classonecolfixctr,key,keys us,keysaustin,disney http://www.keysaustin.com/article By Edward Krudy NEW YORK - Stocks climbed broadly on Monday after a report showed the manufacturing sector expanded for a fifth straight month, lifting confidence in the global economy as investors eye fourth quarter earnings. The rally, which marked the first trading day of 2010, drove both the Dow and the SandP 500 to their highest closes in 15 months, while the Nasdaq ended at a 16-month high. The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index rose to its highest level since April 2006 in December. The report followed similarly strong readings from the commodity-hungry manufacturing sectors in China and India overnight. That and a weaker U.S. dollar helped push natural resource stocks higher as commodity prices rose. "The ISM number was very, very good, and we think it points to continuing strengthening and overall, bodes relatively well in the near-term for the market," said Karl Mills, president of Jurika, Mills and Keifer, an investment advisory firm in Oakland, California. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 155.91 points, or 1.50 percent, to end at 10,583.96. The Standard and Poor's 500 Index rose 17.89 points, or 1.60 percent, to 1,132.99. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 39.27 points, or 1.73 percent, to 2,308.42. STAR TURN FOR OIL AND MATERIALS Energy and materials were the top sectors in the SandP 500 as those stocks got a lift from the prospect of stronger manufacturing, which would increase demand for fuel, electricity, metals and some other commodities. Oil companies' shares got a further boost after Deutsche Bank upgraded the U.S. refining sector and raised the ratings on several refiners, including Valero Energy Corp and Sunoco Inc . Valero jumped 6.8 percent to $17.89, and Sunoco advanced 6 percent to $27.67. The PHLX Oil Service index climbed 3.9 percent. The Institute for Supply Management said its index of national factory activity rose to 55.9 in December, above forecasts for a reading of 54.3. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. Both of China's PMI manufacturing surveys rose in December, with the official reading hitting its highest level in 20 months. That was echoed in India, where the manufacturing index hit a 7-month peak last month. Analysts said the reports gave welcome support as investors head into fourth-quarter earnings season later in January. U.S. stocks rose last month after the U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly fell in November. U.S. crude oil futures rose 2.2 percent, or $2.15, to settle at $81.51 per barrel after hitting a 2-month high earlier in the session. The U.S. dollar fell 0.5 percent against a basket of currencies . Copper hit a 16-month high. Currency traders were cautious about the greenback before Friday's non-farm payrolls report, which investors are looking to for confirmation of further stabilization in the labor market. HIGH HOPES FOR CHIPMAKERS Robert W. Baird upgraded chipmaker Intel Corp to "outperform" on expectations for a rebound in corporate spending on personal computers. That helped drive the Philadelphia semiconductor index up 1.7 percent. Intel, a Dow component and a bellwether on Nasdaq, climbed 2.4 percent to $20.88. Volume, although modest, appeared to be the best since December 22nd, with most market participants back at work on Monday after a long holiday break. About 1.01 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, below last year's daily average of 2.18 billion. On the Nasdaq, about 1.95 billion shares traded. Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a ratio of 4 to 1, while on the Nasdaq, nearly 11 stocks rose for every three that fell. (Reporting by Edward Krudy; Additional reporting by Ellis Mnyandu; Editing by Jan Paschal) http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/Wall_Street_rallies_on_recovery_bets_as_2010_starts.htm 5th Jan,2010 PARIS (AFP) - – France's markets watchdog began hearings on Monday into claims 17 current and former EADS aerospace executives made huge profits with inside information about delays in the Airbus A380 project. The executives and three firms -- EADS and shareholders Chrysler and Lagardere -- are accused of selling stock options in March 2006 because they knew the share price would slump when the production delays were made public. They sold their stock options when the shares were around 30 euros, near their historic high. The price plummeted by 26 percent in a single day when the delay was officially announced in June that year. The executives face fines of up to five million euros if convicted by the Financial Market Authority (AMF) after the hearings, which come after a 30-month probe and which are not open to the press or public. The hearings are also being seen as a test of the AMF itself, with the authority under pressure to show that it is able and willing to hold big business to account. Former EADS co-chairman Noel Forgeard said he was "serene" as he arrived at the hearing on Monday and certain that his lawyers would prove he had not misused inside information when he made huge profits selling his stock options. Thomas Enders, current chief executive of EADS' Airbus unit, said he too was sure he would be cleared by the week-long hearing by the AMF held in the Palais Brogniart, the former home of the Paris stock exchange. Forgeard faces the biggest fine of 5.45 million euros. He earned 3.5 million euros when he sold his European Aeronautics Defence and Space (EADS) options, but his lawyers argue they they can show that he began selling the stocks before managers became aware of the A380 problems. Lagardere, a French media group, and Daimler, a German carmaker, between them sold 7.5 percent of the shares in EADS -- in which the French state is also a shareholder -- and are being heard as corporate entities. A confidential AMF report leaked in July said that seven current and former EADS executives made millions of euros by exercising their company stock options in March 2006, just before the A380 delay was announced. But the report found that Thomas Enders, as well as shareholders Lagardere and Daimler, had not engaged in insider trading. Apart from Forgeard, the executives named in the report are Airbus commercial director John Leahy, former Airbus finance director Andreas Sperl, and former EADS managing director Jean-Paul Gut. Former Airbus vice president Olivier Andries, former Airbus human resources director Erik Pillet and Airbus Centres of Excellence chief Alain Flourens were also named. The EADS executives turned up at the Palais Brogniart Monday with a bevy of lawyers and translators in tow for the high-profile hearings. The hearings come just three days after Air France's first of 12 Airbus A380s made its inaugural flight from Paris to New York. The mammoth double-decker aircraft made its first commercial flight in October 2007 from Singapore to Sydney with Singapore Airlines, EADS last week reported a quarterly loss, its first in two years, and warned it might cut production because of persistent problems with the A380 and its planned military transporter A400M. The firm, which controls several other leading aerospace companies in addition to Airbus, is pulling through a deep crisis and restructuring. EADS chief executive Louis Gallois, in an interview on Monday, pledged support for his executives, adding that "everyone is in a hurry to move on from an affair that is more than three years old." http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/Executives_testify_in_Airbus_insider_trading_probe.htm 24th Nov,2009 SANTIAGO (AFP) - – Chile's government on Saturday dismissed allegations that members of its military had spied on neighboring Peru, as a serious diplomatic row between the two countries deepened. "When there are accusations of this type, governments must exercise caution," warned a Chilean presidential spokeswoman, denouncing the espionage claims against two Chilean military officials. "We want to be clear: Chile does not spy," insisted spokeswoman Carolina Toha. The spat has already forced the cancellation of a meeting in Singapore Sunday between Peru's President Alan Garcia and his Chilean counterpart Michelle Bachelet. A Peruvian court earlier began extradition proceedings against the two Chilean officers, as the government launched an official inquiry, justice officials in Lima said. The Chileans, identified as Daniel Marquez Torrealba and Victor Vergara Rojas, were allegedly working with an officer of the Peruvian Air Force, Victor Ariza Mendoza, whose detention officials announced on Thursday. News reports said that Ariza, who worked in 2002 in Peru's embassy in Santiago, has been charged with "revealing state secrets, money laundering and espionage" on behalf of Chile since September 2005. Ariza, who reportedly confessed, would have earned 3,000 dollars a month for his involvement in passing on information, prosecutors said. Authorities said they were also looking into the possible involvement of another Peruvian military officer in the case. The row prompted Garcia on Saturday to cancel planned talks with Bachelet and quit a regional Pacific summit in Singapore a day early. "I am returning 24 hours earlier than scheduled, so I can obtain complete and sufficient information (on the issue) and to be able to speak from Peru," Garcia said in Singapore at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. "We have to cancel (the meeting with Bachelet) because we are going back to Peru over this issue," Garcia told reporters. Also speaking in Singapore, on Friday, Peru's foreign minister Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde, decried an "offensive act" by Chile, and called on Santiago to launch "an investigation into who in Chile gave the order" behind the alleged spying operation. Garcia Belaunde said Peru's ambassador in Santiago would return home for consultations, but ruled out a break in bilateral relations. The rift is the most serious in years between the two neighbors, which have had a long-running dispute over their maritime border in the Pacific Ocean. Peru last year brought a claim before the International Court of Justice over territory lost to Chile in an 1879-1883 war. Peru claims an area of about 100,000 square kilometers in the Pacific Ocean that is currently are under Chilean control. For its part, Chile says the maritime border was settled by treaties in 1952 and 1954 -- treaties that Peru argues were meant to regulate fishing, not demarcate the border. http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/Chile_urges_caution_in_Peru_spying_row.htm 24th Nov,2009 WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama on Wednesday lauded Singapore's "legendary" founding father Lee Kuan Yew, as he sought advice ahead of his first trip to Asia since taking office. Obama told reporters before a meeting with Lee that he was looking forward to hearing his views on the evolving situation in the region, before leaving on November 11 for a trip to Japan, Singapore, China and South Korea. "This is one of the legendary figures of Asia in the 20th and 21st centuries," Obama said as he sat side-by-side with Lee in the Oval Office. "He is somebody who helped to trigger the Asian economic miracle," Obama said, adding that Singapore had been an outstanding friend and ally of the United States for many years. Lee, 86, said that he was privileged to visit Obama at a "time of renewal and change in America, and during a period of transition where the world order is changing." Obama's trip to Singapore includes his inaugural appearances at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit and a meeting with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Lee, whose official title is Minister Mentor, served as prime minister of Singapore between 1959 to 1990, and is regarded as an expert on Asian affairs and US relations with the region. http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/Obama_welcomes_legendary_Lee_Kuan_Yew.htm 30th Oct,2009 NEW YORK: Oil prices rebounded sharply on Thursday as traders welcomed news that the United States, the world's biggest energy-consuming nation, had returned to economic growth in the third quarter after a year of contraction. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for December delivery, settled at 79.87 dollars a barrel, a rise of 2.41 dollars, or 3.1 percent, from Wednesday's close. In London, Brent North Sea crude for December leapt 2.18 dollars to close at 78.04 dollars. The market rallied from losses on Wednesday after the US government reported gross domestic product (GDP), a broad measure of the country's output of goods and services, posted its strongest economic growth in two years as government stimulus spurred consumer spending. After four negative quarters, the world's largest economy grew at a seasonally-adjusted 3.5 percent annual rate in the July-September period from the second quarter. It was the strongest expansion since the 2007 third quarter, when a US sub-prime mortgage crisis triggered a global financial crisis that hammered the world economy, and marked the end of the worst recession since the Great Depression. "Without any ambiguity one would say that the pretty decent GDP numbers from the previous quarter are to a great extent driving the market," said Bart Melek, analyst at BMO Capital Markets. "The US economy is moving higher than expected, and interestingly we are seeing decent consumer activity," he added. Melek said that government stimulus measures had succeeded and "oil demand should pick up as well." Dollar-priced oil also won support from the weaker greenback. The euro breached 1.48 dollars on Thursday after the positive US GDP data boosted investor appetite for riskier assets like the single currency. In afternoon London deals, the European single currency surged as high as 1.4836 dollars, up from 1.4714 dollars late on Wednesday. The US government's first estimate of third-quarter GDP topped the 3.2 percent rate expected by most analysts. "A broadly strong GDP number indicates that the US economy has finally pulled itself out of recession," said ETX Capital trader Manoj Ladwa. Oil prices had slumped more than two dollars on Wednesday after data showed an increase in US crude and gasoline stockpiles, indicating falling demand. Mike Fitzpatrick at MF Global also noted the breadth of the US economic rebound in the third quarter and data showing new US weekly claims for unemployment benefits had dipped last week. "Our thinking is that this is the best evidence, to date, that perhaps a sustainable recovery, and consequently, a revival of energy demand, is starting to take hold," he said. Nevertheless, Fitzpatrick sounded a cautious note about the government's first official GDP estimate for the third quarter. Two more readings are due in the coming months. "A solid recovery will only be characterised by successive positive reports. For oil prices then, the response has been and will probably continue to be somewhat guarded," he said. "Market participants will need to see meaningful upward momentum in economic performance before they are convinced that demand will follow," he added. - AFP/de http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/Oil_prices_surge_after_US_economy_grows_again.htm 30th Oct,2009 BANGKOK: A new United Nations report said that Asian exports are expected to rebound strongly in 2010, but warned that countries will need to diversify their economies to prevent future shocks. Thai exports are expected to recover by about 6 per cent, in line with regional trends. But it will still not be a full recovery, especially as exports suffered a 17 per cent fall this year. In the new UN report, officials said that Asian countries need to stop relying on trade to grow their economies, and the focus should now be on stimulating domestic demand. Intra-regional trade has long been a potential answer to fickle overseas markets, but trade barriers and red tape across borders are major obstacles. If Asian countries were to eliminate all tariffs among each other, 43 million people could be lifted out of poverty. "Hopefully, if the countries have certain policy mechanisms in place to distribute this wealth or income, gains in trade can lead to poverty reduction," said Ravi Ratnayake, international trade economist, Director of ESCAP's Trade and Investment Division. And though massive government stimulus has helped pull economies out of crisis, there are still risks ahead. Noeleen Heyzer, United Nations under-secretary general and ESCAP executive secretary said: "Basically, the social recovery takes much longer. The recovery in terms of unemployment figures takes much longer. These are the two things to watch. "There is no way we can engage in the larger markets if we do not improve the income security of our poor as well as our emerging middle classes." Moreover, analysts cautioned that an Asian recovery still depends on the health of American financial institutions, as well as strong currencies and volatile energy prices. - CNA/sc http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/Asian_countries_should_focus_on_stimulating_domestic_demand_UN_report.htm 30th Oct,2009 TOKYO : Japan's economy on Friday showed fresh signs that it is recovering after a sharp downturn, with jobless figures hitting a four-month low, an easing in deflation and household spending edging up. Japan's unemployment rate fell to a four-month low of 5.3 percent in September, beating the market expectation that it would rise to 5.6 percent, according to data from the internal affairs ministry. The latest figure was down from 5.5 percent in August and the lowest since 5.2 percent in May. A separate survey released by the labour ministry Friday showed there were 43 job offers for every 100 jobseekers in September, slightly up from a record low of 42 in the previous two months. It is the first time since May 2007 that the job-offer ratio has improved from the previous month. Many Japanese companies, particularly exporters, moved swiftly to cut jobs and production in response to a slump in demand caused by the global economic downturn. But Japan's economy grew in April-June for the first time in five quarters on rebounding exports and government stimulus measures. Another survey from the internal affairs ministry showed deflation in Japan eased slightly in September following four straight months of record declines in consumer prices. Core prices, which exclude those of volatile fresh food, dropped 2.3 percent in the month from a year earlier, after an unprecedented 2.4 percent slump in August. Compared with the previous month, prices rose 0.1 percent -- the first increase in six months. Some economists warned against being too upbeat on the economic outlook. "There are concerns that price drops in services and other wide-ranging sectors may pressure wages, leading consumers to seek even lower prices," Credit Suisse economists wrote in a report. "A further credit easing is needed" as deflation remains, they said. In September Japanese household spending edged up by 1.0 percent from a year earlier, an increase for a second consecutive month. Japan was stuck in a deflationary spiral for years after its asset price bubble burst in the early 1990s, hitting corporate earnings and prompting consumers to put off purchases in the hope of further price drops. The current global economic downturn and a slump in commodity costs pushed the world's number two economy back into the deflationary doldrums. Core consumer prices have now fallen year-on-year for the past seven months. - AFP/vm http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/Japan_unemployment_falls_amid_recovery_signs.htm 30th Oct,2009 WASHINGTON : President Barack Obama Friday meets his top military chiefs to talk strategy in Pakistan and Afghanistan in one of the final steps before deciding whether to send thousands more US troops to war. Obama invited the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the heads of the branches of the US armed services, to the secure White House Situation Room to hear their input on his war plan and deliberations on troop numbers, officials said. He will hold the meeting a day after his poignant visit to witness the return to home soil of fallen Americans from Afghanistan, after which he said the heavy sacrifice of US soldiers was weighing on his decision-making. "It was a sobering reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices that our young men and women in uniform are engaging in every single day," Obama said in the Oval Office, hours after watching remains of 18 US servicemen flown home. "Obviously the burden that both our troops and our families bear in any wartime situation is going to bear on how I see these conflicts. "And it is something that I think about each and every day," Obama said, after the visit to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said Thursday that the president was "at the end stages of what is this, sort of, close-hold, pre-decisional, confidential process over at the White House." Other signs that Obama may be nearing a decision are coming in a flurry of leaks of aspects of the coalescing strategy to major US newspapers. The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Obama had asked senior officials for an analysis of Afghan provinces to determine which regions are well managed and which are not, to guide his decision on troop numbers. Earlier this week, The New York Times reported the White House was settling on an Afghan strategy that would send more US troops to protect top population centers, but recognizes that the insurgency cannot be completely eradicated. Related article: UC plea for security Obama has spent weeks deliberating over a request by top war General Stanley McChrystal for 40,000 more troops to fight the escalating Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, which warned the war could be lost without more men. He has completed a string of in-depth discussions in the White House with senior aides, probing every aspect of US strategy in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Already fragile US public opinion on the war is being tested by a rush of recent casualties in Afghanistan, with October the bloodiest month for American troops of the eight-year conflict so far. Expectations are mounting that Obama could reveal his answer to McChrystal's request before he leaves for an eight-day trip to Asia on November 11. But he is believed unlikely to reveal his decision whether to reinforce the 68,000 US troops in the country before the Afghan run-off election on November 7. On Tuesday, Obama told servicemen and women in Florida he would not "rush" a decision on which lives depend. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said this week only that the decision will be made "in the coming weeks." Among senior officers expected at the White House on Monday were General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the joint chiefs; Army Chief of Staff General George W. Casey; General James Conway, commandant of the US Marine Corps; Admiral Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations; and General Norton Schwartz, air force chief of staff. Vice President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs chairman Admiral Michael Mullen and other top Obama security forces were also due to attend. - AFP/vm http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/Obama_to_meet_military_brass_in_Afghanistan.htm 30th Oct,2009 TOKYO : Japan's central bank said Friday it would end some of its emergency measures to fight the financial crisis at the end of the year, as it left its key interest rate unchanged at 0.1 percent. The Bank of Japan has been tackling the credit crunch with super-low lending rates and other steps to support struggling companies, such as a programme of outright purchases of corporate debt, which will finish at the end of December. - AFP/vm http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/Bank_of_Japan_to_end_some_emergency_measures.htm 30th Oct,2009 SINGAPORE: The Economic Development Board (EDB) said business sentiment among manufacturers here has improved. Data from its latest Business Expectations Survey showed a weighted 22 per cent of firms predict an improvement in the business conditions in the next six months compared with 16 per cent last quarter. A weighted 13 per cent of companies foresee worse business conditions over the next six months, lower than 18 per cent a quarter ago. Meanwhile, a weighted 65 per cent expect the situation to remain the same. Almost all clusters within the manufacturing sector expect an improved business environment as the global economy shows signs of recovery. The electronics cluster is the most optimistic with a net weighted balance of 22 per cent of firms expecting business conditions to improve. This is followed by the general manufacturing industries with a net weighted balance of 20 per cent. Business expectations for the precision engineering and chemical clusters have turned positive for the first time since the onset of the financial crisis last year. However, the chemicals cluster is still concerned about excess supply of petrochemicals and petroleum refined products in the region. EDB said the transport engineering cluster is the least upbeat about business conditions for the period October 2009 to March 2010, compared to a quarter ago. Despite an improvement in business sentiments in the next six months, a net weighted three per cent of manufacturers expect output to decline in the fourth quarter of this year, compared to the third quarter. The improved outlook has had a knock-on effect on recruitment. A weighted 92 per cent of manufacturers project a similar or higher level of employment in the fourth quarter. This is compared to a weighted 87 per cent recorded in the survey conducted a quarter ago. Meanwhile, business sentiment has also improved in the services sector The Statistics Department said an overall weighted balance of 28 percent of firms in the services sector forecast a favourable business outlook for the next six months. This is higher than the 21 percent of firms who recorded a positive outlook in the previous Business Expectations Survey a quarter ago. In particular, hoteliers and firms in the catering industry were the most optimistic in the hope of better business in view of the year end festive period and school holidays. Department stores as well as retailers of clothing and footwear and jewellery and watches also foresee higher sales in anticipation of the festive shopping season in the coming months. Banks and finance companies, brokerages, fund managers and insurance companies are also expecting higher levels of business activity during this period. However, firms in the real estate industry expect the demand for services to remain the same in the next six months. - CNA/vm http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/Business_sentiment_among_manufacturers_improves_for_next_6_months_EDBBusiness_sentiment_among_manufacturers_improves_for_next_6_months_EDB.htm 30th Oct,2009 SINGAPORE: United Overseas Bank said its third quarter net earnings rose 5.3 per cent to S$500 million from a year ago on higher interest and fee-based income. The result was higher than the average estimate of S$422 million by five analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires. The bank said net interest income in the three months to September edged up 3.6 per cent on-year to S$925 million as its net interest margin improved by 18 basis points. Non-interest income also rose, by 24.1 per cent to S$396 million on gains from investment activities. Provisions for bad debt increased 49 per cent to S$235 million, but the bank said this was within its expectations. The lender's non-performing loan ratio remained at 2.4 per cent, the same as the previous quarter. Overall, UOB said it's comfortable with its portfolio and that its asset quality remained sound Looking ahead, UOB CEO Wee Ee Cheong said the bank will continue to selectively seize growth opportunities and work towards achieving greater synergies across its regional network. - 938LIVE http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/UOB_Q3_up_5_3_to_S_500m_on_higher_interest_and_fee-based_incomeUOB_Q3_up_5_3_to_S_500m_on_higher_interest_and_fee-based_income.htm 30th Oct,2009 NEW DELHI : An Indian doctor working in 600 B.C. might have been the world's first plastic surgeon, according to a new exhibition that challenges Western domination of the history of science and technology. The Science and Technology Heritage Exhibition opened last week at New Delhi's National Science Centre, showcasing the advances and discoveries with which the country says it should be credited. It is an attempt to promote India ahead of the Commonwealth Games next year and also to tackle the legacy of colonialism, which the director of the science centre says has left many Indians unaware of their proud heritage. "Because of our colonial past, our students are forced to cram on Western science and technology and we want to tell the world of the strides which were made in India thousands of years ago," N.R. Iyer told AFP. India spent nearly two centuries under British rule before gaining independence in 1947. The plastic surgery claim relates to Susruta, who lived 150 years before Greece's "father of medicine," Hippocrates, and who lends his name to a number of modern Indian clinics. Iyer, citing official records, said the surgeon pioneered nose reconstruction in northern India, which entailed removing skin from the forehead of a person to re-build the facial feature. Criminals were often punished by having their noses cut off during his time. He is credited with authoring the Susruta Samhita, a medical text which details 650 types of drugs, 300 operations, 42 surgical procedures and 121 types of instruments, according to available records. The earliest documentation of Indian medicine is found in holy Hindu scripts of the Vedas compiled between 3,000 and 1,000 BC. Physicist Manas Bagchi, who helped set up the science heritage exhibition, said India's achievements in pre-Iron Age sectors such as alchemy, astronomy, cultivation, metrology and metallurgy have been especially highlighted. He also highlighted India's claim to have invented the mathematical zero. Three civilisations had a notion of the zero, but Indians were the first to use it as the base numeral, giving it the shape '0' which is now used across the world. "The world acknowledges numericals zero to nine began their voyage from India," he said at the science centre, which welcomes 500,000 curious people a year. The event also showcased advances in zinc smelting in 800 AD, breakthroughs in astronomy between 400 and 1,000 AD, as well as multiple cropping technology practised by Indian farmers as far back as in 2,500 BC. The organisers linked the new permanent show to the Commonwealth Games next year when 100,000 spectators are expected in New Delhi. The Games, the biggest multi-sport event to be staged in India since the Asian Games in 1982, will feature 71 nations and territories from the former British empire and is expected to draw 6,000 athletes. "This is an incredible opportunity for us to tell the international community from Commonwealth nations that India had a very advanced civilisation," Iyer, an electronics scientist, told AFP. Other tourism roadshows ahead of the event are set to take place in London and other Western capitals. Sensing a sunrise market in the heritage sector, New Delhi now plans to dig deeper into its past and go beyond the well-chronicled Indus Valley Civilisation of 2,500 BC. "Heritage and science cannot exist without each other," culture ministry secretary Jawhar Sircar recently told reporters. Sircar said archaeologists, anthropologists and scientific curators will soon team up and study "the scientific interpretation of Indian heritage." India hopes the upcoming Games will promote a modern image of the country, which has made impressive strides in its space programme and computer software industry. - AFP/ir http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/Did_India_invent_the_nose_job.htm 30th Oct,2009 SINGAPORE: Singapore's total employment has grown for the first time this year. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said that it grew by 15,400 in the third quarter. Total employment had shrunk by 6,200 in the first quarter and 7,700 in the second. Nevertheless, the gains were significantly lower than 55,700 in the third quarter of last year. Services employment rose by 13,400 in the third quarter, significantly higher than the gains in the first two quarters. Construction continued to add workers. Manufacturing shed workers for the fourth consecutive quarter. However, MOM said that the decline was substantially lower than in the first two quarters this year. According to preliminary estimates, 2,000 workers were retrenched and 200 contracts were terminated prematurely, resulting in a total of 2,200 workers made redundant in the third quarter of 2009. This was substantially lower than the 5,980 workers made redundant in the second quarter. Preliminary estimates showed that the seasonally adjusted overall unemployment rate rose slightly to 3.4 per cent in September from 3.3 per cent in June 2009. Among the resident labour force, the rate increased to five per cent. This followed a decline in June when some residents then had deferred job search and pursued courses amid the difficult job market. The unemployment rates were still below the peak experienced in September 2003 due to the SARS outbreak. - 938LIVE/vm http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/Total_employment_grew_for_first_time_this_year.htm 30th Oct,2009 SEOUL : A US envoy will visit North Korea next month following a summit between President Barack Obama and his South Korean counterpart in Seoul, a newspaper reported Friday. "Special envoy (Stephen) Bosworth will visit North Korea next month," an unnamed senior South Korean official told the independent Hankyoreh newspaper. The trip by the special US envoy for North Korea is expected to come after a summit between Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak on November 19, it said. The North reached a six-nation nuclear disarmament deal in 2007. But it quit the forum in April in protest at the UN Security Council's decision to censure its long-range rocket launch. In May it staged its second nuclear test, incurring international anger and tougher UN sanctions. On October 6 North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il told Chinese envoys that his country was willing to return to the six-party forum, but insisted it first negotiate directly with Washington to repair "hostile relations." The US says such talks are possible, but only to bring the North back to the six-nation framework which also groups China, South Korea, Japan and Russia. US and North Korean envoys held rare face-to-face talks in New York last week and again on Monday and Tuesday at a California forum. But the US State Department said it has not yet decided whether to accept Pyongyang's invitation for a visit by Bosworth. - AFP/vm http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/US_envoy_to_visit_North_Korea_next_month.htm 30th Oct,2009 SINGAPORE: More than 150 officers from various government agencies will be appointed as liaison officers for the upcoming Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings, to be held in Singapore from November 8. The officers will provide personalised assistance to the APEC leaders, ministers and their spouses. In order to equip them with the relevant knowledge and skills, the officers have undergone training on areas such as protocol management, business etiquette and Singapore’s tourism offerings. Mr Tan Kay Chuan, head of the APEC Singapore 2009 Organising Secretariat said: "The necessary preparations and training have been made to ensure that all liaison officers are well—equipped to perform their roles. "We are also confident that other than assisting the APEC leaders, ministers, and their spouses, the liaison officers will also put forth that sense of warmth and human touch which we hope to extend to our APEC guests as part of the Singapore Experience." The liason officers will be wearing uniforms, specially created by local designer Celia Loe from First Stop Pte Ltd. "I wanted my designs to reflect Singapore as a cosmopolitan city that is modern, vibrant, and engaging. I am happy that the outfit accentuates all these elements and, at the same time, is comfortable and looks distinguished," Ms Loe said. Male liaison officers will wear a grey suit with white shirt and a burgundy red tie, while female liaison officers will wear a pink blouse and a grey jacket with a choice of pants or skirt. — CNA/sc http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/officers_from_govt_agencies_to_be_appointed_APEC_liaison_officers.htm 30th Oct,2009 FUJIAN, CHINA: Singapore’s Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong has urged Singapore companies to seize growth opportunities in Fujian Province. The call came as Mr Goh wrapped up his five—day official visit to Fujian Province. He met Fujian Party Secretary Lu Zhan Gong on Thursday and they spoke about the development of the province’s new economic zone. Mr Goh said he was impressed with the development of infrastructure in Fujian and that it shows the seriousness of the central government to invest in the province. Another interesting development in the province is Pingtan island, which will be transformed into a special economic zone with preferential policies for investors. The island lies 120 kilometres from Taiwan, and Chinese officials plan to turn it into a pioneering area for exchange and cooperation between the mainland and Taiwan. Capitalising on this, Temasek subsidiary SingBridge International has signed an MOU with Fuzhou officials on a feasibility study for a 40 square kilometre new township in Pingtan island. Ko Kheng Hwa, CEO of SingBridge International, said: "We see strong growth potential in Pingtan for three reasons. One, there’s a new policy to develop the region; two, a new bridge will open up within a year the island becomes a peninsula for the mainland; and thirdly, the island has natural assets." He added: "We can make a contribution, because they find Singapore’s experience in developing an island economy — our urban development, tourism development are areas they can leverage on. "So SingBridge is taking this opportunity to engage them early so that we can help shape the development of Pingtan, grow with Pingtan and create mutual benefit." This is SingBridge’s second project in China, the first being the development of the Guangdong Knowledge City. — CNA/ir http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/SM_Goh_urges_S_pore_investors_to_seize_Fujian_s_growth_opportunities.htm 30th Oct,2009 HANOI, Vietnam – An official says authorities in southern Vietnam have found a mass grave containing the remains of 12 communist soldiers killed during the Vietnam War. School official Thai Thanh Hai says the remains were recovered Wednesday along with personal effects like belts, caps and buttons on an army school grounds in Dong Nai province, adjacent to Ho Chi Minh City. Hai said Thursday that students discovered the remains while planting trees at the site. The area was once a major base for troops of the former Saigon government and the site of fierce fighting. About 58,000 Americans and 3 million Vietnamese were killed in the war, which ended in 1975 when communist North Vietnamese forces overran Saigon, the former capital of South Vietnam, now known as Ho Chi Minh City. http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/Vietnam_finds_mass_grave_of_communist_soldiers.htm 30th Oct,2009 BANGKOK – Thai police are considering criminal charges against four people for allegedly spreading rumors about the health of the country's monarch that sent the local stock market plunging, an official said Thursday. The Stock Exchange of Thailand tumbled sharply Oct. 14-15 amid rumors that the health of 81-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej was declining, which raised fears of a power vacuum in this divided Asian nation. Since then, politicians and pro-government media have sharply criticized the alleged rumormongers in terms resembling a witch hunt, though there has been no consensus on whether they were intending to hurt the monarchy or manipulate stock prices. The king was hospitalized on Sept. 19 with fever, fatigue and lack of appetite. The palace later reported he was recovering from inflammation of the lungs and was in no danger, but for more than three weeks he made no public appearances and was not even shown in photos, as terse, vague bulletins on his health were released. He later appeared in public at the hospital. There are concerns of what will happen when Bhumibol's reign is over, because he is often seen as the country's sole unifying figure in time of crisis. The heir apparent, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, has yet to earn the same popular trust and respect. The political unrest Thailand has experienced in the past three years, after a coup ousting a democratically elected prime minister, has raised the tensions over the issue. Police Maj. Gen. Panya Mamen, deputy chief of Central Investigation Bureau, said an investigation was focusing on the alleged involvement of four individuals in spreading the rumors, which helped cause the market to plunge 8.2 percent at one point. "We are in the process of gathering information and next week, the police will ask the Criminal Court for warrants," Panya said, adding that police expected to charge them with violation of the Computer Crime Act for spreading false information deemed harmful to national security. He declined to identify the suspects. Critics have called the broadly defined 2007 law a threat to freedom of speech. It bars the circulation of material deemed detrimental to national security or that causes public panic, with penalties of imprisonment up to five years and a fine of 100,000 baht ($2,770). Several people have been arrested in the past two years under the law, and at least one convicted. Open discussion of the monarchy is also constrained by strict lese majeste laws that make criticism punishable by up to 15 years in prison. "Right now, (the police) have information to an extent. If it is enough, then they will take action," Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters Thursday. "I have given a direction that if there is anything that can be done, then they can do it." The health rumors have since subsided and the market rebounded after the king's youngest daughter, Princess Chulabhorn, appeared on television, saying that the king was recovering well and remained hospitalized mainly for physical therapy. The king appeared in public once at the hospital on Oct. 24. http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/Thai_police_mull_charges_over_king_s_health_rumors.htm 30th Oct,2009 VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The Supreme Court of Canada on Thursday turned down fugitive Thai banker Rakesh Saxena's request to hear his case, ending one of the longest extradition fights in Canadian history. Saxena has been fighting for 13 years to avoid being returned to Thailand to face charges he embezzled US$88 million from a Bangkok bank. Thailand alleges the fraud contributed to the bank's 1995 collapse and to the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. Canadian Department of Justice spokeswoman Lyse Cantin said Saxena would be surrendered but could not disclose details of the transfer for fear of creating a security risk. A spokesman for the Office of Thailand's Attorney-General Poramej Intarachoomnoom praised the court's decision and said Saxena has over 20 cases pending against him. Saxena was an adviser for the Bangkok Bank of Commerce when Thai authorities charged him in May 1996 with setting up a series of phony loans to siphon millions from the bank. Saxena fled Thailand and was arrested later that summer in the British Columbia ski resort town of Whistler. Saxena, who suffered a stroke last March and uses a wheelchair, was living under house arrest during much of his extradition battle, but has been in jail most recently. Thailand's statute of limitations on the Securities Exchange Act charges will run out in July 2010. If nothing happens by then, Saxena would be free of the charges. http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/Fugitive_banker_can_be_extradited_to_Thailand.htm 30th Oct,2009 MANILA (AFP) - – The Philippines and China signed two agreements on Thursday to boost bilateral ties and improve consular relations, officials said, despite disagreements on issues such as the disputed Spratly Islands. Philippine President Gloria Arroyo and visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi oversaw the signing of the agreements, Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said. One agreement outlines areas in which the two countries intend to work more closely over the next five years, such as politics, trade, investment, finance, agriculture, food safety, defence and sustainable development. "China is a strategic partner and we are looking forward, under the strategic cooperation plan, to have more activities between the two countries," Romulo said, but no specific details about the agreement were released. The consular agreement is aimed at protecting Filipino workers in China and is the first such deal the Philippines has negotiated with another country, the Philippine foreign department said. "The agreement addresses long-standing concerns of the Philippine Embassy and Consulates General in China with regard to the provision of assistance to nationals... such as notification of arrests and detention of Filipino nationals, repatriation and settlement of disputes," the department said. Despite growing economic ties, relations between the Philippines and China have been marred by conflicting territorial claims over such areas as the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. Chinese officials have said a Philippine law passed last year that spelt out Manila's claims to parts of the Spratly Islands had harmed bilateral relations. http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/Philippines_China_sign_accords_to_improve_ties_officials.htm 30th Oct,2009 KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - – Malaysia's conservative Islamic party has urged Muslim men to marry single mothers as additional wives instead of "young virgin girls", a state official said. Wan Ubaidah Omar, a cabinet minister from northern Kelantan, which the party controls, said the proposal aired in state parliament this week was needed to help single mothers and widows in the underdeveloped region. "Muslim men usually like young girls or virgins as their additional wives, so I suggest instead of taking these young virgin girls, why don't they marry the single mothers as their second or third wife?" she told AFP. "This will ease the burden of the single mothers as the men can help them to take care of their children. The single ladies have no burden," said Wan Ubaidah, who is in charge of women, family and health affairs in the state. Muslim men in Malaysia are allowed to marry up to four women but Islamic courts must approved multiple marriages before they take place. About 60 percent of the country's 27 million population are Muslims. Women's groups here have campaigned against polygamy, saying it is cruel and has deviated from its original purpose in Islam, which was to protect widows and orphans. Wan Ubaidah said her call was not meant to encourage polygamous marriage, but as a way to help at least 16,500 single mothers aged under 60 in Kelantan, a state that has one of the highest divorce rates in the country. "Even if I don't make the suggestion, these men are going to marry the second, third wife anyway but I have to emphasise that under Islam, only those who have the social and economic capacity can have additional wives," she said. The minister also called for husbands who leave their wives without good reason to be whipped under religious laws. "Some of these husbands just go missing in action suddenly, and leave the wives without any food or money. These kind of men should be whipped, they deserve it," Wan Ubaidah said. "This punishment is not in the state sharia law at the moment, but we can make it a law to make men more responsible; there is a lot of room for improvement in the legal system to protect the welfare of women," she added. http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/Malaysia_s_Islamic_party_tells_men_to_marry_single_mums.htm 30th Oct,2009 KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Malaysia's Islamic opposition party firmly shut the door Thursday on any attempt to form an alliance with the federal government, ending a leadership spat that had threatened to split the party. Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party President Abdul Hadi Awang said his party would not shift its allegiance away from a three-member opposition alliance that emerged as a challenge to the ruling coalition when it made unprecedented gains in 2008 general elections. Some key leaders in the Islamic party were unhappy with the opposition partners and had called for unity talks with the main party in the ruling coalition. The talks never materialized, but the effort led to growing tension within the party ranks. Hadi said Thursday that the any proposed "unity government" between his party and the federal government was moot now since Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi stepped down in March. "That is a closed chapter. There is no such thing as a unity government," he said. "The previous prime minister has left (office) and there is a new person at the helm. The situation has changed." The party's spiritual head, Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, last week demanded the ouster of "problematic" leaders who want to pursue alliance talks, but Hadi's comments should put an end to the internal spat. Both the main ruling party and the Islamic opposition draw their support from the country's majority Malays. Some government leaders have said the parties should create an alliance to heal political divisions in the community. http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/Malaysia_s_Islamic_opposition_ends_factional_feud.htm 30th Oct,2009 JAKARTA, Indonesia – Two members of Indonesia's anti-corruption commission have been arrested, dealing another blow to the once-powerful body. Deputy intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Dikdik Mulyana said Thursday that the commissioners are accused of accepting bribes and abuse of power. Three out of five commissioners have been detained in recent months in what supporters say is a political attack against its authority. The commission's head is on trial for murder. The commissioners, who have been suspended, say the allegations are fabricated. The Corruption Eradication Commission has prosecuted scores of suspects since it was established 2004. Anti-graft watchdogs regularly rank Indonesia as one of the world's most corrupt countries. http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/Anti-graft_commissioners_arrested_in_Indonesia.htm 30th Oct,2009 SEOUL (AFP) - – South Korean security authorities Thursday announced the arrest of a college lecturer on charges of spying for North Korea, saying he was recruited by Pyongyang's agents in India. The man, identified only as Lee, is accused of passing information on South Korean military operations and facilities to the communist North, state prosecutors and the National Intelligence Service said in a joint statement. Lee, 37, who was recruited in 1992 while studying at a college in New Delhi, visited Pyongyang twice to become a communist party member and received a total of 50,600 dollars in operational funds, they said. He allegedly stole classified information using his status as a member of the National Unification Advisory Council, a state organisation promoting unification of the peninsula. Information he passed to the North between 1997 and February this year included locations of key government facilities as well as US and South Korean military facilities, the statement said. Lee had accumulated military information and data while serving as a troop information and education officer in the army in 2001, it said. He received a North Korean decoration during a trip to Singapore in 2003 and used some of his operational funds to study in India and also for a doctorate in South Korea, the statement said. "The case tells our country to check its security system as he has served as an opinion leader in our society," prosecutor Yoon Kap-Geun told Yonhap news agency, calling him "a (North Korean) scholarship student and spy." The two nations have remained technically at war since their 1950-1953 conflict and Seoul several times in recent years has announced the arrest of spies for the North. In the most famous case last year, a 35-year-old woman who came from the North in the guise of a defector and used sex to secure military secrets was jailed for five years. North Korea denied she was its agent, calling her "human scum" and describing the trial as a "threadbare charade" orchestrated to heighten tensions. Seoul's official data shows more than 4,500 people have been exposed as spies for the North since the peninsula was divided in 1948. http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/S_Korea_announces_arrest_of_N_Korean_spyS_Korea_announces_arrest_of_N_Korean_spy.htm 30th Oct,2009 HANGZHOU, China (AFP) - – China and the United States wrapped up trade talks Thursday with token gestures on commercial disputes but tension lurked beneath the surface ahead of a visit by US President Barack Obama. US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack met for a second day with a team led by Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Qishan in the eastern city of Hangzhou. Obama begins his first presidential visit to China on November 15, two months after igniting a trade dispute by imposing duty on Chinese-made tyres, prompting a Chinese complaint to the World Trade Organisation. The two sides had looked to smooth over tension on a number of trade issues before his trip to Shanghai and Beijing, and Locke called the Hangzhou meeting of the US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) "productive". "This productive JCCT builds a foundation for a most successful visit by President Obama in two weeks," he said. Among the gestures made in Hangzhou, Agriculture Minister Sun Zhengcai said Thursday that China had decided to remove a ban imposed earlier this year on pork imports from areas of the United States hit by the A(H1N1) virus. Locke said China also promised to crack down on rampant Internet piracy. Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming told reporters, meanwhile, the United States had agreed to relax restrictions on some imports of poultry products from China. But Chen also said his ministry was investigating possible unfair trade practices "involving imports from US automobile companies". He did not elaborate. US officials said it was not clear whether the move was on top of Beijing's announcement, following the US tyre tariffs, that it was reviewing possible unfair trade practices involving imports of US "car products" and chicken meat. Locke had said earlier it was "critical we make concrete demonstrable progress today to demonstrate to our citizens and to the entire world that China and the United States can work together to achieve results". Beijing has said the tyre tariffs violated WTO rules but Obama has denied they amounted to protectionism. The two sides also have been at odds over pirated music and movies. Vice-Premier Wang urged both sides to resist trade protectionism and work toward economic recovery, citing the two trading partners' "economic interdependence". Market access "issues" were to have been addressed in agriculture, clean energy, pharmaceuticals and telecommunications in the talks, along with the protection of intellectual property rights, Locke said earlier. The US trade deficit with China is the widest Washington has with any country, totalling 143.7 billion dollars in the first eight months of 2009, according to US data -- down 15.1 percent from the same period last year. The two countries, the world's biggest sources of carbon emissions, also had planned to address climate change in Hangzhou ahead of talks in Copenhagen in December on a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. On Wednesday, top US climate change envoy Todd Stern said there would be no separate agreement reached by the two sides on fighting global warming during Obama's visit but added the two sides would work toward success in Copenhagen. The two sides also signed 11 agreements on expanding cooperation in areas such as technology, clean energy, aviation and tourism, officials said. Locke had said earlier the value of the US-pegged Chinese yuan would not be discussed during the talks. http://www.keysaustin.com/article/article/US_China_wrap_up_high-level_trade_talks.htm 30th Oct,2009