BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said on Thursday Bogota was closing the border with neighboring Ecuador where unrest erupted over austerity measures.
"I spoke with (Peru's president) and the two countries decided to close the borders with Ecuador as a political sign of solidarity with President Correa and with Ecuador's democracy," Santos told reporters before getting on a flight for a regional meeting in Argentina on Ecuador's unrest.
(Reporting by Bogota Newsroom)
(For more news visit Reuters India)
Copyright © 2010 Reuters
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Ecuador's Correa attacked, says opponents plot coup
QUITO (Reuters) - Renegade police attacked Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa in anti-austerity protests on Thursday and surrounded the hospital where he was treated as he accused opponents of trying to topple him in a coup.
People take part in a demonstration in support of Ecuador's President Rafael Correa in front of the Ecuador Embassy in Caracas September 30, 2010. Police protesters attacked Correa in an eruption of political unrest over austerity measures, leaving the leader holed up in an hospital with demonstrators outside. (REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins)
Some of Correa's supporters hurled stones at police around the building and the officers, who launched the protests over a government proposal to cut their bonuses, fired tear gas back.
Correa said it was coup attempt planned by his opponents, and leaders across the Americas threw their support behind him. The White House said it backed Correa and urged a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, the main regional ally of the leftist Correa, said his friend told him by phone that police chiefs were making demands of him at the hospital.
"He told them that once he had left he would be very happy to receive them, but that they had kidnapped him, and he would not give in to blackmail," Chavez said on Venezuelan state TV.
Correa's life was in danger, Chavez added, and he urged the Ecuadorean military not to support the attempted "coup".
Ecuador, a South American OPEC member of some 14 million people, has a long history of political instability.
Street protests toppled three presidents during economic turmoil in the decade before Correa took power.
Correa, a U.S.-trained economist, alienated foreign capital markets two years ago when his government defaulted on $3.2 billion in global bonds. Cash has been tight since as the nation relies on multilateral loans and bilateral lending to meet international financing needs.
The clashes outside the hospital followed a chaotic morning in which Correa and his wife were attacked, troops took over the main international airport, and protesting police burned tires in demonstrations against planned cuts to their bonuses.
Correa said he and his wife were jostled and stunned by an exploding tear gas canister as he tried to speak to demonstrators. Witnesses and local media said Correa was also hit by a flying object in the melee.
Visibly furious, he confronted the officers demonstrating against the planned budget cuts and challenged them: "Kill me if you want to. Kill me if you have the courage."
LOOTING
Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino called on a large crowd gathered outside the presidential palace, telling them people were trying to attack the president in the hospital and that they should march with him to save their trapped leader.
"The president is being held hostage inside," shouted Fernando Jaramillo, 54, a Correa supporter at the hospital.
Witnesses said there was looting in Quito and in Guayaquil city, and that many workers and school students were sent home.
State oil company Petroecuador said operations were unaffected and troops had boosted security at its oil fields.
Messages of support for Correa flowed in from abroad, with the Organization of American States and the governments of France, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina and others backing his government.
Chavez said he was about to fly to Argentina for an emergency meeting of regional body UNASUR to discuss the events. Peru's and Colombia's leaders said they were also going.
Correa is looking at the option of dissolving Congress, where members of his own left-wing party are blocking proposals aimed at cutting state costs.
Ecuador's two-year-old constitution lets the president declare an impasse, dissolve Congress and rule by decree until a new presidential and parliamentary election. That move would still need to be approved by the Constitutional Court.
POLICE BLOCK ROADS
Police apparently led the protests on Thursday but some soldiers joined in solidarity. "We are demanding that the president revoke the military service law," one soldier at the airport told Reuters, asking not to be named.
Armed forces' head Ernesto Gonzalez said troops were not rising up. "We are loyal to the maximum authority, which is the president," he told reporters.
Central bank chief Diego Borja called for calm and urged Ecuadoreans not to withdraw money from banks.
Peru and Colombia, meanwhile, closed their borders with neighboring Ecuador.
More than half Ecuador's 124-member Congress is officially allied with Correa, but the president has blasted lawmakers from his Country Alliance party for not backing his budget proposals.
"The (government) finally realizes that maybe their current spending could not continue but they don't really have a Plan B, nothing to cover shortfalls given the lack of investor friendly policies," said Roberto Sanchez-Dahl, portfolio manager at Federated Investors in Pittsburgh.
Correa was first elected in 2006 promising a "citizens' revolution" aimed at increasing state control of natural resources and fighting what he calls the country's corrupt elite.
Correa is renegotiating contracts with oil companies in a bid to increase state revenue. Private firms working in Ecuador include Spain's Repsol, Brazil's Petrobras and Italy's Eni.
(Additional reporting by Jose Llangari and Santiago Silva in Quito; Mario Naranjo in Santiago; Eyanir Chinea, Andrew Cawthorne and Daniel Wallis in Caracas; Daniel Bases in New York; Writing by Daniel Wallis and Andrew Cawthorne, Editing by
Kieran Murray and Sandra Maler)
People take part in a demonstration in support of Ecuador's President Rafael Correa in front of the Ecuador Embassy in Caracas September 30, 2010. Police protesters attacked Correa in an eruption of political unrest over austerity measures, leaving the leader holed up in an hospital with demonstrators outside. (REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins)
Some of Correa's supporters hurled stones at police around the building and the officers, who launched the protests over a government proposal to cut their bonuses, fired tear gas back.
Correa said it was coup attempt planned by his opponents, and leaders across the Americas threw their support behind him. The White House said it backed Correa and urged a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, the main regional ally of the leftist Correa, said his friend told him by phone that police chiefs were making demands of him at the hospital.
"He told them that once he had left he would be very happy to receive them, but that they had kidnapped him, and he would not give in to blackmail," Chavez said on Venezuelan state TV.
Correa's life was in danger, Chavez added, and he urged the Ecuadorean military not to support the attempted "coup".
Ecuador, a South American OPEC member of some 14 million people, has a long history of political instability.
Street protests toppled three presidents during economic turmoil in the decade before Correa took power.
Correa, a U.S.-trained economist, alienated foreign capital markets two years ago when his government defaulted on $3.2 billion in global bonds. Cash has been tight since as the nation relies on multilateral loans and bilateral lending to meet international financing needs.
The clashes outside the hospital followed a chaotic morning in which Correa and his wife were attacked, troops took over the main international airport, and protesting police burned tires in demonstrations against planned cuts to their bonuses.
Correa said he and his wife were jostled and stunned by an exploding tear gas canister as he tried to speak to demonstrators. Witnesses and local media said Correa was also hit by a flying object in the melee.
Visibly furious, he confronted the officers demonstrating against the planned budget cuts and challenged them: "Kill me if you want to. Kill me if you have the courage."
LOOTING
Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino called on a large crowd gathered outside the presidential palace, telling them people were trying to attack the president in the hospital and that they should march with him to save their trapped leader.
"The president is being held hostage inside," shouted Fernando Jaramillo, 54, a Correa supporter at the hospital.
Witnesses said there was looting in Quito and in Guayaquil city, and that many workers and school students were sent home.
State oil company Petroecuador said operations were unaffected and troops had boosted security at its oil fields.
Messages of support for Correa flowed in from abroad, with the Organization of American States and the governments of France, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina and others backing his government.
Chavez said he was about to fly to Argentina for an emergency meeting of regional body UNASUR to discuss the events. Peru's and Colombia's leaders said they were also going.
Correa is looking at the option of dissolving Congress, where members of his own left-wing party are blocking proposals aimed at cutting state costs.
Ecuador's two-year-old constitution lets the president declare an impasse, dissolve Congress and rule by decree until a new presidential and parliamentary election. That move would still need to be approved by the Constitutional Court.
POLICE BLOCK ROADS
Police apparently led the protests on Thursday but some soldiers joined in solidarity. "We are demanding that the president revoke the military service law," one soldier at the airport told Reuters, asking not to be named.
Armed forces' head Ernesto Gonzalez said troops were not rising up. "We are loyal to the maximum authority, which is the president," he told reporters.
Central bank chief Diego Borja called for calm and urged Ecuadoreans not to withdraw money from banks.
Peru and Colombia, meanwhile, closed their borders with neighboring Ecuador.
More than half Ecuador's 124-member Congress is officially allied with Correa, but the president has blasted lawmakers from his Country Alliance party for not backing his budget proposals.
"The (government) finally realizes that maybe their current spending could not continue but they don't really have a Plan B, nothing to cover shortfalls given the lack of investor friendly policies," said Roberto Sanchez-Dahl, portfolio manager at Federated Investors in Pittsburgh.
Correa was first elected in 2006 promising a "citizens' revolution" aimed at increasing state control of natural resources and fighting what he calls the country's corrupt elite.
Correa is renegotiating contracts with oil companies in a bid to increase state revenue. Private firms working in Ecuador include Spain's Repsol, Brazil's Petrobras and Italy's Eni.
(Additional reporting by Jose Llangari and Santiago Silva in Quito; Mario Naranjo in Santiago; Eyanir Chinea, Andrew Cawthorne and Daniel Wallis in Caracas; Daniel Bases in New York; Writing by Daniel Wallis and Andrew Cawthorne, Editing by
Kieran Murray and Sandra Maler)
New revenue sources needed to cut Govt deficit
Lesser Govt involvement in production, private sector will help boost its coffers
KUALA LUMPUR: The Government will have to look at new revenue sources to help raise its coffers as it seeks to reduce its fiscal deficit in the coming years.
While economists do not expect the goods and services tax (GST) to be implemented for another year or two, there are other channels that the Government could tap into.
“Lesser government involvement in production and private sectors such as a faster pace of divestment in government-linked companies will help to raise its coffers,” RAM Holdings Bhd group chief economist Dr Yeah Kim Leng told StarBiz yesterday.
In terms of development expenditures, the Government could utilise the public-private partnerships and privatisation programmes to help ease its financing burden, he added.
It is expected that the Government may table a bigger budget for 2011 as it seeks to allocate more funds to kick off the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) projects.
Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said last week, a bigger budget could be allocated as the Government expected higher revenues next year, although he did not elaborate.
The private sector is said to invest the bulk of the RM1.4 trillion worth of ETP projects with the Government aiming to provide 8% of the total funding.
“The fiscal consolidation is expected to be gradual. The upcoming budget 2011 will still remain fiscal supportive in terms of helping to rebalance demand,” said CIMB Investment Bank Bhd economic research head Lee Heng Guie, adding that his estimation for fiscal deficit in 2011 was 5.3% of the GDP.
Under the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP), the Government aims to reduce the fiscal deficit from 5.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010 to 2.8% by the end of the plan duration in 2015.
The country’s fiscal deficit ballooned last year to 7.4% of GDP led by a global economic downturn, which pushed the Government to introduce two stimulus packages amounting to RM67bil.
Economists expect the fiscal pullback to be done gradually so as to avoid dampening the economic recovery.
“A concern is that too rapid a reduction (in government spending) may have a negative impact on growth – there should be a judicious balance between cutback on spending and sustaining growth,” said Yeah.
The Government plans to continue with development spending and has allocated RM230 mil under the 10MP to move the country into a high-income economy.
“This year’s fiscal target is likely to be met, given that the economy is to perform above expectations and growth is seen to exceed projections. There could be a lower deficit this year because GDP (growth) is to be larger than earlier estimated,” said Yeah.
Bank Negara has previously said that Malaysia’s GDP growth could exceed 6% this year. For the first half of the year, the country’s economy grew 9.5%.
The 10MP pushes for a high-income, high-productivity economy with an average GDP growth of 6% per year.
Economists also said that Government expenditure could be reduced through the subsidy rationalisation plan as it allowed for greater efficiency in its spending and working towards achieving a balance budget.
“We are in a better position now to absorb a faster pace of subsidy reduction,” said Yeah.
He also said the Government should provide a timeline on when the GST would be implemented in the upcoming Budget 2011. “While oil and gas accounts for some 40% of government revenue currently, this will decline in the coming years and therefore, the implementation of GST needs to kick in soon.”
KUALA LUMPUR: The Government will have to look at new revenue sources to help raise its coffers as it seeks to reduce its fiscal deficit in the coming years.
While economists do not expect the goods and services tax (GST) to be implemented for another year or two, there are other channels that the Government could tap into.
“Lesser government involvement in production and private sectors such as a faster pace of divestment in government-linked companies will help to raise its coffers,” RAM Holdings Bhd group chief economist Dr Yeah Kim Leng told StarBiz yesterday.
In terms of development expenditures, the Government could utilise the public-private partnerships and privatisation programmes to help ease its financing burden, he added.
It is expected that the Government may table a bigger budget for 2011 as it seeks to allocate more funds to kick off the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) projects.
Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said last week, a bigger budget could be allocated as the Government expected higher revenues next year, although he did not elaborate.
The private sector is said to invest the bulk of the RM1.4 trillion worth of ETP projects with the Government aiming to provide 8% of the total funding.
“The fiscal consolidation is expected to be gradual. The upcoming budget 2011 will still remain fiscal supportive in terms of helping to rebalance demand,” said CIMB Investment Bank Bhd economic research head Lee Heng Guie, adding that his estimation for fiscal deficit in 2011 was 5.3% of the GDP.
Under the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP), the Government aims to reduce the fiscal deficit from 5.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010 to 2.8% by the end of the plan duration in 2015.
The country’s fiscal deficit ballooned last year to 7.4% of GDP led by a global economic downturn, which pushed the Government to introduce two stimulus packages amounting to RM67bil.
Economists expect the fiscal pullback to be done gradually so as to avoid dampening the economic recovery.
“A concern is that too rapid a reduction (in government spending) may have a negative impact on growth – there should be a judicious balance between cutback on spending and sustaining growth,” said Yeah.
The Government plans to continue with development spending and has allocated RM230 mil under the 10MP to move the country into a high-income economy.
“This year’s fiscal target is likely to be met, given that the economy is to perform above expectations and growth is seen to exceed projections. There could be a lower deficit this year because GDP (growth) is to be larger than earlier estimated,” said Yeah.
Bank Negara has previously said that Malaysia’s GDP growth could exceed 6% this year. For the first half of the year, the country’s economy grew 9.5%.
The 10MP pushes for a high-income, high-productivity economy with an average GDP growth of 6% per year.
Economists also said that Government expenditure could be reduced through the subsidy rationalisation plan as it allowed for greater efficiency in its spending and working towards achieving a balance budget.
“We are in a better position now to absorb a faster pace of subsidy reduction,” said Yeah.
He also said the Government should provide a timeline on when the GST would be implemented in the upcoming Budget 2011. “While oil and gas accounts for some 40% of government revenue currently, this will decline in the coming years and therefore, the implementation of GST needs to kick in soon.”
Tiong family likely to gain RM568m from EONCap takeover
KUALA LUMPUR: The Tiong family is expected to gain about RM568mil if the deal for Hong Leong Bank Bhd (HLB) to take over the entire asset and liabilities of EON Capital Bhd (EONCap) goes through.
This was revealed when Primus (M) Sdn Bhd lead counsel Datuk Loh Siew Cheang made a statement on the capital gains expected from the takeover and sought confirmation from the second respondent of the petition, Datuk Seri Dr Tiong Ik King.
Tiong confirmed the statement was true.
From the counsel’s explanation, it was understood that the RM568mil capital gains that the Tiong family expected would come from the 16.6% stake of RH Development Corp Sdn Bhd in EONCap if the deal for HLB to take over the entire asset and liabilities at RM5.06bil, or RM7.30 per share, had gone through.
Datuk Seri Dr Tiong Ik King at the court on Thursday. - Starpic by Kevin Tan
RH Development belongs to one of Tiong’s siblings and the 16.6% stake, or 112.7 million shares, was acquired at entry point of RM2.26 per share or a total of RM254mil.
Following that, Loh also questioned Tiong on whether the Tiong family was ready to exit from EONCap at RM7.10 per share (HLB’s first offer) and RM7.30 per share.
Tiong answered “yes” to both questions.
It was also revealed that Tiong’s interest to exit EONCap overlapped with Rin Kei Mei’s (another EONCap director) interest.
The examination-in-chief session yesterday at the High Court (commercial division) was also heated up when Loh asked Tiong to name the directors who were alleged to be alligned with Primus’ private interest in relation to the HLB takeover offer as stated in his affidavit.
Tiong then named Rodney Ward and Yeo Kar Peng as they might be nominated by Primus.
When the counsel sought Tiong’s confirmation on Yeo’s entry as director in February 2008 prior to Primus, Tiong answered “yes”.
Loh also questioned Tiong on his involvement in the appoinment of the new directors. “You voted in favour of the appointment of new directors (respondent three to respondent 12). Can you tell us what was the purpose?” he asked.
Tiong said the counsel should ask Rin, as he was the one who called for the EGM to appoint new directors.
Rin is also the first respondent in the petition.
But Tiong then explained that he agreed with Rin to the appointment of new directors as he thought it was a good proposal and should support it.
Loh then moved on to read Rin’s affidavit that suggested that the objective of the new board members was to look at the HLB prosposal with an open mind.
Loh then asked: “Do you agree?” And Tiong answered: “In this instance, yes my lord.”
However, Loh questioned the need to appoint new directors when there was no offer to be considered at this point of time.
To recap, HLB’s first offer that expired on Feb 2 was rejected by the previous management. HLB revised its offer at the same price on terms on March 30.
Primus has filed a petition against all of EONCap directors except Ng Wing-Fai (its own reprensentative on the board) regarding the offer by HLB to acquire the entire assets and liabilities of EONCap.
The respondents were nine directors and three companies – Kuala Pura (M) Sdn Bhd, Lintang Emas Sdn Bhd, RH Development – and EONCap (as nominal respondent).
Primus Pacific, which holds a 20.2% stake in EONCap, paid RM9.55 a share when it first bought into the company in 2007.
This was revealed when Primus (M) Sdn Bhd lead counsel Datuk Loh Siew Cheang made a statement on the capital gains expected from the takeover and sought confirmation from the second respondent of the petition, Datuk Seri Dr Tiong Ik King.
Tiong confirmed the statement was true.
From the counsel’s explanation, it was understood that the RM568mil capital gains that the Tiong family expected would come from the 16.6% stake of RH Development Corp Sdn Bhd in EONCap if the deal for HLB to take over the entire asset and liabilities at RM5.06bil, or RM7.30 per share, had gone through.
Datuk Seri Dr Tiong Ik King at the court on Thursday. - Starpic by Kevin Tan
RH Development belongs to one of Tiong’s siblings and the 16.6% stake, or 112.7 million shares, was acquired at entry point of RM2.26 per share or a total of RM254mil.
Following that, Loh also questioned Tiong on whether the Tiong family was ready to exit from EONCap at RM7.10 per share (HLB’s first offer) and RM7.30 per share.
Tiong answered “yes” to both questions.
It was also revealed that Tiong’s interest to exit EONCap overlapped with Rin Kei Mei’s (another EONCap director) interest.
The examination-in-chief session yesterday at the High Court (commercial division) was also heated up when Loh asked Tiong to name the directors who were alleged to be alligned with Primus’ private interest in relation to the HLB takeover offer as stated in his affidavit.
Tiong then named Rodney Ward and Yeo Kar Peng as they might be nominated by Primus.
When the counsel sought Tiong’s confirmation on Yeo’s entry as director in February 2008 prior to Primus, Tiong answered “yes”.
Loh also questioned Tiong on his involvement in the appoinment of the new directors. “You voted in favour of the appointment of new directors (respondent three to respondent 12). Can you tell us what was the purpose?” he asked.
Tiong said the counsel should ask Rin, as he was the one who called for the EGM to appoint new directors.
Rin is also the first respondent in the petition.
But Tiong then explained that he agreed with Rin to the appointment of new directors as he thought it was a good proposal and should support it.
Loh then moved on to read Rin’s affidavit that suggested that the objective of the new board members was to look at the HLB prosposal with an open mind.
Loh then asked: “Do you agree?” And Tiong answered: “In this instance, yes my lord.”
However, Loh questioned the need to appoint new directors when there was no offer to be considered at this point of time.
To recap, HLB’s first offer that expired on Feb 2 was rejected by the previous management. HLB revised its offer at the same price on terms on March 30.
Primus has filed a petition against all of EONCap directors except Ng Wing-Fai (its own reprensentative on the board) regarding the offer by HLB to acquire the entire assets and liabilities of EONCap.
The respondents were nine directors and three companies – Kuala Pura (M) Sdn Bhd, Lintang Emas Sdn Bhd, RH Development – and EONCap (as nominal respondent).
Primus Pacific, which holds a 20.2% stake in EONCap, paid RM9.55 a share when it first bought into the company in 2007.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Britney Spears is a ratings grabber for 'Glee'
NEW YORK (AP) - Britney Spears is a dream for Fox's hit musical "Glee."
Tuesday's episode that featured the star in some dream-sequence cameos drew an estimated 13.5 million viewers. The Nielsen Co. says it was the second most-watched episode of the show ever, behind last spring's return from a hiatus.
That's also an increase from the 11.1 million people who had tuned in to the "Glee" season premiere a week earlier.
Spears was also a trending topic on Twitter during the telecast, exemplifying one of TV's biggest new trends: viewers using social media to correspond with friends while watching.
The show's cast performed five Spears songs during the episode, including "I'm a Slave 4U" and "Stronger."
Tuesday's episode that featured the star in some dream-sequence cameos drew an estimated 13.5 million viewers. The Nielsen Co. says it was the second most-watched episode of the show ever, behind last spring's return from a hiatus.
That's also an increase from the 11.1 million people who had tuned in to the "Glee" season premiere a week earlier.
Spears was also a trending topic on Twitter during the telecast, exemplifying one of TV's biggest new trends: viewers using social media to correspond with friends while watching.
The show's cast performed five Spears songs during the episode, including "I'm a Slave 4U" and "Stronger."
Just-right planet that can support life detected
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It is not too hot and not too cold, and astronomers believe that a new planet detected outside our solar system may have a temperature that is just right to support life.
The planet orbits a red dwarf star called Gliese 581 and appears to be three times the mass of the Earth, the team at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the Carnegie Institution of Washington said on Wednesday.
A setting last quarter crescent moon and the thin line of Earth's atmosphere are photographed by an Expedition 24 crew member as the International Space Station passes over central Asia September 4, 2010 in this NASA handout photo obtained September 10, 2010. (REUTERS/NASA/Handout)
The team found it using indirect measurements from the Keck telescope in Hawaii, which has been used to scrutinize Gliese 581 for 11 years and has spotted other potential planets orbiting it.
"We had planets on both sides of the habitable zone -- one too hot and one too cold -- and now we have one in the middle that's just right," said Steven Vogt of UC Santa Cruz.
"The fact that we were able to detect this planet so quickly and so nearby tells us that planets like this must be really common," Vogt said in a statement.
The planet, called Gliese 581g, is 20 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Libra, according to the paper to be published in the Astrophysical Journal and available at .
A light-year is the distance light can travel in one year at a speed of 186,000 miles (300,000 km) a second, or about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion km).
The researchers use an indirect method radial velocity to detect planets. As a planet orbits, it makes the star wobble very slightly and this can be measured.
"There are now nearly 500 known extrasolar planets," Vogt's team wrote. "If the local stellar neighborhood is a representative sample of the galaxy as a whole, our Milky Way could be teeming with potentially habitable planets."
This planet, one of six whizzing around the little cool star, has a mass three to four times that of the Earth and orbits every 37 or so days, they calculated.
"Our findings offer a very compelling case for a potentially habitable planet," Vogt said.
They estimate temperatures on the planet average from -24 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit (-31 to -12 degrees C). The planet is locked facing its sun, like Mercury, so one side would be extremely hot and the other perpetually cold, with the livable range being at the edge where dawn and dusk would be on a spinning planet like Earth's.
If it was rocky, like Earth, it could have gravity similar to Earth's and it would be possible for liquid water to be on the surface, they said, although they have not detected water on Gliese 581g.
(Reporting by Maggie Fox; Editing by Paul Simao)
The planet orbits a red dwarf star called Gliese 581 and appears to be three times the mass of the Earth, the team at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the Carnegie Institution of Washington said on Wednesday.
A setting last quarter crescent moon and the thin line of Earth's atmosphere are photographed by an Expedition 24 crew member as the International Space Station passes over central Asia September 4, 2010 in this NASA handout photo obtained September 10, 2010. (REUTERS/NASA/Handout)
The team found it using indirect measurements from the Keck telescope in Hawaii, which has been used to scrutinize Gliese 581 for 11 years and has spotted other potential planets orbiting it.
"We had planets on both sides of the habitable zone -- one too hot and one too cold -- and now we have one in the middle that's just right," said Steven Vogt of UC Santa Cruz.
"The fact that we were able to detect this planet so quickly and so nearby tells us that planets like this must be really common," Vogt said in a statement.
The planet, called Gliese 581g, is 20 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Libra, according to the paper to be published in the Astrophysical Journal and available at .
A light-year is the distance light can travel in one year at a speed of 186,000 miles (300,000 km) a second, or about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion km).
The researchers use an indirect method radial velocity to detect planets. As a planet orbits, it makes the star wobble very slightly and this can be measured.
"There are now nearly 500 known extrasolar planets," Vogt's team wrote. "If the local stellar neighborhood is a representative sample of the galaxy as a whole, our Milky Way could be teeming with potentially habitable planets."
This planet, one of six whizzing around the little cool star, has a mass three to four times that of the Earth and orbits every 37 or so days, they calculated.
"Our findings offer a very compelling case for a potentially habitable planet," Vogt said.
They estimate temperatures on the planet average from -24 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit (-31 to -12 degrees C). The planet is locked facing its sun, like Mercury, so one side would be extremely hot and the other perpetually cold, with the livable range being at the edge where dawn and dusk would be on a spinning planet like Earth's.
If it was rocky, like Earth, it could have gravity similar to Earth's and it would be possible for liquid water to be on the surface, they said, although they have not detected water on Gliese 581g.
(Reporting by Maggie Fox; Editing by Paul Simao)
Times Square bomber planned second attack, says U.S.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors said on Wednesday they are seeking life in prison for a Pakistani-born American citizen who tried to set off a car bomb in New York's Times Square and revealed he had planned a second attack.
A man purported to be Faisal Shahzad is seen in this Al Arabiya television footage released to Reuters TV in this July 14, 2010 file grab. (REUTERS/Al Arabiya via Reuters TV/Handout)
Faisal Shahzad, 30, pleaded guilty in June to the failed bombing on May 1 in busy Midtown Manhattan. He was arrested two days later aboard a Dubai-bound plane, minutes before it was due to leave New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Shahzad admitted he received training in bomb-making from the Pakistani Taliban, called Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, and said they had funded the failed attack.
Court documents made public on Wednesday revealed Shahzad had told investigators he thought his bomb would have killed at least 40 people, and that he had planned to carry out a second bombing attack two weeks later. The target of the second attack was not identified in the documents.
Prosecutors said Shahzad, a naturalized U.S. citizen, posed a "particularly pernicious threat" and his prison sentence should deter potential future radicalization of U.S. citizens.
"While it is self-evident that specific deterrence is important in this case, deterring other United States citizens as well as those who are permitted to reside here from working to undermine our national security by aiding foreign terrorist organizations is vital," they said.
Prosecutors also revealed additional details about the plot. They said Shahzad used the Internet to study Times Square in a bid to maximize damages. They also said he consulted with militants in Pakistan throughout the bomb-making process.
"Shahzad used the Internet to access websites that provided real time video feeds of different areas of Times Square," the court papers said. "These websites enabled Shahzad to determine which areas of Times Square drew the largest crowds and the times when those areas would be most crowded."
As he assembled the bomb from his Connecticut home, prosecutors said, he used specific programs on his computer to communicate with Tehrik-e-Taliban militants.
Shahzad is due to be sentenced in Manhattan federal court on October 5.
(Editing by Michelle Nichols and Todd Eastham)
A man purported to be Faisal Shahzad is seen in this Al Arabiya television footage released to Reuters TV in this July 14, 2010 file grab. (REUTERS/Al Arabiya via Reuters TV/Handout)
Faisal Shahzad, 30, pleaded guilty in June to the failed bombing on May 1 in busy Midtown Manhattan. He was arrested two days later aboard a Dubai-bound plane, minutes before it was due to leave New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Shahzad admitted he received training in bomb-making from the Pakistani Taliban, called Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, and said they had funded the failed attack.
Court documents made public on Wednesday revealed Shahzad had told investigators he thought his bomb would have killed at least 40 people, and that he had planned to carry out a second bombing attack two weeks later. The target of the second attack was not identified in the documents.
Prosecutors said Shahzad, a naturalized U.S. citizen, posed a "particularly pernicious threat" and his prison sentence should deter potential future radicalization of U.S. citizens.
"While it is self-evident that specific deterrence is important in this case, deterring other United States citizens as well as those who are permitted to reside here from working to undermine our national security by aiding foreign terrorist organizations is vital," they said.
Prosecutors also revealed additional details about the plot. They said Shahzad used the Internet to study Times Square in a bid to maximize damages. They also said he consulted with militants in Pakistan throughout the bomb-making process.
"Shahzad used the Internet to access websites that provided real time video feeds of different areas of Times Square," the court papers said. "These websites enabled Shahzad to determine which areas of Times Square drew the largest crowds and the times when those areas would be most crowded."
As he assembled the bomb from his Connecticut home, prosecutors said, he used specific programs on his computer to communicate with Tehrik-e-Taliban militants.
Shahzad is due to be sentenced in Manhattan federal court on October 5.
(Editing by Michelle Nichols and Todd Eastham)
FBM KLCI higher in early trade
KUALA LUMPUR: The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) rose 2.76 points or 0.19% to 1464.54 points at 9.17am. It opened at 1465.84 points this morning, jumped 4.06 points.
MAYBANK was up 1 sen to RM8.72; CIMB rose 2 sen to RM8.19; AXIATA jumped 2 sen to RM4.42 while IOI dropped 1 sen to RM5.54.
HwangDBS Vickers Research said the consolidation process on the Malaysian stock exchange was set to continue after its benchmark FBM KLCI ran into a wall of resistance at the 1,465-mark, adding that the immediate support level remained at 1,435.
“This comes as there are little new market developments to excite investors to buy equities at this juncture. Quite naturally then, profit-takers will likely outnumber bargain-hunters following the recent multi-week rally,” it said in a report today.
For Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 slipped 51.78 to 9507.60; Straits Times Index dropped 8.37 to 3097.66 , Taiwan Taiex Index rose 16.50 to 8257.39 points while Kospi Index dropped 4.32 to 1862.13.
Nymex crude oil in electronic trade dropped 8 cents to US$77.78 per barrel.
Spot gold slipped US$2.60 to US$1307.25 per ounce.
The ringgit was quoted at 3.0855 to the US dollar.
MAYBANK was up 1 sen to RM8.72; CIMB rose 2 sen to RM8.19; AXIATA jumped 2 sen to RM4.42 while IOI dropped 1 sen to RM5.54.
HwangDBS Vickers Research said the consolidation process on the Malaysian stock exchange was set to continue after its benchmark FBM KLCI ran into a wall of resistance at the 1,465-mark, adding that the immediate support level remained at 1,435.
“This comes as there are little new market developments to excite investors to buy equities at this juncture. Quite naturally then, profit-takers will likely outnumber bargain-hunters following the recent multi-week rally,” it said in a report today.
For Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 slipped 51.78 to 9507.60; Straits Times Index dropped 8.37 to 3097.66 , Taiwan Taiex Index rose 16.50 to 8257.39 points while Kospi Index dropped 4.32 to 1862.13.
Nymex crude oil in electronic trade dropped 8 cents to US$77.78 per barrel.
Spot gold slipped US$2.60 to US$1307.25 per ounce.
The ringgit was quoted at 3.0855 to the US dollar.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
WARNING......X2... U KNOW Y? Asian markets in the red
PETALING JAYA: Asian stocks ended Tuesday trade mostly in the red due to lingering concerns over the euro-zone debt crisis and weakening global economic growth as well as fresh concerns over the Chinese government’s intensifying effort to curb real-estate speculation and raising of China’s interest rates to curb inflation.
The FBM KLCI extended its loss after falling 5.07 points to close at 1,459.64 points at 5pm. Turnover stood at 976.98 billion shares worth RM1.35bil. There were 244 gainers, 493 losers and 289 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia.
Leading gainers were Genting Bhd up 15 sen to RM9.88, CI Holdings Bhd up 12 sen to RM3.80, Coastal Contracts Bhd up 11 sen to RM2.37, Country View Bhd up 10.5 sen to 57 sen, Unisem (M) Bhd up 10 sen to RM1.90 and QL Resources Bhd up 9 sen to RM4.64.
Leasing losers were Tan Chong Motor Holdings Bhd down 24 sen to RM5.71, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd down 22 sen to RM14.48, Parkson Holdings Bhd down 16 sen to RM5.70, KFC Holdings (Malaysia) Bhd-warrants down 12 sen to RM1.22, Tenaga Nasional Bhd down 12 sen to RM8.88 and AirAsia Bhd down 11 sen to RM2.14.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 16.11 points to 3,097.35, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 230.89 points to close at 22,109.95 and Shanghai’s A share index fell 16.61 points to close at 2,611.35.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 107.38 points to close at 9,495.76, while Seoul’s Kopsi Index was down 4.86 points to 1,855.97.
Nymex crude oil at 4.56pm was quoted at US$75.63 per barrel, losing 88 cents; gold at 5.06pm was at US$1,288.70 an ounce, losing US$5.65. The ringgit was quoted at 3.0943 to the US dollar around 5pm.
The FBM KLCI extended its loss after falling 5.07 points to close at 1,459.64 points at 5pm. Turnover stood at 976.98 billion shares worth RM1.35bil. There were 244 gainers, 493 losers and 289 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia.
Leading gainers were Genting Bhd up 15 sen to RM9.88, CI Holdings Bhd up 12 sen to RM3.80, Coastal Contracts Bhd up 11 sen to RM2.37, Country View Bhd up 10.5 sen to 57 sen, Unisem (M) Bhd up 10 sen to RM1.90 and QL Resources Bhd up 9 sen to RM4.64.
Leasing losers were Tan Chong Motor Holdings Bhd down 24 sen to RM5.71, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd down 22 sen to RM14.48, Parkson Holdings Bhd down 16 sen to RM5.70, KFC Holdings (Malaysia) Bhd-warrants down 12 sen to RM1.22, Tenaga Nasional Bhd down 12 sen to RM8.88 and AirAsia Bhd down 11 sen to RM2.14.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 16.11 points to 3,097.35, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 230.89 points to close at 22,109.95 and Shanghai’s A share index fell 16.61 points to close at 2,611.35.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 107.38 points to close at 9,495.76, while Seoul’s Kopsi Index was down 4.86 points to 1,855.97.
Nymex crude oil at 4.56pm was quoted at US$75.63 per barrel, losing 88 cents; gold at 5.06pm was at US$1,288.70 an ounce, losing US$5.65. The ringgit was quoted at 3.0943 to the US dollar around 5pm.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Seven troubled PKR divisions postpone AGM, polls
PETALING JAYA: Seven PKR divisions will have to postpone their AGM and polls following reports of vandalism and technical hiccups, said party secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution.
Klang, Kapar and Kuala Langat were called off due to vandalism where ballot boxes were broken and the ballots papers strewn on the floor.
Petaling Jaya Selatan, Jerai, Merbok and Kuala Nerus were postponed due to technical disputes, he said. "Interim reports concluded that postponement of the division AGM were due to delays of election monitors and higher than expected attendance compared to the 2004 and 2007 polls. "Problems also arise from disturbances by non-party members who provoked the elections to throw a bad light on PKR in carrying out its elections," Saifuddin told a press conference on Monday.
He announced that out of 166 divisions, 159 or 96% had completed their AGM and elections.
39 divisions will be completing theirs by this weekend, he said.
Of the 159, Saifuddin said central election committee were looking into complaints of disturbances in Subang, Kota Raja and Parit Sulong but considered their meetings as concluded based "preliminary reports by election monitors" as of 2am, Monday morning.
He dismissed a suggestion that party adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim cut short his Jakarta trip to troubleshoot disturbances in the seven divisions. "He is only supposed to be there overnight. We are having dinner tonight and he will leave for Europe for a week the same night," he said.
Klang, Kapar and Kuala Langat were called off due to vandalism where ballot boxes were broken and the ballots papers strewn on the floor.
Petaling Jaya Selatan, Jerai, Merbok and Kuala Nerus were postponed due to technical disputes, he said. "Interim reports concluded that postponement of the division AGM were due to delays of election monitors and higher than expected attendance compared to the 2004 and 2007 polls. "Problems also arise from disturbances by non-party members who provoked the elections to throw a bad light on PKR in carrying out its elections," Saifuddin told a press conference on Monday.
He announced that out of 166 divisions, 159 or 96% had completed their AGM and elections.
39 divisions will be completing theirs by this weekend, he said.
Of the 159, Saifuddin said central election committee were looking into complaints of disturbances in Subang, Kota Raja and Parit Sulong but considered their meetings as concluded based "preliminary reports by election monitors" as of 2am, Monday morning.
He dismissed a suggestion that party adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim cut short his Jakarta trip to troubleshoot disturbances in the seven divisions. "He is only supposed to be there overnight. We are having dinner tonight and he will leave for Europe for a week the same night," he said.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Netanyahu urges settler restraint as moratorium ends
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Israeli settlers to act with restraint after a limited construction moratorium expires on Sunday, a plea that appeared aimed at keeping Middle East peace talks alive.
A Palestinian labourer works at a construction site in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Yakir south of Nablus September 26, 2010. (REUTERS/Nir Elias)
Netanyahu has resisted U.S. pressure to extend the 10-month limited freeze on housing starts in settlements in the occupied West Bank despite Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's threats to quit the negotiations launched on Sept. 2 in Washington.
But he has said he could limit the scope of renewed construction, a message he seemed to underscore in an official statement issued only hours before settlers were due to hold a cornerstone-laying ceremony to mark the end of the moratorium.
"The prime minister calls on the residents in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and the political parties to show restraint and responsibility today and in the future exactly as they showed restraint and responsibility throughout the months of the freeze," it said.
The moratorium officially expires at midnight (2200 GMT), and the United States held extensive discussions with Israeli and Palestinian officials over the weekend to try to prevent the collapse of the negotiations.
"The American efforts are continuing. So far, there is no breakthrough," Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Abbas, told Reuters by telephone from Paris, where the Palestinian leader was to meet on Monday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said there was more than an even chance the peace process would continue. Washington has said it hopes all major issues in the peace talks can be resolved within a year.
Abbas, whom Netanyahu has publicly urged to remain in the negotiations, also appeared to indicate the talks would not be suspended immediately upon the moratorium's expiration.
ARAB LEAGUE
Asked in an interview with the pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat whether he would declare an end to the negotiations if the freeze did not continue, Abbas said: "No, we will go back to the Palestinian institutions, to the Arab follow-up committee."
He was referring to an Arab League forum that gave him the go-ahead to pursue direct peace talks with Israel.
Abu Rdainah said Abbas had requested a meeting of the follow-up committee in Cairo and it would likely convene "within days".
The al-Hayat interview, published on Sunday, was conducted on Friday. Abbas and Palestinian officials with him, due in France for an official visit on Sunday, were not immediately available for comment.
U.S. President Barack Obama has urged Israel to continue the freeze, but Netanyahu, whose coalition is packed with pro-settler parties, could face the collapse of his government if he complies.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Washington was "doing everything we can to keep the parties in the direct talks". He said U.S. special envoy on the Middle East, George Mitchell, met Abbas for 30 minutes on Saturday.
"I think that the chance of achieving a mutually agreed understanding about (a) moratorium is 50-50," Barak said in a BBC interview in New York, where he met U.S. officials. "I think that the chances of having a peace process is much higher."
More than 430,000 Jews live in well over 100 settlements established across the West Bank and East Jerusalem on land that Israel captured from Jordan in a 1967 Middle East war.
The World Court deems settlements illegal, although Israel disputes this.
Palestinians say they will make it impossible for them to create a viable state and the issue is one of the core problems standing in the way of any peace deal.
A Palestinian labourer works at a construction site in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Yakir south of Nablus September 26, 2010. (REUTERS/Nir Elias)
Netanyahu has resisted U.S. pressure to extend the 10-month limited freeze on housing starts in settlements in the occupied West Bank despite Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's threats to quit the negotiations launched on Sept. 2 in Washington.
But he has said he could limit the scope of renewed construction, a message he seemed to underscore in an official statement issued only hours before settlers were due to hold a cornerstone-laying ceremony to mark the end of the moratorium.
"The prime minister calls on the residents in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and the political parties to show restraint and responsibility today and in the future exactly as they showed restraint and responsibility throughout the months of the freeze," it said.
The moratorium officially expires at midnight (2200 GMT), and the United States held extensive discussions with Israeli and Palestinian officials over the weekend to try to prevent the collapse of the negotiations.
"The American efforts are continuing. So far, there is no breakthrough," Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Abbas, told Reuters by telephone from Paris, where the Palestinian leader was to meet on Monday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said there was more than an even chance the peace process would continue. Washington has said it hopes all major issues in the peace talks can be resolved within a year.
Abbas, whom Netanyahu has publicly urged to remain in the negotiations, also appeared to indicate the talks would not be suspended immediately upon the moratorium's expiration.
ARAB LEAGUE
Asked in an interview with the pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat whether he would declare an end to the negotiations if the freeze did not continue, Abbas said: "No, we will go back to the Palestinian institutions, to the Arab follow-up committee."
He was referring to an Arab League forum that gave him the go-ahead to pursue direct peace talks with Israel.
Abu Rdainah said Abbas had requested a meeting of the follow-up committee in Cairo and it would likely convene "within days".
The al-Hayat interview, published on Sunday, was conducted on Friday. Abbas and Palestinian officials with him, due in France for an official visit on Sunday, were not immediately available for comment.
U.S. President Barack Obama has urged Israel to continue the freeze, but Netanyahu, whose coalition is packed with pro-settler parties, could face the collapse of his government if he complies.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Washington was "doing everything we can to keep the parties in the direct talks". He said U.S. special envoy on the Middle East, George Mitchell, met Abbas for 30 minutes on Saturday.
"I think that the chance of achieving a mutually agreed understanding about (a) moratorium is 50-50," Barak said in a BBC interview in New York, where he met U.S. officials. "I think that the chances of having a peace process is much higher."
More than 430,000 Jews live in well over 100 settlements established across the West Bank and East Jerusalem on land that Israel captured from Jordan in a 1967 Middle East war.
The World Court deems settlements illegal, although Israel disputes this.
Palestinians say they will make it impossible for them to create a viable state and the issue is one of the core problems standing in the way of any peace deal.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Japan refuses China demand for apology in boat row
TOKYO/BEIJING (Reuters) - Japan refused to apologise on Saturday for detaining a Chinese boat captain, showing no signs of softening in a dispute between the two economic powers after Japan gave ground and released him.
Zhan Qixiong, captain of a Chinese fishing boat, is sent to the prosecutors by the Japan Coast Guard on the southern Japanese island of Ishigaki September 9, 2010. (REUTERS/Kyodo)
The fishing trawler captain, Zhan Qixiong, flew out of Japan to the coastal Chinese city of Fuzhou on Saturday.
The release followed the detention of four Japanese nationals on suspicion of violating Chinese law regarding the protection of military facilities, though Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku has denied a link between the two incidents.
China's Foreign Ministry said Beijing was angry at the detention of the captain, arrested by Japan over two weeks ago after his trawler collided with two Japanese patrol boats in waters near islands that both sides claim. It demanded an apology and compensation.
For a graphic comparing Asia's two largest economies:
http://link.reuters.com/tup64p
China said its claim to the islands -- which it calls the Diaoyu and Japan calls the Senkaku -- was "indisputable", but Japan did not agree.
"There is no territorial issue that needs to be resolved over the Senkaku," Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "China calling for apology or compensation is groundless and is absolutely not acceptable."
China's statement had said that the two countries should solve their disputes through dialogue. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan also said it was time for Asia's two biggest economies to put relations back on a steady footing.
"I believe it is necessary for Japan and China to handle matters calmly," he said in New York, where he attended the U.N. General Assembly.
The dispute has underscored the brittleness of ties long troubled by Chinese memories of Japanese wartime occupation and territorial disputes over parts of the East China Sea that could hold rich reserves of gas.
Some Japanese newspapers decried Zhan's release as a backdown that would encourage Chinese assertiveness.
"There is a possibility that it has left an impression that Japan will cave in when pressured," a leading daily, Asahi Shimbun, said in an editorial.
Sun Cheng, an expert on relations between the two countries at the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing, said it would take time for relations to improve.
"China will want to keep up its case over the Diaoyu islands. Whether Japan actually apologies or gives compensation is not so much the point as making it clear that China won't compromise on sovereignty," he said.
(Additional reporting by Yoko Nishikawa and Chikako Mogi in Tokyo and Andrew Quinn in Washington; Editing by Nick Macfie)
(For more news visit Reuters India)
Zhan Qixiong, captain of a Chinese fishing boat, is sent to the prosecutors by the Japan Coast Guard on the southern Japanese island of Ishigaki September 9, 2010. (REUTERS/Kyodo)
The fishing trawler captain, Zhan Qixiong, flew out of Japan to the coastal Chinese city of Fuzhou on Saturday.
The release followed the detention of four Japanese nationals on suspicion of violating Chinese law regarding the protection of military facilities, though Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku has denied a link between the two incidents.
China's Foreign Ministry said Beijing was angry at the detention of the captain, arrested by Japan over two weeks ago after his trawler collided with two Japanese patrol boats in waters near islands that both sides claim. It demanded an apology and compensation.
For a graphic comparing Asia's two largest economies:
http://link.reuters.com/tup64p
China said its claim to the islands -- which it calls the Diaoyu and Japan calls the Senkaku -- was "indisputable", but Japan did not agree.
"There is no territorial issue that needs to be resolved over the Senkaku," Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "China calling for apology or compensation is groundless and is absolutely not acceptable."
China's statement had said that the two countries should solve their disputes through dialogue. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan also said it was time for Asia's two biggest economies to put relations back on a steady footing.
"I believe it is necessary for Japan and China to handle matters calmly," he said in New York, where he attended the U.N. General Assembly.
The dispute has underscored the brittleness of ties long troubled by Chinese memories of Japanese wartime occupation and territorial disputes over parts of the East China Sea that could hold rich reserves of gas.
Some Japanese newspapers decried Zhan's release as a backdown that would encourage Chinese assertiveness.
"There is a possibility that it has left an impression that Japan will cave in when pressured," a leading daily, Asahi Shimbun, said in an editorial.
Sun Cheng, an expert on relations between the two countries at the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing, said it would take time for relations to improve.
"China will want to keep up its case over the Diaoyu islands. Whether Japan actually apologies or gives compensation is not so much the point as making it clear that China won't compromise on sovereignty," he said.
(Additional reporting by Yoko Nishikawa and Chikako Mogi in Tokyo and Andrew Quinn in Washington; Editing by Nick Macfie)
(For more news visit Reuters India)
Russian-U.S. space crew lands in Kazakhstan
KOROLYOV, Russia (Reuters) - A Soyuz capsule carrying two Russian cosmonauts and a U.S. astronaut from the International Space Station landed safely in Kazakhstan on Saturday.
The Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft is seen as it lands near the town of Arkalyk, northern Kazakhstan September 25, 2010. (REUTERS/NASA/Bill Ingalls/Handout)
"The TMA module has landed," an announcer at Mission Control outside Moscow said to applause from officials and relatives, relieved after an initial attempt to return from the orbital outpost was foiled by an equipment problem on Friday.
Space officials said the capsule landed upright, on time and on target near Arkalyk on the central Kazakh steppe. Swooping down beneath parachutes, it kicked up a cloud of dust as it hit after firing rockets to cushion the landing.
NASA TV showed technicians crouching over the hatch of the gumdrop-shaped capsule, its nose scorched by the heat of re-entry, and helping Soyuz commander Alexander Skvortsov out in his spacesuit.
"I feel fantastic. The landing was soft and smooth," he said.
NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson was next out, smiling as she was carried to an armchair at the landing site and covered with a blue blanket.
As cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko was extracted from the hatch in the top of the cramped capsule, Dyson chatted on a satellite phone.
Skvortsov, Dyson and Korniyenko spent nearly six months aboard the International Space Station, arriving on April 4 in the same Soyuz TMA-18 that brought them back to Earth.
They were to have returned on Friday, but the descent was aborted after latches on a docking port holding the spacecraft to the orbital station failed to open, sending puzzled engineers scrambling for answers.
NASA later said crew members rigged up a solution, attaching jumper cables to bypass a failed hatch sensor that was blocking commands, enabling the latches on the Russian-made Poisk module to open.
"Space station crew members installed a series of jumpers, bypassing a failed component that had prevented commands from being received by the Russian Poisk module's docking mechanism," the U.S. space agency said on its website.
The Soyuz separated smoothly from the docking port this time and landed in Kazakhstan at 11:23 a.m. (0523GMT).
The three crewmates' stay aboard the station was marred by mishaps including a cooling system failure in August and a faulty radio link that sent a supply craft coasting past after an aborted docking. It docked successfully two days later.
"This crew ... had to deal with some very serious problems in orbit and they met every challenge professionally and fixed all the problems," Mark Bauman, NASA's deputy director of manned space programmes, said.
"I think we can see the benefit of having humans in space to keep the station healthy and yielding the science return that it will yield," he said.
U.S. space shuttle missions in November and February are to to complete the $100 billion station, a project of 16 nations that has been under construction 220 miles (355 km) above Earth since 1998.
Single-use Russian Soyuz craft will ferry all crews to the station after the NASA retires its shuttle fleet next year.
Earlier this year, Russia announced a halt to trips by millionaire space tourists to free capacity on Soyuz flights as the station has expanded to accommodate a permanent crew of six.
Russian Fyodor Yurchikhin and NASA astronauts Doug Wheelock and Shannon Walker remained aboard the station as planned after Saturday's departure.
Three new crew members are to join them next month.
The Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft is seen as it lands near the town of Arkalyk, northern Kazakhstan September 25, 2010. (REUTERS/NASA/Bill Ingalls/Handout)
"The TMA module has landed," an announcer at Mission Control outside Moscow said to applause from officials and relatives, relieved after an initial attempt to return from the orbital outpost was foiled by an equipment problem on Friday.
Space officials said the capsule landed upright, on time and on target near Arkalyk on the central Kazakh steppe. Swooping down beneath parachutes, it kicked up a cloud of dust as it hit after firing rockets to cushion the landing.
NASA TV showed technicians crouching over the hatch of the gumdrop-shaped capsule, its nose scorched by the heat of re-entry, and helping Soyuz commander Alexander Skvortsov out in his spacesuit.
"I feel fantastic. The landing was soft and smooth," he said.
NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson was next out, smiling as she was carried to an armchair at the landing site and covered with a blue blanket.
As cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko was extracted from the hatch in the top of the cramped capsule, Dyson chatted on a satellite phone.
Skvortsov, Dyson and Korniyenko spent nearly six months aboard the International Space Station, arriving on April 4 in the same Soyuz TMA-18 that brought them back to Earth.
They were to have returned on Friday, but the descent was aborted after latches on a docking port holding the spacecraft to the orbital station failed to open, sending puzzled engineers scrambling for answers.
NASA later said crew members rigged up a solution, attaching jumper cables to bypass a failed hatch sensor that was blocking commands, enabling the latches on the Russian-made Poisk module to open.
"Space station crew members installed a series of jumpers, bypassing a failed component that had prevented commands from being received by the Russian Poisk module's docking mechanism," the U.S. space agency said on its website.
The Soyuz separated smoothly from the docking port this time and landed in Kazakhstan at 11:23 a.m. (0523GMT).
The three crewmates' stay aboard the station was marred by mishaps including a cooling system failure in August and a faulty radio link that sent a supply craft coasting past after an aborted docking. It docked successfully two days later.
"This crew ... had to deal with some very serious problems in orbit and they met every challenge professionally and fixed all the problems," Mark Bauman, NASA's deputy director of manned space programmes, said.
"I think we can see the benefit of having humans in space to keep the station healthy and yielding the science return that it will yield," he said.
U.S. space shuttle missions in November and February are to to complete the $100 billion station, a project of 16 nations that has been under construction 220 miles (355 km) above Earth since 1998.
Single-use Russian Soyuz craft will ferry all crews to the station after the NASA retires its shuttle fleet next year.
Earlier this year, Russia announced a halt to trips by millionaire space tourists to free capacity on Soyuz flights as the station has expanded to accommodate a permanent crew of six.
Russian Fyodor Yurchikhin and NASA astronauts Doug Wheelock and Shannon Walker remained aboard the station as planned after Saturday's departure.
Three new crew members are to join them next month.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
FBM KLCI continues to consolidate at midday
KUALA LUMPUR: The benchmark FBM KLCI is likely to continue its consolidation pattern amid a dearth of fresh leads today, analysts said.
“Investors may have to look for rotational plays to be their investment ideas,” a research house said in a morning note.
The FBM KLCI fell 10.99 points to 1,463.76 on Thursday midday trade.
Wall Street also finished weaker last night.
Key US bellwethers lost between 0.2% and 0.6% at the closing bell as some investors were pessimistic and anticipated that the economic outlook could worsen ahead.
Meanwhile, stock markets in Japan, China, Hong Kong and South Korea are closed today due to the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Taiwan’s Taiex Index rose 0.15% to 8,209.04 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.07% to 4,628.30.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index slipped 0.09% to 3,093.23.
At Bursa Malaysia, 152 counters were up, 479 were down while 260 remained unchanged. There were 553.8 million shares done at a total value of RM609.9 million.
Among the top losers were Genting which fell 44 sen to RM9.94, British American Tobacco fell 34 sen to RM47.46 and KPJ shed 15 sen to RM3.21.
Glove makers were also major losers today with Top Glove falling 24 sen to RM5.06, Hartalega shed 24 sen to RM4.06 and Supermax lost 13 sen to RM4.06.
Among the heavyweights IOI Corp lost 8 sen to RM5.52, Maybank shed 5 sen to RM8.63 and CIMB slipped 4 sen to RM8.25.
In terms of corporate news flows, SP Setia is scheduled to announce their latest quarter financial results later in the evening.
Nymex crude oil was 2 cents lower at US$74.69 per barrel.
The ringgit was quoted at 3.0915 to the US dollar.
“Investors may have to look for rotational plays to be their investment ideas,” a research house said in a morning note.
The FBM KLCI fell 10.99 points to 1,463.76 on Thursday midday trade.
Wall Street also finished weaker last night.
Key US bellwethers lost between 0.2% and 0.6% at the closing bell as some investors were pessimistic and anticipated that the economic outlook could worsen ahead.
Meanwhile, stock markets in Japan, China, Hong Kong and South Korea are closed today due to the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Taiwan’s Taiex Index rose 0.15% to 8,209.04 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.07% to 4,628.30.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index slipped 0.09% to 3,093.23.
At Bursa Malaysia, 152 counters were up, 479 were down while 260 remained unchanged. There were 553.8 million shares done at a total value of RM609.9 million.
Among the top losers were Genting which fell 44 sen to RM9.94, British American Tobacco fell 34 sen to RM47.46 and KPJ shed 15 sen to RM3.21.
Glove makers were also major losers today with Top Glove falling 24 sen to RM5.06, Hartalega shed 24 sen to RM4.06 and Supermax lost 13 sen to RM4.06.
Among the heavyweights IOI Corp lost 8 sen to RM5.52, Maybank shed 5 sen to RM8.63 and CIMB slipped 4 sen to RM8.25.
In terms of corporate news flows, SP Setia is scheduled to announce their latest quarter financial results later in the evening.
Nymex crude oil was 2 cents lower at US$74.69 per barrel.
The ringgit was quoted at 3.0915 to the US dollar.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
U.S. monitoring 11 Muslim sites for discrimination
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday it is monitoring 11 cases of potential land-use discrimination against Muslims, a sharp increase in cases under a federal law designed to protect religious minorities in zoning disputes.
In a report on discrimination against mosques, synagogues, churches and other religious sites, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said it has monitored 18 cases of possible bias against Muslims over the past 10 years.
The front of a lower Manhattan building that will possibly house the Cordoba Initiative Mosque and Cultural Center in New York August 17, 2010. The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday it is monitoring 11 cases of potential land-use discrimination against Muslims. (REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/Files)
Eight of those have been opened since May, around the time when plans for a Muslim community center and mosque near the former site of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan seized media attention and caused a national political uproar.
Religious leaders have responded to the controversy and a related threat to burn Korans in Florida by pressing President Barack Obama to be more public in his defence of religious freedom.
The report made no mention of the planned Muslim center in New York, known as Cordoba House. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to discuss monitoring activities but stressed that no investigations were under way in those cases.
"Nearly a decade after the attacks of Sep. 11, 2001, Muslim Americans continue to struggle for acceptance in many communities, and still face discrimination," the civil rights report said.
"This fact is a sober reminder that, even in the 21st century, challenges to true religious liberty remain."
The report's release marked the 10th anniversary of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, a federal bill signed into law in 2000 by President Bill Clinton.
The law gives the Justice Department enhanced powers to protect planned and existing religious sites including places of worship, religious schools, prayer groups in private homes and social services including homeless shelters, group homes and soup kitchens.
The Justice Department has launched 51 discrimination investigations under the law since 2000. The investigations involved seven Muslim, six Jewish, three Buddhist and 31 Christian sites.
The Justice Department has gone to court against discriminatory practices in seven cases, some of which have involved multimillion-dollar damage awards.
In a report on discrimination against mosques, synagogues, churches and other religious sites, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said it has monitored 18 cases of possible bias against Muslims over the past 10 years.
The front of a lower Manhattan building that will possibly house the Cordoba Initiative Mosque and Cultural Center in New York August 17, 2010. The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday it is monitoring 11 cases of potential land-use discrimination against Muslims. (REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/Files)
Eight of those have been opened since May, around the time when plans for a Muslim community center and mosque near the former site of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan seized media attention and caused a national political uproar.
Religious leaders have responded to the controversy and a related threat to burn Korans in Florida by pressing President Barack Obama to be more public in his defence of religious freedom.
The report made no mention of the planned Muslim center in New York, known as Cordoba House. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to discuss monitoring activities but stressed that no investigations were under way in those cases.
"Nearly a decade after the attacks of Sep. 11, 2001, Muslim Americans continue to struggle for acceptance in many communities, and still face discrimination," the civil rights report said.
"This fact is a sober reminder that, even in the 21st century, challenges to true religious liberty remain."
The report's release marked the 10th anniversary of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, a federal bill signed into law in 2000 by President Bill Clinton.
The law gives the Justice Department enhanced powers to protect planned and existing religious sites including places of worship, religious schools, prayer groups in private homes and social services including homeless shelters, group homes and soup kitchens.
The Justice Department has launched 51 discrimination investigations under the law since 2000. The investigations involved seven Muslim, six Jewish, three Buddhist and 31 Christian sites.
The Justice Department has gone to court against discriminatory practices in seven cases, some of which have involved multimillion-dollar damage awards.
Atom body should address China-Pakistan deal -- U.S.
VIENNA (Reuters) - A senior U.S. official suggested on Wednesday the 46-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) should address Chinese plans to build two new reactors in Pakistan, one of the few countries outside a global anti-nuclear weapons pact.
The comments by Thomas D'Agostino, U.S. Under Secretary for Nuclear Security, came a day after China indicated it may see no need to seek approval from the NSG, some of whose members have voiced qualms about the plan to build two new reactors at Pakistan's Chasma nuclear energy complex.
Thomas D'Agostino (L), administrator of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration, talks to Teimuraz Kupatadze, head of the regional police, at the checkpoint on the Georgian-Azerbaijani border about 50 km (31 miles) south of Tbilisi in this June 14, 2010 file photo. (REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili/Files)
China joined the 35-year-old NSG, which seeks to ensure nuclear exports are not diverted for military purposes, in 2004.
On Tuesday, Beijing gave its firmest government confirmation yet of plans to build the two new reactors for nuclear-armed Pakistan, saying it was based on a contract in 2003, shortly before it joined the NSG.
The expansion of China's nuclear ties with Pakistan has ruffled Washington, Delhi and other capitals worried about Pakistan's history of spreading nuclear weapons technology covertly, its domestic instability, and the potential exceptions created in international non-proliferation regulations.
To receive nuclear exports, all nations except the five officially recognised atomic weapons states must usually place all nuclear sites under safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, NSG rules say.
NUCLEAR SAFEGUARDS
When the United States sealed its nuclear supply accord with India in 2008, it won a waiver from such NSG rules after contentious talks in which China and some other group members raised misgivings, since New Delhi is outside the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has a nuclear arsenal.
Pakistan has also shunned the NPT.
Washington and other governments have said China should at least seek a similar waiver for the Pakistan deal.
Asked about the Pakistani reactor plans, D'Agostino told reporters during an IAEA meeting in Vienna he did not want to comment on specifics, but added: "We look to engage with China on these particular issues... my focus is to use the framework of the mechanisms that we have in the Nuclear Suppliers Group...
"We are going to use the Nuclear Suppliers Group to the best of our abilities and use all of the tools that we have in that forum to address specific nuclear arrangements that are made, whether it is with China, Pakistan or a variety of other countries...," D'Agostino said.
Israel and North Korea are the only other countries outside the 40-year-old Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Asked whether the planned reactors should be under the supervision of the IAEA, D'Agostino said: "I believe in the end that all reactors involved in civil uses should be under IAEA safeguards..."
China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday Beijing had invited the IAEA to "exercise safeguards and oversight of this project."
But a diplomat familiar with IAEA procedures suggested it was up to Pakistan, not China, to ask it to get involved.
The comments by Thomas D'Agostino, U.S. Under Secretary for Nuclear Security, came a day after China indicated it may see no need to seek approval from the NSG, some of whose members have voiced qualms about the plan to build two new reactors at Pakistan's Chasma nuclear energy complex.
Thomas D'Agostino (L), administrator of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration, talks to Teimuraz Kupatadze, head of the regional police, at the checkpoint on the Georgian-Azerbaijani border about 50 km (31 miles) south of Tbilisi in this June 14, 2010 file photo. (REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili/Files)
China joined the 35-year-old NSG, which seeks to ensure nuclear exports are not diverted for military purposes, in 2004.
On Tuesday, Beijing gave its firmest government confirmation yet of plans to build the two new reactors for nuclear-armed Pakistan, saying it was based on a contract in 2003, shortly before it joined the NSG.
The expansion of China's nuclear ties with Pakistan has ruffled Washington, Delhi and other capitals worried about Pakistan's history of spreading nuclear weapons technology covertly, its domestic instability, and the potential exceptions created in international non-proliferation regulations.
To receive nuclear exports, all nations except the five officially recognised atomic weapons states must usually place all nuclear sites under safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, NSG rules say.
NUCLEAR SAFEGUARDS
When the United States sealed its nuclear supply accord with India in 2008, it won a waiver from such NSG rules after contentious talks in which China and some other group members raised misgivings, since New Delhi is outside the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has a nuclear arsenal.
Pakistan has also shunned the NPT.
Washington and other governments have said China should at least seek a similar waiver for the Pakistan deal.
Asked about the Pakistani reactor plans, D'Agostino told reporters during an IAEA meeting in Vienna he did not want to comment on specifics, but added: "We look to engage with China on these particular issues... my focus is to use the framework of the mechanisms that we have in the Nuclear Suppliers Group...
"We are going to use the Nuclear Suppliers Group to the best of our abilities and use all of the tools that we have in that forum to address specific nuclear arrangements that are made, whether it is with China, Pakistan or a variety of other countries...," D'Agostino said.
Israel and North Korea are the only other countries outside the 40-year-old Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Asked whether the planned reactors should be under the supervision of the IAEA, D'Agostino said: "I believe in the end that all reactors involved in civil uses should be under IAEA safeguards..."
China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday Beijing had invited the IAEA to "exercise safeguards and oversight of this project."
But a diplomat familiar with IAEA procedures suggested it was up to Pakistan, not China, to ask it to get involved.
More than 3 million affected by Indian floods
LUCKNOW (Reuters) - More than 3 million people in northern India have been affected by floods that have washed away homes, swept through holy sites and damaged crops as the authorities step up efforts to contain the damage.
A bulldozer removes waste floating on a flooded street in Dehradun September 20, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer)
Heavy monsoon rains have swelled mighty Himalayan rivers, which broke their banks in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Uttarakhand.
The waters have ravaged 500,000 hectares of farmland in Uttar Pradesh, the top cane growing state, prompting the government to cut by around a tenth its sugar output projections for the harvest season beginning in October.
People waded through chest deep water, travelled on bullock carts or on boats to reach safer areas, carrying children and household belongings in their hands and on their heads. In relief camps, they complained of a lack of food and medicines.
(For a graphic on rains distribution, click http://link.reuters.com/xex59n)
In Uttarakhand, where the army was called in after the Hindu holy river Ganges rose to near the danger level by the sacred town of Haridwar, 500,000 people were affected by the floods, said Mahendra Negi, a disaster management centre official.
"They (army) are actively providing medicines, shifting people to safer grounds and conducting repairs of small stretches of roads," said Colonel S. Om Singh, the army spokesman.
On Tuesday Sonia Gandhi, the powerful chief of the ruling Congress party, flew over the submerged districts and asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to offer liberal financial aid to the affected states, the party said in a statement.
DOGS, SNAKES AND SCORPIONS
UNICEF said 1.7 million people have been affected in Uttar Pradesh and 1 million in Bihar. Both are poor states and Uttar Pradesh is also the most populous with 190 million citizens. More than 300,000 people were forced out of their homes.
"It is quite concerning. The number of affected people (in Uttar Pradesh) could rise to 2 million. This flood is worse than 2007 floods," Amit Mehrotra, UNICEF Emergency Programmes Officer in the state, told Reuters.
Sugar industry officials said the floods would not alter the supply scene in India, the world's top consumer and second-largest producer of the sweetener, as the production loss would be made up by other states and by stocks in warehouses.
In Bihar, where the Gandak river burst through its embankments in various places and flooded villages, houses were invaded by stray dogs, snakes and scorpions.
"They are perched atop almirahs, in closets, in the kitchens and even in mud utensils. It's hell," 45-year-old Rupdeo Mahto told reporters in the flood-hit Gopalganj district.
Floods in India affect more than 40 million people each year on average, causing losses of $575 million and damaging crops in 3.7 million hectares. But the June-September monsoon is also vital to the country's farm output and economic growth.
The Ganges, a dip in which Hindus believe washes away sins, and its tributary rivers have risen to close to their record-high levels and weather officials have forecast more heavy rain.
As floods remain a matter of concern in Bihar, which goes to the polls next month to elect a new assembly, the election commission of India is considering relocating some polling stations or setting up mobile ones for voters.
Monsoon may not start withdrawing this week and with the weather department predicting more rain, state governments have been asked to gear up to cope with risk of heavy flooding.
(Additional reporting by Henry Foy, Ratnajyoti Dutta, Bappa Majumdar and C.J. Kuncheria in New Delhi, Reuters reporter in Patna; Writing by Paul de Bendern; Editing by Alex Richardson)
A bulldozer removes waste floating on a flooded street in Dehradun September 20, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer)
Heavy monsoon rains have swelled mighty Himalayan rivers, which broke their banks in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Uttarakhand.
The waters have ravaged 500,000 hectares of farmland in Uttar Pradesh, the top cane growing state, prompting the government to cut by around a tenth its sugar output projections for the harvest season beginning in October.
People waded through chest deep water, travelled on bullock carts or on boats to reach safer areas, carrying children and household belongings in their hands and on their heads. In relief camps, they complained of a lack of food and medicines.
(For a graphic on rains distribution, click http://link.reuters.com/xex59n)
In Uttarakhand, where the army was called in after the Hindu holy river Ganges rose to near the danger level by the sacred town of Haridwar, 500,000 people were affected by the floods, said Mahendra Negi, a disaster management centre official.
"They (army) are actively providing medicines, shifting people to safer grounds and conducting repairs of small stretches of roads," said Colonel S. Om Singh, the army spokesman.
On Tuesday Sonia Gandhi, the powerful chief of the ruling Congress party, flew over the submerged districts and asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to offer liberal financial aid to the affected states, the party said in a statement.
DOGS, SNAKES AND SCORPIONS
UNICEF said 1.7 million people have been affected in Uttar Pradesh and 1 million in Bihar. Both are poor states and Uttar Pradesh is also the most populous with 190 million citizens. More than 300,000 people were forced out of their homes.
"It is quite concerning. The number of affected people (in Uttar Pradesh) could rise to 2 million. This flood is worse than 2007 floods," Amit Mehrotra, UNICEF Emergency Programmes Officer in the state, told Reuters.
Sugar industry officials said the floods would not alter the supply scene in India, the world's top consumer and second-largest producer of the sweetener, as the production loss would be made up by other states and by stocks in warehouses.
In Bihar, where the Gandak river burst through its embankments in various places and flooded villages, houses were invaded by stray dogs, snakes and scorpions.
"They are perched atop almirahs, in closets, in the kitchens and even in mud utensils. It's hell," 45-year-old Rupdeo Mahto told reporters in the flood-hit Gopalganj district.
Floods in India affect more than 40 million people each year on average, causing losses of $575 million and damaging crops in 3.7 million hectares. But the June-September monsoon is also vital to the country's farm output and economic growth.
The Ganges, a dip in which Hindus believe washes away sins, and its tributary rivers have risen to close to their record-high levels and weather officials have forecast more heavy rain.
As floods remain a matter of concern in Bihar, which goes to the polls next month to elect a new assembly, the election commission of India is considering relocating some polling stations or setting up mobile ones for voters.
Monsoon may not start withdrawing this week and with the weather department predicting more rain, state governments have been asked to gear up to cope with risk of heavy flooding.
(Additional reporting by Henry Foy, Ratnajyoti Dutta, Bappa Majumdar and C.J. Kuncheria in New Delhi, Reuters reporter in Patna; Writing by Paul de Bendern; Editing by Alex Richardson)
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
'Mouse over' security flaw causes Twitter trouble
(CNN) -- Thousands -- possibly hundreds of thousands -- of Twitter users have been hit by a security bug that causes potentially dangerous content to appear on computer screens without warning, according to a researcher at the security firm Sophos.
When users of the popular site "mouse over" a link on Twitter.com, the content appears even if the person did not click on it, says Graham Cluley, the researcher, who recommends users avoid Twitter.com until the issue is fixed.
"It's obviously the most natural thing in the world just to move the mouse across the screen," he said in an interview with CNN. "You don't have to click on a link."
The bad links may also be retweeted, or sent to that person's followers, which causes the security flaw to spread across the network.
The bug could be harmless, doing nothing other than taking users to websites that they did not intend to open, Cluley said. But it also could be exploited by hackers who could use the bug to install malicious software on a person's computer, allowing them to collect personal and financial information, he said.
It appears to affect both the new and old versions of Twitter.com, he said. The site recently updated its look and functionality to include links and videos that open within the pages of Twitter's website. Using the site through third-party software, like TweetDeck or Seesmic, should still be safe, he said.
Twitter on Tuesday morning acknowledged the security flaw.
"We've identified and are patching a XSS attack; as always, please message @safety if you have info regarding such an exploit," the company wrote in a blog posted shortly before 10 a.m. ET. "We expect the patch to be fully rolled out shortly and will update again when it is."
That came after several prominent Twitter users appeared to be affected.
Writing on this blog, Cluley says that Sarah Brown, wife of the former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, was among those affected by the security hole.
"It appears that in Sarah Brown's case her Twitter page has been messed with in an attempt to redirect visitors to a hardcore porn site based in Japan. That's obviously bad news for her followers -- over one million of them," Cluley writes.
Brown posted this follow-up tweet on Tuesday morning:
"don't touch the earlier tweet - this twitter feed has something very odd going on ! Sarah."
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs also tweeted about the situation:
"My Twitter went haywire - absolutely no clue why it sent that message or even what it is...paging the tech guys..." Gibbs wrote on his Twitter feed.
A video posted by Sophos on YouTube shows the bug in action. When the user's mouse hovers over a problematic tweet, he or she automatically is redirected to another website, which could contain malicious or inappropriate material. The user does not have to click the link to activate the bug.
"It looks like many users are currently using the flaw for fun and games, but there is obviously the potential for cybercriminals to redirect users to third-party websites containing malicious code, or for spam advertising pop-ups to be displayed," Cluley writes on his blog.
It's unclear exactly how the problem started, Cluley said, but a vulnerability in Twitter's code likely has allowed people to stir up the trouble. That flaw may have existed for years, and simply was undiscovered, or it could be new, he said.
"We have seen this kind of thing before -- we've seen worms spreading in a similar way on Twitter before, but it's certainly the largest in recent times," he said.
Users who have been affected should log out of their accounts, disable Java Script and avoid the Twitter.com website until the matter is resolved, Mikko Hypponen, a researcher at the security firm F-Secure, writes on his blog.
"While Twitter's security team is scrambling to close this loophole, we expect problems to continue," Hypponen says.
"It's perfectly possible that there will be more malicious attacks, possibly combining this technique with browser exploits."
When users of the popular site "mouse over" a link on Twitter.com, the content appears even if the person did not click on it, says Graham Cluley, the researcher, who recommends users avoid Twitter.com until the issue is fixed.
"It's obviously the most natural thing in the world just to move the mouse across the screen," he said in an interview with CNN. "You don't have to click on a link."
The bad links may also be retweeted, or sent to that person's followers, which causes the security flaw to spread across the network.
The bug could be harmless, doing nothing other than taking users to websites that they did not intend to open, Cluley said. But it also could be exploited by hackers who could use the bug to install malicious software on a person's computer, allowing them to collect personal and financial information, he said.
It appears to affect both the new and old versions of Twitter.com, he said. The site recently updated its look and functionality to include links and videos that open within the pages of Twitter's website. Using the site through third-party software, like TweetDeck or Seesmic, should still be safe, he said.
Twitter on Tuesday morning acknowledged the security flaw.
"We've identified and are patching a XSS attack; as always, please message @safety if you have info regarding such an exploit," the company wrote in a blog posted shortly before 10 a.m. ET. "We expect the patch to be fully rolled out shortly and will update again when it is."
That came after several prominent Twitter users appeared to be affected.
Writing on this blog, Cluley says that Sarah Brown, wife of the former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, was among those affected by the security hole.
"It appears that in Sarah Brown's case her Twitter page has been messed with in an attempt to redirect visitors to a hardcore porn site based in Japan. That's obviously bad news for her followers -- over one million of them," Cluley writes.
Brown posted this follow-up tweet on Tuesday morning:
"don't touch the earlier tweet - this twitter feed has something very odd going on ! Sarah."
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs also tweeted about the situation:
"My Twitter went haywire - absolutely no clue why it sent that message or even what it is...paging the tech guys..." Gibbs wrote on his Twitter feed.
A video posted by Sophos on YouTube shows the bug in action. When the user's mouse hovers over a problematic tweet, he or she automatically is redirected to another website, which could contain malicious or inappropriate material. The user does not have to click the link to activate the bug.
"It looks like many users are currently using the flaw for fun and games, but there is obviously the potential for cybercriminals to redirect users to third-party websites containing malicious code, or for spam advertising pop-ups to be displayed," Cluley writes on his blog.
It's unclear exactly how the problem started, Cluley said, but a vulnerability in Twitter's code likely has allowed people to stir up the trouble. That flaw may have existed for years, and simply was undiscovered, or it could be new, he said.
"We have seen this kind of thing before -- we've seen worms spreading in a similar way on Twitter before, but it's certainly the largest in recent times," he said.
Users who have been affected should log out of their accounts, disable Java Script and avoid the Twitter.com website until the matter is resolved, Mikko Hypponen, a researcher at the security firm F-Secure, writes on his blog.
"While Twitter's security team is scrambling to close this loophole, we expect problems to continue," Hypponen says.
"It's perfectly possible that there will be more malicious attacks, possibly combining this technique with browser exploits."
Monday, September 20, 2010
Baltimore honors late rocker Frank Zappa with bust
BALTIMORE (AP): Rocker Frank Zappa was born in Baltimore but gained greater popular acclaim in Europe than in the United States.
On Sunday, devout European fans of the late musician brought his mustachioed likeness back home in the form of a bronze bust.
Several hundred fans gathered on a sweltering afternoon as city officials dedicated the bust of the ponytailed rocker outside an east Baltimore library. The bust is a replica of another in a public square in Vilnius, Lithuania, and was donated to the city by Zappa enthusiasts in the small Baltic nation.
"The spirit of Frank Zappa is alive and well in Baltimore," Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said.
The mayor joined Zappa's widow, Gail, and three of his grown children in watching as a curtain was drawn back to reveal the bust set atop a 12-foot (3.6-meter) steel pole.
Later, Zappa's son, Dweezil, took the stage with his tribute band, Zappa Plays Zappa.
Zappa was known for everything from novelty rock songs to elaborate classical compositions. He died of prostate cancer in 1993 at 52.
Sunday's ceremony marked the 25th anniversary of Zappa's testimony before Congress on freedom of expression for recording artists, though the scheduling was coincidental. Zappa had testified against proposed warning labels about lyrical content, calling them a path to censorshiop.
Libraries were a vital resource for Zappa, who had no formal music education, Gail Zappa told The Associated Press in a recent interview.
Zappa would have appreciated the bizarre way he came to be honored in his birthplace, his widow said. Zappa's songs were known for their quirky, humorous lyrics: One of his biggest hits was "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow." Yet his music was also a favorite of the avant-garde.
"He'd be wildly amused by this, because of the absurdity of these guys in Lithuania coming up with this phenomenal sculptor who normally does busts of Stalin," Gail Zappa said.
Zappa's daughter, Diva, choked up while addressing a throng that chanted Zappa's name.
"Thank you so much for just loving my dad," she said.
Also at the ceremony were the mayor of Vilnius and Saulius Paukstys, the longtime president of a Lithuanian Zappa fan club who commissioned the original statue.
He has described the effort to erect the bust in Vilnius in the early 1990s as a test of the former Soviet republic's fledgling independence. The Baltimore dedication, he said, was a great day "for art, the human mind and democracy."
Helen Urban, 61, of Silver Spring, was among the Zappa fans in the crowd and saw the original bust during a trip to Lithuania last year. The replica is in a better location, Urban said.
"They have it sitting in the parking lot of a hospital," she said. "It's ugly as sin, but it's cool."
Gail Zappa, on the other hand, finds it beautiful.
"The guy was inspired," she said of sculptor Konstantinas Bogdanas. "It's more than a likeness. It captured the force of his personality and his will in terms of being an artist."
On Sunday, devout European fans of the late musician brought his mustachioed likeness back home in the form of a bronze bust.
Several hundred fans gathered on a sweltering afternoon as city officials dedicated the bust of the ponytailed rocker outside an east Baltimore library. The bust is a replica of another in a public square in Vilnius, Lithuania, and was donated to the city by Zappa enthusiasts in the small Baltic nation.
"The spirit of Frank Zappa is alive and well in Baltimore," Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said.
The mayor joined Zappa's widow, Gail, and three of his grown children in watching as a curtain was drawn back to reveal the bust set atop a 12-foot (3.6-meter) steel pole.
Later, Zappa's son, Dweezil, took the stage with his tribute band, Zappa Plays Zappa.
Zappa was known for everything from novelty rock songs to elaborate classical compositions. He died of prostate cancer in 1993 at 52.
Sunday's ceremony marked the 25th anniversary of Zappa's testimony before Congress on freedom of expression for recording artists, though the scheduling was coincidental. Zappa had testified against proposed warning labels about lyrical content, calling them a path to censorshiop.
Libraries were a vital resource for Zappa, who had no formal music education, Gail Zappa told The Associated Press in a recent interview.
Zappa would have appreciated the bizarre way he came to be honored in his birthplace, his widow said. Zappa's songs were known for their quirky, humorous lyrics: One of his biggest hits was "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow." Yet his music was also a favorite of the avant-garde.
"He'd be wildly amused by this, because of the absurdity of these guys in Lithuania coming up with this phenomenal sculptor who normally does busts of Stalin," Gail Zappa said.
Zappa's daughter, Diva, choked up while addressing a throng that chanted Zappa's name.
"Thank you so much for just loving my dad," she said.
Also at the ceremony were the mayor of Vilnius and Saulius Paukstys, the longtime president of a Lithuanian Zappa fan club who commissioned the original statue.
He has described the effort to erect the bust in Vilnius in the early 1990s as a test of the former Soviet republic's fledgling independence. The Baltimore dedication, he said, was a great day "for art, the human mind and democracy."
Helen Urban, 61, of Silver Spring, was among the Zappa fans in the crowd and saw the original bust during a trip to Lithuania last year. The replica is in a better location, Urban said.
"They have it sitting in the parking lot of a hospital," she said. "It's ugly as sin, but it's cool."
Gail Zappa, on the other hand, finds it beautiful.
"The guy was inspired," she said of sculptor Konstantinas Bogdanas. "It's more than a likeness. It captured the force of his personality and his will in terms of being an artist."
Billionaire Ananda Krishnan's Tanjong may sell gaming business after privatisation
PETALING JAYA: Sweet deal, smooth execution. That sums up the privatisation process of power and gaming outfit Tanjong plc.
In just less than two months after announcing its conditional buyout offer, Tanjong Capital Sdn Bhd – a special purpose vehicle set up by Usaha Tegas Sdn Bhd and its allies for the purpose of taking Tanjong private – had already received enough acceptances to give it more than 90% ownership of Tanjong.
Hardly surprising, given the attractive offer of RM21.80 per share, which represented a premium of 22% over Tanjong’s last traded price of RM17.88 before the takeover bid. In fact, every stock analyst in town had encouraged shareholders to take the deal.
Tanjong Capital’s buyout offer became unconditional as of last Monday, and the company proceeded to exercise its rights to compulsorily acquire all the remaining shares it did not already own in Tanjong the next day.
T. Ananda Krishnan is a key shareholder in Tanjong
Trading of Tanjong shares will be suspended from today to facilitate the takeover by Tanjong Capital, and in line with target, the process of delisting Tanjong will be completed by the end of this month.
So, after almost two decades of being a fixture in the local bourse and the London Stock Exchange (LSE), it’s time for this steadfast stock to bid farewell. (Its listing status in LSE had been cancelled since last month.)
Looking back, Tanjong has indeed come a long way to build its strength and resilience and became a favourite play, particularly among institutional investors, for the many years that it had been listed.
It is interesting to note that Tanjong’s roots were actually founded in England back in 1926 when it was then known as Tanjong Tin Dredging Ltd. After a corporate restructuring and the injection of gaming outfit Pan Malaysian Pools Sdn Bhd into its business stable in 1991, Tanjong assumed its present name and went on to list on the then Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (now Bursa Malaysia) and LSE.
Businessman tycoon T. Ananda Krishnan has been a key shareholder in Tanjong all along, with his 30.9% stake in the company being held through Usaha Tegas – his private investment vehicle.
Under the stewardship of Ananda – the man famous for his maverick business sense – Tanjong has grown steadily to become one of the stalwarts of Corporate Malaysia. With a market capitalisation of around RM8.5bil, Tanjong stood among the top 30 largest listed companies in the country, and it represented about 1.4% of the weightage of FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index.
(The void it leaves behind in the index composition post-delisting will be replaced by construction outfit Gamuda Bhd, which has a market capitalisation of around RM7.5bil.)
It has often been argued that resilience is one of the two key factors that appeal to Tanjong investors. This is due to the company’s wide range of businesses, which included power generation, gaming, leisure and property investment.
However, it is the company’s diversity that caused it to suffer from a conglomerate discount valuation, resulting in its shares consistently being undervalued by the market. Based on its last traded price before the general offer, Tanjong was valued on a price-earning ratio of around 11 times only, compared with the industry average of 14 to 15 times.
The market’s valuation of Tanjong’s worth, as analysts said, did not reflect the company’s strong fundamentals, as evidenced in its financial results.
Over the span of five years, Tanjong had grown its revenue from RM1.97bil for the financial year (FY) ended Jan 31, 2006, to RM3.9bil for FY2010. Its operating profit, on the other hand, grew from RM557.38mil in FY2006 to RM1.22bil in FY2010.
So far, the lucrative power business has been the major driver of Tanjong’s financial performance. The division contributed about 70% to group revenue and almost 80% to operating profit based on its recent financial report for the first quarter ended April 30.
Tanjong ventured into the power business in 1998 when it acquired an 84% stake in independent power producer (IPP) Powertek Bhd. Tanjong subsequently raised its stake in the latter to 100% in 2003.
Between 2005 and 2007, Tanjong began to add foreign power assets into its stable. These included a 10% stake in the Taweelah B independent water and power project in the United Arab Emirates; a 100% stake in Kuasa Nusajaya (L) Ltd that came with two power plants in Egypt; and a 55% stake in Pendekar Energy (L) Ltd, through which it added seven plants spread across Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka into its stable.
In total, Tanjong presently operates 13 power plants in Malaysia and overseas, with total net generating capacity of 3,951 MW.
The company has been open about its ambition to become a global player in the power generation industry, with plans to double its power generation capacity to 6,000MW over the next four to five years.
It’s a new and exciting phase for Tanjong, one that is aggressively expansionary, and which requires substantial capital expenditure. And if the company were to remain as a listed entity, this route would imply less inclination to pay generous dividends to shareholders for several years.
Tanjong had so far been generous with its dividend payouts, increasing them from 70 sen per share in FY2006 to RM1 in FY2010. A reverse of the trend could result in its share price being hammered, hence further undervaluing the company’s potential. So, privatisation makes sense.
Meanwhile, according to sources, Usaha Tegas is already finalising plans to sell the gaming business of Tanjong after the latter’s privatisation. It’s known that Ananda had little interest in growing the gaming business, which is seen to be plateauing, so such news wouldn’t surprise anyone.
Going forward, it’s obvious that power will be the lifeblood of Tanjong. Given the growing prospects of the sector in a power-hungry world, one can only expect it to give the company the boost towards a stronger future.
In just less than two months after announcing its conditional buyout offer, Tanjong Capital Sdn Bhd – a special purpose vehicle set up by Usaha Tegas Sdn Bhd and its allies for the purpose of taking Tanjong private – had already received enough acceptances to give it more than 90% ownership of Tanjong.
Hardly surprising, given the attractive offer of RM21.80 per share, which represented a premium of 22% over Tanjong’s last traded price of RM17.88 before the takeover bid. In fact, every stock analyst in town had encouraged shareholders to take the deal.
Tanjong Capital’s buyout offer became unconditional as of last Monday, and the company proceeded to exercise its rights to compulsorily acquire all the remaining shares it did not already own in Tanjong the next day.
T. Ananda Krishnan is a key shareholder in Tanjong
Trading of Tanjong shares will be suspended from today to facilitate the takeover by Tanjong Capital, and in line with target, the process of delisting Tanjong will be completed by the end of this month.
So, after almost two decades of being a fixture in the local bourse and the London Stock Exchange (LSE), it’s time for this steadfast stock to bid farewell. (Its listing status in LSE had been cancelled since last month.)
Looking back, Tanjong has indeed come a long way to build its strength and resilience and became a favourite play, particularly among institutional investors, for the many years that it had been listed.
It is interesting to note that Tanjong’s roots were actually founded in England back in 1926 when it was then known as Tanjong Tin Dredging Ltd. After a corporate restructuring and the injection of gaming outfit Pan Malaysian Pools Sdn Bhd into its business stable in 1991, Tanjong assumed its present name and went on to list on the then Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (now Bursa Malaysia) and LSE.
Businessman tycoon T. Ananda Krishnan has been a key shareholder in Tanjong all along, with his 30.9% stake in the company being held through Usaha Tegas – his private investment vehicle.
Under the stewardship of Ananda – the man famous for his maverick business sense – Tanjong has grown steadily to become one of the stalwarts of Corporate Malaysia. With a market capitalisation of around RM8.5bil, Tanjong stood among the top 30 largest listed companies in the country, and it represented about 1.4% of the weightage of FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index.
(The void it leaves behind in the index composition post-delisting will be replaced by construction outfit Gamuda Bhd, which has a market capitalisation of around RM7.5bil.)
It has often been argued that resilience is one of the two key factors that appeal to Tanjong investors. This is due to the company’s wide range of businesses, which included power generation, gaming, leisure and property investment.
However, it is the company’s diversity that caused it to suffer from a conglomerate discount valuation, resulting in its shares consistently being undervalued by the market. Based on its last traded price before the general offer, Tanjong was valued on a price-earning ratio of around 11 times only, compared with the industry average of 14 to 15 times.
The market’s valuation of Tanjong’s worth, as analysts said, did not reflect the company’s strong fundamentals, as evidenced in its financial results.
Over the span of five years, Tanjong had grown its revenue from RM1.97bil for the financial year (FY) ended Jan 31, 2006, to RM3.9bil for FY2010. Its operating profit, on the other hand, grew from RM557.38mil in FY2006 to RM1.22bil in FY2010.
So far, the lucrative power business has been the major driver of Tanjong’s financial performance. The division contributed about 70% to group revenue and almost 80% to operating profit based on its recent financial report for the first quarter ended April 30.
Tanjong ventured into the power business in 1998 when it acquired an 84% stake in independent power producer (IPP) Powertek Bhd. Tanjong subsequently raised its stake in the latter to 100% in 2003.
Between 2005 and 2007, Tanjong began to add foreign power assets into its stable. These included a 10% stake in the Taweelah B independent water and power project in the United Arab Emirates; a 100% stake in Kuasa Nusajaya (L) Ltd that came with two power plants in Egypt; and a 55% stake in Pendekar Energy (L) Ltd, through which it added seven plants spread across Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka into its stable.
In total, Tanjong presently operates 13 power plants in Malaysia and overseas, with total net generating capacity of 3,951 MW.
The company has been open about its ambition to become a global player in the power generation industry, with plans to double its power generation capacity to 6,000MW over the next four to five years.
It’s a new and exciting phase for Tanjong, one that is aggressively expansionary, and which requires substantial capital expenditure. And if the company were to remain as a listed entity, this route would imply less inclination to pay generous dividends to shareholders for several years.
Tanjong had so far been generous with its dividend payouts, increasing them from 70 sen per share in FY2006 to RM1 in FY2010. A reverse of the trend could result in its share price being hammered, hence further undervaluing the company’s potential. So, privatisation makes sense.
Meanwhile, according to sources, Usaha Tegas is already finalising plans to sell the gaming business of Tanjong after the latter’s privatisation. It’s known that Ananda had little interest in growing the gaming business, which is seen to be plateauing, so such news wouldn’t surprise anyone.
Going forward, it’s obvious that power will be the lifeblood of Tanjong. Given the growing prospects of the sector in a power-hungry world, one can only expect it to give the company the boost towards a stronger future.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Pope apologises on abuse, thousands protest in London
LONDON (Reuters) - Pope Benedict made one of his strongest apologies to victims of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests in London, while thousands of marchers staged the biggest protest of any of his trips abroad.
Pope Benedict XVI waves to the crowds gathered outside St Peter's Residence in London September 18, 2010. (REUTERS/Lefteris Pitarakis/POOL)
As he has done on three previous visits, the pope held a private meeting with victims of sexual abuse on Saturday after telling worshippers at a Mass that paedophile priests had brought "shame and humiliation" on him and the Catholic Church.
"He was moved by what they had to say and expressed his deep sorrow and shame over what victims and their families had suffered," a Vatican statement said after the pope met five Britons who were abused as children.
"He prayed with them and assured them that the Catholic Church is continuing to implement effective measures designed to safeguard young people, and that it is doing all in its power to investigate allegations, to collaborate with civil authorities and to bring to justice (those) ... accused of these egregious crimes," said the statement.
It was nearly identical to those issued after past meetings.
As the meeting took place, some 10,000 chanting demonstrators snaked though the streets of London to protest against his handling of the abuse crisis and his views on homosexuals and the ordination of women.
They carried banners reading "Benedict's homophobia costs lives" and "Protect the Children - Demote the Pope". It was the largest demonstration so far on the pope's four-day visit to Britain, which ends on Sunday in the city of Birmingham, and the largest of any of his 17 trips abroad.
In the early evening, he was driven past some of London's landmarks, including Buckingham Palace, as tens of thousands of people cheered him on his way to a prayer vigil in Hyde Park, where about 80,000 people had gathered.
He began the day with a Mass for some 2,000 people in Westminster Cathedral, the mother church for Roman Catholics in England and Wales and a symbol of the struggle of Catholics to assert their rights after the Reformation.
His apology in a sermon there was his latest attempt to come to grips with the scandal that has rocked the 1.1 billion-member Church, particularly in Europe and the United States.
"I think of the immense suffering caused by the abuse of children, especially within the Church and by her ministers. Above all, I express my deep sorrow to the innocent victims of these unspeakable crimes ...," he said in his sermon in the towering cathedral built in the late 19th century.
SHAME AND HUMILIATION
"I also acknowledge with you the shame and humiliation that all of us have suffered because of these sins," he said, adding that he hoped "this chastisement" would contribute to the healing of the victims and the purification of the Church.
He has apologised before for sexual abuse by priests and has acknowledged that the Church was slow to deal with the problem. But his comments on Saturday were among his most direct.
Groups defending victims were not satisfied, with one group named Bishop.Accountability.org calling it "public relations not penitence".
"An apology is what a schoolboy does when he kicks a football through a window. What we need is for the pope to release all the files on predator priests," Sue Cox, a demonstrator who was abused as a child, said on television.
During a visit to an old age home run by Catholic nuns, he spoke to a group of lay people who oversee the implementation of child protection measures and told them it was important that "any allegations of abuse are dealt with swiftly and justly".
The pope began his last day in London by holding separate meetings with Prime Minister David Cameron, deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and acting opposition leader Harriet Harman.
Clegg is a professed atheist but is married to a Spanish Roman Catholic who is raising their children in the faith.
On Friday, anti-terrorism police, on high alert for the pope's visit, arrested six men in London on suspicion of preparing an attack. Police searched eight homes and two businesses and reviewed their security operation.
Police said on Sunday all six had been released overnight without charge,
On Sunday the pope flies to Birmingham in central England, where he will beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman, one of the most prominent English converts from Anglicanism to Catholicism.
Pope Benedict XVI waves to the crowds gathered outside St Peter's Residence in London September 18, 2010. (REUTERS/Lefteris Pitarakis/POOL)
As he has done on three previous visits, the pope held a private meeting with victims of sexual abuse on Saturday after telling worshippers at a Mass that paedophile priests had brought "shame and humiliation" on him and the Catholic Church.
"He was moved by what they had to say and expressed his deep sorrow and shame over what victims and their families had suffered," a Vatican statement said after the pope met five Britons who were abused as children.
"He prayed with them and assured them that the Catholic Church is continuing to implement effective measures designed to safeguard young people, and that it is doing all in its power to investigate allegations, to collaborate with civil authorities and to bring to justice (those) ... accused of these egregious crimes," said the statement.
It was nearly identical to those issued after past meetings.
As the meeting took place, some 10,000 chanting demonstrators snaked though the streets of London to protest against his handling of the abuse crisis and his views on homosexuals and the ordination of women.
They carried banners reading "Benedict's homophobia costs lives" and "Protect the Children - Demote the Pope". It was the largest demonstration so far on the pope's four-day visit to Britain, which ends on Sunday in the city of Birmingham, and the largest of any of his 17 trips abroad.
In the early evening, he was driven past some of London's landmarks, including Buckingham Palace, as tens of thousands of people cheered him on his way to a prayer vigil in Hyde Park, where about 80,000 people had gathered.
He began the day with a Mass for some 2,000 people in Westminster Cathedral, the mother church for Roman Catholics in England and Wales and a symbol of the struggle of Catholics to assert their rights after the Reformation.
His apology in a sermon there was his latest attempt to come to grips with the scandal that has rocked the 1.1 billion-member Church, particularly in Europe and the United States.
"I think of the immense suffering caused by the abuse of children, especially within the Church and by her ministers. Above all, I express my deep sorrow to the innocent victims of these unspeakable crimes ...," he said in his sermon in the towering cathedral built in the late 19th century.
SHAME AND HUMILIATION
"I also acknowledge with you the shame and humiliation that all of us have suffered because of these sins," he said, adding that he hoped "this chastisement" would contribute to the healing of the victims and the purification of the Church.
He has apologised before for sexual abuse by priests and has acknowledged that the Church was slow to deal with the problem. But his comments on Saturday were among his most direct.
Groups defending victims were not satisfied, with one group named Bishop.Accountability.org calling it "public relations not penitence".
"An apology is what a schoolboy does when he kicks a football through a window. What we need is for the pope to release all the files on predator priests," Sue Cox, a demonstrator who was abused as a child, said on television.
During a visit to an old age home run by Catholic nuns, he spoke to a group of lay people who oversee the implementation of child protection measures and told them it was important that "any allegations of abuse are dealt with swiftly and justly".
The pope began his last day in London by holding separate meetings with Prime Minister David Cameron, deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and acting opposition leader Harriet Harman.
Clegg is a professed atheist but is married to a Spanish Roman Catholic who is raising their children in the faith.
On Friday, anti-terrorism police, on high alert for the pope's visit, arrested six men in London on suspicion of preparing an attack. Police searched eight homes and two businesses and reviewed their security operation.
Police said on Sunday all six had been released overnight without charge,
On Sunday the pope flies to Birmingham in central England, where he will beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman, one of the most prominent English converts from Anglicanism to Catholicism.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Fed Will Retain Policy on Assets, Low-Rate Pledge, Survey Shows
The Federal Reserve next week is likely to affirm its pledge to keep interest rates low for an “extended period” and maintain the floor on its holdings of securities, say economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.
The Fed’s Open Market Committee at its Sept. 21 meeting will hold off from expanding the balance sheet by purchasing securities, according to 60 of 64 analysts surveyed Sept. 16-17. Fifty-four of 63 economists said the Fed will leave unchanged a sentence saying high unemployment and low inflation warrant “exceptionally low” rates for an “extended period.”
The survey indicates that even with the economy slowing for two quarters and unemployment persisting at 9.5 percent or higher for the past year, Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke may need more time to decide if additional stimulus is needed to support a rebound in growth. A few respondents said the Fed may say next week it’s prepared to take action as needed.
“Bernanke has indicated a willingness for the Fed to do more to support economic growth, but it’s really conditional on a much more substantial deterioration in the economic outlook,” said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James & Associates Inc. in St. Petersburg, Florida. Brown expects no change in Fed policy or the “extended period” language on Sept. 21.
By a 59-4 count, economists expect the Fed to leave unchanged at 0.25 percent the interest rate it pays on banks’ reserve deposits with the central bank.
Setting a Floor
At the last FOMC meeting on Aug. 10, Fed policy makers voted 9-1 to stop letting the balance sheet contract because of a projected $400 billion of payments on mortgage debt held by the Fed through the end of 2011. The central bank began purchasing Treasuries to keep a $2.05 trillion floor on holdings. The decision ran counter to some analyst forecasts.
Nomura Securities International Inc. chief economist David Resler, who correctly predicted the Aug. 10 decision, said in a research report yesterday that the Fed “should and will authorize an increase in its securities portfolio target” at next week’s meeting.
The move may come in the form of buying as much as $200 billion of additional securities until the next FOMC meeting Nov. 2-3, Resler said in an interview.
“The data have been not uniformly weak but consistently weak,” Resler said. With economists, and probably the Fed, reducing economic-growth forecasts since the last FOMC meeting, “there would be no question they would be easing” by cutting the federal funds rate if the Fed could do so, Resler said. He wasn’t one of the survey respondents.
Preconditions in Place
Bernanke, in an Aug. 27 speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, said the “preconditions” for higher 2011 growth are “in place.”
At the same time, he outlined the pros and cons of three policy tools to boost growth if the outlook worsens: asset purchases, changes to the low-rate pledge and reducing the rate on reserve deposits. A possible downside of asset purchases is reduced public confidence, “even if unjustified,” in the Fed’s ability to exit from its unprecedented expansion of credit.
“The potential benefits at this point do not seem to outweigh the potential costs,” Brown said.
A report yesterday showed confidence among U.S. consumers unexpectedly dropped to a one-year low in September. U.S. stocks, meantime, have rebounded in recent months, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gaining about 9 percent so far this quarter.
‘Significant Impact’
“The options alluded to at Jackson Hole are most important in providing the illusion of significant monetary-policy potential options,” said survey respondent Jason Schenker, president of Prestige Economics LLC in Austin, Texas. “They’re not necessarily options that could truly be implemented to have significant impact in an immediate-term kind of way without potential long-term consequences.”
Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo- Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York, said the FOMC may take a step closer to increasing asset purchases even without changing policy at this meeting.
“They may insert a line saying they are evaluating the potential benefits of buying longer-term securities, but they won’t announce the start of any such purchases,” Rupkey said.
The questions were as follows:
1. At the FOMC’s Sept. 21 meeting, will the committee decide to (choose one):
a) Retain the current policy of keeping a constant level of the Fed’s securities holdings by reinvesting principal payments from agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in longer-term Treasury securities
b) Increase the level of securities holdings through an accelerated pace of asset purchases
c) take a different action on the balance sheet. Please be specific.
Result (64 replies): A, 60; B, 3; C, 1.
2. Will the FOMC statement following the Sept. 21 meeting include any changes to the following sentence: “The Committee will maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and continues to anticipate that economic conditions, including low rates of resource utilization, subdued inflation trends, and stable inflation expectations, are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period.” Yes or no.
Result (63 replies): Yes, 9; 54, no.
3. Will the Fed decide at the Sept. 21 meeting to reduce the 0.25 percent interest rate on excess reserves? Yes or no.
Result (63 replies): Yes, 4; 59, no.
To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Lanman in Washington at slanman@bloomberg.net; Alex Tanzi in Washington at atanzi@bloomberg.net.
The Fed’s Open Market Committee at its Sept. 21 meeting will hold off from expanding the balance sheet by purchasing securities, according to 60 of 64 analysts surveyed Sept. 16-17. Fifty-four of 63 economists said the Fed will leave unchanged a sentence saying high unemployment and low inflation warrant “exceptionally low” rates for an “extended period.”
The survey indicates that even with the economy slowing for two quarters and unemployment persisting at 9.5 percent or higher for the past year, Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke may need more time to decide if additional stimulus is needed to support a rebound in growth. A few respondents said the Fed may say next week it’s prepared to take action as needed.
“Bernanke has indicated a willingness for the Fed to do more to support economic growth, but it’s really conditional on a much more substantial deterioration in the economic outlook,” said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James & Associates Inc. in St. Petersburg, Florida. Brown expects no change in Fed policy or the “extended period” language on Sept. 21.
By a 59-4 count, economists expect the Fed to leave unchanged at 0.25 percent the interest rate it pays on banks’ reserve deposits with the central bank.
Setting a Floor
At the last FOMC meeting on Aug. 10, Fed policy makers voted 9-1 to stop letting the balance sheet contract because of a projected $400 billion of payments on mortgage debt held by the Fed through the end of 2011. The central bank began purchasing Treasuries to keep a $2.05 trillion floor on holdings. The decision ran counter to some analyst forecasts.
Nomura Securities International Inc. chief economist David Resler, who correctly predicted the Aug. 10 decision, said in a research report yesterday that the Fed “should and will authorize an increase in its securities portfolio target” at next week’s meeting.
The move may come in the form of buying as much as $200 billion of additional securities until the next FOMC meeting Nov. 2-3, Resler said in an interview.
“The data have been not uniformly weak but consistently weak,” Resler said. With economists, and probably the Fed, reducing economic-growth forecasts since the last FOMC meeting, “there would be no question they would be easing” by cutting the federal funds rate if the Fed could do so, Resler said. He wasn’t one of the survey respondents.
Preconditions in Place
Bernanke, in an Aug. 27 speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, said the “preconditions” for higher 2011 growth are “in place.”
At the same time, he outlined the pros and cons of three policy tools to boost growth if the outlook worsens: asset purchases, changes to the low-rate pledge and reducing the rate on reserve deposits. A possible downside of asset purchases is reduced public confidence, “even if unjustified,” in the Fed’s ability to exit from its unprecedented expansion of credit.
“The potential benefits at this point do not seem to outweigh the potential costs,” Brown said.
A report yesterday showed confidence among U.S. consumers unexpectedly dropped to a one-year low in September. U.S. stocks, meantime, have rebounded in recent months, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gaining about 9 percent so far this quarter.
‘Significant Impact’
“The options alluded to at Jackson Hole are most important in providing the illusion of significant monetary-policy potential options,” said survey respondent Jason Schenker, president of Prestige Economics LLC in Austin, Texas. “They’re not necessarily options that could truly be implemented to have significant impact in an immediate-term kind of way without potential long-term consequences.”
Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo- Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York, said the FOMC may take a step closer to increasing asset purchases even without changing policy at this meeting.
“They may insert a line saying they are evaluating the potential benefits of buying longer-term securities, but they won’t announce the start of any such purchases,” Rupkey said.
The questions were as follows:
1. At the FOMC’s Sept. 21 meeting, will the committee decide to (choose one):
a) Retain the current policy of keeping a constant level of the Fed’s securities holdings by reinvesting principal payments from agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in longer-term Treasury securities
b) Increase the level of securities holdings through an accelerated pace of asset purchases
c) take a different action on the balance sheet. Please be specific.
Result (64 replies): A, 60; B, 3; C, 1.
2. Will the FOMC statement following the Sept. 21 meeting include any changes to the following sentence: “The Committee will maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and continues to anticipate that economic conditions, including low rates of resource utilization, subdued inflation trends, and stable inflation expectations, are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period.” Yes or no.
Result (63 replies): Yes, 9; 54, no.
3. Will the Fed decide at the Sept. 21 meeting to reduce the 0.25 percent interest rate on excess reserves? Yes or no.
Result (63 replies): Yes, 4; 59, no.
To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Lanman in Washington at slanman@bloomberg.net; Alex Tanzi in Washington at atanzi@bloomberg.net.
Australia Pays Millions For Oprah Visit
Australia paid US$2.3 million to bring American megastar Oprah Winfrey with her famed chat show -- and its screaming audience -- to the country to boost its global profile, officials said Tuesday.
Winfrey told an ecstatic American studio audience of 300 they would be flown to Australia to film episodes of her show during a tourist dash which would take in beaches, vineyards, Sydney Harbour and the city's "Oprah" House.
"We'll sail Sydney Harbour, some will sample shiraz in Aussie wine country and others will shop till they drop in trendy Melbourne," the chat show queen told the crowd.
"We'll get up close with kangaroos and koalas, kick back on some of the world's most beautiful beaches and experience... the Great Barrier Reef."
Some of last episodes of the popular talk show, which is winding up after 25 seasons, will be shot during the eight-day adventure, culminating in recording at Sydney Opera House.
The December trip has been almost a year in the planning and Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson said it would receive more than US$2.3 million in government funding.
"I think it's money well spent," he told reporters Tuesday.
Ferguson said the trip by Winfrey's show, which screens in 145 countries, would showcase Australia to the world and act as a drawcard for visitors.
"This truly represents an amazing opportunity to showcase Australia, the warmth and hospitality of our people and the depth and breadth of everything our country has to offer visitors from around the world," he said.
Hollywood star John Travolta was on set for the surprise announcement, emerging in a captain's uniform from the cockpit of a mock Qantas jet, as Winfrey said: "He's the pilot!"
Travolta is a qualified pilot and ambassador for Qantas, but the flagship national airline later clarified that he wasn't able to fly the group over because he was expecting a baby with wife Kelly Preston at that time.
"We look forward to flying the Oprah show correspondents and over 300 of Oprah's most loyal viewers to Australia on our fleet," Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said.
Winfrey, 56, was ranked the world's most powerful celebrity by Forbes magazine this year, outclassing actress Angelina Jolie and singer Beyonce Knowles.
She is due to launch her own television channel, the Oprah Winfrey Network, in 2011.
Winfrey told an ecstatic American studio audience of 300 they would be flown to Australia to film episodes of her show during a tourist dash which would take in beaches, vineyards, Sydney Harbour and the city's "Oprah" House.
"We'll sail Sydney Harbour, some will sample shiraz in Aussie wine country and others will shop till they drop in trendy Melbourne," the chat show queen told the crowd.
"We'll get up close with kangaroos and koalas, kick back on some of the world's most beautiful beaches and experience... the Great Barrier Reef."
Some of last episodes of the popular talk show, which is winding up after 25 seasons, will be shot during the eight-day adventure, culminating in recording at Sydney Opera House.
The December trip has been almost a year in the planning and Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson said it would receive more than US$2.3 million in government funding.
"I think it's money well spent," he told reporters Tuesday.
Ferguson said the trip by Winfrey's show, which screens in 145 countries, would showcase Australia to the world and act as a drawcard for visitors.
"This truly represents an amazing opportunity to showcase Australia, the warmth and hospitality of our people and the depth and breadth of everything our country has to offer visitors from around the world," he said.
Hollywood star John Travolta was on set for the surprise announcement, emerging in a captain's uniform from the cockpit of a mock Qantas jet, as Winfrey said: "He's the pilot!"
Travolta is a qualified pilot and ambassador for Qantas, but the flagship national airline later clarified that he wasn't able to fly the group over because he was expecting a baby with wife Kelly Preston at that time.
"We look forward to flying the Oprah show correspondents and over 300 of Oprah's most loyal viewers to Australia on our fleet," Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said.
Winfrey, 56, was ranked the world's most powerful celebrity by Forbes magazine this year, outclassing actress Angelina Jolie and singer Beyonce Knowles.
She is due to launch her own television channel, the Oprah Winfrey Network, in 2011.
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