Commerzbank plans 6,000 job cuts; Spain young jobless rate at 55%; China's influence in Africa; Common capital of India and Pakistan; Yes, paved yards are illegal

1 Commerzbank plans 6,000 job cuts (BBC) Germany's second-biggest lender Commerzbank is planning to cut as many as 6,000 jobs, or more than 10% of its workforce. The bank said it wants to cut between 4,000 and 6,000 full-time employees by 2016. Commerzbank currently employs 56,000 staff, of which 49,000 are full-time. The bank said it was planning to invest more than 2bn euros ($2.7bn) as it overhauls its retail banking. 

In June, Commerzbank was downgraded by ratings agency Moody's. In addition to having its rating cut, Commerzbank was placed on negative outlook, meaning Moody's is considering a further cut. The agency said that was because of the bank's exposure to the eurozone periphery, as well as its concentration of loans to single sectors and borrowers.

2 Spain young jobless rate at 55% (BBC) Spain's unemployment rate has hit a modern day record, and joblessness among young people has topped 55%.Official data showed that the jobless rate in the last three months of 2012 rose 1% to 26%, or 5.97 million people. The figure, the highest since the mid-1970s, follows Spain's prolonged recession and deep spending cuts.

The impact has been acute for 16 to 24-year-olds, who saw the rate in the last quarter of 2012 surge to 55.13% from 52.34% in the previous three months. Spain's economy sank into recession after its property crash left millions of low-skilled workers without a job, and general economic decline eroded business and consumer confidence. "We haven't seen the bottom yet and employment will continue falling in the first quarter," said Jose Luis Martinez, strategist at investment bank Citigroup.

Eurostat, the EU's statistics body, estimates that last November there were 5.8 million people (23.7%) aged under 25 unemployed in the 27 countries, of whom 3.73 million (24.4%) were in the eurozone area. For last November, the lowest rates were in Germany (8%), Austria (9%) and the Netherlands (9.7 %), and the highest was in Greece 57.6 % (September 2012 figure) and Spain (56.5%). However, many economists have wondered if the jobless data exaggerates the problem. Jobless numbers include economically inactive people, including young people who are in education.

3 China’s influence in Africa (Jonathan Power in Khaleej Times) Chinese small time traders are to be found in many African countries, often causing resentment as they cut prices and expand businesses at the locals’ expense.  In Zambia there were violent riots at a Chinese-owned copper mine over working conditions and pay. In Nigeria their activities have led to the collapse of the textile industry.

In Tanzania, where imports from China have been about 15% of its total, Tanzanians complain about the growing number of cheap and counterfeit products. But at the same time China’s Export Import Bank signed concessional loans for Tanzania to support the country’s broadband structure and to upgrade Zanzibar’s airport terminal.

China’s purchase of raw materials has become an important export for many countries. China-African trade now accounts for 14% of Africa’s trade and 4% of China’s. It is almost entirely raw materials to feed China’s booming manufacturing- mineral products, in particular iron ore, copper and platinum, base metals, oil, precious stones and wood products. China will be an important part of Africa’s future. Undoubtedly the relationship will broaden and deepen. Other investors in the West, India and the Arab world will have a hard job keeping up with it.

4 Common capital of India and Pakistan (Khuda Bux Abro in Dawn) On one hand, both countries are atomic powers. On the other hand, they have no electricity, water, gas or petrol. We line up for CNG and other fuels; there is no electricity neither here nor there. We say it’s ‘loadshedding’ and they call it ‘katoti’. At night, their footpaths are full of sleeping, homeless people. A similar sight can be seen on our roads at night. We have katchi abadis and they have slums. Piles of rubbish litter our streets and theirs. There are armies of beggar children on both sides of the wall. But we still stand amongst the developed nations with our heads held high, saying that we are atomic powers. They stand in dhotis and we in old, torn shalwars.

The world is getting closer everyday and you are adamant on not saying hello to your neighbour. Our children would like to benefit from each other’s developments. They wish to study and learn from each other’s teachers. The fearful atmosphere spread by our leaders has greatly harmed our previous generations. For goodness sake, let the new generations familiarise themselves with their culture, traditions, art and literature. The entire world is coming closer but we are being kept apart from each other every single day.

Why are we forbidden from knowing about ourselves? Why we are not allowed to look into the mirror? We are supposed to be each other’s reflection. Why are we being forced to look into opposing directions? Who has ever been saved by weapons? Only love can save us! Please cut the crop that you have been cultivating for the last 65 years. And just let us be.

5 Chinese grads say no to factory jobs (Keith Bradsher in The New York Times) A national survey of urban residents, released this winter by a Chinese university, showed that among people in their early 20s, those with a college degree were four times as likely to be unemployed as those with only an elementary school education. It is a problem that Chinese officials are acutely aware of.

China’s swift expansion in education over the last decade, including a quadrupling of the number of college graduates each year, has created millions of engineers and scientists. The best can have their pick of jobs at Chinese companies that are aiming to become even more competitive globally.  But China is also churning out millions of graduates with few marketable skills, coupled with a conviction that they are entitled to office jobs with respectable salaries.

China now has 11 times as many college students as it did at the time of the Tiananmen Square protests in the spring of 1989, and an economy that has been very slow to produce white-collar jobs. The younger generation has shown less interest in political activism, although that could change if the growing numbers of graduates cannot find satisfying work. Prime Minister Wen Jiabao acknowledged last March that only 78% of the previous year’s college graduates had found jobs. But even that figure may overstate employment for the young and educated.

6 Yes, paved yards are illegal (Ellen Huet in San Francisco Chronicle) In San Francisco's Outer Sunset neighborhood, the sidewalks stretch a dozen feet wide, thanks to residents who have paved over their entire front yards - and city agencies that do little to cite them, though the practice has been outlawed since 2002. "It's illegal to pave over your yard, but it's pretty widely ignored, and people do it with impunity," said Jonathan Frank, 56, a retired teacher who has lived on 33rd Avenue for 10 years. "The two main reasons are that they want an extra parking spot, and it's a pain to take care of the garden area."

Under city law, at least 20% of a front yard must consist of permeable surfaces with vegetation, mostly to allow for proper drainage and to keep the neighborhood looking green. Homes can be reviewed for compliance every time an owner does construction on the driveway or property.

The Board of Supervisors passed the ordinance in 2002, but the law didn't have much bite until 2008, when lawmakers gave the city the power to fine homeowners $500 if they ignored a 90-day warning to add greenery. But even that wasn't enough to break up the concrete - many residents thought that if they paid the fines, they could keep their front yards as is.