Europe
ECB bond-buying plan detailed
Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), revealed details of a new bond-buying plan intended to ease the eurozone debt crisis in a speech yesterday. He claimed the plan would provide a “fully effective backstop” and that the euro as a currency was “irreversible”. The ECB will cut the borrowing costs of debt-burdened eurozone countries by buying their bonds in a series of targeted “outright monetary transactions”, or OMTs. He reiterated the need for governments to continue with deficit reduction plans and labour market reforms alongside the bond-buying programme, however. Implied borrowing costs in both Spain and Italy fell sharply after the announcement, and markets have rallied across the globe (see news for Asia and Russia).
North America
Obama speaks at Democratic convention
US President Barack Obama has formally accepted the nomination of the Democratic party and closed the Democratic national convention with a speech in which he laid out the voters’ choice in November’s election. He reprised his 2008 theme of “hope”, and said to the convention: “I never said this journey would be easy, and I won’t promise that now… over the next few years, big decisions will be made in Washington”. Mr Obama highlighted the differences between his policies and that of his rivals, suggesting “they want to take us back to an era of blustering and blundering that cost America so dearly”. Polls are showing a tight race between Mr Obama and rival Republican candidate Mitt Romney.
Latin America
Colombian President rejects Farc ceasefire call
Juan Manuel Santos, president of Colombia, has rejected calls by the country’s infamous Farc rebels for a ceasefire once peace talks begin with the government in October. “We will not give anything until we get the final agreement… there’s not going to be any ceasefire,” said Mr Santos, following an offer from the left-wing rebels to disarm once the peace talks opened in Oslo, Norway. The talks are the first direct negotiations between the rebels and the government in a decade, and are expected to move to Cuba after Norway. Mr Santos said he did not want to “repeat the mistakes of the past”, apparently referring to the failed peace talks in 2002, which reportedly gave the Farc time to regroup.
Mexican police arrest leader of Acapulco drugs cartel
Mexican police have arrested one of the alleged leaders of the Independent Cartel of Acapulco, Jose Quiroz Perez – also known as Juan Diego – a man who is accused of killing at least 18 people this year. The cartel is also reported to have extorted businessmen and shop owners and to be behind a spate of kidnaps and armed attacks in public areas, causing panic in one of Mexico’s main tourist destinations. Such incidents have included dumping the dismembered bodies of rival gang members in the beach resort’s central areas. Mr Perez was seized yesterday along with guns, vehicles, a dozen fellow gang members and 150 bags of what is thought to be cocaine.
Africa and Middle East
Egyptian forces arrest dozens in Sinai Peninsula
Egyptian security forces have arrested a further 99 people in a crackdown launched after last month’s killing of 16 soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula. State media announced the detention of 54 fugitives in Ismailiya, a city on the Suez Canal, while 15 fugitives and 30 suspects had been held in North Sinai. Interior Minister Ahmed Gamal al-Din said seven suspects in last month’s killings had been identified, one of whom was an Egyptian member of a dormant local jihadist cell, but did not say if any of the seven had been successfully detained. He said security forces will still searching for members of “disparate” militant groups, some of whom followed the “takfiri” doctrine, whose adherents believe Muslim society has reverted to a state of unbelief, with rebellion against the state and attacks on Muslims rendered legitimate in consequence.
Syrian army attacks refugee town on Jordanian border
Activists say soldiers and at least 20 tanks from the Syrian army have attacked Tal Shehab, a town on the country’s border with Jordan, which has been a transit point for refugees fleeing the ongoing violence. The town had been in the hands of anti-government rebels and is an important staging post for refugees fleeing into Jordan, with the rate of arrivals being reported at about 1,000 a day earlier this week. Activists say homes were raided and residents detained during the attack. Refugee camps elsewhere have also come under attack, with the Yarmouk Palestinian camp near Damascus coming under artillery bombardments in which at least five people were killed and several injured. Lakhdar Brahimi, making his first address to the UN General Assembly as the new UN and Arab League envoy to Syria, said “the death toll is staggering, the destruction is reaching catastrophic proportions and the suffering of the people is immense”.
Asia and Russia
Asian markets rally after ECB bond-buying announcement
Stock markets in Asia have risen, joining a global rally, following the European Central Bank (ECB)’s announcement yesterday of a bond-buying scheme aimed at easing the eurozone’s debt crisis (see European news). Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 2.2%, Korea’s Kospi rose 2.6% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 3.1%. Commenting on the announcement, global equity strategist Alec Young of S&P Equity Research said: “we think this is a credible plan to addressing the issue, and while there are still political hurdles, we expect those will be addressed”.
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