Boston Marathon bombing suspects possibly acted alone

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Tuesday, latest details emerged from U.S. officials and family members concerning how the two Boston Marathon bombing suspects may have been persuaded by an agitator, anti-American strain of Islam. They had been radicalized by sources on the web, not through direct contact with terror groups said A U.S. senator.

Younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19-year-old university student’s condition was improved to fair from serious as investigators continued building their case against him. After being charged Monday, he possibly will face the death penalty with working in partner with his brother in setting off the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs that killed three people. Older brother previously reported dead.Over 260 people were injured by the bomb blasts last week while about 50 were still hospitalized.

There is “no question” that older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev was “the dominant force” behind the attacks, and that the brothers had apparently been radicalized by material on the internet rather than by contact with militant groups overseas Republican Sen. Richard Burr stated after the Senate Intelligence Committee was briefed by federal law enforcement officials in Washington.Brothers, both Russian-born ethnic Chechens, have no links to terror groups based on what the authorities believed in. On the other hand, two U.S. officials said Tuesday that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26 — who died last week in a gunbattle — frequently looked at extremist websites, including Inspire magazine, an English-language online publication produced by al-Qaida’s Yemen affiliate. The said magazine has endorsed lone-wolf terror attacks.

Because both officials were not authorized to discuss the investigation they spoke on condition of anonymity.

Tamerlan was steered toward a strict strain of Islam under the influence of a Muslim convert known to the Tsarnaev family only as Misha, according to family members reached in the U.S. and abroad by The Associated Press.According to family members, who said he turned to websites and literature claiming that the CIA was behind the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, after befriending Misha, Tamerlan gave up boxing, stopped studying music and began opposing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.“Somehow, he just took his brain,” said Tamerlan’s uncle, Ruslan Tsarni of Maryland, who recalled conversations with Tamerlan’s worried father about Misha’s influence.“You could always hear his younger brother and sisters say, `Tamerlan said this,’ and `Tamerlan said that.’ Dzhokhar loved him. He would do whatever Tamerlan would say,” recalled Elmirza Khozhugov, the ex-husband of Tamerlan’s sister. He spoke by telephone from his home in Almaty, Kazakhstan.Khozhugov said, the brothers, who came to the U.S. from Russia a decade ago, were raised in a home that followed Sunni Islam, the religion’s largest sect, but were not regulars at the mosque and rarely discussed religion.

Then Tamerlan met Misha, a heavyset bald man with a reddish beard around 2008 or 2009. Khozhugov is not quite sure where they met but held as true that they attended a Boston-area mosque together.

Sales of New Homes Boost 1.5%

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Sales of new homes accelerated up to 1.5 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted yearly rate of 417,000, another verification of a sustained housing upturn at the launch of the spring buying season.Sales of new homes exceeded February’s pace of 411,000, though they were below January’s 445,000 — the fastest rate since July 2008, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday.The 700,000 pace is considered healthy by most economists but new-home sales are still below the said pace yet the rate has increased 18.5 percent from 352,000 a year agoMajority of the economists spot more boost ahead, as housing is probably to remain a constant driver of economic growth this year.Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets said, “With increasing signs of a softer U.S. economy springing up in the spring, we can take comfort in the resilience of the housing recovery.”More Americans are encouraged to buy new houses due to stable job formation and near-record low mortgage rates. The increase in demand is helping to elevate sales and prices in most markets. Lavish prices are more likely to make homeowners feel richer and spur them in spending more.Another reason why sales lift prices is due to a limited supply of both new and previously occupied homes.
The inventory of new homes for sale amplified 2 percent in March, to 153,000, the second successive gain. Still, that’s the equivalent of a 4.4-month supply at the current sales pace and historically lean, according to Jim O’Sullivan, chief United States economist at High Frequency Economics.
The median price of a new home is 3 percent higher than a year ago, it rose to $247,000 in March.The March sales gain came from a 20.6 percent increase in the Northeast and a 19.4 percent rise in the South. Sales fell 20.9 percent in the West, where problems of supply have hampered home buying. Sales were down 12.1 percent in the Midwest.According to the National Association of Realtors, sales of previously occupied homes dipped in March from February. Still, sales were 10.3 percent higher than a year earlier.
The association mentioned low supply as a ground sales fell in March. Nevertheless in a positive sign, the inventory of formerly occupied homes augmented for the second straight month. That proposes more sellers are positive that the revival will carry on and they can sell at a good price. While low inventories have helped drive more construction of new homes.In March, home builders began work on more than one million new houses and apartments at a seasonally adjusted annual rate. This is the first time the number had crossed that threshold in nearly five years. That reflected a surge in volatile apartment building.After reaching the fastest rate in nearly five years, single-family home construction fell in March.Yet, one of several constraints is a low supply of homes for sale, it could limit sales. More than six years ago the housing bubble burst and since then banks have forced tighter credit conditions and mandate larger down payments. As a consequence, it became harder to first-time homebuyers to qualify for the low mortgage rates that made the Federal Reserve’s efforts to ease credit.

Single Man Europe’s Travel Guide

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Many travel guides has been written for women or single ladies about travelling alone in Europe but special articles and advices for single men are a bit ignored. But as much as women has special needs and precautions needed while travelling, men can sometimes encounter bump into circumstances not experienced by female counterparts.

Maybe the main concern and major expense of an alone traveler is the overnight accommodation. Added to the loneliness of a single traveler is that major hotels often charge the same single or double occupancy. You need not to worry about this when travelling in Europe because European cities are blessed with variety of accommodation types. For single travelers, older hotels offer small rooms perfect for alone traveler. Breakfast is also inclusive to many of these hotels. The best part is, shared tables make it trouble-free to start chatting with fellow travelers may he be single or couples. If one prefer to have a cheaper accommodation, single men may choose to stay at YMCA or a hostel. Most offer both dormitory and single accommodation. The best thing about common sitting areas is that they offer camaraderie, and then eventually single men often pick up a dinner partner or tips on the next day’s museum outing.

If accommodation is the most expensive, the most feared on the other hand is dining. Yes, perhaps the terror of single travelers is where to eat. Most of the single travelers shun from eating alone at restaurants but there are many alternatives. Small bottle of wine, a small loaf of bread and cheese purchased at a local shop is served in a Paris lunch. You can also try to mingle with the locals and eat on the park benches and enjoy eating while you take pleasure of the surrounding activity, most single men frequently do the same. You must be able to enjoy restaurants as well, it should be off your to visit list most especially in Europe. Single men should target busy restaurants and not to avoid them. Singles are welcome in any popular, mid-range restaurants in Germany and Italy. Contrasting to other countries like U.S., restaurant hosts simply seat single men with another patron, resulting in a dinner conversation.

Freedom to create your own itinerary is the very reason why some choose to travel alone aside from the other many reasons. General travel guides provide sights and opening hours. And to plan your day activity, local maps can make it easy for you. Single men may go to those museums and historical sites that they are interested in. Yet they can still experience them at their own pace. Everything and every chance can park conversation to other visitors.

Subdued inflation lifts chance of rate cuts

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Contributing to a lower-than-expected inflation rate is the fall in the prices of fruit, furniture and travel; these keep the door open for further rate cuts if the economy weakens.

The latest Bureau of Statistics data show: The headline inflation increased 0.4 per cent quarter-to-quarter, and 2.5 per cent year-on-year.

“It was quite surprising because [the first quarter of the year] is generally a quarter of strong seasonal price increases,” Citi senior economist Joshua Williamson said.

“There were fairly wide weaker results than expected across the board for most of the important indicators.”

The trimmed mean increased by 0.3 per cent for the quarter along with 2.2 per cent in the year to March, whereas the weighted median elevated 0.5 per cent for the three months and 2.6 per cent over the past year.

The trimmed mean and the weighted median frame the fundamental inflation rate, which has abide comfortably within the central bank’s target band of 2 to 3 per cent covering the past few years, giving the central bank the chance to trim down interest rates from a previously low 3 per cent if economic activity deteriorates this year as mining investment hits the highest point.

Mr Williamson said the lower-than-expected rate meant there was an increased chance of a cut to the cash rate in May, or in June after company capital expenditure expectations data is released.

In May the market is now pricing in a 42 per cent chance of a rate cut by the RBA.

ANZ senior economist Riki Polygenis said she did not believe the subdued inflation figures would alter the Reserve Bank’s stance at this time. “The RBA was already very comfortable on the inflation front and has been focusing more on the weakness in non-mining activity and labour market data,” Ms Polygenis said, adding that ANZ still expected further rate cuts to occur this year.

In the next two weeks before the Reserve Bank meeting on May 7, the central bank would be looking at other domestic indicators as well as movements in the world economy for guidance said BT Financial Group chief economist Chris Caton.

“The Reserve Bank simply doesn’t have to worry about inflation. It does have to concern itself about the labour market, [but] we won’t get any more news about that until after the next meeting,” Mr Caton said.

“The concern about the rest of the world is possibly slowing growth in China and in the United States, and nothing happening in Europe. If anything happens to increase those concerns in the next couple of weeks that would certainly increase the chance of a rate cut in Australia.

“The Australian dollar lost about a quarter of a cent to $US1.0245 following the data release.

The uppermost price rises were recorded for pharmaceuticals with 7.6 per cent, tertiary education with 6.5 per cent and tobacco with 3.7 per cent.

On the contrary, international holiday travel and accommodation dropped by 5.2 per cent for the quarter, whereas furniture prices descend by 6.8 per cent and fruit plunged by 7 per cent and clothing and footwear prices were lesser by 3.9 per cent.

Economists had anticipated the headline inflation rate to go up by 2.8 per cent and the principal rate to pick up by 2.4 per cent.