Women More Likely to Graduate College, but Still Earn Less Than Men

Women are just as likely to be doctors as secretaries, but still earn 78 percent of what men make.

More young adult women than men have college degrees, but a gender pay gap still exists.

By Allie BidwellOct. 31, 2014 | 11:18 a.m. EDT+ More

Women today are more likely than men to complete college and attend graduate school, and make up nearly half of the country's total workforce. Yet past gaps in education and experience appear to be contributing to a persistent pay gap between the sexes, a new report shows.

The report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers shows that although women are increasingly becoming more educated and make up a larger portion of the country's workforce, they consistently earn less than men, even when they have similar levels of education.

Women are now more likely than men to earn bachelor's degrees and attend graduate school.

"Women are fast becoming our most educated workers – they are attending school at higher rates, and they are entering a wide range of careers and deepening their work experience," an accompanying fact sheet on the report says.

In the early 1990s, adult women were about as likely as men to earn a bachelor's degree or attend graduate school. But around the middle of the decade, women began to surpass men in college attainment. That increase also can be seen in professional degree programs – women now account for almost half of students in law, medical and business administration graduate programs. During the 1960s, women accounted for about 10 percent of students in those programs.

Now, women in the workforce are more likely to have at least a bachelor's degree than not. They're also making gains in occupations that traditionally have been dominated by men: doctors, lawyers, scientists and professors, to name a few. Today, women in their early 30s are just as likely to be doctors or lawyers as they are to be teachers or secretaries, the report shows. 

Women are increasingly employed in professions that used to be dominated by men. 

But women still haven't reached a state of parity in the workforce, the report says. Although they're increasingly likely to work in historically male-dominated professions – many of which tend to have higher salaries – women still are overrepresented in lower-paying occupations. Women make up 56 percent of workers in the 20 lowest-paid jobs, and just 29 percent of those in the 20 highest-paid jobs, the report says.

"Reducing barriers to female occupational choice, including gender discrimination, would not only raise women’s earnings, but would also increase overall productivity by better matching worker skills to jobs," the report says. "Recent research has shown that women can help drive innovation and better target female customers and employees."

Women who work full-time still make significantly less on average than men.

While the gender pay gap has narrowed over time, women who work full-time today make 78 percent of what men make, on average. The gap is even greater for women of color: non-Hispanic black women made 64 percent of what men made in 2013, and Hispanic women earned 56 percent of what men earned. 

Generational trends still could be contributing to the wage gap, the report says, because past disparities in educational attainment, job choice and experience take time to disappear from the labor force.

Despite similar levels of education, women end up making less than men over time.

Even when men and women have similar levels of education, men end up earning more over time. The graph above shows how men and women with professional degrees begin with similar salaries, but within the first five years of employment, men's wages surpass women's wages. The report suggests that implementing policies such as paid family leave and flexible work schedules can help increase participation and experience over time.

"With women and men increasingly sharing breadwinning and caregiving responsibilities, today’s working families need a modern workplace – one with workplace flexibility, paid leave and quality child and elder care," the report says. "Such policies are beneficial for the economy as they lead to higher labor force participation, greater labor productivity and work engagement, and better allocation of talent across the economy."
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Catholics, Muslims Agree: No More Nukes

Religious leaders from the United States traveled to Iran to meet with Ayatollahs.

An Indian woman rallies against nuclear weapons in Mumbai. Clergy from the Catholic Church and Shia Islam met in March to discuss a shared stance against nuclear weapons.

By Teresa WelshOct. 30, 2014 | 4:41 p.m. EDT+ More

When Americans think of Iran, the first thing that comes to mind for many is nuclear weapons – Iran wants them and the West thinks it's a terrible idea. But what many Americans don't know is that one of Iran's top leaders has actually declared nuclear proliferation as anti-Islam.

[READ: U.S, Iran Talks Continue, Despite Distrust]

On a recent trip, a group of U.S. bishops learned, according to Iran's supreme leader, Shia Islam does not allow for the development, stockpiling or use of nuclear weapons. In that, the two groups of religious leaders found common ground to discuss similarities in faith and reason between Islam and Catholicism.

A six-person American delegation, including three bishops, engaged in conversations with Iranian Ayatollahs at the Supreme Council of the Seminary Teachers of Qom, the pre-eminent center of religious scholarship in Iran. Over four days in March, they met with religious counterparts to discuss the implications of nuclear weapons.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issued a fatwa, or an Islamic legal opinion, stating the religion prohibits possessing, developing and using such weapons. Iranian officials have echoed the decree, maintaining that their nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

But despite the declaration that nuclear weapons violate Islam, Iran has a difficult time convincing the rest of the world it doesn't seek nuclear armament.

Ebrahim Mohseni, a senior analyst at the University of Tehran Center for Public Opinion Research, who was part of the delegation, says much of the distrust stems from fallout from the 1980s Iran-Iraq War. During that conflict, Iraq's Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons against the Iranians, but despite the verified war crime, the international community "turned a blind eye," Mohseni says.

Convinced the global community could not be trusted to protect them, it was then Iranians began developing nuclear capabilities.

“There is the accusation, that I think is credible, that experiments were conducted over a decade ago that have nuclear weapons applications,” said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association. “I don't think Iran’s leaders are going to admit that their scientists were engaged in work relating to the development of nuclear weapons … [but] the fatwa helps to reinforce that Iran will not be pursuing nuclear weapons in the future.”

[ALSO: The Endgame for Iran Nuclear Talks]

As the West has tried to limit the number of nuclear powers in the world, and Israel has campaigned against Iran specifically out of fear of a religiously fueled nuclear war, Iran has been tightly scrutinized. The Muslim country has been subject to international sanctions due to past refusal to suspend nuclear enrichment, and the inability of the International Atomic Energy Association to verify that Iran's nuclear program is purely peaceful.

Bishop Richard Pates, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ International Justice and Peace Committee, said Wednesday at a briefing on the trip that it’s no secret that Iran and the U.S. have a troubled political history, but the delegation was looking for ways to build bridges to the Iranians. They hoped the religious dialogue could help create a climate where the nuclear negotiations between the West and Iran could succeed. Bates repeatedly stressed that the delegation traveled to discuss moral and religious issues only, and was not political in nature. Upon returning, participants briefed members of Congress, the State Department, White House and National Security Council on the conversations they had in Iran.

A joint declaration from the bishops and Ayatollahs said Christianity and Islam both share the “common commitment to peaceful coexistence and mutual respect.”

“These foundational moral values unite us in raising fundamental moral questions regarding weapons of mass destruction,” the statement said. “Shia Islam opposes and forbids the production, stockpiling, use and threat to use weapons of mass destruction. Catholicism is also working for a world without weapons of mass destruction and calls on all nations to rid themselves of these indiscriminate weapons.”

Catholicism also opposes nuclear weapons, in line with a 1963 papal encyclical authored by Pope John XXIII which stated the Catholic Church’s opposition to nuclear arms and called for international action to end the threat of such weapons.

Details on the status of the nuclear talks between the West and Iran are publicly murky, with negotiators declining to provide many details for fear of jeopardizing the possibility of reaching a deal. Last week Wendy Sherman, the lead American negotiator in the talks with Iran, said the group is doing everything they can to meet the Nov. 24 deadline. 

Class Acts: How The National Guard Helps Students Prepare For Engineering Careers Sponsored post by Army National Guard

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Demand in the U.S. job market for experience in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—the STEM skills—is huge and growing. One cost-effective way to pursue a career in STEM-focused fields, particularly engineering, is through part time service in the National Guard while attending school and living in your community full time.

In the National Guard, a federal reserve force of Citizen-Soldiers administered on the state level, you’re trained to work “with concrete, machines, carpentry, masonry—skill sets you learn along with military skills, such as putting on a mask, shooting a rifle…swinging a hammer, driving a truck, or driving a bulldozer,” says Eric Durr, director of public affairs for the NYS Division of Military and Naval Affairs. “All of that translates into a civilian job.”

Although defining what engineers do can get overly complicated, it boils down to this: They build, create, or adapt something to certain specifications to meet the need at hand.

What might that look like in the Guard? One example: When dangerous amounts of rain or snowmelt affect an area, the local Army National Guard is activated by the state’s governor to assist the Army Corp of Engineers and help prevent a levee failure. Guard members are responsible for levee patrol, security, traffic control, and sandbagging. In 2011, in response to the record flooding of the Missouri River, the South Dakota National Guard worked around the clock to help keep the levees functioning as the Gavins Point Dam released water at rates as high as 140,000 cubic feet per second. The Guard patrolled the levee, performed inspections, provided quick repairs, and provided security to nearby homes.

The skills Citizen-Soldiers develop in the Guard are extremely valuable, according to Lieutenant Colonel Chris Guilmette, commander of the 204th Engineer Battalion in Binghamton, New York. “Engineers in the National Guard do a lot of construction projects. Being an engineer—either as an enlisted soldier, an officer, or an NCO [non-commissioned officer]—you gain experience in project management. You do actual construction, whether you’re an equipment operator, a carpenter, an electrician, or a plumber—and get hands-on, real-world experience that relates to an engineering or science profession. Most college students don’t have that.”

Guilmette, an electrical engineer by trade and a principal at KW Mission Critical Engineering in Troy, NY, says his Guard experience benefited him immensely: “As a new hire out of college, I was given simple or specific tasks I was able to handle faster than others could.” In addition, he says, “The Army, National Guard, and Corps of Engineers are trying to promote and recruit officers and leaders withSTEM skills, because they need engineers, officers, and leaders to have that engineering, math, and problem-solving background.” From the Guard’s perspective, he says, “Individuals with STEM degrees have additional experience and capabilities that allow us to do more difficult tasks. We have to design things, whether it's a road or part of a building, so we have to do the planning and calculations. It’s great to have people with STEM experience.”

By serving in the Guard, Eric Durr says, “You could get a STEM degree, and that’s awesome. The National Guard allows you to go to college full time while you serve in the National Guard [part time]—and you can serve as a National Guard engineer while you study for your degree.”

Gun Restriction Support Shrinks Post-Sandy Hook Less than half of Americans would like to see stricter laws on firearm sales, per a Gallup poll. People hold signs during a rally at the Connecticut State Capital to promote gun control legislation in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting on Feb. 14, 2013 in Hartford, Conn. Pro-gun control advocates gather to promote gun restrictions in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Feb. 14, 2013, in Hartford, Conn. Less than half of Americans support tightening gun restrictions, a recent Gallup poll finds. By Tierney Sneed

Gun Restriction Support Shrinks Post-Sandy Hook

Less than half of Americans would like to see stricter laws on firearm sales, per a Gallup poll.

Pro-gun control advocates gather to promote gun restrictions in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Feb. 14, 2013, in Hartford, Conn. Less than half of Americans support tightening gun restrictions, a recent Gallup poll finds. By Tierney Sneed

Support for gun laws has shrunk by more than 10 percent since the tragic school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, a new Gallup poll finds. After the December 2012 shooting, the percentage of Americans favoring stricter firearm sale laws spiked to 58 percent. Now less than half – 47 percent – of Americans support tightening gun restrictions, compared to 38 percent of Americans who believe gun laws should stay as they are and 14 percent who would like to see laws loosened.

Less than half of Americans favor stricter firearms sales, per a Gallup poll.

Support for new gun sale restrictions dropped significantly in the last two years among both Democrats and Republicans, while staying stable among independents.

Belief that gun laws should be stricter dropped the significantly among women – from 69 percent in 2012 to 55 percent in 2012, while also dropping by 7 percent for men.

Meanwhile, nonwhite Americans remain considerable more supportive of stricter gun sale laws than white Americans, though favor shrunk in both groups in the last two years.

Undeterred by the failure of efforts for stricter federal firearm laws, pro-gun restriction groups like former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety and Americans for Responsible Solutions, which is fronted by shooting survivor, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, have poured a millions into this election cycle. However the National Rifle Association has put it up a fight of its own.

A Washington state ballot initiative to close the gun show loophole and expand background checks looks like it will pass, as support for it has grown to 64 percent in light of a recent school shooting in that state. Voters there will also have the choice of a rival measure that would prevent more background checks and there is also initiative on ballots in Alabama to amend the state constitutional to assert a “fundamental right to bear arms.”

Seeking a Third Path to Victory

Independent candidates are making their presence felt.

Third-party candidates may have an impact on Tuesday's midterm elections – and on who controls the Senate.

By Susan MilliganOct. 31, 2014 | 7:34 a.m. EDT+ More

Who controls the Senate next year may depend on an unusual cast of characters. There’s a pizza delivery guy in North Carolina, a tea party hopeful in Louisiana, an independent in Kansas so determined to live up to the moniker he won’t say whom he wants as Senate majority leader, a smattering of libertarians and a former GOP senator who wants his old job back.

Most of them will not get more than a small percentage of the vote, as has historically happened with third-party (or just third) candidates. But in a year where so many races have razor-thin margins and every vote counts, the contenders may have an outsized impact. They may propel one of the main party candidates to an otherwise improbable win; or they may delay the results in key individual contests, leaving undecided which party will run the Senate for months.

“It’s very rare for a third-party candidate to win,” says Jeffrey Koch, a political science professor at State University of New York–Geneseo. Instead, such contenders hit a nerve in part of the electorate, either by promoting a particular issue (government overreach, for example, among libertarians, or the environment among Green Party members), or by providing an outlet for disgust with the two major parties, Koch explains. “Usually they tend to energize [the voters] more when there is … a disgruntlement,” he says.

[READ: Slicing Through the Democrats' Senate Spin]

Energizing is one thing. But what if a voter chooses a “spoiler” who ends up knocking out the next most appealing candidate, thereby securing the elected office for one’s last choice? Florida liberals learned that lesson the hardest of ways in 2000, when Green Party candidate and longtime consumer advocate Ralph Nader got 97,421 votes statewide. That was far more than the 537 votes by which George W. Bush beat Al Gore, making Democrats complain that the “spoilers” were responsible for making Bush president (since Gore, who won the national popular vote, would have been president had he taken Florida).

In most of the contested races, it is the Republican who will likely see some votes siphoned off (though the GOP is favored to win in key races and favored to take back the Senate). But “this is not an issue of just the Republicans being split” among establishment, libertarian and social conservative factions, says Steven Greene, a political science professor at the University of North Carolina. “This is just dissatisfaction, people being unhappy with their choices.”

States where a third-party (or just a third) candidate could affect the outcome of elections include:

Kansas

Independent Senate candidate Greg Orman, left, and GOP Sen. Pat Roberts. 

The Sunflower State wasn’t even on the campaign committees’ radar screens after sitting GOP Sen. Pat Roberts won an unexpectedly tough primary. The state is deep red, and Democrats were not expected to play there at all. And they really weren’t. Instead, an independent candidate named Greg Orman began to surge in the polls, and Democrats saw an opening. They convinced their own candidate, Chad Taylor, to drop out, turning the race into what is now a dead heat between Roberts and Orman. Depending on which party Orman caucuses with if he’s elected, the majority may not be identified until next year if Senate control comes down to Kansas.

[ALSO: Kansas Comeback? Roberts Looks to Rebound]

North Carolina

From left: Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan, Libertarian Senate candidate Sean Haugh and Republican Senate candidate Thom Tillis. 

Sitting Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan probably benefits the most from the Libertarian Party candidacy of Sean Haugh, a pizza deliveryman who is polling in the high single digits. Hagan and GOP nominee Thom Tillis are running closely against each other (with Hagan ahead by tiny margins), and Haugh’s anti-big government appeal could peel votes from Tillis and deprive the GOP of a pickup.

Still, “in North Carolina statewide races, Libertarian candidates often poll in the high single digits in mid-campaign polls, only to fall to around 2 to 3 percent support in the actual election, and we are likely to see the same pattern in this year’s Senate race,” says Wake Forest University political science professor John Dinan. So Haugh’s influence is likely to wane somewhat on Election Day.

Georgia

From left: Libertarian candidate Amanda Swafford, Republican David Purdue and Democrat Michelle Nunn.

Two races – the open Senate seat and the governor’s race – might end up in runoffs in the Peach State, since statewide candidates there are required to get 50 percent of the vote. Georgia is seen as one of two opportunities (if not the only) Democrats have for a Senate pickup, with Michelle Nunn now ahead (though by statistically insignificant margins) of Republican David Perdue. Libertarian Amanda Swafford is polling in the low single digits, which could send the contest to a runoff Jan. 6 – after the Senate is seated. And in the governor’s race, GOP incumbent Nathan Deal is neck-and-neck with his Democratic challenger, Jason Carter, with neither man polling above 50 percent. Libertarian Andrew Hunt is also in the low single digits.

[READ: Georgia's on Their Mind in Battle for Senate]

Louisiana

From left: GOP Rep. Bill Cassidy, Republican Senate candidate Rob Maness and Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu.

Incumbent Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu is furiously trying to get past the 50 percent mark in the elections, and if she succeeds, it will be in part because of the presence of a second Republican, Rob Maness, who is aligned with the tea party and who has joined Landrieu in attacking (for different reasons) the leading GOP candidate, Rep. Bill Cassidy.

The Bayou State’s open primary allows all contenders to compete in November; if no one gets 50 percent of the vote, it goes to a December runoff. Since Maness votes are more likely to go to Cassidy, Landrieu is eager to win outright. “If she can’t get a majority in November, how is she going to get a majority in December” against just one Republican? asks Brian Brox, a political science professor at Tulane University.

South Dakota

From left: Independent Senate candidate Larry Pressler, GOP candidate Mike Rounds and Democratic candidate Rick Weiland.

The open Senate seat was considered an automatic giveaway to Republicans, since a Democratic incumbent is retiring in a very red state. But former GOP Sen. Larry Pressler’s independent run has been picking up steam, and he’s only slightly behind Republican Mike Rounds. Democrat Rick Weiland isn’t far behind Pressler.

[MORE: The 6 Senate Races That Are Too Close to Call]

Maine

From left: Independent Maine gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler, Republican Gov. Paul LePage and Democratic Rep. Mike Michaud. 

Sitting GOP Gov. Paul LePage was headed for defeat against Democratic Rep. Mike Michaud, but independent Eliot Cutler is drawing in the low double digits and may deliver a re-election victory to LePage.

Alaska

Republican Dan Sullivan is slightly ahead of Democratic incumbent Sen. Mark Begich in polls, and Libertarian candidate Mark Fish could pull some votes from Sullivan. Alaska is notoriously hard to poll, so Fish’s impact is unclear. Begich said before he left Washington for the recess that he expected the votes could take a week to count, so Alaska’s results, too, might delay resolving the question of which party will control the Senate.

‘Hope waning’ for trapped Turkish miners

By AFP

Published about 16 hours ago

Ermenek: Family members of miners wait for news outside the mine on Thursday.—AP

ISTANBUL: Hopes are fading of saving 18 miners trapped by a flood in a mine in southern Turkey, the energy minister acknowledged on Thursday, blaming negligence for the country’s latest mining tragedy.

“Time is ticking by. I have to tell you that hope is waning concerning our 18 worker brothers,” said Energy Minister Taner Yildiz, who is at the scene of the disaster in the Karaman province.

“It is not just because of the water. It is because of the tonnes of mud and waste that have crashed down into the pits,” he added in televised comments.

Tuesday’s accident was the latest to hit the country’s disaster-prone mining industry after 301 workers were killed in a coal mine explosion in Soma in May.

Some 400 emergency workers are still at the scene in the village of Pamuklu, trying to siphon out an estimated 10 tonnes of water that burst into the shaft and broke down the its walls on Tuesday.

Both Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday visited the area in a clear bid to show that the government was on top of the rescue efforts.

Erdogan was vehemently criticised over his handling of the Soma disaster, when he notoriously said such a catastrophe was part of the job, comparing it to mining disasters in 19th-century Britain.

The private company that operates the mine, Has Sekerler, on Thursday broke two days of silence to say that the accident was due an unspecified “natural disaster”.

It said in a statement that it had taken “all the necessary security measures” and its conclusion was based on evidence from the 16 miners who had escaped from the shaft.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2014

China rejects Indian plan to build border posts

By Reuters

Updated about 12 hours ago

— File photo by AFP

BEIJING: China’s defence ministry on Thursday expressed concern over reports that India plans to build 54 new border posts along their disputed border, long a source of tension between the two giant neighbours.

China defeated India in a brief war in 1962 and the border has remained unresolved since, despite 17 rounds of talks. The two armies cannot even agree on the location of the Line of Actual Control, the ceasefire line following the 1962 fighting, leading to face-offs between border patrols.

In September, India eased curbs on building roads and military facilities within 100 km of the contested border in its remote northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, so as to speed construction of 6,000 km of roads.

The move came as Chinese President Xi Jinping visited India, in an effort to defuse the deep distrust between both countries, despite growing trade and business ties.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2014

Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore ousted

By AFP

Updated about 3 hours ago

Burkina Faso's embattled President Blaise Compaore announced that he was stepping down following violent protests demanding an end to his 27-year rule. -AFP Photo

OUAGADOUGOU: Burkina Faso's embattled President Blaise Compaore announced on Friday that he was stepping down to make way for elections following a violent uprising against his 27-year rule that saw parliament set ablaze.

His resignation came as tens of thousands of protesters demanded that he quit immediately after a day of unrest that saw mass protests and the storming of parliament and other public buildings.

Some have drawn a parallel between the protests and the Arab Spring revolution, and the situation is being closely watched across Africa where at least four heads of state are preparing or considering similar changes to stay in power.

“In order to preserve the democratic gains, as well as social peace... I declare a power vacuum to allow the establishment of a transition leading to free and fair elections within a maximum of 90 days,” Compaore said in a statement read on local television.

News of Compaore's departure had initially come from an army officer hoisted on the shoulders of comrades in front of the army headquarters in Ouagadougou, the capital of the landlocked west African nation.

“Compaore is no longer in power,” Colonel Boureima Farta told a crowd of thousands, who erupted into cheers.

Compaore had initially rejected calls to resign, prompting the demonstrators to gather outside the military base, chanting: “Blaise, get out!”.

France's President Francois Hollande vowed that Paris would “contribute to calming” the situation in its former colony as the news emerged, adding that he was sure Compaore would “take the right decision in the coming hours to achieve the calm necessary”.

The EU called for the people of Burkina Faso to have the final say in who rules their country.

“The European Union believes that it is up to the people of Burkina Faso to decide their own future. Any solution must be the result of a broad consensus and respect the constitution,” a spokesman for the bloc's diplomatic service said.

The protests on Thursday forced Compaore to withdraw plans to try to change the constitution to extend his rule, although he had then vowed to stay in power for another year under a transitional government.

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Watched across Africa

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The protests started as lawmakers prepared to vote on legislation that would allow 63-year-old Compaore to contest elections in November 2015.

They have plunged Burkina Faso into its worst crisis since a wave of mutinies shook the country in 2011.

Compaore was only 36 when he seized power in a 1987 coup in which his former friend and one of Africa's most loved leaders, Thomas Sankara, was ousted and assassinated.

He has remained in power since, re-elected president four times since 1991, to two seven-year and two five-year terms.

Compaore is one of a number of sub-Saharan African leaders who have stayed in power for decades.

His bid to cling to power has angered many, particularly young people in a country where 60 per cent of the population of almost 17 million is under 25.

Many have spent their entire lives under the leadership of one man and are disillusioned by the establishment running the poor former French colony which is stagnating at 183rd out of 186 countries on the UN human development index.

Some Burkinabe protesters have likened the protest to the Arab uprisings that began in 2010.

“October 30 is Burkina Faso's black spring, like the Arab spring,” Emile Pargui Pare, an official from opposition party the Movement of People for Progress, told AFP earlier this week.

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Departure 'non-negotiable'

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Burkina Faso's army chief had on Thursday made his own announcement that the government had been dissolved. The army imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew and pledged to restore constitutional order within 12 months, in a statement signed by Nabere Honore Traore Thursday.

Leading opposition politician Benewende Sankara described the army's move as a “coup”.

Many of the tens of thousands massed on the streets of the capital called for retired general and former defence minister Kouame Lougue to take control, shouting: “Lougue in power! “There were reports that Traore had met Lougue to discuss the crisis.

Opposition leaders gave the death toll from Thursday's violence as “around 30”. AFP was only able to confirm four deaths and six seriously injured, based partly on reports from the capital's main hospital.

Envoys from the UN, the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) were expected Friday in Burkina.

Known in colonial times as Upper Volta, the landlocked country became independent from France in 1960 and its name was changed to Burkina Faso ( “the land of upright men “) in 1984.

Afghan President Ghani invites Taliban to join peace process

By AP

Published about 9 hours ago

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai delivers his speech at the opening ceremony of the 4th Ministerial Conference of Istanbul Process of Afghanistan, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, Oct 31, 2014. — Photo by AP

BEIJING: Afghanistan's new president invited the Taliban to join in a peace process backed by the international community on Friday, an unusual direct reference to the insurgents who have stepped up attacks in an attempt to bring down his month-old government.

Speaking at a conference on Afghan peace and reconstruction in Beijing, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai made no specific proposals and indicated government forces wouldn't back away from the fight.

However, his mention of the Taliban by name marked a departure from his usual public references to them as “political opponents”.

“Peace is our highest priority. We invite the political opposition, particularly the Taliban, to join and enter Afghan dialogue, and ask all of our international partners to support an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process,” Ghani Ahmadzai said.

He added: “We must not and will not permit groups pursuing grand illusions to use our country as the battleground or launching-pad against the international system.”

It wasn't immediately clear if there was any particular significance to Ghani Ahmadzai referring to the Taliban by name, beyond the fact that he was speaking to an international audience on his first state visit abroad.

Ghani Ahmadzai's attitude toward the Taliban has been a departure from that of his predecessor, Hamid Karzai, who habitually referred to the insurgents as his “brothers” and castigated the United States for its military presence in Afghanistan.

In response, the Taliban have intensified suicide bombing, roadside bombs and rocket attacks on the Afghan capital to give the impression that Ghani Ahmadzai's government can't protect the capital.

In his address to the gathering, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said China has faith in Afghanistan's ability to solve its own problems, but that its neighbours should help create a peaceful environment without interfering in its internal affairs.

“The International community should respect Afghanistan's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, not interfere with its internal affairs and support Afghanistan's efforts to realize security and stability,” Li said.

China's hosting of the annual conference highlights its growing role in Afghanistan as most US and international troops prepare to leave by the end of the year.

China said Wednesday it would provide $330 million in grants to Afghanistan along with professional training and scholarships for 3,500 Afghans over the next five years.

Beijing is keen to help develop Afghanistan's estimated $3 trillion in mineral wealth and wants a strong, stable government in Kabul. It is concerned that unrest could spill over into its restive northwestern region of Xinjiang, where radicals among the native Uighur population have launched a series of attacks in recent months.

China said earlier it had received a pledge from Ghani Ahmadzai to help combat a radical anti-China group known as the East Turkistan Islamic Movement, which it blames for masterminding attacks in Xinjiang and elsewhere. It's unclear, however, whether the organisation has a presence in Afghanistan.

While China and the US are rivals for influence in the Asia-Pacific, Washington has welcomed Beijing's increased involvement in Afghanistan. Since 2009, the two have seen a growing convergence of views and the US now regards China as a “critical player” in the Afghan region, according to a senior State Department official who spoke to reporters on routine condition of anonymity.

“The US sees Afghanistan as an area of real cooperation with China and not one of competition,” said the official.

The US and China have begun jointly training Afghan diplomats, the official said. The US also hopes China will use its good relations with Pakistan to convince Islamabad to crack down on elements accused of supporting Afghan insurgents, he said.