he wanted to plead guilty to all charges against him.

But intelligence memos released earlier this year revealed he had been subjected to harsh interrogation techniques including water-boarding on multiple occasions since his capture - potentially rendering some evidence inadmissible.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed pictured upon capture in Pakistan in March 2003 (left) and more recently at Guantanamo Bay (right)
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was captured in March 2003

The decision to hold the trial in New York faces opposition from some lawmakers and relatives of those who died.

Congressmen Howard McKeon, the senior Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said the decision would introduce "unnecessary risk to the citizens of New York".

But Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, said the decision demonstrates "to the world that the most powerful nation on earth also trusts its judicial system".

The move is part of a White House bid to close Guantanamo by 22 January 2010.

Mr Obama's administration says it will try some detainees in US courts and repatriate or resettle others who are not perceived as a threat.

However, questions remain over the fate of those assessed as dangerous but who for legal reasons could not be prosecuted in a US court - prompting suggestions that the deadline will slip.

BBC News