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African-Americans face discrimination in U.S.
- A study published in Science magazine this week shows that in the case of African-Americans, it is not poverty or illiteracy that holds them back from ascending the professional ladder but insidious discrimination in terms of opportunities made available to them.
- The finding comes on the back of numerous, sometimes troubling, race-relations questions focussing on the negative social and livelihood outcomes for African-Americans under the Obama administration.
N. Korea's Kim visits Russia
- North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Il has arrived in Russia for talks with President Dmitry Medvedev expected to be dominated by Russian economic aid, plans to build a gas pipeline and a resumption of talks on Pyongyang's nuclear programme.
- The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Friday that a first shipment of wheat arrived in North Korea under Moscow's plan to send up to 50,000 tonnes by September at the request of Pyongyang to help it cope with an “acute shortage of food supplies”.
- Mr. Medvedev, for his part, will lobby Mr. Kim for the construction of a gas pipeline, power lines and a railway through North Korea to South Korea
London to become legal hub
- With its pre-eminent status as a global financial centre under threat from emerging Asian rivals, London has set its sights on becoming an international legal hub
- The hype has already begun ahead of the launch in the next few weeks of a £300 million ultra-modern court complex in the heart of central London
- Its rivals will be New York, Hong Kong, Dubai and Singapore
Egypt-Israel ties at new low
- The step escalated tensions between the two neighbours and threatened the 1979 peace treaty
- Egypt's interim government accused Israel of violating the treaty and said its envoy in Tel Aviv would be withdrawn until Israel apologises for the incident.
- Amid spiralling violence that claimed 22 lives in two days, Palestinian Gaza Strip ruler Hamas on Saturday announced an end to the informal ceasefire with Israel.
