Tag: Evening Edition

Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of the 187-nation International Monetary Fund, backed the inclusion of the yuan in a basket of currencies that makes up the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights, a type of reserve currency.

Strauss-Kahn also advocated an expanded role for the SDR to help to bolster the monetary system in the face of damaging volatility.

Hundreds of demonstrators marched on parliament from the epicentre of the uprising in Cairo’s Tahrir Square the day after the largest protests since the revolt began, as other demonstrations erupted in cities across the country.

Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit warned the army, until now a respected and mostly neutral force on Cairo’s streets, would intervene to protect the country if the protests against President Hosni Mubarak escalated.

In Cairo, the immense crowd hailed as a hero a charismatic cyberactivist and Google executive whose Facebook site helped kickstart the protests on January 25 and who was released after being detained and blindfolded for 12 days.

AFP journalists overlooking the square confirmed it was the biggest gathering yet in a movement which began last month. Witnesses in Egypt’s second city Alexandria said a march there also attracted record numbers.

The 39-year-old Australian could face the death penalty if further extradited to the United States on separate charges relating to WikiLeaks, his lawyer Geoffrey Robertson said at the start of a two-day extradition hearing in London.

Swedish prosecutors want to question the whistle-blowing website’s chief over allegations he raped one woman in Sweden and molested another, moves which Assange claims are politically motivated.

The resignations came after Mubarak huddled with his new government for the first time on, and an official said that the country’s stock exchange would remain closed indefinitely as the stand-off continues.

State television said the executive committee of the ruling National Democratic Party had resigned en masse. Among those stepping down was Mubarak’s son Gamal, once viewed as his heir apparent, state television reported.

“Some discussions” have begun on the details of a political transition in Egypt, Obama said, with details to be worked out by Egyptians themselves. He also warned that violence against demonstrators was unacceptable.

“We continue to be crystal clear that we oppose violence as a response to this crisis,” he said, as Egyptian authorities called for the protesters to go home but vowed not to use force.

Ending months of deadlock since disputed polls in November, the decision was met with calm on the streets of the quake-hit Caribbean nation, which has endured decades of political upheaval, dictatorship and bloodshed.

Announcing definitive first round results, the commission said popular singer Michel Martelly — and not the ruling party’s Jude Celestin — would face off against former first lady Mirlande Manigat in a run-off on March 20.

Washington, which has called for restraint since demonstrations broke out nine days ago, deplored the violence against “peaceful protesters” while UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the attacks on demonstrators were “unacceptable.”

The European Union added its voice to calls from US President Barack Obama for the transition from Mubarak’s three-decade-long rule to begin immediately after the veteran president announced late on Tuesday that he would not seek re-election in September.

The veteran president’s announcement in a televised address drew angry jeers from demonstrators who again defied a curfew to spend the night in the capital Cairo’s Tahrir Square — epicentre of eight straight days of protests.

His insistence that he would remain at the helm to oversee the transition also fell far short of the demands of opposition groups that have set him a Friday deadline to quit to allow a clear break with his 30-year rule.

In a political appeal, Egypt’s new Vice President Omar Suleiman went on television to offer an “immediate” dialogue with the opposition.

“President Hosni Mubarak has tasked me with opening immediate talks with the political forces to begin a dialogue around all the issues concerning constitutional and legislative reforms,” he said on state television.