Six In The Morning

As Syrian refu­gee population nears 1 million, relief agencies cannot keep up

By Taylor Luck, Tuesday, March 5

MAFRAQ, Jordan — The spread of makeshift aluminum shelters erected by Syrians now outpaces new rows of U.N. canvas tents here in chilly northern Jordan, home to one of the world’s fastest-growing refugee camps. A vast black-market bazaar has sprouted from the desert sand, where enterprising refugees hawk bottled water and other basic necessities that most fellow camp residents can’t afford.

As a mass Syrian emigration spills into neighboring countries, relief organizations acknowledge that they can hardly keep up. The exodus is accelerating so quickly that the tally of need will almost certainly hit a grim milestone this week, when the number of Syrian refugees who have registered with the United Nations — or are on months-long waiting lists to do so — is expected to hit 1 million.

CHINA

Figuring out Xi Jinping

He's been party leader since November. Now Xi Jinping is to be anointed head of state by China's National People's Congress - but it's still not clear where he stands on the issues.

In March of every year, the National People's Congress - China's parliament that generally unanimously ratifies the decisions of the Communist Party of China - convenes. This time, there's a special task awaiting the nearly 3,000 delegates: They must approve a change of leadership at the very top of the country.

Top positions within the party were already assigned during the 18th party convention last November. It now remains for the Chinese parliament to officially elect the new head of the party, Xi Jinping, as president of the state. Besides that, individual positions within the government - called the the state council - also require the delegates' symbolic assent.

Italian Elections: Europe's Lost Generation Finds Its Voice

By Fiona Ehlers, Julia Amalia Heyer, Mathieu von Rohr and Helene Zuber

For years, Europe's young have grown increasingly furious as the euro crisis has robbed them of a future. The emergence of Beppe Grillo's party in Italy is one of the results -- and is just the latest indication that disgust towards European politics is widespread.

Only a few weeks ago, they hardly would have thought it was possible. But now here they are; their first public appearance following their surprise success in the Italian general election. In a hotel in Rome, not far from the Piazza San Giovanni, eight of the 162 newly elected parliamentary representatives of Movimento 5 Stelle (the Five Star Movement, or M5S) are squinting into the spotlights and speaking softly -- and what they are saying actually sounds reasonable.

They are talking about empowering Italians and giving people more of a say in political decisions -- and they want to know how their tax money is being spent. Grassroots politics is the goal. Their efforts remain somewhat clumsy, but they are sincere.

Gaps between US, Israel approach to Iran show

March 5, 2013 - 9:55AM

TEL AVIV: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Iran is using negotiations over its nuclear program to stall for time to develop an atomic weapon.

"Diplomacy has not worked," Mr Netanyahu, speaking via satellite, has told the largest gathering in Washington of a pro-Israel US lobbying group.

Iran is "running out the clock", he said. "It has used negotiations, including the most recent ones, in order to buy time to press ahead with its nuclear program."

Nigeria building a city from the sea

Sapa-AFP | 05 3月, 2013 09:33

A Nigerian city is rising from the sea, swelling the country's hopes of one day turning back the tide of negative impressions and serving as a showcase to the world.

The massive project taking shape along the coast will see a new, privately run city built on land reclaimed from the Atlantic Ocean.

However, the Dubai-like project, called Eko Atlantic, is not without controversy since it will be privately administered throughout, including providing its own security, steady electricity supply and clean water.

Such services are largely unavailable to average Nigerians, with the government so far unable to provide them reliably in a country that ranks as Africa's most populous nation and largest oil producer.

Desperate for cash, Honduras to hawk bonds

Honduras is broke, writes a guest blogger, and despite a recent credit downgrade it is now trying to privately place over $750 million in bonds.

By Russell Sheptak, Guest blogger / March 4, 2013

Honduras is broke.
 
 It can't pay government employees, contractors, or suppliers. Its not unusual for teachers to go six months between paychecks under Porfirio Lobo Sosa. Road construction has stopped again due to government debts to the construction companies. It stopped paying the IHSS, the government health provider, the fees it collected from government employees to pay for their health care, prompting IHSS to threaten to cut off government employees. 
 
 So what does a bankrupt government do?

Honduras is now seeking to privately place over $750 million in bonds. In that private placement, it is usingBarclays and Deutsche Bank as its agents. These two banking firms have been hired by the government of Honduras to set up meetings with potential investors.  Meetings have now been set up in London (March 4),New York (March 6), Boston (March 6) and Los Angeles (March 7).