Brazil unrest could affect pope’s Rio visit: minister

Brazil unrest could affect pope’s Rio visit: minister

Brazil unrest could affect pope’s Rio visit: minister

Posted: 21 Jun 2013 07:14 PM PDT

Brazil must prepare for the possibility that mass protests now rocking the country may continue during the Catholic World Youth Day in Rio in July when Pope Francis is due to visit, an official said Friday. "We have to be prepared as the (Catholic fest) may coincide with demonstrations in the country," Gilberto Carvalho, the presidential chief of ...
    

Guard kills Israeli at Jewish holy site in Jerusalem

Posted: 21 Jun 2013 07:09 PM PDT

An Israeli security guard shot dead a fellow-Israeli on Friday at one of Judaism's holiest sites, saying later he feared the man was a Palestinian militant because he had shouted "Allahu akbar" ("God is greatest" in Arabic), police said. An Israeli judge ordered the guard kept in police custody for five days for questioning after the shooting at a ...
    

Merkel tells Putin Germany wants looted art returned

Posted: 21 Jun 2013 06:58 PM PDT

Chancellor Angela Merkel told President Vladimir Putin that German art seized by the Soviets in the wake of World War Two should be repatriated to Germany, a claim the Russian leader swiftly rejected. The tense exchange took place as they opened an exhibition at the Hermitage museum in St Petersburg during a trip by Merkel to Russia. The ...
    

In Cairo, Egypt’s ‘Jon Stewart’ hosts ... Jon Stewart

Posted: 21 Jun 2013 05:32 PM PDT

Jon Stewart took his politically engaged American satire to Cairo on Friday, appearing on a show hosted by the man known as "Egypt's Jon Stewart", who has faced investigation for insulting the president and Islam. Among barbs aimed at Egypt's ruling Islamists and others, Stewart praised host Bassem Youssef for taking risks to poke fun. "If your ...
    

Singapore to give out 1 million masks

Posted: 21 Jun 2013 05:10 PM PDT

The Singapore government has taken the pro-active measure of giving out free face masks to its people, especially those from the lower income group, the Straits Times reported. One million face masks of the N95 standard will be given out free to about 200,000 of the poorest households in the island republic from tomorrow, according to the ...
    

Indonesian fires worsen, Singapore smoke sets record

Posted: 21 Jun 2013 04:54 PM PDT

Indonesia deployed military planes on Friday to fight forest fires that blanketed neighbouring Singapore in record levels of hazardous smog for a third day in one of Southeast Asia's worst air-pollution crises. As Singaporeans donned face masks and pulled children from playgrounds and Malaysia closed schools in the south, the deliberately-lit ...
    

US leaker Snowden charged with espionage: official

Posted: 21 Jun 2013 04:21 PM PDT

US authorities have filed espionage charges against rogue intelligence technician Edward Snowden and have asked Hong Kong to detain him, a US official told AFP on Friday. Confirming a report in the Washington Post, the official said a sealed criminal complaint has been lodged with a federal court in the US state of Virginia and a provisional ...
    

VIDEO: On board flood rescue helicopter

Posted: 21 Jun 2013 12:54 PM PDT

The death toll from flooding and landslides following heavy monsoon rains in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand has passed 500.

VIDEO: Chaos at Brazil's 'million man march'

Posted: 21 Jun 2013 03:41 PM PDT

More than one million people have taken to the streets and at least one person has died during the biggest night so far of anti-government protests in Brazil.

VIDEO: CCTV shows 'family feud' car ramming

Posted: 21 Jun 2013 10:21 AM PDT

A "family feud" in China led to a confrontation on a public highway, according to China state TV (CCTV).

AUDIO: UK man wins 'best job in the world'

Posted: 21 Jun 2013 03:25 AM PDT

Brighton man Rich Keam beats 330,000 candidates to win job as Western Australia's 'taste master.'

Reliance halts gold sales to curb imports

Posted: 21 Jun 2013 08:54 AM PDT

MUMBAI: Reliance Capital Ltd, the financial services company owned by Indian billionaire Anil Ambani, has stopped sales of gold as the world's biggest consumer of the metal tightens import rules to curb demand that's contributed to a record current-account deficit. Reliance will suspend sale of gold in physical form as well as an investment product, the company said. It has also stopped gold loans facility and halted new subscriptions in its gold savings fund. India, grappling with a record current-account deficit, partly due to a surge in gold imports, has tightened import and financing norms in a bid to cut purchases. Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram appealed to Indians to "resist the temptation to buy gold", saying reduced imports may help tackle the current-account gap and the weakness in the rupee. "Investment demand has come off a bit," Gnanasekar Thiagarajan, a director at Commtrendz Risk Management Services Pvt, said. Bloomberg

Investors hit hard as Apple bonds tank

Posted: 21 Jun 2013 09:08 AM PDT

NEW YORK: Investors in Apple's record US$17 billion (RM54 billion) bond deal have suffered some of the biggest losses in recent investment-grade new issues, with about US$760 million wiped off the value of the US$8.8 billion of longer-dated tranches they bought just weeks ago. The prices of Apple's US$5.5 billion 2.4 per cent 10-year and US$3 billion 3.85 per cent 30-year bonds have plunged so much since the deal priced on April 30 that it will take about three years of earned interest from the coupons for investors to cover their losses. "Basically if you own this paper you're sitting on it for three years or selling at a loss," said Rajeev Sharma, senior portfolio manager at First Investors Management, who bailed out of his position in the 10-year at a discount some weeks ago. The 30-year has suffered even more, sporting a more than 12-point loss in US dollar price. It was quoted at US$87.60 and at a spread of 110bp, or 10bp wider than its 100bp level at launch. The staggering losses are a painful lesson to the vast number of unhedged total return investors that it takes more than just being comfortable with credit risk to play in the corporate bond markets. Apple attracted a record 2,000 orders worth US$50.2 billion from 900 investors when it made its debut in the bond markets in late April, when the 10-year Treasury rate was 1.67 per cent versus 2.4 per cent now. One of few technology majors with no debt on its books, Apple came to the bond market to raise funds for a US$100 billion capital reward for shareholders, including a US$60 billion share buyback over the next few years. Reuters

Jakarta IPO train derails

Posted: 21 Jun 2013 09:03 AM PDT

THE spark that Matahari Department Store's US$1.3 billion (RM4.16 billion) deal was meant to provide Indonesia's initial public offering (IPO) market has turned into a dud. Investors have bailed on Indonesian stock offerings, spooked by a wave of global market volatility and pricey valuations. The retreat from Jakarta by local and foreign funds is threatening other IPOs in the pipeline and hindering the ability of Indonesian tycoons to unlock money from their businesses. Bankers and issuers were anticipating a record US$4.1 billion worth of IPOs in 2013, including US$2.5 billion in the first half of the year. The Matahari deal in March - in which private equity firm CVC Capital sold down its stake in Indonesia's biggest stock sale since 2011 - was seen as a stage setter. The outlook for the market still appears positive given Indonesia's economic prospects. But in the last few months, Jakarta IPOs are being cut in half or abandoned altogether. "People were thinking that they were sitting on a pile of gold," said an investment banker who covers Southeast Asia, referring to Indonesian equity deals. "The recent correction is making everybody's expectations much more realistic." Indonesia's leading syariah lender, PT Bank Muamalat, said yesterday it had postponed its up to US$177 million IPO because of recent stock market declines. Muamalat had earlier dropped Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank as advisers after an investor roadshow failed to generate strong interest, people familiar with the deal said. And earlier this month, investment firm PT Saratoga Investama Sedaya raised less than half of the US$395 million it was seeking, hurt by concerns about its lofty valuation. "Our market is quite expensive," said Fadlul Imansyah, an equity fund manager at Jakarta-based investment firm CIMB Niaga Asset Management. "Investors want a more reasonable price." The gloom could hurt prospects for the planned listings of Lippo Group's Siloam Hospitals, Indonesia's biggest private healthcare operator, and PT Pembangunan Deltamas, the country's largest industrial park. They are among firms seeking to raise a total US$1.6 billion in the second half of 2013. Indonesia's main stock index has slid around 15 per cent from a record high hit just a month ago and the rupiah has dropped sharply, as speculation that the United States Federal Reserve will reduce its stimulus programme prompted foreign investors to pull money out of emerging markets. Among the IPOs next in line are those of Blue Bird Group, Indonesia's biggest taxi operator, and budget airline PT Indonesia AirAsia, a unit of Malaysia's AirAsia Bhd. Reuters

Fed seen trimming QE in September

Posted: 21 Jun 2013 09:03 AM PDT

THE Federal Reserve will trim its monthly bond purchases to US$65 billion (RM208.65 billion) in September and end buying in June 2014, according to the plurality of estimates by economists in a Bloomberg survey. The survey of 54 economists was conducted following chairman Ben S. Bernanke's press conference on Wednesday, in which he mapped out a timetable for ending one of the most aggressive easing strategies in Fed history. His remarks prompted economists to predict a faster reduction in bond purchases from US$85 billion per month: 44 per cent of economists see a tapering in September compared with 27 per cent in a June 4-5 survey. "It's a shot heard round the world for global investors - a reminder that QE is in fact going to end one day," said Chris Rupkey, the chief financial economist for Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd in New York, referring to a policy known as quantitative easing. "One thing that would help them wind down quicker would be confirmation the unemployment rate is going to come down quicker." The jobless rate in May was 7.6 per cent. Bernanke, speaking on Wednesday after a two-day meeting by the Federal Open Market Committee, said the Fed may begin dialling down its unprecedented bond buying this year and end it in mid-2014 if the economy achieves the Fed's objectives. His remarks sparked a sell-off in global financial markets, with stocks falling and bond yields rising for two days. Stocks and gold fell and Treasury yields rose yesterday as investors faced the prospect of a wind-down in the Fed's asset purchases. The Standard and Poor's 500 Index dropped 2.5 per cent to 1,588.19, after falling 1.4 per cent on Wednesday. Treasury yields rose to 2.41 per cent from 2.35 per cent on Wednesday and 2.19 per cent on Tuesday. Gold fell below US$1,300 an ounce to the lowest since September 2010. Fifteen per cent of economists in the survey said the Fed will start to taper in October and 28 per cent said policymakers will wait until December. The remaining 13 per cent said the Fed won't begin reducing its pace of purchases until at least next year. Policymakers are planning to taper as the economy strengthens. Fed officials forecast growth of as much as 2.6 per cent this year and 3.5 per cent in 2014. The central bank's forecasts for growth are more optimistic than Wall Street's. The median estimate of private forecasters in a Bloomberg survey calls for an expansion of 1.9 per cent this year and 2.7 per cent next year. The amount of initial tapering predicted by economists in the most recent survey was unchanged from the prior one. The central bank will halt bond buying entirely in June 2014, according to 44 per cent of the economists in the latest survey. If economic data are consistent with the Fed's forecasts, "the committee currently anticipates that it would be appropriate to moderate the pace of purchases later this year", Bernanke said at the press conference. "We will continue to reduce the pace of purchases in measured steps through the first half of next year, ending purchases around mid-year." Bloomberg

Eurozone closer to 'banking union'

Posted: 21 Jun 2013 09:04 AM PDT

LUXEMBOURG: Eurozone finance ministers moved closer towards a "banking union" on Thursday, agreeing how the bloc's rescue fund can provide new capital to failing banks so as limit the damage to the wider economy. "We have made an important step towards the banking union by agreeing on the main principles for the future rules of direct bank recapitalisation," German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said after talks with his 16 eurozone peers. At the height of the debt crisis, the EU set up the euro500 billion (RM2.13 trillion) European Stability Mechanism (ESM) to bail out member states. In June, when Spain's banks looked near to collapse, Brussels extended its scope to allow direct aid for struggling lenders. Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who heads the eurozone finance ministers group, said the ESM will be limited to providing euro60 billion in all to lenders - relatively small given the size of some recent bank bailouts. AFP

Rosneft to boost oil flow to China in US$270b deal

Posted: 21 Jun 2013 09:04 AM PDT

RUSSIA'S Rosneft agreed to double oil supplies to China, in a deal it valued at US$270 billion (RM866.7 billion) yesterday, as the Kremlin energy champion shifts its focus to Asia from saturated and crisis-hit European markets. Rosneft will supply China with 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) over 25 years starting in the second half of the decade, on top of the 300,000 bpd it already ships to the world's largest energy consumer. "The estimated value of the deal is US$270 billion," Rosneft's boss Igor Sechin said in what will be one of the biggest supply deals in the history of Russia, the world's top oil producer. The speed of change in Russian export patterns has been dramatic - switching huge volumes from Europe in only five years. Russia first started supplying China by railway and then by a new pipeline while opening a Pacific port, Kozmino, in 2009. Together with supplies to Kozmino, it is exporting 750,000 barrels per day to Asia, or 17 per cent of its overall exports of 4.4 million bpd. Analysts have expressed doubts Rosneft could quickly and significantly boost supplies to China from depleted fields in West Siberia. A source familiar with the deal said the new agreement with China is timed to tie in with the launch of new streams of East Siberian crude to avoid big redirection of existing flows and allow time to expand export infrastructure. Rosneft and oil pipeline monopoly Transneft have already secured US$25 billion from China in 2009, in upfront payments by pre-selling oil in order to accumulate cash to finance growth and new construction projects. Rosneft's debt burden spiked this year after it acquired Anglo-Russian producer TNK-BP in a US$55 billion cash-and-stock deal, the largest in Russian corporate history and became the world's largest publicly-listed oil firm. Industry sources have said Rosneft may secure up to US$30 billion in prepayment from China as part of the new deal. On Thursday, Putin said Rosneft's deal with China will be worth US$60 billion. Vedomosti said Putin was referring to an advance payment that Rosneft would receive. "This is one of the elements of the deal," he said when asked about the US$60 billion component. Analysts said the possible upfront payment from China will be a big positive for indebted Rosneft. "If confirmed, this would be a transformational event for the company's balance sheet: Rosneft could even potentially be able to show a net cash position, though working capital would be negative. The prepayment could minimise financing risks for the leveraged state-controlled oil company," J.P. Morgan analysts said in a note. Reuters

VIDEO: Alberta floods displace thousands

Posted: 21 Jun 2013 07:11 AM PDT

As many as 100,000 people in the Canadian province of Alberta have been forced out of their homes as torrential rain continues to cause serious flooding.

VIDEO: Freak storm injures 39 in Switzerland

Posted: 21 Jun 2013 06:17 AM PDT

Freak conditions in Switzerland have injured at least 39 people and caused major damage to property.

Brazilian president calls for an urgent meeting over demonstrations

Posted: 21 Jun 2013 04:09 AM PDT

Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff called for an urgent meeting of her main ministers this morning to address the effects of the current demonstrations throughout Brazil which, yesterday, convened over a million people in 80 cities. According to the leading newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, Rousseff followed the protests in Brasilia from the Executive ...
    

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