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,03.07.2013

Obama leery of intervention in Mideast

From Egypt to Syria to Iraq and beyond, the Obama administration is determined to show it will only go so far to help save nations in chaos from themselves.

President Barack Obama has long made it clear that he favours a foreign policy of consultation and negotiation, but not intervention, in the persistent and mostly violent upheavals across the Mideast. And he appears determined not to deviate this week even to help reverse turbulence in Egypt, one of the United States' most important Arab allies.

US officials say the Obama administration delivered pointed warnings on Tuesday to three main players in the latest crisis to grip Egypt as hundreds of thousands of protesters flooded Tahrir Square in Cairo to demand President Mohammed Morsi's ouster over his hard-line Islamist policies. The powerful Egyptian military appeared poised to overthrow him.

The administration stopped short of demanding that Morsi take specific steps, the officials said, and instead offered strong suggestions that are backed by billions of dollars in US aid to ease the tensions.

The US officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly about the delicate diplomacy that is aimed at soothing the unrest and protecting Egypt's status as a bulwark of Mideast stability. Yet the warnings were unlikely to placate the protesters gathered at the site of Egypt's Arab Spring revolution two years ago, many of whom have accused the US of siding with Morsi.

"The United States is only looking after their interests. They will only bet on the winning horse, and the winning horse is always chosen by the people," an ultraconservative member of the Salafist movement who would only identify himself as Amr, aged 31, said on Tuesday night at Tahrir Square. "At the end of the day it is the people who say that who stays and who goes."

Two thirds opposed to war

It should come as little surprise that Obama, who is grappling with a recovering economy, a war-weary public at home and diminished US status as a global superpower abroad, would not wade into foreign conflicts. Obama campaigned by promising to end the war in Iraq, which he did in 2011; he now plans to withdraw most, if not all, US troops from Afghanistan by the end of next year and inevitably will face pitched pleas from Kabul to reconsider as the deadline nears.

US polls indicate that two-thirds of Americans have opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The burdens of a young century cannot fall on American shoulders alone," Obama wrote in his 2010 National Security Strategy. "Indeed, our adversaries would like to see America sap our strength by overextending our power."

Despite pressure from some in Congress and its allies abroad, the Obama administration refused until last month to give weapons to Syrian rebels who for more than two years have been battling to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad. The arms a tepid show of guns, ammunition and shoulder-fired anti-tank grenades only came after US intelligence concluded that Assad had used chemical weapons against his own people.

Other Sunni-dominated Mideast nations, most notably Qatar, have provided heavier weapons to help the rebels beat back Iranian forces and aid that is flowing to Assad's regime. An estimated 93 000 people have been killed in the fighting.

Rebel commanders have been underwhelmed by the US support, saying they need enough firepower to stop Assad from using chemical weapons again, and to stop his tanks and heavy artillery. The Free Syrian Army, which is made up of some opposition forces, also wants allies to establish a no-fly zone over Syria to prevent Assad's superior air power from crushing the rebels or killing civilians.

Light weapons 'insufficient, insulting'

The White House is, at best, highly reluctant to create such a territory over which warring aircraft are not allowed to fly. The US and international allies have enforced them in several military conflicts over the past two decades.

Even American officials say the help to Syria is not enough.

The light weapons are "clearly not only insufficient, it's insulting", said Senator John McCain, a leading Republican proponent of taking a bigger military role in Syria.

McCain and several other hawkish Republican also have criticised Obama for withdrawing US forces from Iraq, where violence has dramatically escalated since their departure 18 months ago.

The Obama administration agreed to the longstanding 2011 withdrawal deadline, which was set by the Republican administration of President George W Bush, after negotiations fell through to keep some US forces in Iraq. But American officials involved in the negotiations have blamed the White House for making only a weak effort to keep troops in the country and being all too happy when the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad refused to let them stay.

Despite nearly nine years of war that aimed to stabilise Iraq during which nearly 4 500 US troops were killed and about $800bn in taxpayer money was spent near-daily bombings and other attacks continue. And the White House rarely, if ever, discusses Iraq except to pat itself on the back for leaving.

America's role

In June alone, 761 Iraqis were killed and nearly 1 800 wounded in terror-related violence, the UN envoy in Baghdad said in a statement this week. Comparatively, that's about twice as many killed in the deadliest month of 2011 before the American troops left, according to data from the British-based Iraq Body Count.

Tamara Cofman Wittes, who served as deputy assistant secretary of state from late 2009 until early this year, said the White House cannot afford to take its eye off the Mideast even as Obama tries to refocus on Asia and Africa. Even so, the administration's strategy in the Mideast may be a not-so-subtle reminder that the US is no longer willing or able to play either world policeman or peacekeeper.

"One of the things that many Americans questioned in the wake of the experience of Iraq and Afghanistan is whether the United States in fact can be successful in stabilising unstable parts of the world," Wittes, now director of the Saban Centre for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institute think tank, said on Tuesday.

"The Obama administration has set itself the task not only of closing the chapter on a decade defined by two wars and reorienting not only America and its expectations for its role in the world, but reorienting other countries' expectations for the role America will play," she said.

US 'very concerned' about Egypt

The United States said on Wednesday it was "very concerned" about developments in Egypt's political crisis, and urged President Mohammed Morsi to "do more" to address the concerns of protesters.
"We do remain very concerned about what we are seeing on the ground in Egypt," state department spokesperson Jen Psaki said. "We feel there was an absence of significant steps laid out by President Morsi."
Washington believes he "should do more" to address the concerns of the Egyptian people, she told reporters, noting: "Actions speaker louder than words."
Psaki said Morsi's proposal for a unity government was one that had been "made in the past," and which "others in Egypt felt was not sufficient enough".
She, however, was careful to note that it was not up to Washington to judge.
When asked if Washington would consider cutting military aid to Cairo, the spokesperson said: "It would be premature to suggest that we have taken steps or are thinking about taking steps."

President scrambles to save Portugal

Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva on Wednesday took steps to settle a political crisis that threatened to topple the government, after two ministers resigned over austerity policies agreed with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
Cavaco Silva was to meet Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho and party representatives on Thursday, the president's office announced.
Before that, the president was scheduled to meet Socialist opposition leader Antonio Jose Seguro.
Cavaco Silva was coming under growing pressure to dissolve parliament and to call early elections after the resignations of the finance minister, Vitor Gaspar, and the foreign minister, Paulo Portas, brought the government to the verge of collapse this week.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered to demand that Passos Coelho step down. The main trade union confederation, CGTP, has announced a rally for Saturday to demand early elections.
Passos Coelho said Tuesday he would not accept the resignation of Portas, but would try to reach an agreement with the party the foreign minister heads, the conservative-nationalist CDS-PP.
The party is the junior coalition partner of Passos Coelho's Social Democratic Party (PSD). If other ministers belonging to the CDS-PP follow the example of Portas and resign, Passos Coelho will lose his absolute majority in parliament.
That would make it difficult for him to complete the €78bn bailout programme agreed with the EU and the IMF in 2011.
The government crisis has made stock markets plunge, while the yields for Portuguese bonds has gone up.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has warned that "the financial credibility recently built up by Portugal could be jeopardized by the current political instability."
Gaspar, who was the main architect of the austerity policies applied under the bailout programme, justified his resignation by saying he had failed to meet budget deficit targets. He also cited widespread opposition to his spending cuts.
Portas said he was stepping down over the choice of Maria Luis Albuquerque as Gaspar's successor.
The CDS-PP wants to soften the government's austerity policies, while Albuquerque is known as a staunch supporter of Gaspar's budget crackdown.
Spending cuts and economic reforms have helped Portugal reduce borrowing costs and the budget deficit, which went down to 6.4% of gross domestic product in 2012, from 10.1% in 2010.
But the economy has been in recession for two years and is expected to shrink by 2.3% this year. Unemployment has climbed to nearly 18%.
The EU is confident that Portugal can weather its political crisis, an official said in Brussels.
"It's obvious that it would have been our strong preference if the stability of the government had been maintained," the EU official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"But I'm quite relaxed ... Portugal is well-financed. I have no concerns whatsoever for the whole of 2013."
Germany stressed the need for Portugal to adhere to the course of austerity. "The German government is confident that Portugal will stick to the agreed reforms," spokesperson Steffen Seibert said in Berlin.
Eurozone finance ministers are expected to discuss the Portuguese situation when they next meet on Monday in Brussels.
Experts from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF are then scheduled to launch a review mission to examine the country's economic progress and pave the way for the next stage of its bailout.
The EU official noted that the process would be more difficult if the Portuguese government announced new elections.

Union boss urges French labour reform

The new chief of France's main employers union pressed on Wednesday for a 'Round 2' of labour reform, urging President Francois Hollande for a further overhaul on the day a first, hard-fought deal entered the law books.
Pierre Gattaz's remarks on his first day as MEDEF leader showed a combative chief ready to pile pressure on a Socialist government that many economists have criticised for not going far enough in its structural reform programme.
The 53-year-old is to meet Hollande and Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault this week to discuss upcoming reforms, including an overhaul of an indebted pension system.
"Our companies are terrorised by a labour code that is too complex and stops them from hiring," Gattaz told journalists in an acceptance speech. "This shouldn't last, and it won't last."
France's labour reform deal took effect on Wednesday after months of tense debate and street protests, and it is still disputed by trade unions on the far left. Few public figures have spoken out in favour of any further changes.
Gattaz, chief executive of connector maker Radiall, was the sole candidate to succeed MEDEF chief Laurence Parisot after she lost an internal battle to alter the group's statutes and extend her eight-year term.
The son of a notoriously combative former MEDEF chief, Gattaz took over the powerful group, equivalent to Germany's BDA employer association and Italy's Confindustria lobby, by rallying less well-connected rivals to his camp.
Saying he will bring a "fighting spirit" to talks on reforms to job training and pensions, his hard-charging tone breaks with Parisot's diplomatic approach.
His call to raise the legal retirement age from the current 62, in line with recommendations from the European Commission, also goes against the views of Hollande, who has ruled it out in favour of lengthening the pay-in period.
On labour rules, Gattaz will retain the services of Patrick Bernasconi as chief negotiator after he brokered a landmark deal to loosen regulation in January.
Bernasconi advocates a far-reaching second round of labour reform to end the 35-hour working week and give firms more power to reach in-house wage and work-time deals, he told business daily Les Echos in May.

Portugal's political crisis deepens

Two more Portuguese ministers from the junior ruling coalition party were ready to resign on Wednesday, local media said, deepening turmoil that could trigger a snap election and derail Lisbon's exit from an EU/IMF bailout.
Multiple newspaper radio and television reports said agriculture minister Assuncao Cristas and social security minister Pedro Mota Soares will follow their CDS-PP party leader Paulo Portas, who tendered his resignation on Tuesday.
Party officials were not available to comment as the party's executive commission was in a meeting.
Prime minister Pedro Passos Coelho told the nation late on Tuesday that he did not accept Portas' resignation and would continue to head the government to ensure political stability and work to overcome the stalemate.
Many commentators called the situation "absurd".
With no solution imminent, Portugal's bond and stock prices slumped further. The returns investors demand to hold 10-year bonds surged to above 8.1% for the first time since November and the PSI 20 stock index slumped 6%, led by sharp losses of over 10% in banks' shares.
Coelho's decision to reject his foreign minister's resignation puts the responsibility for the government's survival squarely on the shoulders of Portas. He now has to decide whether to stay in his post or pull his rightist CDS-PP party out of the coalition.
Without the CDS-PP, the centre-right government would lose its majority.
"One thing is certain, the prime minister is going to do everything to stay on, giving all possible concessions to Portas," said political scientist Antonio Costa Pinto.
"Failing that, however, we can hardly avoid an early election."
Portugal is subject to strict budget conditions imposed by a European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout. It had been hoping to return to normal debt markets, but rows over continued austerity have now thrown this into question.
"We see early elections as the most likely outcome at this stage, even if we cannot fully rule out support from some CDS MPs and the continuation of the government," Barclays' economist Antonio Garcia Pascual said in a note.
"We consider that the decision of the CDS leader to step down from the government can be explained to a large extent by the fall in popular support for the government coalition."
A day before Portas tendered his resignation, Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar, the architect of spending cuts and tax hikes required by lenders as a condition of their support, stepped down citing an erosion in support for the bailout.
Costa Pinto also said counting on occasional support from CDS-PP in parliament would allow the government to muddle through, but not for long.
Although president Anibal Cavaco Silva is expected to promote a grand coalition government, analysts do not expect the largest opposition party, the moderate centre-left Socialists who lead in opinion polls, to play ball.
Still, while opinion polls indicate Socialists will win a snap election, they would fall short of a majority, which would also require CDS support.
The only two remaining parties in parliament, the Communists and the Left Bloc, have never entered any coalition and are unlikely to do so, analysts said.
"So, it's all in Portas' hands," Costa Pinto said.
Barclays' said a Socialist victory should not represent a radical change in the course of the bailout programme. It also said that even if there are delays in upcoming bailout reviews and disbursements, Portugal has enough funds to meet bond repayments this year.

Use W Cape as African gateway, China told

China should use the Western Cape as an investment gateway into Africa, the provincial agriculture and rural development department said on Wednesday.
Western Cape MEC Gerrit van Rensburg made this invitation to Chinese commerce officials in Beijing on Tuesday, while on a visit to stimulate trade and investment.
Van Rensburg said wine exports from South Africa to China increased by 34% between 2009 and 2012.
He invited Cao Jiachan, the deputy director general for West Asia and Africa commerce, to attend a wine tasting to be hosted by the department in Beijing later this month.
The provincial government would also support a South African wine delegation at the annual Yantai International Wine Exposition in China from July 5.
Van Rensburg said government support of promotional activities and maintaining relationships with government departments was crucial for sustained export growth to China.

North Korea restores hotline with South

North Korea on Wednesday restored its official hotline with South Korea and announced it would let the South's businessmen visit a shuttered joint industrial zone, Seoul officials said.
The move came hours after dozens of South Korean firms threatened to withdraw from the zone at Kaesong in the North, complaining they had fallen victim to political bickering between the two rivals.
"The hotline was restored this afternoon after North Korea accepted our request to normalise it," a South Korean unification ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
After months of tensions and threats of nuclear war, the North restored the hotline in the border truce village of Panmunjom last month for talks on setting up a rare high-level meeting to discuss the fate of the zone.
But it was switched off again after plans for the talks collapsed due to disputes over protocol.
In an unexpected reversal on Wednesday, the North sent a message to the South through Panmunjom saying South Korean businessmen and managers would be allowed to visit the industrial complex.
It said the businessmen could take emergency steps to avert damage to facilities and materials in the complex during the rainy season, according to a unification ministry statement.
South Korea will review the North's proposal and convey its response later, the ministry said.
Established in 2004 as a rare symbol of inter-Korean cooperation, the industrial estate was the most high-profile casualty of months of elevated tensions that followed the North's nuclear test in February.
Operations at the complex just north of the border ground to a halt soon after the North banned entry by southerners on 3 April, amid soaring military tensions with Seoul.
About a week later Pyongyang pulled all its own workers out, prompting Seoul to withdraw its managers and officials soon afterwards.

NEWS,09.03.2013

Obama reaching out to Republicans

US President Barack Obama says he's reaching out to lawmakers from both parties in hopes of untangling the gridlock that has stymied progress on budget issues in Washington.In his weekly radio and internet address, Obama said on Saturday that he's talking with Republicans about ways to replace the automatic spending cuts that took effect on 1 March. He said immigration reform and gun control are other areas where he's hopeful Democrats and Republicans can find common ground.Obama said that even though unemployment fell to 7.7% last month, expanding the economy is still his top priority.In the Republican address, Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama says he's worried that Senate Democrats will unveil a budget next week that won't curb the nation's debt. He's insisting that lawmakers balance the federal budget.

Fiery funeral for Venezuela's Chavez

Hugo Chavez was lauded as a modern-day reincarnation of Latin American liberator Simon Bolivar at a fiery, foot-stomping state funeral on Friday, hours before his handpicked successor was sworn in as acting president over the fierce objections of the opposition.Nicolas Maduro took the oath of office in the National Assembly before ruling party legislators, dignitaries and a boisterous crowd of sympathisers that chanted "Chavez lives! Maduro carries on!" Holding up a tiny blue-bound booklet of Venezuela's 1999 constitution in his right hand, Maduro pledged his "most absolute loyalty" to Chavez.He broke into tears as he spoke of his mentor during a strident acceptance speech that included numerous attacks on the United States, capitalist elites and the international media.Maduro also claimed the allegiance of Venezuela's army, calling it "the armed forces of Chavez" as he pumped his fist in the air, a gesture that was reciprocated by the defense minister watching from the gallery. Critics have voiced increasing concern about the overt support the military has shown to the ruling party since Chavez's death despite a ban on the army's participation in politics.The opposition largely boycotted the swearing-in, calling it unconstitutional. Henrique Capriles, Maduro's likely opponent in presidential election that must be called within 30 days, spoke condescendingly of the former bus driver and union leader, referring to him as "boy" and accusing him of "shamelessly" lying to the country.At Chavez's state funeral earlier in the day, Maduro stood before an assemblage of presidents, princes and left-wing glitterati, speaking in a booming voice over the flag-draped casket in a ceremony that at times smacked of a political rally."Here we are, Comandante, your men, on their feet," Maduro shouted, government officials rising behind him. "All your men and women ... loyal until beyond death."The funeral began with Venezuela's national youth orchestra singing the national anthem, led by famed conductor Gustavo Dudamel. A government-allied congressman later belted out cowboy songs from Chavez's native Barinas state.The streets outside the military academy took on a carnival atmosphere, with military bands launching into marches and an expanse of supporters wearing the red of Chavez's socialist party. Street vendors sold paper replicas of the presidential sash, which many people in the line slipped over their shoulders.Throngs watched the ceremony on huge monitors under the blazing sun. A line of people waiting to see Chavez's body stretched 2km, but the viewing was halted as the funeral got under way.In the funeral hall, more than 30 political leaders including Cuba's Raul Castro, Spanish Crown Prince Felipe de Borbon, and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stood at attention before Chavez's flag-draped coffin, which was closed for the ceremony.Maduro announced on Thursday that the government would embalm Chavez's body and put it on permanent display, a decision that touched off strong passions on both sides.

Venezuela waits for election details

Venezuela on Saturday was awaiting a key ruling from the nation's elections commission about details of a vote to replace Hugo Chavez, including a possible date for the poll.The constitution mandates that elections be called within 30 days of Chavez's 5 March death, though some have speculated the country will not be ready to organise a vote in that time frame.The National Election Commission scheduled an announcement amid increasingly strident rhetoric on both sides of this politically polarised country.Chavez's boisterous, passionate state funeral on Friday often felt like a political rally for his anointed successor, Nicolas Maduro, who eulogised him by pledging eternal loyalty and vowing to never be defeated.Maduro was sworn in as interim leader late on Friday, delivering a strident speech that took shots at the US, the media, international capitalism and domestic opponents he often depicted as treacherous. He claimed the allegiance of Venezuela's army, referring to them as the "armed forces of Chavez", despite the fact the military is barred from taking sides in politics.The opposition has denounced the transition as an unconstitutional power grab, and likely standard-bearer Henrique Capriles said his side was studying its strategy for the vote, which will be held in the shadow of the government's efforts to immortalise Chavez.Since his death, the former paratrooper has been compared to Jesus Christ and early 19th century Venezuelan liberator Simon Bolivar, and the government announced that his body would be embalmed and put on eternal display.Venezuelan television on Saturday showed a long line of people still filing by Chavez's glass-topped coffin, which has been on display since on Wednesday. Many had waited through the night for a brief glimpse of their former leader.In his acceptance speech on Friday, Maduro warned the opposition not to boycott the vote."That would be a grave error," he said.Opposition figures have said they are concerned about the vote's fairness, particularly given the public vows of allegiance to Chavez from senior military officials. Capriles lost to Chavez in 7 October elections, but he garnered 45% of the vote.A boycott of 2005 legislative elections was widely seen as disastrous for the opposition. It let Chavez's supporters to win all 167 seats, allowing him to govern unimpeded by any legislative rivals.In the streets on Saturday, many Venezuelans said they expected the opposition to take part in the poll, which will decide the president for the next six years."They will be present, yes, they will take part in the election," said Benito Villalba, a 62-year-old retiree who said he would vote for Maduro.

Catholics ready election of new pope

Fire-fighters on Saturday installed the top of the Sistine Chapel chimney that will signal to the world that a new pope has been elected, as the Vatican took measures to definitively end Benedict XVI's pontificate.While construction workers prepared the interior of the frescoed Sistine Chapel for Tuesday's start of the conclave, officials elsewhere in the Apostolic Palace destroyed Benedict's fisherman's ring and the personal seals and stamps for official papers.The act, coupled with Benedict's public resignation and pledge of obedience to the future pope, is designed to signal a definitive end of his papacy so there is no doubt in the church that a new pope is in charge.The developments all point toward the momentous decision soon to confront the Catholic Church: Tuesday's start of the conclave to elect a new pope to lead the world's 1.2 billion Catholics and try to solve the numerous problems facing the church.The Vatican outlined the timeline for the balloting and confirmed that the bells of St Peter's Basilica will ring once a pope has been elected. But Vatican officials also acknowledged that there is some uncertainty about the whole endeavour, given the difficulties in discerning the colour of smoke that will snake out of the Sistine chimney - black if no pope has been elected, white if a victor has emerged.Vatican spokesperson, the Reverend Federico Lombardi, laughed off concerns, saying that some "suspense" was all part of the beauty of the process."We're not going to send out text messages or SMS messages, you'll have to come and see," another Vatican spokesperson, the Rev Thomas Rosica, said.For the sixth day, cardinals met behind closed doors to discuss the problems of the church and once again they discussed the work of the Holy See's offices "and how to improve it", according to Lombardi.The Holy See's internal governance has been the major constant in these days of discussion, an indication that the revelations of corruption, political infighting and turf battles exposed by the leaks of papal documents last year are casting a very big shadow over this conclave.While the cardinals ponder their choices, preparations for the vote continue.On Saturday, a handful of fire-fighters climbed onto the Sistine Chapel's roof and installed the top of the chimney. Inside Michelangelo's frescoed masterpiece, construction workers staple-gunned the felt carpeting to the false floor that has been erected over the chapel's stone floor.The false floor both evens out the steps of the chapel and hides the jamming equipment that has been installed to prevent any cellphone or eavesdropping devices from working. And in fact, on Saturday, cellphones had no reception in the chapel.For such an important decision, the Sistine chimney is an awfully simple affair: A century-old cast iron stove where the voting ballot papers are burned, with a copper pipe out the top that snakes up the Sistine's frescoed walls, out the window and onto the chapel roof.After years of confusion about whether the smoke was black or white, the Vatican in 2005 installed an auxiliary stove where fumigating cases are lit. The smoke from those cases - black or white - joins the burned ballot smoke out the chimney.

Screaming crowds greet Kim on frontline

North Korean television broadcast emotional scenes on Friday of cheering soldiers and their young families greeting leader Kim Jong-Un as he visited a frontline unit that shelled the South in 2010. With tensions surging on the Korean peninsula, Kim said the North's military was "fully ready to fight a Korean style all-out war," as he visited two islands close to the disputed maritime border on Thursday, state media said.Footage of the visit showed him being greeted by chanting troops who were held back as they surged towards him. Their families brought their children to meet him, with one woman encouraging her daughter forward for a hug.At the end of the trip, the soldiers ran down to the beach and waded chest deep into the freezing water clutching at Kim's motor launch as it moved away. The tour coincided with an outpouring of vitriol from Pyongyang over UN sanctions imposed for its nuclear test last month, with the North threatening pre-emptive nuclear strikes on the US and its allies, and vowing to rip up peace pacts with South Korea.Speaking to troops stationed on the islands, Kim said the slightest provocation would result in his immediate order for a "great advance" along the entire frontline with the South, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.On Mu island he inspected artillery units that shelled the nearby South Korean island of Yeonpyeong in November 2010, killing four people and triggering an exchange of fire that sparked fears of a full-blown conflict.State television showed Kim inspecting the craters left by South artillery shells on the island in what he described as the "most gratifying" battle since the end of the Korean War in 1953.The television footage showed him with binoculars looking across at Yeonpyeong Island and apparently discussing target selection with the artillery officers."He reconfirmed in detail reinforced fire power strike means and targets of the enemy deployed on five islets," including Yeonpyeong island and "defined the order of precision strikes" on those targets, KCNA said.Kim was accompanied on his tour by top members of the North Korean leadership, including political commissar Choe Ryong-Hae and Defence Minister Kim Kyok-Sik.