World Information Tuesday

Obama, McCain set to duel
over economy
Phoenix


The presidential candidates will duel over the economy this week, with Republican senator John McCain touting proposals he says will stimulate job growth and Democratic senator Barack Obama discussing economic security for families.
McCain, an Arizona senator who has wrapped up his party’s nomination, will embark on a tour of Colorado, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin – all toss-up states in the November election to win the White House.
The Arizona senator spent last week on a swing through Latin America highlighting his support for free trade, prompting some observers to question why he went abroad at a time when employers cut US workers from their payrolls for a sixth straight month and gasoline prices continued to sting.
‘John McCain is undertaking a new and focused effort to highlight the job growth that would result from his economic plan,’ spokesman Tucker Bounds said of the senator’s plans.
Obama, a Democratic senator from Illinois, kicks off his week in North Carolina, where he will discuss economic security.
McCain is expected to offer detailed plans outlining how he would balance the federal budget this week but otherwise will promote existing
policy proposals rather than propose sweeping changes, an aide said.
Taxes are a key dividing point between the two candidates. McCain accuses Obama of wanting to raise taxes across the board, while the Illinois senator accuses his rival of wanting to provide a cushion for wealthy people and big corporations.
‘John McCain’s tax cut proposals are focused on growing jobs, which is in sharp contrast to Barack Obama, who quite simply burdens small business growth with tax increases that will slow our economy,’ Bounds said.
Obama’s campaign accused McCain of misrepresenting the Democrat’s plans and offered a stinging description of the Arizona senator’s economic ideas.
‘John McCain has essentially no ideas to get the economy going and create jobs in the short run, and he has ideas about the long run economy that are rooted in a failed economic philosophy,’ Jason Furman, Obama’s economic policy director, told a conference call with reporters on Sunday.
He said McCain’s take on the Illinois senator’s tax plans was off base.
‘He is mischaracterizing senator Obama’s plan, which is very simple. If you make below $250,000, none of your taxes go up, and in fact, most likely you’re going to end up getting a tax cut,’ Furman said.


Britain marking third anniversary
of London bombings
Agence France-Presse . London


Survivors of the 2005 London suicide bombings which tore through three underground trains and a bus, killing 52 innocent people, are marking the third anniversary of the attacks Monday.
They will join victims’ families and politicians laying flowers outside the capital’s King’s Cross railway station, from where the four British Muslim suicide bombers fanned out to wreak destruction across the capital.
The attacks threw the spotlight on the threat posed by homegrown terrorism in Britain, as well as perceptions of Britain’s roughly 1.6 million Muslims. Dozens of the victims are still battling for compensation payments.
Security agency MI5 says Britain currently faces a ‘severe’ threat from international terrorism – which means an attack is highly likely – adding the most significant risk comes from groups linked to al-Qaeda.


Serbia to vote in new
pro-Western government
 Belgrade

Serbia’s parliament meets on Monday to vote in a new coalition government of the liberal Democratic Party and the Socialist Party, under the leadership of economist Mirko Cvetkovic as prime minister.
The 57-year-old, a senior Democrat, will be tasked with speeding up Serbia’s path to the European Union after years of delay, changing its image of belligerence and defiance and pushing through long-delayed economic reforms to woo investors.
His government will be sizeable, with three deputy prime ministers and 24 ministries, reflecting weeks of horse-trading over posts in a coalition that brings together no less than 10 parties or coalitions.
The Socialists, a party founded by nationalist autocrat Slobodan Milosevic who fell in 2000, are making a big comeback, getting the post of first deputy prime minister, as well as key ministries such as infrastructure and energy.