The European Union Times |
- China, Russia move to ditch US Dollar in trade
- China blocks Google email service, says expert
- People Kicked Off Beaches, Weddings Moved For Obama Holiday
- Ukraine’s economy shrinks by 7.5% in 2014
- AirAsia plane wreckage found, bodies being recovered
|
Posted: 30 Dec 2014 02:59 PM PST
 China and Russia have effectively switched to domestic currencies in trading using financial tools as swaps and forwards, as they seek to reduce the influence of the US dollar and foreign exchange risks. The agreement signed in the end of October comes into force Monday, December 29, and provides a currency swap of CNY150 billion (up to US$25 billion). The country’s Foreign Exchange Trade System will carry out similar transactions with the Malaysian ringgit and the New Zealand dollar. From now on yuan swaps are available for 11 currencies on the foreign exchange market. “China won’t stop yuan globalization or capital account opening because of the volatility in emerging market currencies,” Ju Wang, a senior currency strategist at HSBC Holdings Plc in Hong Kong told Bloomberg. China has set up bilateral currency swap lines with more than 20 countries and regions since 2009, including Switzerland, Brazil, Hong Kong, Indonesia and South Korea, Xinhua News reported in July. A swap is a financial tool to ease transactions by exchanging certain elements of a loan in one currency, like the principal or interest payments into an equivalent loan in another currency. Currency forward is an obligation of two parties to convert an agreed amount of one currency into another by a certain date at an exchange rate specified at the moment of signing the deal. Russia and China have long been looking for ways to cut the dollar’s role in international trade. The question is significant for China as 32 percent, or $4 trillion of its foreign exchange reserves are in US bonds, which means there is a vulnerability to fluctuations in the exchange rate. Russia’s foreign exchange reserves are worth $398 billion, and the US dollar accounts for about $162.45 billion. The country’s economic growth has slowed amid a standoff with Western countries over the Ukrainian conflict. After the country’s financial sector faced EU and US sanctions it became hard for Russian businesses to raise finance in the West. Chinese authorities are particularly interested in currency swap lines with developing countries, mainly from the Asia-Pacific region. Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Singapore, Hong Kong, Argentina, and Malaysia are actively involved in transactions with China. Source           |
|
Posted: 30 Dec 2014 02:46 PM PST
China has blocked access to Gmail, Google’s email service, the founder of a Beijing-based firm says.
The world’s biggest email service has been largely inaccessible inside China. Users, however, could still access the service by using third-party mail applications, rather than the webpage.“But they have blocked those ways of accessing,” said Jeremy Goldkorn, founder and director of Danwei, a company that tracks Chinese media and the Internet, on Monday, adding, “I think this is pretty confirmed. It is now already four, five days, so this is real.” “We’ve checked and there’s nothing wrong on our end,” a Singapore-based spokesman for Google said in an email. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said she did not know anything about Gmail being blocked, adding that the government was committed to providing a good business environment for foreign investors. “China has consistently had a welcoming and supportive attitude towards foreign investors doing legitimate business here…. We will, as always, provide an open, transparent and good environment for foreign companies in China,” she said. Source      |
|
Posted: 30 Dec 2014 02:35 PM PST
 “I’m not a king,” President Obama has said more than 20 times recently in an effort to dissuade Americans from revolting against his executive rule phone and pen barrage. The President’s actions in his downtime might make many take another look, however, as it emerged this week that an entire beach was closed down to make way for the first family, as well as a happy couple having to relocate their entire wedding so his highness could play golf. On their umpteenth holiday this year alone, secret service agents this week made sure that the Obamas had a Hawaiian beach in Kailua completely to themselves, shooing tourists away and cordoning off areas of water so the president could go for a dip without the riff raff getting anywhere near him. “The officers could be seen telling different groups at the popular spot to turn around, as they sectioned off part of the water.” reports the Daily Mail, displaying pictures of black helmeted jack boots on jet skis harassing people. Local police were also called in to surveill the area and make sure the first family were undisturbed. Another embarrassing incident played out Monday as a couple who planned to get married on the 16th hole of an exclusive golf course were forced to relocate their nuptials so Obama could finish his round. “It was emotional, especially for her — she’s the bride and in less than 24 hours they had to change everything they had planned,” Jamie McCarthy, the bride’s sister, told Bloomberg. The couple, both serving members of the military, an institution with which Obama’s favourability is at an all time low, instead moved the wedding to a lawn near the home of their commanding officer. The President later called the bride to apologize, according to reports – most likely realizing that being exposed as acting like a monarch AGAIN wouldn’t sit too well with the American people. Senator Rand Paul tweeted out a jibe at the President’s actions, noting that even when he’s playing golf now, he is managing to ruin people’s lives: The Obamas are no strangers to luxury holidays. Last year independent government watchdog group Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information lawsuit against the U.S. Secret Service to obtain details of the cost of such lavish holidays taken by Obama at the tax payer’s expense. The group found that the Obamas racked up nearly $16 million on one vacation to Africa and on a Christmas vacation to Honolulu last year. An earlier finding in February, revealed that the Obama family’s vacation to Martha’s Vineyard in August 2013 hit taxpayers with an approximate $1.1 million bill for flying expenses. As of this summer, the Obamas are said to have spent $44,351,777.12 in taxpayer cash on travel expenses, accruing 31 vacations since the president took office in 2009. Source      |
|
Posted: 30 Dec 2014 01:52 PM PST
 Valeria Gontareva said on Tuesday that the annual inflation rate hit 21 percent by the end of last month and the country’s currency was devalued by about 50 percent. “Our country has not lived through such a difficult year since at least World War II,” said Gontareva. The central bank governor added that Ukraine’s inflation would not fall to the 13-percent target next year, but is expected to stand at 18 percent due to the government’s decision to revoke subsidies and increase tariffs on utility services. The Kiev government had earlier predicted that the country’s economy would contract by up to five additional percentage points next year. In addition, Ukraine’s reserves more than halved this year, dipping to less than USD 10 billion as the Western-backed Kiev government tried to prop up the country’s currency and fund its military operations against pro-Russia forces in the country’s eastern regions. Gontareva said another USD 8.6 billion of the bank’s reserves were used to pay off its natural gas debts to Russia and strike new agreements with European Union member states. On Monday, Ukrainian lawmakers approved an austerity law that would make tax legislation easier and impose additional duties on imports in a bid to raise revenue to help tackle the country’s economic crisis. The approval paves the way for Kiev to receive a new tranche of a USD 17-billion loan package from international creditors and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Ukraine has so far received two tranches of the financial aid, worth a total of USD 4.6 billion. Source      |
|
Posted: 30 Dec 2014 01:24 PM PST
 “There was a man swaying on the waves. After I looked at the photo carefully on my laptop, I understood it was a human body,” a lieutenant of the Indonesian Air Force told local media. The bodies so far found have been brought to an Indonesian Navy ship, National Search and Rescue Director Supriyadi told. The corpses were swollen, but intact, and did not have life jackets on, he said, as cited by AP. Several family members of missing passengers burst into tears or fainted when they saw footage of bodies floating in the water. It comes after objects that resemble an emergency slide, plane door, and a square box-like item have been spotted 10km from the last position of the missing AirAsia jet, according to Indonesian authorities. “We spotted about 10 big objects and many more small white-colored objects which we could not photograph,” Indonesian Air Force official Agus Dwi Putranto said at a press conference.   An AFP photographer from the same search flight said he had observed objects in the sea resembling a life raft, life jackets and long orange tubes. Indonesian officials have expressed concern over the currents in the sea, saying if bad weather persists, debris could be spread before crews get to it. The sea depth where the debris was found is between 25 and 30 meters, so divers will be used in the recovery operation, Indonesian search and rescue agency BASARNAS stated. At least 20 divers are preparing and will be deployed to the site immediately, Indonesia’s search and rescue chief stated. An Airbus A320-200 carrying 162 people and operated by Indonesia AirAsia disappeared in poor weather on Sunday morning during a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore. “Hopefully we will find something definite because I haven’t received anything else,” an Air Force official told MetroTV referring to the reported debris. “Other aircraft are still carrying out searches.”  Most of the search is conducted by Indonesia, but Singapore, Malaysia and Australia are taking part as well. Thailand is planning to join the search, while the US has sent a warship to help. Source     |
