Chinese President Hu Jintao has faced his critics in the U.S. Congress for talks on human rights, economic policy and North Korea, VOA reports. House speaker John Boehner said he and his colleagues raised their “strong, ongoing concerns” of reports of human rights violations in China, including the denial of religious freedom, and the use of coercive abortion as a consequence of the “one child” policy.
Posts Tagged ‘North Korea’
North Korea renews call for dialogue
January 16th, 2011 |
No Comments
North Korea reiterated its call for talks with South Korea, seeking an end to the confrontation on the peninsula, the Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday.
“Dialogue and negotiations are the only just way for independently solving the issue of the country’s reunification by the concerted efforts of the Koreans,” the agency said quoting the statement made by the North Korean authorities.
Monday Crumbs: Toni Braxton Reality Show! Mystery As Thousands Of Birds Fall From Arkansas Sky; “American Idol†Gets New Bandleader
January 4th, 2011 |
No Comments
-Actress and socialite Zsa Zsa Gabor, 93, was rushed to the hospital over the holiday weekend complaining of pain from a severe blood clot that’s prompted doctors to consider amputating the lower half of the dame’s right leg. Though she’s battling the onset of gangrene, MDs are trying their best to save Zsa Zsa’s leg. [...]
South Korea conducts more drills
December 22nd, 2010 |
No Comments
South Korea is carrying out more military exercises on land and sea this week, VOA reports.
While officials call the training routine it could raise already high tensions with North Korea.
S. Korea concludes artillery drill, scrambles jet fighters
December 20th, 2010 |
No Comments
S. Koreans are anxiously waiting to see if N. Korea will make good on its threat to take military action in response to a live-fire artillery drill, VOA says. North Korea shelled the island last month, hours after a similar drill. South Korea’s marines conducted the exercise just hours after an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council failed to calm tensions on the Korean peninsula.
“Nothing provocative about S. Korean military drills”
December 17th, 2010 |
No Comments
The United States said Thursday South Korean artillery exercises planned for the next few days are routine and appropriate, VOA reports. North Korea should not see them as a provocation, Washington said.
“S. Korea will retaliate if attacked againâ€
December 4th, 2010 |
No Comments
New South Korean defense minister Kim Kwan-jin says Seoul is prepared to bomb North Korea if Pyongyang again hits the South with artillery.
Speaking at his confirmation hearing in the national assembly Friday, he firmly stated that if attacked again, South Korea would not hesitate to protect itself.
U.S.: China “obligated” to press North Korea
December 1st, 2010 |
No Comments
A White House spokesman is calling on China to press North Korea to end what he calls that state’s “belligerent behavior.” Robert Gibbs said Tuesday Beijing has an “obligation” to send such a message to Pyongyang. China is the main diplomatic and economic supporter of its impoverished neighbor.
Pak a ‘private nightmare’ that could see extremist takeover overnight: Obama on WikiLeaks
November 30th, 2010 |
No Comments
United States President Barack Obama considers Pakistan as his “private nightmareâ€, suggesting that the US’ front-line ally in the war against terrorism could surprise the whole world waking up one morning to hear that the country had been taken over by the extremists. “He (Obama) described Pakistan as his ‘private nightmare,’ suggesting the world might [...]
S. Korea, U.S. start war games
November 28th, 2010 |
No Comments
About 20 U.S. and South Korean naval vessels have begun maneuvers off the west coast of the Korean peninsula.
The war games come less than a week after North Korea launched a deadly artillery barrage on an occupied South Korea island near a disputed maritime border.
China warns S. Korea, U.S. over exercises
November 27th, 2010 |
No Comments
China has warned America and South Korea not to stage military acts near its coast, ahead of joint naval drills due to start on Sunday in the Yellow Sea.
The U.S. military says the exercises, planned long before last week’s attack by North Korea, are designed to deter Pyongyang and are not aimed at China.
N. Korea: U.S.-S. Korean exercises push to brink of war
November 26th, 2010 |
No Comments
North Korea warned Friday that planned U.S.-South Korean naval exercises are pushing the peninsula to the brink of war. The North’s state Korean Central News Agency said drills involving a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier are a reckless plan by “trigger-happy elements” aimed at North Korea. Pyongyang has used such language frequently in the past to condemn military exercises in South Korea.
U.S.: N. Korean strike armistice violation
November 25th, 2010 |
No Comments
The U.S. said Wednesday North Korea’s lethal artillery strike on a South Korean island was premeditated and a violation of the 1953 Korean War armistice. But U.S. officials do not believe Pyongyang is preparing for an extended military campaign.
US, S. Korea in new military exercises
November 24th, 2010 |
No Comments
After an exchange of artillery fire between the two Koreas, Seoul and Washington have announced a new joint military drill, VOA reports. South Korea also warns North Korea that any further aggression will bring enormous retaliation. The bodies of two men were found Wednesday on Yeonpyeong island, bringing the death toll to four from Tuesday’s attack.
STI +0.5% at the break as concerns over Korea tension ease
November 24th, 2010 |
No Comments
Concerns over tension in Korean peninsula ease, helping Singapore shares recoup part of yesterday’s losses.
Fact that North Korea dropped shells on an island a sign they’re unlikely to expand aggression.
“If they really wanted to start a war, it would have begun at Seoul and not on some island,” says dealing head at foreign brokerage.
STI +0.5% at 3,141.87 midday, not expected to test yesterday’s 3,187 intraday high for rest of session.
Market breadth neutral vs more than 2 decliners for every gainer in early trade.
Overall volume modest at 1.06 billion shares worth $978 million, suggesting investor appetite subdued.
Among STI components, notable gainers include recent big decliners, with Genting Singapore (G13.SG) +2.1% at $1.99, Golden Agri-Resources (E5H.SG) +2.9% at $0.705, CityDev (C09.SG), +1.6% at $12.40.
{jcomments on}
Mewah shares in weak debut; IPO pipleline robust: Update
November 24th, 2010 |
No Comments
Shares of palm oil refiner Mewah International <MEWI.SI> fell as much as 13% on their debut on jittery global markets, marking one of the weakest IPO performances in Singapore in recent months.
Mewah’s $277 million listing comes as an IPO boom sweeps across Asia, with more than two-thirds of the global volume in 2010 raised in the region, powered by strong economic growth.
Singapore expects a string of issues including a $1.3 billion listing of Mapletree Investments’s commercial trust and analysts said Mewah’s poor debut was unlikely to derail the rush of IPOs.
“Mewah’s IPO tanked. I think it’s somewhat sentiment-driven and also the fundamentals do play a part in it,” Terence Wong, co-head of research at DMG & Partners, said on Wednesday.
“I don’t see any broader impact on IPOs now but in times of either protracted weakness or bullishness, that would have an impact on the IPO,” Wong said.
IFR reported on Wednesday that Amtek Engineering had slashed the size of its Singapore IPO and will now raise a maximum of $299 million.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index <.FTSTI> has been a big underperformer in Southeast Asia this year, rising only about 8% versus a 45% surge in Indonesia <.JKSE> and a 34% jump in the Philippines market <.PSI>.
Asian shares fell on Wednesday and the euro hovered near a two-month low to the dollar as regional stocks caught up with a sharp sell-off after North Korea’s deadly shelling of a South Korean island and investors sought safety in the US currency.
By 9:50 a.m., Mewah shares traded at $1.0, 9.0% below their initial public offering price of S$1.10 in a market <.FTSTI> up 0.4%. More than 33 million shares were traded, making Mewah the fourth-most actively traded stock by volume on the Singapore exchange.
Mewah, which produces vegetable oil products for sale to wholesalers, retailers, and supermarkets such as Carrefour <CARR.PA>, plans to expand its refining capacities and boost its revenue by tapping fast-growing markets including China, where demand for edible oils and fats products is growing.
Shares in Wilmar <WLIL.SI>, the world’s biggest listed palm oil firm, and Golden Agri-Resources <GAGR.SI>, among the number of large palm oil firms listed in Singapore, traded higher.
With operations in Singapore and Malaysia, Mewa had priced its IPO below its indicative range of $1.25–$1.55.
“The subscription for the IPO wasn’t really fantastic and it was priced below its indicative range, which could also have acted against the stock too,” said Carey Wong, an investment analyst at OCBC Investment Research.
Shares of STX Offshore and Specialised Vessels (STX OSV) <STXO.SI>, a shipbuilder that is part of South Korea’s STX group, rose in its trading debut this month after raising $296 million.
Mewah says it is one of Asia’s biggest edible oils processing firms with a total refining capacity of 8,000 tonnes per day. The IPO was 1.9 times subscribed.
The palm oil processor, unlike plantation owners such as Golden Agri, may also see their margins squeezed by rising palm oil and input prices, Wong added. Mewah does not own plantations.
Credit Suisse was the sole global coordinator, bookrunner, underwriter and issue manager for Mewah’s IPO.
{jcomments on}
N. Korea shells S. Korean island; soldiers killed
November 23rd, 2010 |
No Comments
In the one of the most serious flare ups since the Korean War of the early 1950s, North and South Korea have exchanged artillery fire, VOA reports. At least two South Korean marines were killed and several others, and some civilians, were injured after North Korea shelled a small South Korean island.
South Korea Fired the First Shot
November 23rd, 2010 |
No Comments
While North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is a madman, and while North Korea was the first to kill anyone in today’s skirmish, it was actually the South Koreans who fired first.As AP notes:The skirmish began when Pyongyang [i.e. North Korea] warned the Sou…
STI falls 2% to close at 3,126.30
November 23rd, 2010 |
No Comments
Singapore’s Straits Times Index declined 2% to 3,126.30 at the close, the biggest drop since May 25. Twenty-nine stocks fell in the benchmark equity index of 30 companies.
Shares on the measure trade at an average 15.3 times estimated earnings, compared with about 17.4 times at the beginning of the year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The following shares were among the most active in the market. Stock symbols are in parentheses after the company name.
Palm-oil producers: Crude palm oil for February delivery dropped as much as 2.5% in Kuala Lumpur today.
Golden Agri-Resources (GGR SP), the world’s second- biggest palm-oil producer, slumped 4.2% to 68.5 cents. Indofood Agri Resources (IFAR SP), the palm-oil unit of Indonesia’s biggest noodle maker, dropped 3.8% to $2.53.
Wilmar International (WIL SP), the world’s biggest palm oil trader, declined 2.1% to $6.02. Deutsche Bank AG lowered its rating to “hold” from “buy”.
Olam International (OLAM SP), one of the world’s three biggest cotton traders, sank 3.1% to $3.10. Cotton declined to a four-week low as China, the world’s biggest consumer, took steps to curb speculative trading and cool its economy, eroding demand from textile producers.
StarHub (STH SP), Singapore’s second-biggest phone company, fell 0.8% to $2.66. Citigroup Inc. lowered its rating on the stock to “sell” from “hold”.
STX Pan Ocean Co. (STX SP), South Korea’s biggest bulk carrier, slipped 1.4% to $13.90 after North Korea fired artillery shells into South Korea, injuring 14 soldiers.
{jcomments on}
Feed the world
October 12th, 2010 |
No Comments
How hunger has changed across the developing world
TWENTY-NINE countries suffer from “alarming” levels of hunger, most of which are in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a report published on Monday October 11th. The “Global Hunger Index” (GHI) gives developing countries scores based on three indicators: the proportion of people who are undernourished, the proportion of children under five who are underweight, and the child mortality rate. The worst possible score is 100, but in practice, anything over 25 is considered “alarming”. Scores under five, meanwhile, are indicative of “low hunger”. Since 1990 the overall level of the index has fallen by almost a quarter (though the data do not cover the period of the global recession beginning in 2008). Two-thirds of the 99 countries counted in 1990 have reduced their populations’ hunger levels. Kuwait, Malaysia, Turkey and Mexico have been the most successful, cutting their scores by over 60%. Those where hunger has increased include North Korea, Comoros and Congo. Congo’s GHI score fell by over 60%, the worst of any country.
More Daily charts …