NEWS,11.12.2012

  Italy petrol strike threatens to hit economy

Italian petrol stations began a 60-hour strike today to protest against rising costs and falling profits, causing long queues as drivers rushed to fill up before pumps closed.Hitting at the peak shopping period before Christmas, the strike comes at unwelcome time for retailers.Weak consumer spending has been a key factor in Italy's sluggish economy, which has been dipping in and out of recession since 2008."It is incredible, with all that petrol costs us nowadays, that they can even think of going on strike," Rome resident Ida Lauro said as she queued in her car.Unions have agreed to maintain minimum service on motorways, with at least one station open every 100 km.In a joint statement, unions said they called the strike to combat "a true aggression against the roughly 24,000 small businesses and 120,000 workers in the sector".They say oil companies have forced stations to absorb the costs of discounting campaigns, allowing them a profit of just one euro for every 100 euros ($155) or 55 litres of petrol sold.Oil distributors in Italy Esso and Shell were not immediately available for comment. A government attempt to come to an agreement with the unions this week fell through.Workers will demonstrate outside government buildings in Rome later today to pressure the state to intervene.The strike will end on Friday morning on ordinary roads and late on Thursday on motorways.Between December 17 and 22 the petrol stations will refuse to pay oil companies for refills. Then, between Christmas and New Year, they will refuse credit and debit card payments in protest at bank charges on electronic payments.Mario Monti's technocrat government has cut spending and raised taxes since it was appointed last year to pull Italy out of a debt crisis, and is the focus of increasing protests.The government was thrown into crisis last week when the party of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi withdrew its support, prompting Monti to announce he would resign once the 2013 budget bill is passed before Christmas.

US to keep strong presence in Mideast

The US military will retain a "strong presence" in the Middle East despite a strategic shift to Asia, Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said on Tuesday during a visit to Kuwait. The US plans to deploy a majority of its naval fleet to the Asia-Pacific along with other advanced weaponry but Panetta insisted that a robust American force would remain in place in the Middle East.Panetta spoke to journalists aboard his plane travelling to Kuwait City on a two-day visit to discuss bolstering security ties amid tumult in the region and tensions with Iran."Let me assure you that the United States is strong enough that we can maintain a strong presence in the Middle East as well as in the Pacific," he said.He acknowledged that the US had to be "flexible" in managing its forces in a more austere era and that it would have only one aircraft carrier in the Middle East for about two months to allow for maintenance work on another carrier, the USS Nimitz.The American military still had nearly 50 000 troops and warships positioned across the region, he said."But in the end, I am very confident that we're going to be able to maintain the ships and forces we need in order to respond to any contingency."The US has deployed more ships and aircraft in the strategic Gulf over the past year after Iran threatened to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz if Western countries boycotted Iranian oil exports.Kuwait's emir, Sheikh Sabah al Ahmad al Sabah, held talks at his residence with Panetta in the presence of the crown prince, the prime minister, defence minister and senior officials, the state-run Kuna news agency reported.Kuna provided no details about the talks.During the visit, which ends on Wednesday, Panetta also plans to meet some of the 13 500 US troops stationed in the Gulf state to thank them for their service ahead of the Christmas holidays.His visit is the first to the emirate by a Pentagon chief in five years."We share a history of co-operation that goes back to the first Gulf War," in 1991 that ousted Iraqi occupation forces, Panetta said of Kuwait, calling the country an "important partner"."I look forward to discussing with the government of Kuwait how can we enhance that co-operation in the face of regional security challenges in the area," he said."Our presence in Kuwait and throughout the Gulf helps enhance the capabilities of partner nations, deters aggression and helps ensure that we're better able to respond to crises in the region."Panetta's visit coincides with a wave of protests in the oil-rich Gulf state, with thousands of opposition demonstrators demanding fresh elections due to a bitter dispute over amendments to the country's electoral law.Kuwaiti activists have called for protesters to camp outside parliament next Saturday on the eve of its opening session.

N Korea removes rocket from launch pad

North Korea has removed a long-range rocket from its launch pad for repair, South Korean media reported on Tuesday, a day after Pyongyang extended the widely-criticised mission's launch window.According to analysis of the latest satellite imagery, the entire three-stage Unha-3 carrier has been removed to a nearby assembly facility, Yonhap news agency quoted a military source as saying."It seems that North Korea has pulled down the rocket from the launch pad to fix technical problems," the source said.The defence ministry refused to confirm the report which, if true, would signal a lengthy delay in the launch schedule.North Korea says the rocket is being used to put a satellite into orbit, but the United States and its allies insist the launch is a disguised ballistic missile test.North Korea had originally provided a 10-22 December window for launching the rocket, but that was extended by another week on Monday when a "technical deficiency" was discovered in the first-stage engine.Yonhap's military source said Pyongyang was expected to go ahead with a launch after repair works are completed.The North's decision to try and launch the rocket in winter has led analysts to suggest a political imperative behind the timing, which may have overruled technical considerations.New leader Kim Jong-Un is believed to be extremely keen that the launch falls around the first anniversary of the death of his father and former leader Kim Jong-Il on 17 December.The possibility that the launch has been rushed has been backed by missile experts, sceptical that the problem which resulted in the failure of the North's last rocket launch in April could have been resolved in just eight months.North Korea is banned from conducting missile tests under UN resolutions triggered by Pyongyang's two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.The latest planned launch has been condemned by the United Nations, as well as the United States and its main military allies in Asia, Japan and South Korea.Russia has joined international calls for Pyongyang to cancel the mission, while China, North Korea's sole major ally and its biggest trade partner and aid provider, has expressed concern.EU foreign ministers said on Monday that an eventual launch would be a "provocative act" in breach of UN resolutions and require an international response.UN diplomats inside and outside the Security Council have started consultations behind the scenes on what action to take if Pyongyang goes ahead with the launch.According to Japanese reports, Japan, the United States and South Korea have agreed to demand the UN Security Council strengthen sanctions on North Korea to levels that match those on Iran.That would include increasing the list of financial institutions, entities and individuals already subject to asset freezes.

Berlusconi, Monti set fiery campaign tone

Italy's Silvio Berlusconi on Tuesday set the tone for his election campaign saying nobody should care about bond spreads, and accusing Mario Monti of being "German-centric" as the prime minister said he had spared Italy from the same fate as Greece."Who cares about the spread?" the 76-year-old Berlusconi, who is running for the sixth time in two decades, said in an interview with Canale 5 television part of his media empire."The spread is a trick and an invention with which they tried to bring down the majority that ruled this country," said the three-time prime minister and billionaire, referring to his last government which collapsed in November 2011 following a parliamentary revolt and panic on the markets.The spread is the differential between Italian and benchmark German 10-year sovereign bonds  a closely watched measure of investor confidence.The spread had narrowed to below 300 points last week but has widened since Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PDL) party said on Thursday that it was withdrawing its support for Monti's government.Berlusconi then announced he would run for prime minister and Monti said he would resign as soon as parliament approves next year's budget, bringing forward the likely date for elections to February.There is growing speculation that Monti will also decide to run in the election although he has so far declined to comment, saying only that he is not considering the option "at this stage".The spread was around 349 points on Tuesday, while the stock market inched up 0.64% in afternoon trading - a day after it trailed other European bourses reacting to the weekend of political drama and the re-emergence of Berlusconi.Polls say the favourite to win is centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani, a cigar-chomping former communist and two-time minister who spearheaded a liberalisation drive when he was in office.Berlusconi on Tuesday also criticised Monti as "too German-centric" and said that all the main economic indicators had worsened since the former Eurocrat was installed in power.He continued saying that Italy's record-high public debt of nearly $2.6 trillion, or around 120% of gross domestic product, was "not as high as they want to make you think".Monti also gave an interview to Rai public television in which he said that the government had to be "very careful" and "calm" about bond spreads.In a rare moment of candour on his personal life, he revealed his own grandson had been nicknamed "spread" at his kindergarten and recognised the word as his own name when he heard it on television.Monti also warned about rising populism ahead of the elections, saying: "There is a tendency to over-simplify things, to present magical solutions."And he defended his record in government saying: "We have made great progress but at a cost. In the short term, there has not been growth."I would appreciate it if someone could explain to me how it would have been possible financially to spare Italy from suffering the same fate as Greece and make it grow at a rapid rate," he said.Newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano's online edition said the contrasting interviews with Monti and Berlusconi on Tuesday were a "head-on clash"."Each one used their own language, but this really is a challenge at a distance," the paper said.Berlusconi also announced that only 10% of the party's candidates in elections now expected in February would be chosen from current lawmakers.Fifty percent of the candidates will come from the business community, 20% from local government and 10% from the world of culture, he said, without explaining where the remaining 10% would come from.The PDL has been riven by infighting and hit by a series of fraud investigations since Berlusconi stepped down last year and retreated from the political fray before suddenly returning last week to the dismay of several dissident party members. Berlusconi also said he would be holding talks later on Tuesday with Roberto Maroni, leader of the populist Northern League party, on forming a possible coalition.Berlusconi's PDL and the Northern League won the last general election in 2008 but there have been tensions between the two parties in recent years.

NEWS, 31.05.2012.

 Spain debt woes spur flight from risk

 

Asian shares and commodities slid while the euro fell to its lowest in almost two years against the dollar on Thursday, as surging borrowing costs in troubled Spain raised fears that it could fail to rescue its banks and may need to seek a bailout. Investors fled from risk assets to US government bonds, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield falling below 1.6% in early Asian trade on Thursday, its lowest in at least 60 years. The 10-year Japanese government bond yield  hit a nine-year low of 0.810%. The dollar and the yen were also beneficiaries of escalating risk aversion although gold, a traditional safe-haven asset, struggled in the face of the greenback’s strength.     MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan tumbled as much as 1.6%, and was set for its worst month in eight months with a drop of nearly 12%. The pan-Asia index was down 0.3% for the year.   The index was dragged down as some key Asian bourses - Hong Kong, Australia and Korea - temporarily fell to negative territory for t h e year. Japan’s Nikkei was down 1.4% on the day and  on track for its biggest monthly drop in two years. European shares were likely to tread lower, with spreadbetters predicting major European markets    would open down as much as 0.2%. US stock futures were nearly unchanged.   "The situation in Spain at the moment is untenable, not only is there concern over the state of its banking sector but there is little confidence its government will actually be able to bail them out,” said Michael Creed, an economist at the National Australia Bank. A caution by Spain’s central banker that Madrid will miss deficit targets for this year pushed Spanish 10-year yields  above 6.7%, close to 7%, a level seen as unsustainable and which could push Spain to seek a bailout just as Greece, Portugal and Ireland have done. The cost of insuring against a Spanish default scaled a record high near 600 basis points while Italy, which is also struggling with huge public debt, saw its 10-year yield  top 6% for the first time since January. Yields on all German bond maturities hit record lows on Wednesday, pushing the premium investors demand to hold Spanish debt over German debt to its highest since the launch of the euro at around 543 basis points. Firm dollar slams commodities Oil prices extended losses and copper hit 2012 lows near $7 422 a tonne on Thursday. US crude futures eased 0.3% at $87.59 a barrel and were set for their worst month since late 2008. Brent crude fell 0.3% at $103.15 a barrel, on track for its worst month in two years.     “Investors were already exposed to the problems in Spain, but what really disturbed the market were oil prices and US bond yields which broke out of range to hit long-period lows,” said Lee Seung-wook, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities. The dollar index, measured against a basket of major currencies, extended its rally to 83.11, its highest since September 2010.   The strong dollar and intensifying risk aversion sent the Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB index, a global benchmark for commodities, tumbling 1.7% to its lowest levels since September 2010 on Wednesday. A stronger dollar typically weighs on dollar-based commodities. The dollar index was on the verge of closing above its 100-month moving average at 81.82, which would generate a buy signal which in turn could spur a sustained period of dollar strength for the next couple of years to as high as 101.00-106.00, some analysts said. The index has in the past 30 years generated four successful buy signals which have resulted in significant dollar moves, they added.Euro under fire     The euro fell to a 23-month low of $1.2358 and a four-and-a-half month low against the safe-haven yen at ¥97.36. “There is no exit in sight currently for the euro to get out of this downtrend because there is no shortage of negative news,” said Hisamitsu Hara, chief FX manager at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. “Problems in Spain, a large eurozone economy, heighten fears while the risk of Greece leaving the euro bloc raises contagion concerns. The euro remains depressed, with players  cautiously testing the downside”. Hara added that the euro could weaken until support at the$1.19 level. The euro last dipped below $1.19 in June 2010. The yen rose to a three-and-a-half month high against the dollar at ¥78.71. Hara said wariness over Japanese authorities intervening to prop up the dollar was likely to prevent the US currency from falling sharply further.The European Commission threw Spain two potential lifelines, offering more time to reduce its budget deficit and offering direct aid from a eurozone rescue fund to recapitalise distressed banks. But any relief from the news was quickly offset by the latest Greece polls showing parties for and against a bailout neck-and-neck or very close to each another, ahead of a June 17 election that may decide whether Greece remains in the euro. Asian credit markets weakened, with the spread on the iTraxx Asia ex-Japan investment-grade index widening by 8 basis points.  

Oil prices extend losses

 

 Oil extended losses in Asian trade on Thursday, with prices hitting multi-month lows as Spain's banking woes intensified worries about the eurozone, analysts said.New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in July was down nine cents to $87.73 per barrel while Brent North Sea crude for July shed 29c to $103.18 in the afternoon.Prices had slumped Wednesday as the dollar rose to two-year highs against the European single currency, making dollar-priced oil more expensive and hurting demand.WTI crude had plunged $2.94 on Wednesday to its lowest level since October, while Brent declined $3.21, its lowest close since December 16."Right now, the market is wide open. There is still scope for more downside pressure on prices if the bearish sentiment about the eurozone's future keeps up," said Nick Trevethan, senior commodities strategist at ANZ Research.Spain's economic woes were sharply in focus as its 10-year borrowing rates approached the 7% mark considered too high for governments to be able to service their debts.Economists fear Madrid will have to seek an international bailout - following Greece, Ireland and Portugal - despite assurances from Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.The European Commission weighed in on Wednesday, placing the debt-wracked country at the head of a critical list of 12 economies ordered to carry out sweeping reforms this year to try to stabilise the eurozone debt crisis."Concerns about a possible Greek exit and the risks of contagion from the periphery remain and in the absence of a policy response, oil prices are likely to remain under pressure," said Barclays Capital in a commentary.

NEWS,13.04.2012.

Russia rebukes North Korea for rocket launch

 

Russia has criticised North Korea for its rocket launch, saying that Pyongyang had defied the UN Security Council and that neighbouring powers all opposed it. Russia had urged Pyongyang not to conduct the launch, warning it would violate a UN Security Council resolution regardless of its purpose and complicate efforts to revive six-party talks over North Korea's nuclear programme."UN resolutions contain concrete calls not to conduct such launches, and this is the shared approach of ... Russia, China, the United States, South Korea and Japan," the Interfax news agency quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying."These five (nations) are united in their position," said Lavrov, who was meeting the Chinese and Indian foreign ministers in Moscow today.Lavrov, whose country is a Group of Eight member along with six Western states and Japan, joined G8 foreign ministers in a statement condemning the launch and saying they were ready to consider measures in response.China's initial reaction sounded less critical, calling for calm and restraint from all sides.North Korea admitted its much hyped long-range rocket failed to deliver a satellite into orbit today while US and South Korean officials said it crashed into the sea a few minutes after launch.Regional powers have said that what North Korea has described as the launch of a weather satellite, months after Kim Jong-un succeeded his father as the leader of the reclusive state, is a disguised test of a long-range ballistic missile."UN Security Council Resolution No. 1874 demands that the DPRK (North Korea) refrain from any launches using ballistic rockets. This applies to both military and civilian launches," Interfax quoted an unnamed Russian diplomat as saying.Russia, which shares a short border with North Korea - Moscow's client in the Soviet era - called on Pyongyang last month to refrain from the launch, expressing serious concern and calling for restraint from all sides.Russia has often balanced criticism of North Korea's nuclear activities and its missile launches with calls on other major powers to refrain from belligerent actions against Pyongyang, which it says can be counterproductive.A permanent member of the UN Security Council, Russia is displeased when nations defy council resolutions, and North Korean missile tests have sparked concern among Russians living on the country's Pacific coast in the past.The UN Security Council was to meet today to discuss a possible condemnation of the launch, but Western diplomats said China was not expected to support new sanctions.Russia has been a participant in six-party talks with Pyongyang last held three years ago and hosted the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il last August in Siberia, but has less influence on Pyongyang than China.McCully said the launch had violated the UN Security Council Regulations and had undermined efforts to build peace and stability in the region."It is a major disappointment following their recent agreement with the United States to put a moratorium on long-range missile launches," he said.  "The New Zealand government strongly urges North Korea to abide by its obligations under UN Security Council resolutions, cease its provocations, and take steps to denuclearise." 

Cancer hasn't dimmed Hugo Chavez's electoral hopes

With less than six months left until Election Day, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has hardly hit the campaign trail. Instead, he has been consumed with his fight against cancer, repeatedly traveling to Cuba for treatment and publicly vowing to defeat his illness. While cancer would end the presidential ambitions of many politicians, Chavez's struggle against the disease has in fact become his main rallying cry. Cancer could serve as a political asset if his health holds through the October vote, and that's the big "if" hanging over Venezuelan politics. Last week, Chavez offered his starkest outlook yet as he wept while holding hands with his parents at a Mass and then pleaded to Jesus Christ to give him more life. "Give me your crown, Christ," Chavez said in live footage broadcast nationwide. "Give me your cross, 100 crosses. I'll carry it, but give me life because there are still things left for me to do for these people and for this homeland. Don't take me away yet." Chavez said later that he has faith in a "miracle" as he undergoes radiation therapy in Cuba following two surgeries that removed tumors from his pelvic area. So far, what appears to be a serious life-or-death crisis hasn't dented his political support. To the contrary, one recent poll showed Chavez with a lead of 14 percentage points over rival Gov. Henrique Capriles. The poll by the firm Datanalisis had a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points. Chavez has managed to hold on to support even while his main image has been that of an ailing president climbing or descending airplane stairs on his frequent flights to and from Cuba for treatment. On top of that, many Venezuelans are supporting him despite 25-percent inflation and one of the worst homicide rates in the world. Information Minister Andres Izarra, one of Chavez's key aides, said on Monday that the president won't be out campaigning door-to-door like his rival because "he doesn't need to." Izarra also said Chavez's spirits are being lifted by his supporters. "That love of the people, it's arisen like a balsam, like part of his medicine, like part of his treatment to completely recover," Izarra said during a televised speech. On Friday, Chavez is expected to rally his supporters on the 10th anniversary of his return to power after a short-lived 2002 coup, and he has drawn a parallel between his cancer fight and his survival during that coup, when he was restored to the presidency amid large pro-Chavez street protests. "At that time, the love of the people rescued Chavez from the edge of death," Izarra said. "This time the love of the people is also rescuing Chavez from a particular health situation, in which if it weren't for that love, I'm sure his ailments would perhaps be greater." Eduardo Gamarra, a Latin American studies professor at Florida International University in Miami, said compassion elicited by Chavez's illness "has naturally played to his advantage in the electoral process." "Not only President Chavez but certainly his supporters and certainly the people handling his political campaign are taking full advantage of it. And I think it would be crazy for them not to do so," Gamarra said. Chavez's illness also presents a challenge for the opposition, Gamarra said, because it might appear "cold and callous" to attack a seriously ill leader. For both sides in Venezuela's divided political landscape, Chavez's illness has the potential to be a game-changer. The subject of what would happen if Chavez were to die is taboo among his political allies, as leaders of his United Socialist Party of Venezuela insist that Chavez will be their candidate and that there is no backup plan. In the meantime, Chavez is adeptly using the uncertainty to once again cast himself as the protagonist in a larger narrative, at times evoking his own tragic hero, 19th century independence leader Simon Bolivar, who survived an assassination attempt and then resigned the presidency amid failing health. Bolivar was 47 when he died, and historians have generally cited tuberculosis as the cause. At a televised meeting this week, Chavez, 57, said the independence leader had been "left without people, left without soldiers." "What a painful end," Chavez said. In speeches and rallies, Chavez has regularly shouted the slogan: "We will live and we will win!" It appears to be both his personal mantra and his political bet. The odds of that bet remain unclear. Since he announced his diagnosis last June, Chavez has kept secret specifics about his illness such as the type of cancer and the precise location of the tumors that have been removed. Some medical experts say based on Chavez's accounts, it's very possible his cancer could come back yet again. "The tumor is recurrent, and to us that indicates that his chances for a cure are minimal because in cancer care, the best treatment is the first treatment," said Dr. Julian Molina, an oncologist at the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center in Rochester, Minnesota. He noted that Chavez underwent surgery for a second tumor in February, indicating that his chemotherapy was ineffective. Other medical experts say that depending on the type and grade of Chavez's cancer, the outlook might not be so grim. Given Chavez's treatment regimen, he could have a soft-tissue sarcoma, said Dr. Steve Hahn, professor of radiation oncology at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. "It's not necessarily pessimistic," Hahn said. "If he had a low-grade sarcoma, then he really has very little chance of it spreading elsewhere and the radiation, if it prevents it from coming back in the pelvis ... that should pretty much hopefully be the end of the story for him, end of the story meaning control of his disease." Chavez's face has at times appeared puffy during his cancer treatments, and in September he acknowledged taking steroids along with other medications. Doctors say steroids can be prescribed as an anti-nausea medication to cope with the effects of chemotherapy and can help increase appetite and energy levels. Molina noted that excessive steroids use can spur side effects such as fluid retention, mood swings and increased blood pressure. "It's always possible that they gave him a short course of steroids, he felt good, and then he requested that, you know, keep on this. It's very hard when you're a president and you have the powers to say 'this is what I want to do,'" Molina said. The dearth of hard information about Chavez's illness, as well as the fluctuations in his tone and appearance, have fueled speculation and rumors about Chavez's health in the Venezuelan media and on the street. Chavez, for one, has urged political allies not to waste time responding to the gossip. Chavez communicated with the nation on Wednesday through several messages on his Twitter account while finishing his latest round of radiation treatment in Cuba. "I'm putting on my combat boots!" one of the messages read. "Wait for me!!" That night, Chavez made yet another homecoming at Caracas' airport, smiling as he descended the airplane stairs next to one of his daughters and saying he was doing well. He appeared vigorous as he chatted with aides at the presidential palace and reminisced about the 2002 coup during a televised talk that ended nearly an hour after midnight. Chavez's legions of supporters have shown intense loyalty to their hero, regularly gathering at government-organized events to pray for his health. On a downtown Caracas avenue, lampposts have been festooned with banners showing a healthy Chavez smiling and wearing the red beret of his years as an army paratrooper, along with the slogan: "Onward Commandant!" At one recent pro-Chavez rally outside the presidential palace, Magalys Martinez said she's optimistic Chavez can overcome his illness. "He very much wants to live," said Martinez, herself a cancer patient. "For this illness, what he needs to have is ambition to live." Another supporter at the rally, 63-year-old Bernarda Mena de Palacios, said she's thankful to Chavez for a government-run education program that helped her earn her high school diploma. "We're praying for the president," she said. "I have faith he's going to come out victorious. We can't lose a president like him."

NEWS,08.01.2012

The battle for the Pacific

 America's shift in defence strategy to focus on the Far East has momentous significance for Europe and Asia. 

 

The Pentagon briefing room rarely hosts all of America’s service chiefs, let alone the president. Its use by Barack Obama to announce the conclusions of his defence review was designed to add a sense of drama – and the occasion certainly lived up to its billing. Future historians will probably conclude that this was the week when America’s entire foreign and defence strategy pivoted decisively away from Europe and towards the Pacific. More ominously, it might also mark the onset of a new, if concealed, arms race between the US and its aspiring rival, China. First things first: America’s military dominance will remain unchallenged for the foreseeable future. Mr Obama might have announced spending cuts of almost $500 billion over the next decade, but this amounts to a light trim for a defence machine with an annual budget of $650 billion, amounting to 45 per cent of all military expenditure in the world. America is not axing capabilities in the foolish fashion of British governments; rather, its power is being focused on the great strategic challenges of the next century. These can be simply summarised: the struggle for mastery in Asia, home of the world’s most populous countries and fastest-growing economies, and responding to sudden crises. To this end, the US will reduce its presence in Europe, cut 90,000 soldiers and bulk up in the Pacific, with new bases in Australia and elsewhere. As for other flashpoints, few will be surprised that the US policy stresses the goals of containing Iran and guaranteeing free passage through the Strait of Hormuz. On a purely military level, two points stand out. The US might be cutting its army, but it has ruled out reducing its fleet of 11 aircraft carriers, each of which packs more punch than the entire air forces of most countries. While China’s defence budget has recorded double-digit increases for the past decade, it has still launched only one carrier – an old Russian model of doubtful combat value. Second, Mr Obama stressed his determination to invest in “intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance”. Put simply, the US will seek to extend its lead in the most advanced combat systems: where scores of troops – and hundreds of support staff – might once have been required to dispatch a senior al-Qaeda operative, now one unmanned drone can do the job. America’s new course could well be shifted by a strategic shock akin to the September 11 attacks. Nevertheless, this plan will have momentous consequences for Europe and Asia alike. For decades, the US has underwritten the security of the Atlantic as well as the Pacific, effectively allowing Europe a free ride and permitting a string of Nato members the luxury of running down their defence budgets. This era is rapidly coming to a close. Yet with a few honourable exceptions, such as Britain and France, European powers have failed to fund their armed forces adequately, or deploy them when needed. Germany, in particular, must overcome the burden of its history and face up to the responsibilities that go with being the Continent’s leading economic power.
Mr Obama’s address studiously refrained from mentioning China, the country that probably has most at stake. Beijing’s leaders will now have to make far-reaching choices of their own. As events in Burma have shown, China’s “peaceful rise” has alarmed many of its neighbours: for most countries in the region, American power and values remain far more appealing. Moreover, China has grown rich largely thanks to trade, not least with the US. Faced with the net of containment that America is quietly laying across the Pacific, China will search for the Achilles’ heel of the US Navy, perfecting a new generation of missiles capable of destroying aircraft carriers from hundreds of miles away, working out how to cripple the internet, and how to blind the US satellite network, on which all its military assets now depend. 

Iran starts uranium enrichment facility is going operational in a move likely to increase tension between the Islamic state and the West over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Kayhan daily, which is close to Iran's ruling clerics, said Tehran has begun injecting uranium gas into sophisticated centrifuges at the Fordow facility near the holy city of Qom. "Kayhan received reports yesterday that shows Iran has begun uranium enrichment at the Fordo facility amid heightened foreign enemy threats," the paper said in a front-page report. Kayhan's manager is a representative of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran's nuclear chief Fereidoun Abbasi said full scale work would start "soon" at Fordow. It was impossible to immediately reconcile the two reports. "The Fordow nuclear enrichment plant will be operational in the near future - 20 per cent, 3.5 per cent and four per cent enriched uranium can be produced at this site," said Mr Abbasi.Iran has said for months that it is preparing to conduct uranium enrichment at Fordow, a protected site deep inside a mountain near the Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Qom in central Iran. The United States and its allies say Iran is trying to build bombs, but Tehran insists its nuclear programme is aimed at generating power.The inauguration of the site could block fresh nuclear talks with major powers aimed at resolving Iran's nuclear row through diplomacy. Iran has called for talks on its nuclear programme with the permanent members of the Security Council and Germany (P5+1), which have been stalled for a year.Diplomats said Iran was believed to have begun feeding uranium gas into centrifuges in Fordow in late December as part of final preparations to use the machines for enrichment.Iran is already refining uranium to a fissile purity of 20 percent - far more than the 3.5 percent level usually required to power nuclear energy plants - above ground at another location.Diplomats say it is moving this higher-grade enrichment to Fordow in an apparent bid to better protect the work against any enemy attacks. It also plans to sharply boost output capacity.The United States and Israel, Iran's arch foes, have not ruled out strikes against the Islamic state if diplomacy fails to resolve the dispute. Iran has been hit by four rounds of U.N. sanctions and the United States and the E.U. have imposed increasingly tight economic sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear programme.Iran disclosed the existence of Fordow to the IAEA only in September 2009 after learning that Western intelligence agencies had detected it.

NEWS 30.12.2011.

Jump into the future: Read where the Friday, the 30^th  December 2011., will never happen!

Islands of Samoa and Tokelau in the Pacific have skipped this Friday and will be, after going to bed on Thursday, wake up on Saturday, New Year's Eve.

Two tiny island nation decided to move to the west side of the international date line, which passes proximetly in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Purpose of it is to make easier the trade with the nearby Australia and New Zealand, as a growing trading partners. These islands already made in  the 19 century ​​a similar leap in time.

In fact, even before the 119 years the islands have the most business with American traders from the nearby American Samoa, and those from California. Several of them talked them to transferred east of the date line. Today,Samoa make more business with Australia and New Zealand, China and Singapore.

 In business for example,with New Zealand always lose of two days. When is by us  Friday, there is Saturday, and while we’re on Sunday Mass, in Sydney and Brisbane are working at full steam - said Prime Minister Samoa Tuila'epa Sailele Malielegaoi this change will affect about 186 000 inhabitants and 1500 Samoa Tokelau.

Skipping Friday  will be celebrated with the ringing of church steeples, and the government has decided that all workers wages will be paid for Friday that was not there.

iPad 3 arrives in January, and immediately  with two new models?

Apple alleged that in January should eject the iPad 3, and this with two new, improved models. If this happens iPad 2 should remain in the markets, with reduced price.

In the world of technology, there have been rumors that Apple will in January to release iPad 3, and this with two new models.

 It was expected that Apple will announce new models in February or March, and that their sales start in April, writes Washington Post. The new models should not replace the iPad 2 which will remain on the market,with a lower prices to compete with Amazon Kindle Fire.

They went out and the details about the possible functions of a new product, so the two new models will have better resolution, increased lighting and camera with eight, or five megapixels. The screen will be 9.7 inch.

Apple according to unconfirmed information,will introduce the new model iPad in end of January at the Macworld conference iWorld which might well be untrue concerning that didn’t participate in the conference for years. Although things may change over the next month, it is unlikely because Apple has its own conference, which attracted enough attention.

Disappearance is threatening

Disastrous years for the elephants, there is more and more less of them

Booming sales tusks in Asia

Last year was disastrous for the largest land animals elephants, facing extinction, said monitoring network Traffic wild animals.

Never before has recorded such a number of cases of confiscated ivory. The largest organized criminal chain of resale tusks in Asia, and in the last year has been killed 2,500 elephants for tusks.

There is no information of the killed African elephants, but is assumed to be nothing less than  Asian. Expert Traffic  monitoring groups of elephants and rhinos, Tom Millken thinks criminals are winning, because there are no mechanisms to protect these animals.

Only in the last time they caught 800 kilograms of ivory, and 2011th is caught a total of approximately 1000 pounds of ivory.

Milliken worning that the amount of smuggled ivory is ten times greater than cought ones.

Australia

Police found the stolen treasure worth 6.5 million dollars

Police in Sydney found a treasure of stolen jewelry and cash, worth 6.5 million Australian dollars.

Storage with trasury were discovered in a suburb of Sydney in Vaterlou, writes AP.

There were discovered thousands of pieces of silver and gold jewelry and diamond stones.

There were also found the money in foreign currencies and silver and gold bullion.

 Police believe it had found the jewelry and money that was stolen recently in several robberies in Sydney and Melbourne.

Local media reported that the two men brought in connection with those cases are arrested, and that the criminal investigation is in progress.