Staff Report
கராச்சி: At least four people were killed and three others injured in separate incidents of firing and violence in different areas of the city, SAMAA reports Friday morning.

Meantime, 15 miscreants involved in serious crimes in the city have been arrested in a targeted operation conducted by the Rangers. Hand grenades and other heavy weaponry have also been seized from their custody.

According to details, Abdush-Shakoor, a vegetable vendor, was gunned down while he was sleeping outside his residence located in Korangi’s Bilal Colony.

Some gunmen shot dead Faisal Kareem while he was driving his car through Bahadurabad area of Sharfabad today. Meantime, a body of a 40-year man wrapped up in sack was from Lyari River.

Body of another man was recovered from Korangi. The deceased was tortured to death.

The firing incident near Bismilla Hotel located in Old Golimar injured 33-year Mirza Rahim Baig. A man Shahid, 50, was injured in another firing incident in Korangi-6 and a rickshaw driver Muhammed Yousuf in Machhar Colony.

The injured were shifted to Abbasi Shaheed, Civil and Jinnah Hospitals.

The Rangers launched targeted operations overnight in Baldia Town, Mawachh Goth, Lyari and Maripur and arrested 15 people including five miscreants involved in gory crimes. Also, six 9MM pistols, six hand grenades, 16 pistols, two Kalashnikovs, one repeater and hundreds of bullets were seized from their possession. SAMAA

Please click ‘Video’ button to watch this news.

Staff Report
கராச்சி: At least four people were killed and three others injured in separate incidents of firing and violence in different areas of the city, SAMAA reports Friday morning.

Meantime, 15 miscreants involved in serious crimes in the city have been arrested in a targeted operation conducted by the Rangers. Hand grenades and other heavy weaponry have also been seized from their custody.

According to details, Abdush-Shakoor, a vegetable vendor, was gunned down while he was sleeping outside his residence located in Korangi’s Bilal Colony.

Some gunmen shot dead Faisal Kareem while he was driving his car through Bahadurabad area of Sharfabad today. Meantime, a body of a 40-year man wrapped up in sack was from Lyari River.

Body of another man was recovered from Korangi. The deceased was tortured to death.

The firing incident near Bismilla Hotel located in Old Golimar injured 33-year Mirza Rahim Baig. A man Shahid, 50, was injured in another firing incident in Korangi-6 and a rickshaw driver Muhammed Yousuf in Machhar Colony.

The injured were shifted to Abbasi Shaheed, Civil and Jinnah Hospitals.

The Rangers launched targeted operations overnight in Baldia Town, Mawachh Goth, Lyari and Maripur and arrested 15 people including five miscreants involved in gory crimes. Also, six 9MM pistols, six hand grenades, 16 pistols, two Kalashnikovs, one repeater and hundreds of bullets were seized from their possession. SAMAA

Please click ‘Video’ button to watch this news.

Staff Report
கராச்சி: At least four people were killed and three others injured in separate incidents of firing and violence in different areas of the city, SAMAA reports Friday morning.

Meantime, 15 miscreants involved in serious crimes in the city have been arrested in a targeted operation conducted by the Rangers. Hand grenades and other heavy weaponry have also been seized from their custody.

According to details, Abdush-Shakoor, a vegetable vendor, was gunned down while he was sleeping outside his residence located in Korangi’s Bilal Colony.

Some gunmen shot dead Faisal Kareem while he was driving his car through Bahadurabad area of Sharfabad today. Meantime, a body of a 40-year man wrapped up in sack was from Lyari River.

Body of another man was recovered from Korangi. The deceased was tortured to death.

The firing incident near Bismilla Hotel located in Old Golimar injured 33-year Mirza Rahim Baig. A man Shahid, 50, was injured in another firing incident in Korangi-6 and a rickshaw driver Muhammed Yousuf in Machhar Colony.

The injured were shifted to Abbasi Shaheed, Civil and Jinnah Hospitals.

The Rangers launched targeted operations overnight in Baldia Town, Mawachh Goth, Lyari and Maripur and arrested 15 people including five miscreants involved in gory crimes. Also, six 9MM pistols, six hand grenades, 16 pistols, two Kalashnikovs, one repeater and hundreds of bullets were seized from their possession. SAMAA

Please click ‘Video’ button to watch this news.

Staff Report

NAWABSHAH: At least seven people were killed and many more were wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on a bus in Nawabshah.

The attack took place on National Highway near Qazi Ahmed locality of Nawabshah.

The dead and the wounded were shifted to nearby government-run hospitals.

According to reports, 55 passengers were aboard the attacked bus, which was traveling to Abbottabad from Karachi.

No motive could be known behind the attack so far.

According to reports reaching here, rescue efforts are ongoing. SAMAA

Staff Report

NAWABSHAH: At least seven people were killed and many more were wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on a bus in Nawabshah.

The attack took place on National Highway near Qazi Ahmed locality of Nawabshah.

The dead and the wounded were shifted to nearby government-run hospitals.

According to reports, 55 passengers were aboard the attacked bus, which was traveling to Abbottabad from Karachi.

No motive could be known behind the attack so far.

According to reports reaching here, rescue efforts are ongoing. SAMAA

Staff Report

NAWABSHAH: At least seven people were killed and many more were wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on a bus in Nawabshah.

The attack took place on National Highway near Qazi Ahmed locality of Nawabshah.

The dead and the wounded were shifted to nearby government-run hospitals.

According to reports, 55 passengers were aboard the attacked bus, which was traveling to Abbottabad from Karachi.

No motive could be known behind the attack so far.

According to reports reaching here, rescue efforts are ongoing. SAMAA

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: A trial court on Friday rejected Hamid Saeed Kazmi’s plea seeking acquittal from Hajj corruption case.

The former religious affairs minister is facing corruption charges in the Hajj scandal.

He will be formally indicted on May 23.

Kazmi had filed a plea under Section 265 to seek his acquittal from this case. His application was today rejected by Special Judge Central Mian Khalid Bashir, who ruled the plea was before time as the accused was yet to be formally charged.

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: A trial court on Friday rejected Hamid Saeed Kazmi’s plea seeking acquittal from Hajj corruption case.

The former religious affairs minister is facing corruption charges in the Hajj scandal.

He will be formally indicted on May 23.

Kazmi had filed a plea under Section 265 to seek his acquittal from this case. His application was today rejected by Special Judge Central Mian Khalid Bashir, who ruled the plea was before time as the accused was yet to be formally charged.

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: A trial court on Friday rejected Hamid Saeed Kazmi’s plea seeking acquittal from Hajj corruption case.

The former religious affairs minister is facing corruption charges in the Hajj scandal.

He will be formally indicted on May 23.

Kazmi had filed a plea under Section 265 to seek his acquittal from this case. His application was today rejected by Special Judge Central Mian Khalid Bashir, who ruled the plea was before time as the accused was yet to be formally charged.

BEIRUT: The Syrian regime and an increasingly organized rebel force are carrying out illegal killings and torturing their opponents, but government forces are still responsible for most of the violence stemming from the country’s uprising, a U.N. panel says.

The findings were released Thursday in Geneva by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, which said the conflict has become “increasingly militarized.” The report was based on hundreds of interviews since March with victims and witnesses who fled the country.

“Fighters in anti-government armed groups were killed after being captured or wounded,” the report said. “In some particularly grave instances, entire families were executed in their homes — usually the family members of those opposing the government.”

Children, including boys as young as 10, have said they are “tortured to admit that older male members of their family are Free Syrian Army soldiers or supporters,” the report said. The Free Syrian Army is the rebel force trying to topple the government.

The U.N. panel also said there is a growing list of abuses committed by anti-government armed groups, including executions of military forces and suspected informers. Anti-government armed groups have increasingly resorted to roadside bombs and have abducted civilians and government forces, apparently for prisoner exchanges or ransom, according to the report.

On Thursday, the state-run SANA news agency said a mother and her five children between the ages of 4 and 13 were killed in Hama province.

There were no further details on the killings or who was behind them.

Despite the country’s spiraling violence, President Bashar Assad said Thursday that Syria would emerge from the crisis “thanks to the steadfastness of its people.”

Assad spoke during a meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s special envoy, Telecommunications Minister Reza Taqipour. Iran is one of Syria’s strongest allies.

The Syrian government denies that the 15-month-old revolt that has engulfed the country is being driven by a popular uprising against Assad’s rule, instead arguing that terrorists are behind the unrest.

The opposition denies any links to terrorism, saying they were forced to take up arms after government forces fired on peaceful protesters. A string of suicide attacks this year has raised fears among some observers that extremists are trying to exploit the chaos in Syria.

The U.N. estimated in March that more than 9,000 people have been killed in the revolt, and the death toll rises every day.

More than 250 U.N. observers are now based in cities around Syria to monitor a peace plan brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan, but the cease-fire is violated every day by both sides in the conflict.

On Thursday, opposition groups said government forces shelled the rebel-held town of Rastan on Thursday, killing at least three people. Also Thursday, the state-run news agency said an armed group assassinated a lieutenant, shooting him and his 13-year-old son outside Damascus.

The violence in Syria has spilled over into Lebanon, where deadly clashes linked to the conflict next door have killed at least 10 people in the past two weeks.

Lebanese and Syrian officials have said armed gunmen in Syria kidnapped 11 Lebanese Shiite pilgrims on Tuesday, setting off protests in Beirut’s Shiite-dominated southern suburbs where residents burned tires and blocked roads.

The U.S. Embassy in Beirut on Thursday condemned the kidnapping and called for the men’s immediate release. “The kidnapping of people, particularly targeting along sectarian lines, is unacceptable,” the embassy said in a statement on its Twitter account.

Syria’s main opposition council, meanwhile, said it has accepted the resignation of its Paris-based president who earlier offered to step down over mounting criticism of his leadership.

The executive committee of the Syrian National Council asked Burhan Ghalioun to pursue his duties until a new president is elected at a meeting on June 9 and 10.

The SNC has been plagued by infighting and divisions since its inception in September, complicating Western efforts to bolster the opposition. Ghalioun’s offer to resign came just days after he was re-elected for a third three-month term in a controversial vote in Rome. AGENCIES

BEIRUT: The Syrian regime and an increasingly organized rebel force are carrying out illegal killings and torturing their opponents, but government forces are still responsible for most of the violence stemming from the country’s uprising, a U.N. panel says.

The findings were released Thursday in Geneva by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, which said the conflict has become “increasingly militarized.” The report was based on hundreds of interviews since March with victims and witnesses who fled the country.

“Fighters in anti-government armed groups were killed after being captured or wounded,” the report said. “In some particularly grave instances, entire families were executed in their homes — usually the family members of those opposing the government.”

Children, including boys as young as 10, have said they are “tortured to admit that older male members of their family are Free Syrian Army soldiers or supporters,” the report said. The Free Syrian Army is the rebel force trying to topple the government.

The U.N. panel also said there is a growing list of abuses committed by anti-government armed groups, including executions of military forces and suspected informers. Anti-government armed groups have increasingly resorted to roadside bombs and have abducted civilians and government forces, apparently for prisoner exchanges or ransom, according to the report.

On Thursday, the state-run SANA news agency said a mother and her five children between the ages of 4 and 13 were killed in Hama province.

There were no further details on the killings or who was behind them.

Despite the country’s spiraling violence, President Bashar Assad said Thursday that Syria would emerge from the crisis “thanks to the steadfastness of its people.”

Assad spoke during a meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s special envoy, Telecommunications Minister Reza Taqipour. Iran is one of Syria’s strongest allies.

The Syrian government denies that the 15-month-old revolt that has engulfed the country is being driven by a popular uprising against Assad’s rule, instead arguing that terrorists are behind the unrest.

The opposition denies any links to terrorism, saying they were forced to take up arms after government forces fired on peaceful protesters. A string of suicide attacks this year has raised fears among some observers that extremists are trying to exploit the chaos in Syria.

The U.N. estimated in March that more than 9,000 people have been killed in the revolt, and the death toll rises every day.

More than 250 U.N. observers are now based in cities around Syria to monitor a peace plan brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan, but the cease-fire is violated every day by both sides in the conflict.

On Thursday, opposition groups said government forces shelled the rebel-held town of Rastan on Thursday, killing at least three people. Also Thursday, the state-run news agency said an armed group assassinated a lieutenant, shooting him and his 13-year-old son outside Damascus.

The violence in Syria has spilled over into Lebanon, where deadly clashes linked to the conflict next door have killed at least 10 people in the past two weeks.

Lebanese and Syrian officials have said armed gunmen in Syria kidnapped 11 Lebanese Shiite pilgrims on Tuesday, setting off protests in Beirut’s Shiite-dominated southern suburbs where residents burned tires and blocked roads.

The U.S. Embassy in Beirut on Thursday condemned the kidnapping and called for the men’s immediate release. “The kidnapping of people, particularly targeting along sectarian lines, is unacceptable,” the embassy said in a statement on its Twitter account.

Syria’s main opposition council, meanwhile, said it has accepted the resignation of its Paris-based president who earlier offered to step down over mounting criticism of his leadership.

The executive committee of the Syrian National Council asked Burhan Ghalioun to pursue his duties until a new president is elected at a meeting on June 9 and 10.

The SNC has been plagued by infighting and divisions since its inception in September, complicating Western efforts to bolster the opposition. Ghalioun’s offer to resign came just days after he was re-elected for a third three-month term in a controversial vote in Rome. AGENCIES

BEIRUT: The Syrian regime and an increasingly organized rebel force are carrying out illegal killings and torturing their opponents, but government forces are still responsible for most of the violence stemming from the country’s uprising, a U.N. panel says.

The findings were released Thursday in Geneva by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, which said the conflict has become “increasingly militarized.” The report was based on hundreds of interviews since March with victims and witnesses who fled the country.

“Fighters in anti-government armed groups were killed after being captured or wounded,” the report said. “In some particularly grave instances, entire families were executed in their homes — usually the family members of those opposing the government.”

Children, including boys as young as 10, have said they are “tortured to admit that older male members of their family are Free Syrian Army soldiers or supporters,” the report said. The Free Syrian Army is the rebel force trying to topple the government.

The U.N. panel also said there is a growing list of abuses committed by anti-government armed groups, including executions of military forces and suspected informers. Anti-government armed groups have increasingly resorted to roadside bombs and have abducted civilians and government forces, apparently for prisoner exchanges or ransom, according to the report.

On Thursday, the state-run SANA news agency said a mother and her five children between the ages of 4 and 13 were killed in Hama province.

There were no further details on the killings or who was behind them.

Despite the country’s spiraling violence, President Bashar Assad said Thursday that Syria would emerge from the crisis “thanks to the steadfastness of its people.”

Assad spoke during a meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s special envoy, Telecommunications Minister Reza Taqipour. Iran is one of Syria’s strongest allies.

The Syrian government denies that the 15-month-old revolt that has engulfed the country is being driven by a popular uprising against Assad’s rule, instead arguing that terrorists are behind the unrest.

The opposition denies any links to terrorism, saying they were forced to take up arms after government forces fired on peaceful protesters. A string of suicide attacks this year has raised fears among some observers that extremists are trying to exploit the chaos in Syria.

The U.N. estimated in March that more than 9,000 people have been killed in the revolt, and the death toll rises every day.

More than 250 U.N. observers are now based in cities around Syria to monitor a peace plan brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan, but the cease-fire is violated every day by both sides in the conflict.

On Thursday, opposition groups said government forces shelled the rebel-held town of Rastan on Thursday, killing at least three people. Also Thursday, the state-run news agency said an armed group assassinated a lieutenant, shooting him and his 13-year-old son outside Damascus.

The violence in Syria has spilled over into Lebanon, where deadly clashes linked to the conflict next door have killed at least 10 people in the past two weeks.

Lebanese and Syrian officials have said armed gunmen in Syria kidnapped 11 Lebanese Shiite pilgrims on Tuesday, setting off protests in Beirut’s Shiite-dominated southern suburbs where residents burned tires and blocked roads.

The U.S. Embassy in Beirut on Thursday condemned the kidnapping and called for the men’s immediate release. “The kidnapping of people, particularly targeting along sectarian lines, is unacceptable,” the embassy said in a statement on its Twitter account.

Syria’s main opposition council, meanwhile, said it has accepted the resignation of its Paris-based president who earlier offered to step down over mounting criticism of his leadership.

The executive committee of the Syrian National Council asked Burhan Ghalioun to pursue his duties until a new president is elected at a meeting on June 9 and 10.

The SNC has been plagued by infighting and divisions since its inception in September, complicating Western efforts to bolster the opposition. Ghalioun’s offer to resign came just days after he was re-elected for a third three-month term in a controversial vote in Rome. AGENCIES

TOKYO: Asian shares fell to their lowest levels of the year on Friday as early bargain hunting gave way to worries about Europe’s raging debt crisis and weak global growth.

The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.7 percent, after edging up as much as 0.3 percent earlier, hitting its lowest since late December as worries about a possible Greek exit from the euro zone continued to weigh on the market.

The pan-Asia stock index was set for a third consecutive week of losses, its longest losing streak in six months. In late February, it had been up some 15 percent from end 2011 levels.

Japan’s Nikkei stock average was flat, but looked set for its longest weekly losing run in 20 years.

U.S. stock futures fell 0.4 சதவீதம், after Wall Street ended slightly higher overnight.

Concerns about global growth and a failure by European policymakers to make any significant breakthroughs to resolve the debt crisis have curbed risk appetite and strengthened demand for highly rated government bonds. Germany’s 10-year government bond yield fell to a record low of 1.35 percent on Thursday.

The euro remained pressured by the uncertain outlook for the fate of Greece – as well as that of the entire currency bloc – and traded down 0.1 percent at $1.2525 after falling to its lowest since July 2010, at $1.25155, on Thursday.

The dollar index measured against key currencies hovered near a 20-month high of 82.376 hit on Thursday, due to its safe-haven appeal.

“Markets have priced in a very negative scenario for Greece as well as deteriorating growth prospects in the euro zone, but with them very much focused on the tail risk of Greece leaving the euro bloc, the euro remains highly vulnerable,” said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief FX strategist at Barclays.

A poll on Thursday showed Greece’s anti-bailout leftist SYRIZA party was maintaining its lead ahead of a June 17 election which may determine whether the country remains inside the common currency bloc.

Asian credit markets were firmer, with the spread on the iTraxx Asia ex-Japan investment-grade index narrowing by 2 basis points.

Oil, which retained its gains earlier, succumbed to the general retreat in broader markets, with U.S. crude futures down 0.1 percent at $90.61 a barrel and Brent futures flat at $106.54 a barrel.

Spot gold continued to track the euro lower, falling 0.3 percent to $1,552.81 an ounce.

GROWTH SLOWDOWN GLOBALLY
Data from the United States, China and Europe on Thursday underscored the damage the euro zone’s fiscal plight has inflicted on growth globally.

U.S. jobless claims were little changed in the week ended on Saturday, while a key category of durable goods orders seen as a proxy for business spending declined.

Manufacturing activity in the euro zone in May shrank to its lowest reading since June 2009 and the guide to growth in Europe’s powerhouse Germany also contracted in May, pointing to deteriorating growth ahead.

Slowing external conditions were reflected in China’s HSBC Flash PMI, which fell in April for the seventh straight month of the index holding below 50, signalling that the economy would remain sluggish throughout the first half of the year. AGENCIES

TOKYO: Asian shares fell to their lowest levels of the year on Friday as early bargain hunting gave way to worries about Europe’s raging debt crisis and weak global growth.

The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.7 percent, after edging up as much as 0.3 percent earlier, hitting its lowest since late December as worries about a possible Greek exit from the euro zone continued to weigh on the market.

The pan-Asia stock index was set for a third consecutive week of losses, its longest losing streak in six months. In late February, it had been up some 15 percent from end 2011 levels.

Japan’s Nikkei stock average was flat, but looked set for its longest weekly losing run in 20 years.

U.S. stock futures fell 0.4 சதவீதம், after Wall Street ended slightly higher overnight.

Concerns about global growth and a failure by European policymakers to make any significant breakthroughs to resolve the debt crisis have curbed risk appetite and strengthened demand for highly rated government bonds. Germany’s 10-year government bond yield fell to a record low of 1.35 percent on Thursday.

The euro remained pressured by the uncertain outlook for the fate of Greece – as well as that of the entire currency bloc – and traded down 0.1 percent at $1.2525 after falling to its lowest since July 2010, at $1.25155, on Thursday.

The dollar index measured against key currencies hovered near a 20-month high of 82.376 hit on Thursday, due to its safe-haven appeal.

“Markets have priced in a very negative scenario for Greece as well as deteriorating growth prospects in the euro zone, but with them very much focused on the tail risk of Greece leaving the euro bloc, the euro remains highly vulnerable,” said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief FX strategist at Barclays.

A poll on Thursday showed Greece’s anti-bailout leftist SYRIZA party was maintaining its lead ahead of a June 17 election which may determine whether the country remains inside the common currency bloc.

Asian credit markets were firmer, with the spread on the iTraxx Asia ex-Japan investment-grade index narrowing by 2 basis points.

Oil, which retained its gains earlier, succumbed to the general retreat in broader markets, with U.S. crude futures down 0.1 percent at $90.61 a barrel and Brent futures flat at $106.54 a barrel.

Spot gold continued to track the euro lower, falling 0.3 percent to $1,552.81 an ounce.

GROWTH SLOWDOWN GLOBALLY
Data from the United States, China and Europe on Thursday underscored the damage the euro zone’s fiscal plight has inflicted on growth globally.

U.S. jobless claims were little changed in the week ended on Saturday, while a key category of durable goods orders seen as a proxy for business spending declined.

Manufacturing activity in the euro zone in May shrank to its lowest reading since June 2009 and the guide to growth in Europe’s powerhouse Germany also contracted in May, pointing to deteriorating growth ahead.

Slowing external conditions were reflected in China’s HSBC Flash PMI, which fell in April for the seventh straight month of the index holding below 50, signalling that the economy would remain sluggish throughout the first half of the year. AGENCIES

TOKYO: Asian shares fell to their lowest levels of the year on Friday as early bargain hunting gave way to worries about Europe’s raging debt crisis and weak global growth.

The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.7 percent, after edging up as much as 0.3 percent earlier, hitting its lowest since late December as worries about a possible Greek exit from the euro zone continued to weigh on the market.

The pan-Asia stock index was set for a third consecutive week of losses, its longest losing streak in six months. In late February, it had been up some 15 percent from end 2011 levels.

Japan’s Nikkei stock average was flat, but looked set for its longest weekly losing run in 20 years.

U.S. stock futures fell 0.4 சதவீதம், after Wall Street ended slightly higher overnight.

Concerns about global growth and a failure by European policymakers to make any significant breakthroughs to resolve the debt crisis have curbed risk appetite and strengthened demand for highly rated government bonds. Germany’s 10-year government bond yield fell to a record low of 1.35 percent on Thursday.

The euro remained pressured by the uncertain outlook for the fate of Greece – as well as that of the entire currency bloc – and traded down 0.1 percent at $1.2525 after falling to its lowest since July 2010, at $1.25155, on Thursday.

The dollar index measured against key currencies hovered near a 20-month high of 82.376 hit on Thursday, due to its safe-haven appeal.

“Markets have priced in a very negative scenario for Greece as well as deteriorating growth prospects in the euro zone, but with them very much focused on the tail risk of Greece leaving the euro bloc, the euro remains highly vulnerable,” said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief FX strategist at Barclays.

A poll on Thursday showed Greece’s anti-bailout leftist SYRIZA party was maintaining its lead ahead of a June 17 election which may determine whether the country remains inside the common currency bloc.

Asian credit markets were firmer, with the spread on the iTraxx Asia ex-Japan investment-grade index narrowing by 2 basis points.

Oil, which retained its gains earlier, succumbed to the general retreat in broader markets, with U.S. crude futures down 0.1 percent at $90.61 a barrel and Brent futures flat at $106.54 a barrel.

Spot gold continued to track the euro lower, falling 0.3 percent to $1,552.81 an ounce.

GROWTH SLOWDOWN GLOBALLY
Data from the United States, China and Europe on Thursday underscored the damage the euro zone’s fiscal plight has inflicted on growth globally.

U.S. jobless claims were little changed in the week ended on Saturday, while a key category of durable goods orders seen as a proxy for business spending declined.

Manufacturing activity in the euro zone in May shrank to its lowest reading since June 2009 and the guide to growth in Europe’s powerhouse Germany also contracted in May, pointing to deteriorating growth ahead.

Slowing external conditions were reflected in China’s HSBC Flash PMI, which fell in April for the seventh straight month of the index holding below 50, signalling that the economy would remain sluggish throughout the first half of the year. AGENCIES