MOSCOW, November 6 -- Russian stocks are likely to fall at Thursday opening hit by a weak ruble and rising geopolitical tensions, which indicate that sanctions will be continued until mid-2015, analysts said. “German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the elections held on November 2 in Ukraine’s separatist regions strengthen Western leaders’ intention to keep the sanction regime,” Andrei Vernikov, Zerich Capital deputy CEO, said. “The west is threatening with new sanctions over worsening situation on Ukraine’s east. Oil prices continue falling due to Saudi Arabia’s decision to cut prices for American buyers…and the ruble keeps hitting historical lows against the US dollar and the euro,” Andrei Dirgin, head of Alfa-Forex analytic department, said. On Wednesday, the ruble plunged 1.34 rubles against the US dollar to 44.95 and 1.58 against the euro to 56.08.Brent oil prices gained 0.18% to US $83.10 per barrel prior to the opening of the trading session, but they had already lost about 3.5% since the beginning of the month. If the US dollar continues to strengthen, the price can fall below $80 per barrel, Ilya Frolov, analyst at Promsvyazbank, said. Investors will closely watch for todays’ announcements of the result of the European Central Bank’s meeting on monetary policy, UK’s industrial output data, Germany’s industrial orders, US’ jobless claims and agricultural output statistics.
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BEIJING, November 6 -- China plans to send around 1,000 medical workers and experts to West Africa to help combat Ebola outbreak. China says it plans to send around 1,000 medical workers and experts to West Africa to help in the fight against the deadly Ebola outbreak that has claimed nearly 5,000 lives. China's National Health and Family Planning Commission said on Wednesday, it was planning to send "1,000 medical workers and public health experts" to Ebola-afflicted countries. "In the months to come, more than 1,000 medical workers and public health experts will be sent by China to assist in the battle against Ebola in West African countries," state-run Xinhua news agency reported. China, Africa's biggest trade partner, has come under fierce criticism for not doing enough in the fight against the worst outbreak of Ebola on record. While Beijing has already sent a total of 252 people to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the three hardest-hit countries, Cuba has sent 165 doctors and nurses to help efforts in Sierra Leone and plans to send 296 others soon to Liberia and Guinea. On Friday, China's Foreign Ministry said it would send an elite unit of the People's Liberation Army to help Liberia, the country worst-hit by the outbreak that has killed 4,951 people out of 13,567 infected in eight countries. Doctors and nurses have been the most vulnerable to contracting Ebola, because the virus is spread through bodily fluids. More than 500 health workers have contracted Ebola, and around half have died. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says 4,500 health workers are still needed. SEOUL. October 4 -- Asian countries are not contributing enough to the global effort to fight Ebola, despite having a wealth of trained medical personnel who could help stop the spread of the deadly virus, World Bank Group president, Jim Yong Kim, said. Addressing a news conference in South Korea's capital Seoul on Tuesday, Kim called on leaders across Asia to send trained health professionals to the three West African countries hardest hit by the epidemic. "Many countries in Asia who could help simply are not [helping], especially when it comes to sending health workers," Kim told the news conference. Thousands of healthcare workers are needed to help combat the deadliest outbreak of Ebola since records began in 1976. The virus has killed nearly 5,000 people, mainly in the West African countries of Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. South Korea has pledged to contribute $5.6m to combat the virus, and both Japan and China have sent equipment or medical staff to the Ebola-stricken countries in West Africa. China has so far donated $123m to 13 African countries and international organisations to combat Ebola, according to the government. It has also sent hundreds of health workers. But the overall response from Asia has lagged contributions from the United States, which has sent thousands of troops and has pledged $1bn. "We need thousands of health workers, and we're going to need them over the next six months to a year. The fight against Ebola is not over until we get to zero cases in those three countries," Kim said. DONETSK/LUHANSK, November 4 -- Inauguration of newly elected leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics will take place on Tuesday. Alexander Zakharchenko, the incumbent prime minister of the Donetsk People's Republic, who was named the head of the region after winning by a landslide in Sunday’s elections, will swear allegiance to the constitution of the DPR and the country. “The ceremony will be attended by government member and deputies of the People’s Assembly who were elected to the country’s parliament from party lists during the November 2 elections,” the DPR press centre said on Tuesday, adding that the inauguration ceremony would be held at the Donetsk Drama Theatre. The inauguration ceremony of the current leader of the Luhansk People’s Republic, Igor Plotnitsky, will take place in the pillared hall of the former Luhansk Regional Council in the city centre. “Inauguration will be held in presence of ministers and the parliament,” Aleksey Karyakin, the head of the republic’s People’s Council, told TASS. The November 2 elections of the Prime Minister and deputies of the People’s Assembly in self-proclaimed Donetsk brought victory to the incumbent Prime Minister, Alexander Zakharchenko, and the Donetsk Republic popular movement he stands at the head of. In another self-proclaimed semi-state entity, the Luhansk People’s Republic, elections were won by the current Prime Minister, Igor Plotnitsky, and his Mir Luhanshchine (Peace for Luhanshchina) public movement. The first elections of Prime Ministers and legislators in the DPR and LPR were watched by representatives of the U.S., Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia and some other countries. They said upon the end of voting they had not seen any major violations and the elections stood fully in line with European electoral practices. The government in Kiev speaks about illegitimacy of elections in the two unrecognized republics, with the U.S. and the EU supporting the claim. EU’s High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said the EU had no plans to recognize the outcome of the elections in East Ukraine. The U.S., which said the elections contradicted the letter and spirit of the Ukrainian Constitution and the September 5 Minsk accords, condemned the fact they had been organized. In contrast to the West, Russia believes that Sunday’s voting in the two self-proclaimed republics marked an encouraging step towards reconciliation in Ukraine. On the eve of the voting, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in an official statement the elections complied with the Minsk accords and offered a chance to put the situation in southeastern Ukraine to the track of a fruitful dialogue. The Islamic State (ISIS) has killed at least 200 people from the Albu Nimr tribe, which had taken up arms against the fighters, police officers cited by news agencies said. Women and children were said to be among those executed over the past 10 days in western Iraq's Anbar province which has been largely overrun by ISIS. Accounts varied as to the number and timings of the executions in Anbar, but all sources spoke of more than 200 people murdered in recent days. Police Colonel Shaaban al-Obaidi told the AFP news agency that more than 200 people were killed, while Faleh al-Essawi, deputy head of Anbar provincial council, put the toll at 258. Canada joins campaign News of the killings came as Canada conducted air strikes on ISI2 positions in Iraq for the first time on Sunday. "Today's strike demonstrates our government's firm resolve to tackle the threat of terrorism and to stand with our allies against ISIS's atrocities against innocent women, children and men," Canadian Defence Minister Rob Nicholson said in a statement. Canada joined the anti-ISIS coalition on Thursday and conducted two days of reconnaissance before sending two CF-18s to attack jihadist positions around the city of Fallujah. Iraq is bracing for yet more violence in the coming days as hundreds of thousands of Shia prepare to travel to shrines in Karbala for a major annual pilgrimage. ISIL, a Sunni group that has seized large parts of Iraq and Syria, is expected to target Ashura pilgrims; 19 people died in attacks on Shia Muslims on Sunday. The killings are probably aimed at discouraging resistance from powerful local tribes in Anbar. ISIS also detained dozens of members of the Jubur tribe in Salaheddin province, north of Baghdad, officials and a tribal leader said. ROME, November 3 -- The body of the last of 32 victims — Indian steward Russel Rebello — found on board the cruise liner Costa Concordia crashed in 2012, Italian media reported. The remains of the man officially considered missing were found inside one of the cabins on the eighth deck. Costa Concordia, lifted and towed to the reef on July 28 in the port city of Genoa, is now on disposal, and Rebello remains were discovered during deconstruction of the vessel. The cruise liner with 4,200 passengers and crew onboard struck a reef and capsized on January 14, 2012. Thirty-two people died in the accident. Costa Concordia’s captain Francesco Schettino is on trial in Grosseto for manslaughter and abandoning ship. OTTAWA, November 1 -- Visa applications from worst-affected nations suspended in move slammed as ineffective and disheartening by critics. Canada has suspended visa applications for residents and nationals of countries with "widespread transmission" of the Ebola virus, becoming the second nation after Australia to introduce such a measure. The countries most severely hit by the worst Ebola outbreak ever are Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Canada has not yet had a case of the disease. The similar move by Australia was slammed on Wednesday by Dr Margaret Chan, the World Health Organisation's director general, who said closing borders won't stop spread of the Ebola virus. Canadians, including healthcare workers, in West Africa will be permitted to travel back to Canada, the government said. Kevin Menard, a spokesman for Canada's immigration ministry, said the government has "instituted a pause" in issuing visas for foreigners from risky countries, but noted "there was room for discretion if we can be assured that someone is not infected with the virus," according to the Associated Press news agency. Nancy Caron, a spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Canada, said that "a number of African countries have imposed stricter travel bans as have several other countries around the world. Other countries such as the United States have started to place restrictions on travelers from countries with Ebola outbreaks". The government also noted that all travelers, including Canadian citizens, will continue to be screened at ports of entry in Canada and will be subject to appropriate health screening. Menard said the move is similar to, but a bit less restrictive than, the Australian measure. Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for the UN secretary-general, said the body welcomed Canada's support in fighting the Ebola outbreak but advocated "against isolating the three most impacted countries and stigmatising its citizens". LOS ANGELES, November 1 -- One pilot dead and one injured as rocket built for space tourists experiences "anomaly" in test flight over California. The British company said on its Twitter account that the spacecraft experienced an "in-flight anomaly" during a test flight over the Mojave Desert on Friday. One of the pilots was killed and the other one was injured, the California Highway Patrol said. The test flights were being conducted in preparation for journeys for tourists to outer space. The SpaceShipTwo rocket is typically flown by a crew of two pilots and has been under development at Mojave Air and Space Port in the desert northeast of Los Angeles. Ken Brown, a photographer who witnessed the crash, said the spacecraft exploded after it was released from a plane that carries it to a high altitude. The company founded by British billionaire Richard Branson would not say what happened other than it was working with authorities to determine the cause of the "accident". Virgin Galactic has been the frontrunner in the fledgling space-tourism industry. SpaceShipTwo was designed to be carried aloft by a specially designed jet and then released before igniting its rocket for a suborbital ride into space and then a return to Earth as a glider. More than 700 customers have already paid up to $250,000 for a trip on the spacecraft. |
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