Friday, May 4, 2012



US adds 115,000 jobs in April, fewer than expected - 5/4/12

The US economy created 115,000 jobs during April, down on the previous month and fewer than analysts had expected, official figures have shown.
Employment has been rising for the past eight months, but the jobless rate has been stuck above 8% since early 2009.
The weak report pushed US and European shares lower, with the Dow Jones index falling 168 points to 13,038.
Both the Nasdaq and the Standard & Poor's 500 had their worst week of the year, while markets in London, Paris and Frankfurt closed almost 2% lower.
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Greek socialist leader Venizelos warns of 'mass poverty' - 5/4/12



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17966333
Speaking at his own closing rally in the city of Alexandroupolis, New Democracy leader Mr Samaras said "the Left "wants to destroy everything... The Left feeds off the crisis."
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In graphics: Eurozone crisis - 5/4/12



Annual GDP growth - percentage change from previous year
This chart shows how much GDP has grown, or contracted, every year since the launch of the euro.
It shows very clearly the damage caused to the whole of the eurozone by the financial crisis.
Notice that while Portugal did not experience a huge dip in 2009, its GDP growth was relatively low for much of the previous decade, which made the big infrastructure projects it was pursuing difficult to afford.
The chart shows data for all of the countries that officially use the euro as well as the UK, which is included to allow for comparisons.
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Mexico drugs: 23 bodies found in Nuevo Laredo - 5/4/12



At least 23 people have been killed in gruesome circumstances in the Mexican city of Nuevo Laredo, on the US border.
Nine bodies with signs of torture were found hanging from a bridge.

Hours later, 14 decapitated bodies were discovered in a vehicle, police said. Their heads were found in ice boxes dumped outside the mayor's office.
Nuevo Laredo is the scene of a feud between two of Mexico's biggest drugs gangs, who are fighting for control of smuggling routes into the US.
A message left with the hanged bodies said they were members of the Gulf drugs cartel who had been killed by the rival Zetas gang.
Police said they believed the dead were members of a criminal gang, but could not confirm who was responsible.
Pictures showed the blood-stained bodies - some of them bound and gagged - hanged by the neck from the bridge over the main road from Nuevo Laredo to Monterrey.
Mexican media reports suggest the decapitations may have been carried out in retaliation for the hangings, but the authorities have not confirmed this.
Mexico's drugs cartels have long been engaged in bloody battles for control of smuggling routes into the US.
Around 50,000 people have died in drug-related violence in Mexico since 2006, when President Felipe Calderon began deploying troops to fight the cartels.
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