1 Eurozone deflation eases, joblessness at 3-year
low (San Francisco Chronicle) Official figures have raised hopes that the
current bout of deflation across the 19-country eurozone region could be over
much sooner than anticipated while unemployment has fallen to a near three-year
low — the latest in a string of indicators to suggest that the eurozone
recovery has pushed up a gear in the wake of lower oil prices and a falling
euro.
Eurozone inflation rates have been negative since
last December, a headache that prompted the European Central Bank earlier this
year to launch a 1.1 trillion-euro ($1.2 trillion) government bond-buying
program on the lines of that pursued by the US Federal Reserve for many years.
The hope behind the stimulus, which is set to last
till September next year, is to shore up the economic recovery and get
inflation back into the system — the ECB looks to achieve inflation of just
below 2 percent.
Lower oil prices aren't the only reason why there is
increasing optimism around the eurozone's economic outlook. The recent sharp
fall in the value of the euro to near decade lows against the dollar has also
been credited for the improving underlying picture — a lower currency can boost
growth by making exports cheaper and can raise inflation by making imports more
expensive.
2 Stunning win for Nigeria Opposition (Monica Mark
& David Smith in The Guardian) Nigerian opposition leader, Muhammadu
Buhari, has swept to victory in the country’s presidential election, a
political earthquake that inflicted the first defeat on an incumbent in the
history of Africa’s biggest democracy.
By Tuesday night Buhari had polled more than 15m
votes, well clear of the sitting president, Goodluck Jonathan, on 12.8m, with
all of the country’s 36 states declaring. As Buhari’s supporters took to the
streets to celebrate, Jonathan called the challenger to concede defeat. The
stunning result, which followed a uniquely competitive, expensive and at times
vicious campaign, was hailed by analysts as a milestone for multiparty
democracy on the continent.
But there was still uncertainty over whether
elements in Jonathan’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would relinquish power
after 16 years or resist in the courts and on the streets. Buhari, a
72-year-old Muslim, first tasted power a generation ago as a military dictator,
only to be ousted after 20 months and jailed. The former army general has
campaigned as a born-again democrat intent on cleaning up the corrupt politics
of the continent’s largest economy and most populous nation.
The first paragraph of the fedora-wearing Jonathan’s
political obituary will surely make reference to his failure to stop a deadly
insurgency by the Islamist militants Boko Haram, including his lacklustre
response to the kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok.
3 India police collect cow ‘mugshots’ (BBC) Police
in one Indian state have told cattle owners to submit photographs of their
livestock to help them enforce a new ban on selling beef. Officers in the city
of Malegaon, in the western Maharashtra state, say the photos are needed for
reference in case a criminal case arises under the recently introduced law,
which bans the slaughter of all cows and sale and consumption of their meat.
The Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act
came into force on 2 March after taking 19 years to become law. "We are
keeping the photographs for verification purposes only," police officials
said.
The call for photographic evidence comes after three
people were charged locally for selling beef, the first case under the new law.
While the slaughter of cows was banned in Maharashtra state in 1976, the new
law bans the slaughter of bulls and bullocks as well. Beef from buffalo is
still legal. Those convicted face a fine and up to five years in prison.
The last official five-yearly census of livestock in
India took place in 2012, and revealed a total bovine count of just over 21m
animals in Maharashtra state, compared to a human population of around 112m.
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