International help arrives to tackle Indonesia fires

Malaysian aircrew members diesmbark from a C-130 military aircraft as they arrive at Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin airport in Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia, Oct 9. 

PHOTO: EPA

OCT 10, 20152:02 PM

[JAKARTA] International help to assist Indonesia in combatting forest and agricultural fires cloaking Southeast Asia in haze has begun to arrive on Sumatra island, an official said on Saturday.

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency, said a Bombardier amphibious aircraft and Malaysian crew arrived on Friday to begin water bombing South Sumatra.

"They are currently being briefed by the disaster mitigation chief and the water bombing will start immediately after that," Mr Sutopo told AFP.

Fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan have been blanketing Southeast Asia for weeks, with pollution levels in both locations recorded far above hazardous levels. The haze has also forced Malaysia and Singapore to close schools and cancel outdoor events.

Singapore has also agreed to send a Chinook helicopter capable of pouring water from a huge hanging bucket, along with a Hercules C-130 carrying 42 firefighters from the city-state's Civil Defence Force.

The help from Singapore was scheduled to arrive in Sumatra on Friday but was postponed until Saturday due to poor visibility at the local airport.

Jakarta has deployed about 25,000 personnel and aircraft, but the firefighters have been overwhelmed by the extent of the blazes.

The Indonesian government insisted on not accepting international help for weeks before finally agreeing to accept the offers from several countries to combat the haze.

Australia has pledged to send a Lockheed L100 Hercules Air Tanker, with foreign minister Julie Bishop asserting Australia's experience in fighting the bushfires.

AFP

    
 

Kim tells China envoy he wants better ties with South: Xinhua

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends the completion event of the Paektusan Hero Youth Power Station in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on Oct 4, 2015. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

OCT 10, 201511:54 AM

[SEOUL] North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un told a visiting envoy sent by Chinese President Xi Jinping that he wants to improve relations with South Korea, Chinese state media reported Saturday.

Kim made the remarks to senior Chinese envoy Liu Yunshan on Friday ahead of a massive parade in Pyongyang marking the 70th anniversary of the North's ruling Workers' Party.

Mr Liu, who ranks fifth in China's ruling Communist Party hierarchy, handed the North Korean leader a letter from Xi that said Beijing attached "vital importance" to its ties with the North, Xinhua said.

Kim told Mr Liu that North Korea needs "a peaceful and stable external environment as it is striving to develop (its) economy and improve people's livelihood.

"The DPRK (North Korea) is willing to make efforts to improve relations between the north and the south and safeguard the stability of the peninsula", Xinhua reported the young leader as saying.

Mr Liu was cited as saying that maintaining peace and stability of the Korean peninsula "benefits all sides", according to Xinhua, and China was "willing to work with the DPRK (North Korea) to strive for early resumption of the six-party talks on the nuclear issue."

Diplomatic efforts to resume the six-party talks, which involve South Korea, North Korea, the US, China, Russia and Japan, are aimed at persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions, and have got nowhere.

Beijing has become increasingly annoyed at Pyongyang's provocative antics and refusal to heed its calls for restraint, especially over its nuclear weapons programme.

China has been North Korea's ally since it sent troops to bolster its forces during the 1950-53 Korean War.

But Kim, who came to power after the death of his father Kim Jong Il in 2011, has yet to even meet Mr Xi.

However, the Chinese leader has sat down six times with South Korean President Park Geun Hye, who took office in 2013.

AFP

    
 

IMF's 'credibility' at stake in reform row: Lagarde

"It is an issue for the credibility and the representativeness of the institution, particularly vis-a-vis the under-represented countries," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said at the Fund's annual meeting in Lima, Peru. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

OCT 10, 201510:23 AM

[LIMA] Washington's use of its de facto veto at the International Monetary Fund to block reforms giving emerging countries a greater say is jeopardising the IMF's credibility, its leader said on Friday.

The IMF has been caught up in a protracted, politically charged battle over reforms intended to reflect the changing global economy by giving emerging giants such as China more weight at the Fund.

"It is an issue for the credibility and the representativeness of the institution, particularly vis-a-vis the under-represented countries," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said at the Fund's annual meeting in Lima, Peru.

The reforms - a doubling of IMF funding and a reallocation of voting power to boost China and other up-and-coming economic powers - were originally propelled by Washington, and President Barack Obama's White House has repeatedly endorsed them.

But the US Congress has refused for three years to sign off on the deal, with some legislators not wanting to contribute more money to the IMF and others concerned about eroding US dominance of the Fund.

As the rules stand now, China, the world's second-largest economy, has less than four percent of the voting power at the IMF - barely more than Italy, an economy one fifth its size.

"I... very much hope that (reforms) will be taken seriously and that the US authorities will actually appreciate the need to reinforce an institution that they participated very actively in creating," Ms Lagarde said.

US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew repeated the administration's support for the reforms, adopted back in 2010.

"The consequences for the United States and the international financial community are very significant if quota reform is not done," he said.

AFP

    
 

I Want The Earth (plus 5%) (Video)

I Want The Earth (plus 5%)

2011 
 

The sole purpose of this story is to explain the simple maths of reality and the current Banking System – that is - 100 plus NOTHING does NOT equal 105 – and that charging interest on something that is created out of nothing, makes it impossible to repay, giving great power to those who do create money out of nothing - ie the Banks. This story was written by Larry Hannigan in 1971 and uses a fictional character (Fabian) in the narrative.

Money is NOT a commodity, it is a system of debit-credit bookkeeping - nothing more. Banks create credit. It is a mistake to suppose that bank credit is created to any extent by the payment of money into the banks. A loan made by a bank is a clear addition to the amount of money in the community.

The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the People v. The Banks.

None of our problems will disappear until we correct the creation, supply and circulation of money. Once the money problem is solved, everything else will fall into place.

Haze clears over Asian markets

US jobs data, TPP deal and outcome of Fed meeting enable emerging markets' recovery

By

Cai Haoxianghaoxiang@sph.com.sg@HaoxiangCaiBT

The latest boost to markets came on Thursday night, with the release of the minutes of the September US Federal Reserve meeting. The minutes noted that some Fed members were worried about a premature rise in rates; others argued that a significant delay would risk an undesirable buildup of inflationary pressures. 

PHOTO: AFP

 Sentiment boost

OCT 10, 20155:50 AM

Singapore

JUST as it seemed the bearishness would not end, emerging markets are finally enjoying some sunshine. Worse-than-expected US jobs data, an agreement on a giant trade deal and a dovish reading of Fed minutes have put a temporary end to two months of unprecedented volatility.

Commodity prices and battered currencies have staged a recovery. Traders bet that markets had overreacted to the twin worries of a China economic slowdown and rising rates, especially since central banks would remain supportive. Within Asia, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia stood out as the better performers.

John Woods, Credit Suisse Private Banking and Wealth Management regional chief investment officer for the Asia-Pacific, said in an October note with a three-to-six month outlook: "We have moved our view on Asian equities to 'outperform' within the MSCI Emerging markets universe, due to the recently improved technical and valuation metrics.

"The pronounced selloff in the MSCI Asia ex-Japan Index - specifically in August 2015 (down 10 per cent) and generally since May 2015 (down 25 per cent) - has left the asset class unattractive and arguably oversold," he said. The MSCI Asia ex-Japan stock index is now up more than 8 per cent from its Sept 29 low.

Mr Woods noted that bonds are holding steady. "Our sense is that Asia's less-excitable bond investors - comfortable with the region's default risk - have refused to panic sell. Assuming the right 'buy' catalysts materialise, it is possible that equity investors may follow their lead," he said.

Catalysts can include an improvement in China's growth, policy support from global central banks and improved earnings, he said.

Bank of America Merrill Lunch said in an Oct 6 note that a short-term recovery in asset prices is worth betting on.

It said: "We think bad news is likely to be good news for emerging markets in the coming three months, as US rate-hike projections collapse yet again into March 2016, offering more breathing room to emerging markets, where corporate debt ... has risen."

On Friday, Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index hit an intra-day high of 3,011.63 points before settling at 2,998.50, up 7 per cent from 2,793.15 points a week ago.

The Indonesian rupiah rallied from almost 15,000 to the US dollar a week ago to just over 13,000 on Friday; the Malaysian ringgit went from 4.5 to the US dollar to 4.1.

The past week brought the signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade pact among 12 nations including US and Japan; the agreement is expected to boost smaller Asian economies like Vietnam and Malaysia.

The latest boost to markets came on Thursday night, with the release of the minutes of the September US Federal Reserve meeting. The minutes noted that some Fed members were worried about a premature rise in rates; others argued that a significant delay would risk an undesirable buildup of inflationary pressures.

The minutes said: "Most members agreed that their confidence that inflation would move to the committee's inflation objective would increase if, as expected, economic activity continued to expand at a moderate rate and labour market conditions improved further. Many expected those conditions to be met later this year."

A Citi Research note on Oct 8 argued that the minutes "showed surprising coherence among participants supporting the decision to delay a rate increase". "The operative restraint was the absence of additional confidence in the committee's inflation forecast reaching target in the medium term," it said.

As the world heads into the third-quarter results season, things might not be so positive, said DBS Bank.

In an Oct 5 note, it warned that stocks might still fall again.

"The business of spinning bad news into good news on the cheap money argument has a limited shelf life. It runs out when earnings start dropping ... The bigger picture trend is of peaking and mean reversion in US corporate profits," it said.

    
 

Google says Docs, Drive disruption resolved   

Some of Google Inc's services, including Drive and Docs, which were facing disruptions for a few hours on Friday have been resolved, the company said. 

PHOTO: AFP

OCT 10, 20158:52 AM

[BENGALURU] Some of Google Inc's services, including Drive and Docs, which were facing disruptions for a few hours on Friday have been resolved, the company said.

Google's status page had showed that its file-sharing services such as Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides and Classroom were facing disruptions. "The problem with Google Drive should be resolved," the company said on an update to its page at 5.30pm ET.

Google, which has now morphed into holding company Alphabet Inc, also acknowledged the disruption in a tweet on its Docs page.

REUTERS

UK lawmakers to weigh up economic case for EU exit

British lawmakers will start an inquiry into the costs and benefits of staying in the European Union next week as campaigning gets underway for a referendum on the country's EU membership. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

OCT 10, 20158:39 AM

[LONDON] British lawmakers will start an inquiry into the costs and benefits of staying in the European Union next week as campaigning gets underway for a referendum on the country's EU membership.

Legislators from the cross-party Treasury Committee - who normally monitor the Bank of England, finance ministry and banks - are set to start hearing from officials this month. "This inquiry will be wide-ranging, dealing with all the economic and financial consequences of the UK's EU membership, and the impact of departure," Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative lawmaker who chairs the cross-party committee, said.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who wants to hold the vote before the end of 2017, is trying to renegotiate Britain's relationship with the EU, which many members of his party and a sizeable minority of the public want to leave.

Opponents of Britain's EU membership launched their campaign on Friday, saying Britain would reclaim sovereignty by leaving, while an umbrella group for supporters of membership is expected to launch its campaign next week.

The lawmakers will look into issues such as the economic impact of migration by EU citizens to Britain and how Britain would be able to renegotiate trade deals if it left the EU.

A person familiar with the committee's procedures said there would be a call for written evidence next week, followed by oral hearings. British government and Brussels officials as well as non-governmental organisations were likely to testify.

The panel will publish evidence it receives but will not necessarily produce a final report coming down on one side or other of the issue.

The Institute of Directors, a business group, called this week for an early referendum, saying uncertainty about Britain's EU membership risked deterring investment.

Large firms generally favour membership, saying Britain benefits from easy access to European markets and migrants from elsewhere in the bloc with a population of over 500 million.

Opponents say Britain would benefit from being able to restrict the number of EU immigrants and reach better trade deals with the United States and emerging economies.

REUTERS

    
 

Dollar tumbles vs euro as Fed rate hike prospects fade 

The dollar tumbled against the euro on Friday as investors weighed fading prospects of a Federal Reserve interest rate increase even as Fed officials kept a hike by year-end in play. 

PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

OCT 10, 20157:34 AM

[NEW YORK] The dollar tumbled against the euro on Friday as investors weighed fading prospects of a Federal Reserve interest rate increase even as Fed officials kept a hike by year-end in play.

Two voting members of the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's policy arm, William Dudley, president of the New York Fed, and Dennis Lockhart, president of the Atlanta Fed, said they expected the hike would come this year.

Mr Dudley, in a CNBC television interview, said that a rate hike was "possible in October." The FOMC has two meetings left this year, on October 27-28 and December 16-17.

Mr Dudley said that, based on his forecast, rates would rise before the end of the year, a timing envisioned by Fed Chair Janet Yellen.

Mr Lockhart, in a speech, acknowledged that the past few weeks "have provided a bit of a roller-coaster ride," including last Friday's weak September jobs report that led some people to lower the odds of a liftoff in October and December.

"I believe the economy remains on a satisfactory track, and, speaking for myself, I see a liftoff decision later this year at the October or December FOMC meetings as likely appropriate," he said.

The dollar sank to a three-week low against the euro, trading at US$1.1359 to the single currency.

"The US dollar is down while broader market sentiment is favourable after yesterday's generally dovish Fed minutes," said Eric Viloria of Wells Fargo. Equities in particular were buoyed by the idea that the ultra-low rate environment would persist.

"Policymakers noted that downside risks to growth and inflation increased, although many officials still expected interest rate lift-off this year," Mr Viloria said.

AFP

      

Brazil corruption scandal could top US$5.3b: prosecutor

Damage from the gargantuan corruption scandal centred on Brazilian state oil company Petrobras could amount to as much as 20 billion reais (S$7.4 billion), a lead prosecutor said on Friday. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

OCT 10, 20158:00 AM

[RIO DE JANEIRO] Damage from the gargantuan corruption scandal centred on Brazilian state oil company Petrobras could amount to as much as 20 billion reais (S$7.4 billion), a lead prosecutor said on Friday.

Deltan Dallagnol, part of the team running Operation Car Wash, as the probe into the scandal is called, said that losses to Petrobras itself amounted to some 6.2 billion reais, but that "this is only the tip of the iceberg."

Prosecutors say that between 2004 and 2014 a network of corrupt officials, executives and politicians enriched themselves exchanging bribes for fake or padded-out contracts paid from oil company coffers. Related schemes spread into other government entities, such as the nuclear power company.

"Looking at projections, the cost probably goes beyond 20 billion reais," Mr Dallagnol told Brazilian journalists while attending a congress in Rio de Janeiro.

Some of Brazil's most senior political and private sector figures are among the dozens already implicated in the scandal.

President Dilma Rousseff chaired Petrobras during the main period of the kickbacks scheme, but she has not been directly linked to any crime.

AFP