Around the World for 04/03/08
In Economic Drama, Bush Is Largely Offstage – For a man who came into office as the nation’s first M.B.A. president, Mr. Bush has sometimes seemed invisible during the housing and credit crunch. As the economy eclipses Iraq as the top issue on voters’ minds, even some Republican allies of the president say Mr. Bush is being eclipsed and is in danger of looking out of touch.
Jobless claims shoot up to 2-year high – The number of new people signing up for unemployment benefits last week shot up to the highest level in more than two years, fresh evidence of the damage to a national economy clobbered by housing, credit and financial crises. The Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications filed for unemployment insurance jumped by a seasonally adjusted 38,000 to 407,000 for the week ending March 29.
Nato denies Georgia and Ukraine – Nato has confirmed it will not yet offer membership to Georgia or Ukraine after the 26-member alliance was split amid strong objections from Russia. Moscow said Nato’s promise that the ex-Soviet republics would join one day was a "huge strategic mistake". At a summit in Romania, Macedonia was also denied Nato entry but Albania and Croatia were given the green light.
Al Qaeda No. 2: We don’t kill innocents – The second-in-command of al Qaeda has said the terrorist group does not kill innocents and that its leader Osama bin Laden is healthy, according to a transcript of an audio tape released by radical Islamist Web sites. Al-Zawahiri, who led an Egyptian Islamic militant group that joined forces with bin Laden in the 1990s, said innocents who have been killed in attacks by al Qaeda or affiliated groups died as a result of "unintentional error" or because they were used as "human shields" by "the enemy."
Mugabe ‘ready to face fresh vote’ – Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe is ready to contest a second round of the presidential election, a spokesman for his ruling Zanu-PF party says. Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga said if results from Saturday’s election showed a second round was necessary, Mr. Mugabe would stand. Official results from the presidential poll have yet to be issued, but the opposition says it won the vote.