Bomb kills at least six at Sufi shrine in Pakistan

At least six people have died in a bomb attack at a Sufi shrine in eastern Pakistan.  Around a dozen have been injured. Police say the device was carried by two men on a motorbike to the gates of the shrine in the city of Pak Pattan. It is not yet known who was behind the attack but Taliban militants abhor the Sufi strand of Islam and have attacked other shrines. Pakistan’s US-backed government is fighting an ongoing battle against a Taliban insurgency. 

Haiti fears epidemic despite stabilisation claims

Health officials in Haiti say there are signs the cholera outbreak is stabilizing in the worst affected areas. But the claims are being greeted with some skepticism and there are fears the disease could spread, causing an epidemic.

President Rene Preval has visited the town at the centre of the outbreak in the Artibonite region. More than 3,000 cases have been reported and more than 250 people have died.

Hospitals are struggling to cope. The number of new cases and deaths in the most critical areas is said to have diminished.But doctors say the disease is spreading.

“We know that it’s cholera but we don’t know how the cholera has gotten into the water stream,” said Dr Ian Rawson at a hospital in La Chapelle. “We’re starting to see patients just from this area, before there weren’t. So now we don’t know how it’s spreading from one geographic area to another.”

Despite reports of a stabilizing trend, there are fears the outbreak could spread to Port-au-Prince, where squalid camps house more than a million earthquake survivors seen as vulnerable to cholera.

A handful of cases have been reported in the capital, thought to be people who had traveled from the outbreak zone.

Treatment centres are being erected as aid agencies prepare for a possible epidemic.

The cholera outbreak is the second emergency to strike the western hemisphere’s poorest country this year, following January’s earthquake.

Brazil's presidential candidates woo undecided

With one week to go until Brazil’s presidential runoff, both sides have been holding rallies in Rio de Janeiro.

Latest opinion polls put opposition candidate Jose Serra trailing by 10 per cent.

One factor hindering him was an accusation that he intended to privatise public companies such as the state run oil firm petrobras.

Opposition candidate Jose Serra said:
“ I defend Petrobras as state-run company that should serve the Brazilian people and not as a place for nepotism.” With the campaign shifting from social issues back to the economic gains, ruling party candidate Dilma Rousseff appears to be pulling away from her rival.

She appears to be basking in her predecessor President Lula da Silva’s popularity and has vowed to continue his mix of market-friendly policies along with social programmes.

 Israel rejects Catholic criticism

Israel has reacted strongly to Vatican criticism over the government’s building of settler homes in Jerusalem.

The Catholic Church accused the Jewish state of using the biblical concepts of “a promised land” and “a chosen people” to justify its policy.

Yigal Palmor, spokesman for the Israeli government said: “ It has never been any Israeli government’s policy to use the scriptures as a justification for anything. When we hear such statements all we can say is `let he who has not sinned cast the first stone`.”

The Catholic comments came at the end of the church’s two week synod in Rome, attended by bishops from around the world, and over seen by Pope Benedict XVI.

Israel has been widely condemned for refusing to
to extend a moratorium on settlement building and has announced plans to build another 238 homes in East Jerusalem.

Amazon crisis make or break issue in Brazil?

One issue which has not so far been addressed by either of Brazil’s two presidential candidates is the environmental crisis in the Amazon basin.

A continuing drought has reduced water levels in the Black River to record lows and is threatening the livelihoods of thousands of fishing communities in the region.

At least 38 areas have declared a state of emergency due to the drought which is affecting cattle, agriculture and trade. Brazil’s Green party has refused to sanction either presidential candidate until the crisis becomes a campaign priority.

Singapore stock exchange in Australian merger bid

Singapore’s stock exchange has unveiled an agreed takeover bid for its Australian equivalent in a drive to compete with the region’s other financial powerhouses, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Under the proposed deal, the merger between SGX and ASX, the company that owns the Sydney-based exchange, would be worth almost six billion euros. It still has to be approved and faces several hurdles, notably in Australia.

The two companies would remain separate entities.

“There have been cross-border exchange mergers before, but never a consolidation arguably involving the east and the west – and moreover, never one positioned as this group will be, in the fastest growing region of the world,” said ASX Chief Executive Robert Elstone.

Australia’s parliament needs to lift a 15 per cent ownership cap on ASX, and it is thought that regulators may be sceptical about the deal. ASX shares have been trading below the offer price because of the potential obstacles.

From: Euronews