World Bank warns about food prices, Middle East revolts

World Bank President Robert Zoellick

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/175243.html

The World Bank has warned that the recovery of developed economies may face further challenges due to the rising food prices, high unemployment and the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa.

"We are one shock away from a full-blown crisis," World Bank President Robert Zoellick said in reaction to surging global food prices, AFP reported.

"The financial crisis taught us that prevention is better than cure. We cannot afford to forget that lesson," he said at the close of the annual spring meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington.

Zoellick added that the development lender should support reforms in the Middle East to prevent further revolutions in the region.

"Waiting for the situation to stabilize will mean lost opportunities. In revolutionary moments, the status quo is not a winning hand," he went on to say.

The World Bank also said in a statement that the popular uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa "could derail global growth. "

According to the World Bank's latest Food Price Watch report released on Thursday, the global food prices saw a 36 percent rise compared to a year ago. The report also estimated that a further 10 percent increase could push 10 million more people, with an income of less than $1.25 per day, into extreme poverty.

The report says 44 million people have been pushed into poverty since June 2010 because of high and volatile food prices, and a further 30 percent price hike could increase the world's poor population to 34 million.

According to the World Bank's food index, there are currently 1.2 billion people living below the poverty line of less than $1.25 a day.

Arab World despotism nearing collapse

Egyptian protesters, January 25

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/162197.html

The dictatorial regimes across the Arab world are getting close to collapse, as the Tunisian revolution has proven that security apparatus in those countries can suddenly fail, an analyst says.

In “Tunisia, the torture, the oppression, the persecution was beyond imagination and it all collapsed suddenly,” author and political analyst Azzam Tamimi said in an interview with Press TV.

“It can collapse in Egypt, in Jordan, Yemen, Algeria in Libya, in Saudi Arabia,” Tamimi further explained.

“For the past two or three few weeks, especially for the past week, Tunisia has been the talk of the streets across the Arab world and probably also African nations where similar models of despotism persists,” he added.

The analyst specially pointed out at the incipient revolts in Saudi Arabia.

“There is a lot going on in Saudi Arabia by the way and people are now calling for rallies to trigger some sort of popular movement,” Tamimi went on to say.

Former Tunisian President Zein El Abidine Ben Ali's 23 years of dictatorship, which was marred by repeated human rights violations and torture, ended earlier this month after weeks of street protests.

In the latest development, the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) has issued a global arrest warrant for Ben Ali and several of his family members.

Tunis bureau of Interpol put the warrant into effect on Wednesday and urged the member states to search for, locate and detain Ben Ali and six of his family members.

The alert follows an arrest warrant by the country's interim government for the overthrown ruler.

Tunisian Justice Minister Lazhar Karoui Chebbi said that Ben Ali and his relatives are wanted on charges of illegally taking money out of the country and acquiring real estate and other assets abroad.

Ben Ali's wife, Leila, who is on the list too, is said by the French media to have abandoned the country with millions of dollars worth of gold.

The accused are believed to have assets of various types in France, where prosecutors have launched a probe into the family's property.

While Tunisia has become a model for pursuing democracy, political analysts have warned that the Tunisian political factions have to observe the rules of a democratic system to avoid a post-revolution dictatorship.

"The last thing that the Tunisian people need to do is to create a new king," political analyst Mohammad Oweis said in an interview with Press TV.

Oweis warned Tunisian opposition groups against the adoption of autocratic approaches in the existing power equations in the North African state.

Yemeni protesters call on Saleh to quit

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/162214.html

Thousands of Yemeni protesters have taken to the streets of the capital city Sanaa and several other cities, calling for the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

On Thursday, demonstrators called on Saleh, in power since 1978, to step down from his post, AFP reported.

Security has been beefed up in the capital as more and more people are joining the protesters, who oppose the political and economic policies of Saleh's government.

On Wednesday, at least five people were injured and dozens of protesters were arrested during violent clashes between security forces in the southern province of Shabwa.

Saleh has recently announced on state TV that he will step down only after his second presidential term expires in 2013.

Anti-government demonstrations have been ongoing for the past nine days, following the revolution in Tunisia, which ended more than two decades of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's ruling, sending shockwaves across Arab and North African nations.