NEWS,23.09.2013

Obama unlikely to name new Fed head soon

President Barack Obama is unlikely to unveil his pick to succeed Ben Bernanke as chairperson of the Federal Reserve this week, and the current Fed No. 2, Janet Yellen, remains the leading contender, a source familiar with the process said on Monday.
Bernanke's second four-year term at the helm of the US central bank comes to a close in January, and speculation has swirled around Obama's plans for the replacement.
Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, considered the president's preference, withdrew his name from consideration a week ago, saying his confirmation would incite acrimony.
Besides Summers, Yellen and former vice chairperson Donald Kohn are among those Obama said he has been considering for the job. Yellen is still the top prospect, the source said.
The Senate needs to hold hearings and confirm the nominee, and with a compressed legislative schedule before the end of the year, time is growing tighter.
Lawmakers are currently preoccupied with measures to keep government funding going beyond Oct. 1 to keep the government from shutting down and to raise the nation's debt ceiling ahead of a mid-October date, or face the risk of default.
Yellen had been scheduled to speak to the Economic Club of New York on Oct. 1, but her speech has been postponed.

Lithuania urges push on EU farm reform

Lithuania, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, on Monday urged a final push on a major reform of the bloc's generous farm subsidy programme that is held up in talks with European lawmakers.
A reform of EU farm subsidies agreed by member states in June after three months of marathon talks favours young farmers and smallholders over big business and has been called a "paradigm shift" for Europe.
"This is the challenge we must meet," said Lithuanian Agriculture Minister Vigilijus Juknawho as he met fellow European Union ministers in Brussels.
The ministers are locked in a row with European lawmakers, who want the reforms to go further.
If a compromise is not found before the end of the month, the European Commission could choose to suspend payments to farmers.
The main sticking point is how the reform affects large-scale farmers, with lawmakers pushing for more redistribution of farm aid to small holdings and ministers maintaining the reform has gone far enough.
EU ministers were to discuss the matter further Monday with another session of talks with the Commission and lawmakers set for the evening.
Irish Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney, who spearheaded the reform during the Irish EU presidency earlier this year, said there remained little room for more compromise from states.
But he said he was confident the Lithuanian presidency could find a deal in the coming weeks.
If approved, the CAP reform is due to be implemented starting in 2014.
Under the current rules, 80 percent of CAP payments go to the top 20 percent of intensive farm businesses since several countries still link the subsidies to production levels.
As the reform stands, member states would have to ensure that by 2019 each farmer receives at least 60 percent of the average national or regional subsidy per hectare. This would remove the advantage written into the current system for the more productive industrial farms.
The deal also states that 30 percent of EU members' farm payments will also be spent on "green" measures such as crop diversification.
The CAP accounts for about 38 percent of the EU's budget.

Spain heads for record tourism year

Sunseekers spurning unrest in Egypt and Turkey flocked to Spain in record numbers last month, setting the country up for its best-ever year for visitors and giving a boost to the ailing economy.
"It is very likely that 2013 will be the best year historically for tourism," Industry Minister Jose Manuel Soria told a news conference on Monday, adding that estimates for the fourth quarter were positive.
Tourism contributed over 5% of Spain's economy or GDP in 2012 and provided around 900 000 jobs, according to Euromonitor, in a country where one in four is out of work, meaning a boost to tourist figures should be good news as other sectors flag.
The number of international tourist arrivals in August rose to 8.3 million, figures from the tourism ministry showed, lifting the total for January through August by 4.5% on the year before to 42.3 million.
Those visitors spent a total of €40.4bn ($54.6bn), up 7% from 2012.
Political upheaval in other destinations has also benefited other Mediterranean countries, such as Greece.
But not everyone in Spain is celebrating the increase. Domestic travel fell by 6.9% between January and July, hitting destinations off the main tourist trail, so businesses and hotels reliant on city tourism suffered.
Two ends of the travel spectrum in particular are cashing in on the influx of international visitors - homeowners taking advantage of a growing preference for low-cost rents, and luxury stores whose clients are shielded from the worst of the economy's woes.
Many tourists have been choosing to rent private homes advertised on the Internet. And despite government efforts to tighten regulation around private renting, the trend is becoming more ingrained, with the number of rentals by tourists up 15% in August year-on-year to 1.3 million properties.
The unregulated rental industry has its risks since landlords and renters have little recourse if things go wrong, but it is worth it for homeowners who rent out year-round.
"What's happening ... because of the economic crisis is that people are preferring smaller airlines, smaller hotels and they are paying less," said Dimitrios Buhalis, a professor and director of the e-tourism lab at Bournemouth University.
Kept afloat
Spain's economy has been highly dependent on tourism since beach destinations took off in the 1960s. While Britain, France and Germany continue to send the most visitors, there has been a huge leap in the number of Russian visitors.
Some of the main beneficiaries are luxury retailers, as big spenders splash out at high-end accessory and jewellery stores. Department store El Corte Ingles for instance has offered a 10% discount to foreign shoppers since 2012 and has employed Chinese-speaking personal shoppers in a nod towards an important group of rich clients.
Value Retail, which has luxury outlets in Madrid and Barcelona, reported an increase in non-European visitors, especially Russian and Chinese, last year.
"Without a doubt, Spain's luxury sector is being kept afloat thanks to tourism," said Ana Franco, editor of Spanish luxury portal Deluxes.
Boosted by luxury, average spending by tourists rose by 2% in the first seven months of the year, from the same period of 2012, to 103 euros per day.
Regions attracting the most visitors are coastal Catalonia, the Balearic islands and southern Andalusia, home to the Costa del Sol. But Madrid saw a 22% fall in foreign visitors in August to 290 494, hit by a collapse in business travel and a decline in Italian and Latin American travelers.
There is little respite in sight for hotels operating in cities unless the domestic economy picks up, according to Ramon Estalella, secretary general of the Spanish Hotels Association (CEHAT).
NH Hoteles, which is focused mainly on city hotels, said in half-year results that Spain was its worst performing market. And Melia Hotels International reported a decline in prices and occupancy in Spanish cities in the first half, even though revenue from resort locations rose.
"There has been a strong fall in demand in Madrid because Iberia has cut flights and low-cost airlines have disappeared because of an increase in airport taxes," a Melia spokesperson said.
Spain's loss-making flag carrier Iberia, part of International Airlines Group (IAG), is undergoing a major restructuring, with dozens of routes canceled and thousands of staff being laid off.

Sudan almost doubles fuel, gas prices

Sudan almost doubled prices for fuel and cooking gas on Monday, struggling to bring its budget under control in an economic crisis that is stirring widespread discontent.

President Omar Hassan al-Bashir went on television for two hours to announce the plan. He has avoided an "Arab spring" uprising of the sort that has unseated other rulers in the region, but many in Sudan complain about soaring food prices, corruption, violent conflicts and high unemployment.

"We've been just notified of the prices increases," said a petrol station worker, asking not to be named "It's huge leap and we worry that people will be angry."

The Arab African country lost three-quarters of its oil reserves - its main source of revenues and of dollars for food imports - when South Sudan became independent in 2011.

Petrol stations in the capital Khartoum raised the price of a gallon (3.8 litres) of petrol on Monday to almost $3 based on black market prices.

"The government...has no idea of what people are going through. I am ready to join any protest against the lifting," said 41-year old Ahmed Iassan, an unemployed worker.

The government started reducing some fuel subsidies in July 2012. Several weeks of small protests ended with a security crackdown.

It had hoped to sustain the remaining support by boosting gold exports to replace oil revenues, but was thwarted by the recent fall in global gold prices.

A gallon of gasoline now costs £14, up from £8.5, petrol station staff said. The prices for a cylinder of cooking gas rose to £25 from £15.

In a televised news conference, Bashir said late on Sunday Sudan was no longer able to afford the subsidies which he said cost the treasury $15.5bn every year based on the official exchange rate.

Sudan produces too little to feed its 32 million people. Even basic food imports arrive by ship in Port Sudan, before they get trucked for days across the vast country, spurring food price inflation.

The Sudanese pound is worth barely a third of its value against the dollar on the black market at the time of the south's succession.

Opposition activists have criticised the move to cut fuel subsidies but the weak opposition has yet to stir mass protest.

Singapore tightens rules for hiring foreigners

Singapore will require many companies operating in the city-state to consider Singaporeans for skilled job vacancies before turning to candidates from abroad, bowing to public pressure over a surge in foreigners over the past decade.

"The measures might mean more hassle and paperwork for companies, and it might even lower the long-term economic growth rate," said Michael Wan, an economist with Credit Suisse in Singapore.

"But I don't think this will necessarily lower Singapore's attractiveness to companies because there are other factors that they take into account -- such as tax incentives, political stability and access to the Asean region."

Starting next August, firms with more than 25 employees must advertise a vacancy for professional or managerial jobs paying less than S$12 000 ($9 600) a month on a new jobs bank administered by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency for at least 14 days, the Ministry of Manpower said in a statement.

Only after that period can the company apply for an employment pass to bring in a foreign national.

Singapore will also raise the qualifying salaries for employment pass holders to at least S$3 300 a month, up from the current S$3 000, starting in January 2014, reducing the competition for entry-level jobs that typically require tertiary education.

Singapore, a global financial centre and the Asian base for many banks and multinationals, is one of the world's most open economies. Foreigners account for about 40% of the island's 5.3 million population and take up many senior and mid-level positions as well as most of the low-paying jobs that locals shun.

The Association of Banks in Singapore, which represents financial institutions operating in the city-state, said banks will need to adjust their hiring processes to comply with the new rules.

"We need to assess the impact these rules will have," a spokesman for the association added.

Discrimination

Singapore, Asia's main centre for private banking as well as commodities trading, has seen a sharp increase in foreigners over the past decade, triggering a backlash from Singaporeans unhappy about congestion on roads and trains as well as competition for jobs.

There have also been complaints about foreign managers who prefer to hire their fellow countrymen rather than employ Singaporeans.

Earlier this year, several banks admitted to "hot spots" within their organisations "where clusters of employees from the same country appeared to have developed over time", according to advertisements taken up by an organisation backed by the manpower ministry.

The ministry said it will scrutinise all companies, including smaller firms, for signs of discriminatory hiring practices. Firms that fall into this category include those that "have a disproportionately low concentration of Singaporeans" in professional or management positions compared with others in the industry.

"Even as we remain open to foreign manpower to complement our local workforce, all firms must make an effort to consider Singaporeans fairly," Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan Jin said in a statement.

"Singaporeans must still prove themselves able and competitive to take on the higher jobs that they aspire to," Tan added, as officials took pains to stress that the new framework is not aimed at forcing firms to hire Singaporeans first.

Singapore has already been making it harder for employers to recruit cheap workers from abroad in a bid to push up the pay of low-income Singaporeans. The measures include lowering the ratio of foreigners a firm can hire relative to the number of local employees and raising the levy firms must pay to hire lesser-skilled foreigners.

Bangladesh pay protests force factory closures

More than 100 Bangladeshi garment factories were forced to shut on Monday as thousands of workers protested to demand a $100 a month minimum wage and about 50 people were injured in clashes, police and witnesses said.
Garments are a vital sector for Bangladesh and its low wages and duty-free access to Western markets have helped make it the world's second-largest apparel exporter after China.
But the $20bn industry, which supplies many Western brands, has been under a spotlight after a series of deadly incidents including the collapse of a building housing factories in April that killed more than 1 130 people.
Workers took to the streets for a third day on Monday, blocking major roads and attacking some vehicles in the Gazipur and Savar industrial zones on the outskirts of the capital, Dhaka.
At least 50 people - including some policemen - were injured, witnesses and police said, as police fired teargas and rubber bullets, and workers responded by throwing broken bricks.
Some workers also vandalised factories, witnesses said.
"We had to take harsh actions to restore order as the defiant workers would not stop the violence," an Gazipur police officer said.
The monthly minimum wage in Bangladesh is $38, half what Cambodian garment workers earn.
The government is in talks with unions and factory owners on a new minimum wage.
Bangladesh last increased its minimum garment-worker pay in late 2010 in response to months of street protests, almost doubling the lowest pay.
Recently, factory owners offered a 20% pay rise which workers refused, calling it "inhuman and humiliating".
"We work to survive but we can't even cover our basic needs," said a protesting woman worker.
The recent string of accidents has put the government, industrialists and the global brands that use the factories under pressure to reform an industry that employs 4 million and generates 80% of Bangladesh's export earnings.
The April 24 collapse of Rana Plaza, a factory built on swampy ground outside Dhaka with several illegal floors, ranks among the world's worst industrial accidents and has galvanised brands to look more closely at their suppliers.
This month, a group of retailers and clothing brands failed to establish compensation funds for the victims of Bangladesh factory disasters, as many companies that sourced clothes from the buildings decided not to take part in the process.
Very low labour costs and, critics say, shortcuts on safety, makes the country of 160 million the cheapest place to make large quantities of clothing, with 60% of clothes going to Europe and 23% to the United States.

UK wants to ease sanctions on gas field

Britain could be close to agreeing a deal to ease sanctions that have stopped gas production from the North Sea's Rhum field, jointly owned by BP and the National Iranian Oil Company, the Mail on Sunday newspaper said.

Production from the field, which once supplied 5 percent of Britain's gas output, has been suspended since 2010 as a result of international sanctions against Iran.

But with signs of a thaw in relations between Iran and the West, the government now hopes to win agreement from the European Union and the United States for a sanctions waiver in the near future, the newspaper said, citing people close to the talks.

One stumbling block to a deal, however, could be concerns from companies involved in financing and servicing the field that any exemption for the producers would not fully protect them from legal action, it added.

A Department of Energy and Climate Change spokesman said: "We are working to ensure the long-term security of the Rhum gas field but no decision has been made at this time on a solution."

A spokesman for BP declined to comment on the possibility of a waiver being granted.

"As operator of the field our priorities are two-fold - to ensure the field remains safe and that we remain compliant with the law," he said. "It is up to the government to decide on the longer-term options."

Sudan to host German business conference

Sudan will host a business conference with German firms to boost economic ties with Europe's largest economy, state media said on Sunday, the second such event between Berlin and the isolated African country this year.

Sudan is trying to attract more investment to overcome an economic crisis after losing most oil reserves with South Sudan's secession in 2011. Most Western firms shun the country due to a U.S. trade embargo over Sudan's human rights record.

The Khartoum conference, from October 28 to 31, is likely to irk human rights activists who criticized Berlin for inviting top Sudanese officials to a similar forum in January.

The Berlin event had been open to South Sudan, but Juba only sent its ambassador in Berlin to avoid contact with arch foe Sudan at time of bilateral tensions, diplomats said. Sudan had sent a high-level delegation to Berlin.

The conference is organized by German and Sudanese business groups with support from both governments, according to the German-African Business Association.

While foreign investors in Sudan often complain of a massive dollar scarcity and shrinking state infrastructure projects, the Berlin-based association painted a much brighter picture.

"Sudan's economic perspectives have developed positively recently. ... The economy has been recovering since southern secession," the German-African Business Association said on its website. It cited opportunities for German firms as Sudan planned to expand its oil, gas and mining sectors.

Most Western countries have only limited ties to Sudan. President Omar Hassan al-Bashir faces charges of war crimes in Darfur at the International Criminal Court.

NEWS,06.08.2013

Israeli-Palestinian Peace: Reasons to Be Optimistic

The Middle East peace process has frequently been more process than peace, but even the slim possibility of success makes it a worthwhile pursuit given the negative repercussions of doing nothing.
It was almost surreal to witness how the recent announcement of the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, which otherwise should be regarded as a positive development, has been met with so much negativity and cynicism.
Of course, it is easy to see why many observers are not excited about the prospects of such talks: Long years of disappointment and failed negotiations, the ongoing division between the two Palestinian factions of Hamas and Fatah, let alone the fact that Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party's charter still rejects a Palestinian state.
Cynicism: the lazy option
Whilst one may agree with all the fair points presented by the peace-talks critics, it should be remembered that cynicism is the lazy option. It is far too easy to sit back and dismiss the peace talks before they have even begun. The real question is: Do these critics have an alternative?
With unresolved internal political divisions, a tarnished economy, traditional allies being engaged with their own issues and Israel continuing to dictate the situation on the ground, the situation can hardly get any worse for Palestinians.
In fact, one could say that these peace talks are already too late but does that not mean that any more time wasted will imperil any possibility of conflict resolution?
Wasting time is certainly not in the interest of the Palestinian side. Critics of the peace talks should realize a very simple fact: Negotiations may succeed or fail to achieve peace; but the alternative (not having these negotiations) is guaranteed to fail.
Restoring the U.S.' image
As for U.S. involvement in this matter, many critics say that it is driven by self-interest, given the American administration's tarnished credibility since the 2011 Arab Spring.
The U.S. approach in Syria is seen by many as ham-fisted. In Egypt, it is seen as part of a conspiracy by both the supporters and detractors of deposed president Mohammad Mursi.
Also, with the increasing influence of Russia, the EU and even China, the Middle East is no longer America's stomping ground. The $1.5 billion (Dh 5.50 billion) in aid which President Barack Obama was so careful to protect by refusing to label Egypt's military ouster a "coup," pales in comparison to the $12 billion donated to the interim government by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait together.
There is a theory that the possibility of a peace deal in the Middle East will restore the U.S.'s image. However, even if this was true and Washington did want to use the peace talks as a way to regain some credibility, what is the big deal? At the end of the day, what really matters is getting the Palestinians and the Israelis to finally sign on that dotted line and put years of hatred, occupation and injustice behind them.
Furthermore, just because the American position on Syria and Egypt is unclear and unpopular, it doesn't mean that they should not engage in an area where they can actually make progress.
If anything, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the one Middle Eastern area that the U.S. has a long experience in dealing with. The Americans were the first to extend diplomatic recognition to Israel in 1948 after pushing for a solution to the conflict. Since then, they have been involved in many iterations of the peace process and although they were never successful, they sure came close to sealing a deal several times. Detractors have suggested that Israel may be in the talks to waste time. Certainly, comments like the recent statement by Amos Yadlin, former head of Israeli military intelligence, are not encouraging.
"We have to submit a proposal to the Palestinians, a decent proposal, a fair proposal," Yadlin told a group of foreign reporters in February. If the Palestinians will accept it, it's a win of peace. If they refuse as we think they will then at least we win the blame game and we can continue to shape our borders by ourselves without the need to wait for the Palestinians to agree."
However, there are those in the political establishment and in the Israeli public, who want to achieve peace. It makes sense to do it now because of instability elsewhere in the Arab world. Of course, the Palestinians' usual allies are distracted. But for Israel, it is also a time of uncertainty given its rapidly changing surroundings since 2011; it must have realized that the Palestinians are at least an 'enemy they know'.
Changing alliance
It also makes sense for Israel to sign a peace pact with the Palestinians given that its alliances in the region are changing.
However, there is also the idea that being more conservative and right-leaning might be a good idea for Netanyahu domestically. Allying with the hardline Jewish Home party was done out of political necessity, and the Israeli public largely no longer cares about a permanent solution because military occupation now appears sustainable. However, status quo is a disaster for Netanyahu's international image. The timing of the peace talks and the EU sanctions against products from Israeli colonies in the West Bank may be a coincidence, but the sanctions are a reminder of the turning tides of international public opinion against Israel. They may be going in with the intention of marking time, but the international community is getting impatient and will no longer let this behavior slide.
Furthermore, many things in the region hang on the Palestinian issue, and this makes it a good time for everyone. The Palestinian issue is often exploited by other Arab leaders like Bashar Al Assad to talk about a greater U.S. Israel conspiracy and to distract from their own failings. It is possible that sorting out Palestine/Israel, as well as the U.S. reasserting itself through the talks, will have a knock-on stabilizing effect in the region.
'More process than peace'
Of course, we shouldn't jump to any conclusions. Certainly, it makes sense for all three parties to have the talks right now, but such talks have happened before. The Middle East peace process has frequently been more process than peace.
Yet, prior dismissal will get us nowhere, and if the slim possibility of success becomes a reality, there will be people pretending that they knew what was going to happen all along. However, as George Mitchell, who brokered the peace deal in Northern Ireland, knows, the path to peace is by its very nature unpredictable.
"Until it happens, you can't predict with certainty... You can't take 'no' for an answer... You just have to keep at it until peace is achieved," he said.

Hassan Rouhani, Iran's New President, Reaches Out To U.S. In First Press Conference

Iran's incoming President Hassan Rouhani used his first press conference on Tuesday to offer an olive branch to the United States in protracted talks on Tehran's disputed nuclear programme, raising hopes of progress after years of stalemate.

Rouhani, seen in the West as a relatively moderate leader, said he was "seriously determined" to resolve the dispute and was ready to enter "serious and substantive" negotiations in order to do so.

Iran's critics say that it has used previous nuclear talks as a delaying tactic while continuing to develop nuclear weapons-related technology - something Tehran denies. Iran says it needs atomic power for energy and medical needs.

Rouhani said Iran would not abandon its nuclear programme, which it would uphold "on the basis of international law".

"We will not do away with the right of the nation," the 64-year-old said. "However, we are for negotiations and interaction. We are prepared, seriously and without wasting time, to enter negotiations which are serious and substantive with the other side."

"If the other party is also prepared like we are, then I am confident that the concerns of both sides will be removed through negotiations within a period which will not be very long."

Hopes for a diplomatic resolution to the nuclear issue have risen with Rouhani's victory over conservative rivals in June, when voters chose him to replace hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. A cleric whose watchword is "moderation", Rouhani is however still very much an Islamic Republic insider.


LAST TALKS DEADLOCKED

His words on Tuesday are likely to reinforce that view, although talks over Iran's nuclear programme have long had a habit of frustrating both sides.

The last high-level talks between Iran and world powers - the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - were held in April and failed to break the deadlock.

Since Rouhani's victory at the polls, the United States has said it would be a "willing partner" if Iran was serious about finding a peaceful solution to the issue.

Adding to a sense of urgency and opportunity, Russia on Tuesday said fresh talks between Iran and world powers must not be delayed and should take place by mid-September.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking during a visit to Italy, said Russia "absolutely agreed" with Rouhani, and criticized moves to tighten sanctions against Iran, saying it was a time for dialogue, not ultimatums.

"Now it is critical to support the constructive approach of the Iranian leadership," he said in comments carried on Russian news agencies.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin is due to meet Rouhani for the first time as president in Kyrgyzstan in September.

In a letter to the new leader on Tuesday, the European Union said Rouhani had "a strong mandate to engage in dialogue" and added that it hoped for a new round of talks "as soon as practicable."

Both the United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on Iran amid suspicions of its nuclear intentions, and Washington and Israel have said all options, including military action, are open to stop Tehran from acquiring nuclear arms.

Rouhani criticised the embargoes, which have had a deepening impact on Iran's economy over the last year and a half as they slashed oil imports, the country's main source of income.

The measures have already cut Iran's oil exports by more than half compared to pre-sanctions levels of about 2.2 million barrels per day, helping to devalue Iran's currency and contributing to a steep rise in inflation.

"The goals of the sanctions in practice are piling pressure on various classes of the people," the president said.

"It is said (that) through sanctions they check Iran's nuclear activities. This is totally unfounded, and they themselves are cognizant of this fact ... It has nothing to do with the nuclear issue. It is pressuring people."

Fukushima Radioactive Water May Overflow Into Sea

The operator of Japan's wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant said Tuesday it is struggling to stop contaminated underground water from leaking into the sea.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said some of the water is seeping over or around an underground barrier it created by injecting chemicals into the soil that solidified into a wall.
The latest problem involves underground water which has built up over the last month since the company began creating the chemical walls to stop leaks after it detected radiation spikes in water samples in May.
TEPCO spokesman Yoshikazu Nagai said the company was slow to deal with the underground water leaks because it was focusing on cooling the damaged reactors, which posed greater risks.
Three reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant suffered meltdowns after a massive March 2011 earthquake and tsunami destroyed power and cooling systems. The plant is still running on makeshift equipment and has been plagued with blackouts and leaks from underground tanks.
TEPCO has been repeatedly criticized for delays in handling and disclosing problems at the plant. Alarmed by the latest problem, a panel of officials from local towns and villages rushed to the plant Tuesday for an inspection, demanding TEPCO limit the impact on the sea.
Japan's nuclear watchdog set up a separate special panel with TEPCO and met Friday to assess the water problem and discuss ways to resolve it. Watchdog officials have urged TEPCO to pump the contaminated water inland and expand underground and seawater sampling. TEPCO is also building more chemical walls around the plant.
TEPCO officials were unable to answer many of the watchdog officials' questions, including ones about the leaks' origin, their routes and how they can be plugged. They also acknowledged that they have neglected large amounts of highly contaminated water that has remained in maintenance trenches since the crisis, a risk also cited by the watchdog.
"It's a race against the clock," said Toyoshi Fuketa, a commissioner of the Nuclear Regulation Authority. "The top priority is to keep the water from escaping into the sea."
Officials acknowledged last month for the first time that the plant has been leaking radioactive water into the ocean for some time. After a major leak a month after the meltdowns, TEPCO said it had contained the problem and denied further underground leaks into the ocean were occurring, although many experts suspected they were.
While the extent of sea contamination remains unknown, TEPCO has estimated that up to 40 trillion becquerels of radioactive tritium, a water soluble element that can affect DNA but is believed to be less dangerous than cesium or strontium, might have leaked into the sea over the past two years. The company says the amount is within legal limits, but is much higher than is released under normal operations.
The amount of contaminated water at the plant increases by 400 tons a day. TEPCO plans to secure storage facilities capable of holding 800,000 tons more water by 2015.
"For the next two to three years, I think water management would be their biggest challenge," said Dale Klein, a former U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman who now oversees TEPCO's reform committee. "But there will be more surprises," he said, citing possible power outages, leaks and other "unknowns."

Izumo, Japanese Warship, Largest Since World War II

Japan on Tuesday unveiled its biggest warship since World War II, a huge flat-top destroyer that has raised eyebrows in China and elsewhere because it bears a strong resemblance to a conventional aircraft carrier.
The ship, which has a flight deck that is nearly 250 meters (820 feet) long, is designed to carry up to 14 helicopters. Japanese officials say it will be used in national defense particularly in anti-submarine warfare and border-area surveillance missions and to bolster the nation's ability to transport personnel and supplies in response to large-scale natural disasters, like the devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
Though the ship dubbed "Izumo" has been in the works since 2009, its unveiling comes as Japan and China are locked in a dispute over several small islands located between southern Japan and Taiwan. For months, ships from both countries have been conducting patrols around the isles, called the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyutai in China.
The tensions over the islands, along with China's heavy spending on defense and military modernization, have heightened calls in Japan for beefed-up naval and air forces. China recently began operating an aircraft carrier that it refurbished after purchasing from Russia, and is reportedly moving forward with the construction of another that is domestically built.
Japan, China and Taiwan all claim the islands.
Though technically a destroyer, some experts believe the new Japanese ship could potentially be used in the future to launch fighter jets or other aircraft that have the ability to take off vertically. That would be a departure for Japan, which has one of the best equipped and best trained naval forces in the Pacific but which has not sought to build aircraft carriers of its own because of constitutional restrictions that limit its military forces to a defensive role.
Japan says it has no plans to use the ship in that manner.
The Izumo does not have catapults for launching fighters, nor does it have a "ski-jump" ramp on its flight deck for fixed-wing aircraft launches.

NEWS,02.03. AND 04.08.2013

BACK WITH VERY NICE POST 

Spanish jobless numbers continue to fall

The number of registered jobless in Spain fell in July from a month earlier, the fifth straight month of declines, the Labour Ministry said on Friday, boosted by seasonal factors including a strong tourist season.
Jobless numbers fell by 1.4% in July, or by 64 866 people, leaving 4.7 million people out of work, the data showed.
The follow a quarterly survey by the National Statistics Institute which reported an unemployment rate of 26.3% in the second quarter with 6 million people unable to find work.
"In annual terms, employment continues to be destroyed and unemployment continues to be generated, but less than before and this points to a change in trend. It suggests that the unemployment rate could be similar in the third quarter as the second," said Estefania Ponte, economy and strategy director at Cortal Consors.
Registered jobless numbers rose 2.4% in July from a year earlier, the ministry figures showed.
Spanish unemployment has soared to record levels since the property bubble burst in 2008 and is expected to remain high for years to come as the battered economy, in recession since the end of 2011, struggles to return to sustainable growth.
The Labour Ministry tends registered jobless figures tend to be lower than the statistics institute's estimates as the disillusioned long-term unemployed, who's benefits end after two years, stop signing on.
According to the statistics institute, some 1.9 million people who had previously held a job had been out of work for more than two years in the second quarter.
The number of people registering as out of work in July fell in all the main economic sectors, with the largest drop seen in the services industry, down 37 614 people, or 1.3%, boosted by a strong tourism season.
Spain's tourist sector, worth over 10% of economic output, has seen a boost this year as holiday makers avoid trouble spots in usually popular destinations in Northern Africa such as Egypt
Unemployed from construction dropped 16 310 people and was down 11 233 people from industry, the ministry said.

 

French winemakers eye China vintage

In a few remote corners of China, two of France's top winemakers have more on their minds than a trade row with their most promising export market.
In three far-flung provinces, a world away from Beijing's allegations of European wine dumping, makers of such lofty French brands as Chateau Lafite-Rothschild and Dom Perignon champagne are investing millions of dollars to produce vintages they hope will put Chinese wine on the world map.
In a country where cheap plonk and overpriced mediocre wines still define the domestic industry, the French are partnering with Chinese investors to produce super-premium wines for increasingly discerning drinkers at the market's top end.
They will likely charge hundreds of dollars per bottle when the wines start appearing in a year or two, turning out deeply rich reds and elegantly sparkling wines for wealthy Chinese drinkers who they hope will be proud to serve local vintages that are the equal of their imported collections.
"China deserves the production of great wines," said Christophe Salin, president of Domaines Barons de Rothschild (DBR), which owns the vaunted Chateau Lafite, Ch. Duhart-Milon and Ch. L'Evangile, among other French labels. "Without wanting to copy Lafite, we wish to produce a great wine on Chinese soil," he added in an interview.
"Shangri-La"
DBR is investing 100m yuan ($16.3m) with partner CITIC, a state investment firm, to develop 25 hectares (62 acres) of vineyards in eastern Shandong province to produce super-premium red wine for the Chinese market.
Moet-Hennessy, the wine and spirits arm of luxury group LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, is also looking to make a top-end Chinese red and is planting 30 hectares (74 acres) of grapes in remote mountains of southern Yunnan province.
Moet-Hennessy studied climate and soil conditions at hundreds of locations around China before settling on an area the government calls "Shangri-La", abutting Tibet, to grow Cabernet sauvignon, Cabernet franc and Merlot grapes.
Moet-Hennessy CEO Christophe Navarre won't divulge the investment there but says it is borne two-thirds by Moet-Hennessy and one-third by its Chinese partner, winemaker VATS.
"I dream one day to go back to France with a bottle of red wine produced in the region of Shangri-La and I can say it's the best wine in the world," Navarre said in announcing the venture last year.
Moet-Hennessy's wine portfolio includes the vaunted Ch. Cheval Blanc and Ch. d'Yquem, the world's most coveted dessert wine. Its champagnes include Dom Perignon, Moet & Chandon and Krug - and it is developing vineyards in Ningxia Hui autonomous region in north-central China with a view to producing China's first ultra-premium sparkling wine.
Neither DBR nor Moet-Hennessy plans to market its Chinese wines under existing brands. Both say they want to give the wines a unique Chinese identity a strategy that is questioned by some within the Chinese wine industry.
"If they don't put their brand on it then people won't buy it at a very high price," says Monica He, who works with wine importer Menvis in Beijing.
Growing thirst
DBR's and LVMH's investments into China aim to capitalise on China's growing thirst for premium wines, but could also help their extensive line-ups of mid-priced wines and spirits.
Chinese consumers are drawn to either high-end or cheap wine, leaving a gap in the middle of the market. By producing a Chinese "halo" wine marque, the French winemakers could draw drinkers to their imported mid-range lineup.
The French investors do not have plans to produce still white wines in China, as red wine and champagne are more fashionable for upwardly mobile Chinese wine drinkers.
China is the world's fifth-largest wine consumer, according to a study last year for VINEXPO, an annual wine trade show that alternates between Bordeaux and Hong Kong. The study forecast annual consumption growth in China and Hong Kong at 54.3% between 2011 and 2015, or a billion more bottles every year.
China's wine market is dominated by a few large local producers that make bulk and mid-priced wine, and some premium-priced wines selling for more than $100 a bottle, but these are usually considered far inferior to much cheaper imported wines.
Can China produce something at the highest level?
"The potential there is to make something very, very good," says Jim Boyce, who follows China's wine industry on his blog Grapewallofchina. "There are a lot of people who've been telling me for years that Yunnan is where it's going to happen."
Meanwhile, Beijing and Brussels are in talks to end their trade dispute over wine, with a settlement seen as likely after the two sides struck a deal last week in a separate row over Chinese solar panel exports to Europe. Beijing had launched its investigation into European wine sales after the European Union moved to impose steep import duties on Chinese solar panels.

US hiring slows, but jobless rate falls

US employers slowed their pace of hiring in July but the jobless rate fell anyway, mixed signals that could make the Federal Reserve more cautious about drawing down its huge economic stimulus programme.
The number of jobs outside the farming sector increased by 162 000, the Labour Department said on Friday.
That was below the median forecast in a poll of 184 000. Compounding that miss, the government also cut its previous estimates for hiring in May and June.
At the same time, the jobless rate fell two tenths of a point to 7.4%, its lowest in over four years. Gains in employment fueled some of that decline, but the labor force also shrank during the month, robbing some of the luster from the decline in the unemployment rate.
The data reinforces the view that the job market is inching toward recovery, with the broader economy still stuck in low gear.
"The US economy is grinding along for the better, but it's going to be a long and slow grind," Tanweer Akram, an economist at ING US Investment Management in Atlanta, said ahead of the report.
The question is whether the pace of job gains is enough for the Fed to feel the US economy is ready to get by with less support. The US central bank currently buys $85 billion a month in bonds to keep borrowing costs low.
The stimulus program has lowered interest rates, spurring growth in the country's beleaguered housing market and boosting car sales. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said last month the U.S. central bank would likely reduce the level of monthly purchases by the end of the year, and end them by mid-2014.
The Fed's policymaking committee wrapped up a two-day meeting on Wednesday without any change to the program. The panel's statement, however, referenced new factors that could be seen as risks to growth: a recent rise in mortgage rates and persistently low inflation. Central bank policymakers next meet in September.
Structural concerns
The growth in payrolls left the three-month average gain at 175 000. Many economists believe even hiring around that level could lead the Fed to trim its bond buying in September.
But Friday's jobs report could also entertain darker views on the economy.
For one, analysts wonder if the pace of job creation can be sustained given slower-than-expected economic growth.
Gross domestic product, a measure of the nation's economic output, grew at a mere 1.4% annual rate in the first half of the year, down from 2.5% in the same period of 2012.
Most economists expect GDP will accelerate in the second half of this year, which would make it more plausible for the current hiring trend to continue.
But the fact that job creation has been relatively robust despite weak output might point to a frightening possibility: perhaps the economy's growth potential has fallen.
This would mean less output is needed to create jobs, but that incomes would grow at a slower pace over the long run. The prospect of such a structural shift worries economists and investors.
"It's something we have been talking about a lot," Jeffrey Cleveland, a Los Angeles-based economist at investment management firm Payden & Rygel, said ahead of the report.
Friday's report showed the average work week declined to 34.4 hours, while average earnings slipped 0.1%.

 

China opposed to US sanctions on Iran

China, Iran's largest trading partner and top oil customer, repeated its opposition on Friday to tougher US sanctions on Iran after the House of Representatives approved a bill aimed at halting Iran's oil exports.
The bill seeks to cut Iran's oil exports by a further one million barrels per day to near zero over a year, an attempt to reduce the flow of funds to Tehran's disputed nuclear programme. The legislation provides for heavy penalties for buyers who do not find alternative supplies.
"China has long advocated resolution through dialogue and negotiations and opposes unilateral sanctions from one nation based on its domestic laws," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a faxed statement .
"In particular, it opposes sanctions that will hurt the interests of a third party," it added, without elaborating.
The success of any toughening of the sanctions will depend on China, Iran's top customer, which has repeatedly said it opposes unilateral sanctions outside the purview of the United Nations.
China reduced oil purchases from Iran by 21% last year, but that was partly on account of differences in the first quarter over the renewal terms of annual contracts and shipping delays.
Chinese oil industry officials have said refiners are likely to cut shipments 5% to 10% this year from last. They cut imports 2% in the first six months of the year.
China has consistently advocated resolving the dispute over Iran's nuclear programme through talks and has opposed what it views as unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union made outside the framework of the United Nations.

Japan policies involve risks - IMF

A failure of the economic policies promoted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would take a toll on the global economy, the International Monetary Fund said late Thursday.
Abe has advocated aggressive monetary easing steps to reinvigorate the world's third-largest economy and pull it out of the deflation that has lasted more than a decade.
The IMF has supported the policies, and said in a report released in Washington that Abe's economic programme, so-called Abenomics, "would have clear positive net growth spillovers on the global economy."
However, the report added that without structural reforms, fiscal consolidation, and the achievement of a new inflation target, output in Japan could decrease by 4% after 10 years.
The IMF simulations suggested that global output losses could reach 2% of GDP if investors in Japan were to reconsider the risk of their investments, leading long-term interest rates to rise 2 percentage points, the report said.

EU signs off on China solar deal

European Union officials endorsed a deal on Friday to settle a dispute with China over solar panels, the biggest trade row to date between the two powers, after winning almost unanimous backing from member states.
The agreement will be officially published on Saturday and takes effect on August 6. Chinese firms who agree to its terms will avoid duties that the 28-nation EU had planned to impose.
In a statement, the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said it had received almost unanimous support but declined to give details on any possible abstentions.
"We can't go into details. A huge majority of member states voted in favour. No member state voted against," a Commission spokesman said.
The EU trade chief and his Chinese counterpart agreed late last month to set a minimum price for panels from China near spot market prices.
European solar panel makers have accused China of benefiting from huge state subsidies, allowing them to dump about €21bn ($27.79bn) worth of below-cost panels in Europe last year.
The EU had planned to impose hefty tariffs from August 6 but, wary of offending China's leaders and losing business in the world's No. 2 economy, a majority of governments, led by Germany, opposed the plan, allowing for the compromise deal.
Europe is China's most important trading partner, while for the EU, China is second only to the United States. Chinese exports of goods to the bloc totalled €290bn last year, with €144bn going the other way.

Fukushima water rises above barrier

Radioactive groundwater at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant has risen to levels above a barrier being built to contain it, highlighting the risk of an increasing amount of contaminated water reaching the sea, Japanese media report.
The Asahi newspaper, citing data from a meeting of a task force working on the Fukushima clean-up at Japan's nuclear regulator, estimated that the contaminated water could swell to the ground surface within three weeks.
The latest revelation underscores the hurdles facing Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) 2-1/2 years after a massive earthquake and tsunami destroyed the Fukushima plant, triggering the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
One of Tepco's biggest challenges is trying to contain radioactive water that cools the reactors as it mixes with about 400 tons of fresh groundwater pouring into the plant daily.
Tepco has been injecting a chemical into the ground to build barriers to contain the groundwater, but the method is only effective in solidifying the ground from 1.8m below the surface, whereas data from test wells shows the contaminated water has risen to one metre below the surface, the newspaper said.

NZ milk powder scare over botulism

China halted imports of all New Zealand milk powder, New Zealand's trade minister said on Sunday, after bacteria that could cause botulism found in some dairy products raised food safety concerns that threatened its $9.4bn annual dairy trade.
Global dairy trade giant Fonterra said on Saturday it had sold contaminated New Zealand-made whey protein concentrate to eight customers in Australia, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Saudi Arabia for use in a range of products, including infant milk powder.
Nearly 90% of China's $1.9bn in milk powder imports last year originated in New Zealand, so a prolonged ban could result in a shortage of dairy products in China.
Foreign-branded infant formula in particular is a prized commodity in China given consumer distrust of Chinese brands after a series of domestic food safety scandals.
New Zealand's neighbour Australia was caught up in the ban after some of the contaminated whey protein concentrate was exported there before being sent on to China and elsewhere.
"The authorities in China, in my opinion absolutely appropriately, have stopped all imports of New Zealand milk powders from Australia and New Zealand," said New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser.
Ingredient
"It's better to do blanket protection for your people and then wind it back when we, our authorities, are in a position to give them the confidence and advice that they need before doing that," he said.
There was no official word of a ban from Chinese authorities on Sunday.
Chinese state radio said on Saturday that Fonterra was notifying three Chinese firms affected by the contamination.
Some of China's biggest food and beverage companies are said to be customers of Fonterra, using its milk powder as an ingredient in everything from confectionery to cheese on frozen pizza.
Fonterra is a major supplier of bulk milk powder products used in formula in China but it had stayed out of branding after Chinese dairy company Sanlu, in which it had held a large stake, was found to have added melamine  often used in plastics  to bulk up formulas in 2008.
More than six children died in the industry-wide scandal and hundreds were made sick.

Goldman, LME face legal challenge

The London Metal Exchange and Goldman Sachs have been named as co-defendants in a US class-action lawsuit alleging anti-competitive behaviour in aluminium warehousing, said Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx).
Goldman on Wednesday tried to diffuse years of frustration over long waiting times and inflated prices at metals warehouses across the world by offering immediate access to aluminium for end users holding metal at its Metro warehouses.
Criticism of banks that own commodity assets and trade raw materials has ratcheted up in recent weeks, with the US Department of Justice starting a preliminary probe into the metals warehousing industry, sources said.
Britain's financial watchdog is also investigating the LME's warehousing system.
The lawsuit alleges "anti-competitive and monopolistic behaviour in the warehousing market in connection with aluminium prices", LME owner HKEx said in a statement on Sunday.
The lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, filed on Friday in the US District Court in Michigan, is Superior Extrusion  an end user of aluminium.
"LME management's initial assessment is that the suit is without merit and LME will contest it vigorously," HKEx said.
Customers and US lawmakers have accused Goldman and other warehouse owners of artificially inflating waiting times to boost rents for warehouse owners and lift metal prices.
London Metal Exchange aluminium for three months delivery closed at $1 809 per ton on Friday.