We need to find a fairer way of providing Goods and Services to the rest of the people on Earth.Cryptocurrencies and/or Gold Standard of money....maybe the answer to fight hyperinflation caused by too much printing of paper/fiat currencies by Governments and Central Banks all over the World. (https://nomorefiatmoneyplease.blogspot.com)
The Singapore government has renewed its offer to help Indonesia fight possible land and forest fires ahead of the traditional dry season from June to October.
ST PHOTO: NIRMAL GHOSH
THE Singapore government has renewed its offer to help Indonesia fight possible land and forest fires ahead of the traditional dry season from June to October.
Like last year, Singapore has offered to provide a C-130 aircraft for cloud seeding operations, another two C-130 aircraft to ferry a team from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), high resolution satellite pictures and hotspot coordinates as as well as a Chinook helipcopter with one SCDF water bucket for aerial fire-fighting.
The city state has extended assistance packages to its neighbour since 2005, as the region's susceptibility to land and forest fires during this period increases the probability of transboundary haze.
The El Nino phenomenon this year could result in drier weather which would exacerbate the situation, the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources said in a press release.
Philippine President Aquino likens China to Nazi Germany
Philippine President Benigno Aquino drew a parallel on Wednesday between present day China and Nazi Germany during a speech in Japan, hinting the world cannot continue to appease Beijing as it claims ever-more territory in the South China Sea.
PHOTO: AFP
[TOKYO] Philippine President Benigno Aquino drew a parallel on Wednesday between present day China and Nazi Germany during a speech in Japan, hinting the world cannot continue to appease Beijing as it claims ever-more territory in the South China Sea.
The comments come as disquiet grows over the quickening pace of China's land reclamation programme in international waters, including its construction of a runway long enough for large military planes.
"If there was a vacuum, if the United States, which is the superpower, says 'we are not interested', perhaps there is no brake to ambitions of other countries," Aquino told an audience of business leaders in Tokyo when asked about China's rising might and the role of the US in checking it.
"I'm an amateur student of history and I'm reminded of... how Germany was testing the waters and what the response was by various other European powers," he said referring to the Nazis' territorial conquests in the months before the outbreak of World War II.
"They tested the waters and they were ready to back down if for instance in that aspect, France said (to back down).
"But unfortunately, up to the annexation of the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, the annexation of the entire country of Czechoslovakia, nobody said stop.
"If somebody said stop to (Adolf) Hitler at that point in time, or to Germany at that time, would we have avoided World War II."
The strong comments come after US President Barack Obama on Monday weighed in on the growing tensions in the South China Sea, urging regional powers - particularly China - to respect the law and stop "throwing elbows".
China has rejected US demands to stop all reclamation works in the South China Sea, saying it was exercising its sovereignty and using the outposts to fulfil international responsibilities.
Beijing insists it has sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea, a major global shipping route believed to be home to oil and gas reserves, but rival claimants accuse it of expansionism.
Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have varied claims over islets and reefs in the area.
Washington and its Asian allies, including Tokyo, which has a separate territorial disputes with Beijing in the East China Sea, has warned that ignoring international laws could threaten "the freedom of navigation".
Global commodity supply glut to persist: BHP Billiton
BHP Billiton , the world's biggest mining company, warned on Wednesday that a global oversupply of commodities that is putting pressure on prices is likely to be be prolonged.
PHOTO: REUTERS
[CANBERRA] BHP Billiton , the world's biggest mining company, warned on Wednesday that a global oversupply of commodities that is putting pressure on prices is likely to be be prolonged.
In metals markets, newly installed low-cost supply can now be stretched to meet growing demand, BHP Billiton Chief Executive Andrew Mackenzie told a gathering of sector executives and Australian lawmakers. "Incremental supply, induced during periods of higher prices, will take longer to absorb and this means over-supply may persist for some time," he said.
BHP and rival global miner Rio Tinto have been criticised in Australia for a massive expansion of their iron ore mines despite a collapse in the price of the steel-making ingredient.
Prices for most commodities are now lower than the extreme highs of the recent past and closer to more sustainable longer term levels, Mackenzie said.
BHP is also battling multi-year low prices for coal, copper, nickel and other minerals it mines.
Smaller iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group Chairman Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest last month launched a failed bid for a government inquiry into alleged overproduction by BHP and Rio Tinto, saying it was jeopardizing the economy.
The plea by the founder of the world's fourth-biggest iron ore miner was condemned by industry lobby group Minerals Council of Australia, for threatening to set the country on an"interventionist path".
BHP's iron ore division president Jimmy Wilson said on Wednesday that BHP's share of the seaborne iron market has reamined steady at about 17 per cent despite its major investments. "Fortescue Metals has grown its share of seaborne exports to 11 per cent since entering the market in 2007 - they have been the world's most prolific iron ore growth story between 2007 and the end of 2014," he wrote in a comment piece for The Australian newspaper.
The price of the country's highest source of foreign income dropped as low as US$46.70 in April, less than half the price a year ago, but has rebounded slightly since.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang ordered an investigation into why a cruise ship carrying more than 450 people capsized late Monday in the Yangtze river as rescuers continued the search for survivors.
PHOTO: REUTERS
[BEIJING] Chinese Premier Li Keqiang ordered an investigation into why a cruise ship carrying more than 450 people capsized late Monday in the Yangtze river as rescuers continued the search for survivors.
Of those aboard, fourteen had been rescued and seven confirmed dead by early this morning, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Most of the passengers were elderly, between the aged 50 to 80, according to the Hubei Daily newspaper. It may prove to be China's worst maritime accident in seven decades, Xinhua said.
Weather has so far been the only cause raised for the vessel's capsizing, with Xinhua citing the ship's captain and chief engineer, who were rescued, as saying that a tornado had stuck them. China's Meteorological Administration confirmed on Tuesday that a tornado, with level 12 winds on the Beaufort Wind scale, had hit the area at the same time as when the ship capsized, according to Xinhua.
Level 12 is the strongest classification of winds on the Beaufort scale. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration describes such conditions as "air filled with foam, waves over 45 feet, sea completely white with driving spray, visibility greatly reduced." The cruise ship, identified as the Eastern Star, was traveling westward to Chongqing from the city of Nanjing when it capsized in Jianli county in the central province of Hubei. Premier Li ordered the State Council, China's cabinet, to establish a team to investigate why the ship overturned, Xinhua reported on Wednesday. The captain and chief engineer have been detained and are being questioned, Xinhua reported yesterday.
Stories of the few rescued so far have filled Chinese media. Zhang Hui, a 43-year-old survivor, told Xinhua he floated more than 10 hours after being tossed from the ship. He recounted the wind and rain suddenly turning violent, flooding the ship before the vessel suddenly tipped, he said. Zhang, who can't swim, was saved by a life vest after being repeatedly swallowed by waves and unable to breath.
More than 4,600 people including hundreds of divers have been mobilized to search for survivors of the disaster amid bad weather, Xinhua said. Heavy rainfall is forecast today and tomorrow for the area with the possibility of thunderstorms and strong winds, according to China's weather agency.
One diver told the Changjiang Daily he found a young man trapped in an air pocket inside the ship panicked and in complete darkness. The diver lent the man his own air tank as the man was unable to use the emergency breathing equipment he brought.-
