Wednesday 10 March 2010 News
José Sócrates continued to justify far reaching austerity measures this week as plans were publicised to reduce welfare benefits, raise income tax, freeze civil service salaries, shelve a high speed rail project and sell off large numbers of assets.
The prime minister reminded the press that when he came into power in 2005 he cut the public deficit to 2.6 per cent from 6.1 per cent GDP saying that his government did it before so they can do it again. The finance minister has conducted a series of meetings to explain how the government will recover its deficit of 9.3 per cent of GDP to below 3 per cent by 2013. The government is also planning to sell government bonds to shore up the balance sheet. The national debt is more than 85 per cent of the economy's output.
A hotel under construction in Braga, thirteen floors high, was damaged by a large fire yesterday. The fire services had to call on their neighbouring regional fire brigade to bring in specialist ladder equipment that could reach the higher floors. The fire started around 11.30am by what is thought to have been welding equipment.
Experts have said that the damage was to the façade of the building and that the main structure will not have been damaged. The hotel is due to be opened this year as a five star rated resort and is being built by contractor Britalar under the management of António Salvador in partnership with Hotti and Braga Hotels. The project was originally estimated to cost €25 million and is located near the Minho University.
A woman, 25, and six months pregnant, was attacked yesterday on the doorstep of her home. Maria Conceição Silva was hospitalised at Hospital Padre Américo, Penafiel, with moderate burns to the face and upper body. She told the authorities that she was approached by a woman who had hidden her face with the hood of her coat. She arrived at her parent’s house for lunch and was almost to the door when the woman approached her and threw a substance which proved to be acid in her face, splashing herself in the process.
Her mother heard the screams and assumed she had been robbed, so went after the woman with the assistance of neighbours. They overpowered the woman, aged 39, who then threw more acid at a neighbour, Ana Paula, who was also treated for burns. The family has said Maria knew her attacker who runs a café near her place of work but did not know of any disagreement between them. The attacker, Maria Amalia Pacheco, was detained by GNR Paredes and then released under caution.
Retail sales increase
February saw an increase in retail sales, following a poor result in January.
Like-for-like sales rose by 2.2 per cent compared to a 0.7 per cent in January. February 2009 sales, however, were very weak so the increase realised is low.
Homewares and clothing were up while confectionery and jewellery predictably showed a good return in advance of Valentine’s Day. Food showed slow growth, possibly as a result of consumer stockpiling food during January’s freeze. The bad weather is believed to have prevented consumer purchases of most kinds during January.
Telephone and online sales shot up 15.5 per cent owing to the improved weather when deliveries could again be resumed.
Worsening trade deficit
Britain’s trade gap with the rest of the world dropped sharply in January, the largest gap since August 2008.
Exports suffered their steepest decline in over three years. Exported goods to countries outside the EU fell by 12.5 per cent in the month while imports climbed up by 1.6 per cent.
January’s deficit was measured at £7.99bn by the Office of National Statistics.
Analysts had predicted a better outcome, having hoped that the weak pound might boost sales abroad. Some suggest that January’s inhibiting weather might have disrupted trade.
Imported insect to fight weed problem
A trial release has been approved for a tiny Japanese insect which it is hoped will counteract knotweed.
Knotweed was introduced to the UK by the Victorians who grew it as an ornamental, but it soon escaped uncontrolled into the wild and spread rampantly throughout the UK. The cost of trying to control is amounts to £150m per annum.
Its resilience enables it to grow through concrete and tarmac, thus damaging buildings and roads. It spurts more than one metre per month and suffocates any other plants in its way.
In Japan it is kept in check by natural predators so that it does not grow out of control. Scientists hope one of those will have the same effect in the UK.
A psyllid called Aphalara itadori was found after testing to be the best control agent. It dines on knotweed sap, thus stunting its growth.
The insect will be introduced this spring to a small number of sites in England which are isolated and have knotweed. It will be the first time that biocontrol, or the use of a “natural predator” will have been put in use in the EU to counteract a weed, but it could take five to 10 years to be effective.
Proposals to curb dangerous dogs
The government has put forward a proposal to make dog owners in England and Wales take out insurance in case anyone is attacked. The concept is part of its attempts to tackle problems surrounding dangerous breeds of dogs.
Every week more than 100 people are hospitalised as a result of dog attacks. Dog fighting and illegal ownership have increased, especially among gang members who use dangerous dogs.
The 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act prohibited four types of dogs in public places – the pit bull terrier, the Japanese tosa, the dogo Argentino and the fila Brasileiro. The consultation includes the concept of banning them also from people’s homes, a step designed to protect postal workers, telecoms engineers and others who have to visit private property.
Compulsory third-party insurance for dog owners has also been mooted. This would provide for victims to be compensated. This would not apply in Scotland, which is currently examining its own bill on the issue.
The government called this a serious issue of public safety. The consultation was welcomed by the postal union and the RSPCA
Aer Lingus struggles
The Irish airline, Aer Lingus, has recorded a loss of €66.2m, along with a fall in fares by nearly 17 percent.
Passenger numbers rose by 3.8 per cent to 10.4 million.
Trades unions representing pilots, management, maintenance staff and some ground and cabin staff had accepted proposals to cut costs by 20 per cent, but cabin crew rejected it.
Retaliatory sanctions
The government has declared trade sanctions against a number of American products to retaliate against illegal American subsidies to cotton farmers.
Brazil names 100 goods from the US which would have to pay import tariffs within 30 days. The government’s tariffs cover £393m worth of goods; vehicle tariff will increase from 35 to50 per cent. Cotton and cotton products will have a 100 per cent import tariff.
The government says its eight-year litigation has not yielded a result. Its argument is that US cotton growers have an unfair advantage as they are subsidised heavily, which the World Trade Organisation has ruled as discriminatory.
The US says that it has changed the subsidy system but that altering agricultural legislation would take time. Moreover, it states that cotton production in the US has dropped by 40 per cent or more.
New rebuilding programme
The prime minister has ordered changes in the architecture of the houses in the region hit by a 6.0 magnitude earthquake on Monday.
The traditional mud-brick constructions have been blamed to contributing to the casualty level. As a result of the tremor, five buildings fell as well as scores of houses.
Residents have been advised not to return out of fear for aftershocks. Many have suffered in tents during the close to freezing weather, receiving food and blankets from rescue workers.
The prime minister, following calls to learn lessons from the earthquake, has ordered a reconstruction project to begin, with a change in housing structure to better accommodate earthquake stress.
Some have claimed that in other countries earthquakes of 6.0 magnitude do not cause so much damage and death. Fifty-one people are reported to have died in several different villages.
The Northern Anatolian and Eastern Anatolian fault lines cross Turkey. As a result, the country experiences frequent earthquakes. The highest death toll in recent times is 17,000 individuals who died in a 7.4 magnitude quake in Izmit in 1999.
Voter turnout
Voter turnout in the country’s general elections this week has been put at 62 per cent despite the threat of violence and the bomb attacks during the event.
The 2005 elections had 75 per cent participation.
It will be several days before preliminary results are released, with final votes due to be ready at the end of March. The Prime Minister’s party is widely touted be win the majority of seats, but with 62 factions in the running, a hung parliament is expected.
Insurgents had pledged to disrupt the elections. There were attacks in Baghdad, Mosul, Fallujah and other cities, but no large-scale suicide bombings. The worst attack was on an apartment building in Baghdad in which 25 individuals were killed.
The election has been called a “milestone” in Iraq’s history.
