In which we explore the patterns emerging from the latest events in the realms of economy, polity, and our shared environment.
We begin in the U.S. and CNBC:
Jobless claims spike to 9-month high
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest level in nearly nine months, casting a shadow on the labor market.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 379,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. That was the highest level since March and marked the second straight week that claims have risen.
More from Reuters:
Home sales tumble, jobless claims at near nine-month high
Home resales hit a near one-year low in November and new filings for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, putting a wrinkle in an otherwise brightening economic picture.
The National Association of Realtors said on Thursday sales of previously owned homes fell 4.3 percent last month to an annual rate of 4.90 million units. That was the lowest since December last year and was the third monthly fall in a row.
The Wire warns:
Bill O’Reilly Warns That Rich People Are ‘In Danger,’ Asks That You Pray
On to Canada and not so ew arrivals from South China Morning Post:
Rich Chinese seek Canadian migration through Quebec province
Millionaires seek investment migration through French-speaking province but then move on; however, they may face an eight-year wait
Thousands of Chinese millionaires are lining up to immigrate to Canada via Quebec, attempting to sidestep the federal government’s freeze on its own version of the controversial cash-for-visas scheme, new data has revealed.
But the would-be “investor migrants” could face delays of eight years or more as authorities struggle to clear a backlog of tens of thousands of applications. Once they are admitted, it is unlikely many intend to stay long in the French-speaking province – about 90 per cent of arrivals under the scheme have ended up living elsewhere.
And across the Atlantic with a stacked deck in trade agreement negotiations from Techdirt:
European Commission Admits It Plans To Put ‘Corporate Christmas List’ Of IP Demands Into TAFTA/TTIP
from the acta’s-back dept
Deutsche Welle doubts:
EU parliament questions bank union details
The European Parliament has warned that it will demand improvements to a new bank regulatory plan finalized by EU finance ministers as an EU summit opened in Brussels.
Parliament head Martin Schulz warned EU leaders gathered in Brussels on Thursday that “long negotiations” were still needed on their proposed banking union deal. The summit is due to forward the draft plan to parliament for final approval.
More from Spiegel:
Not Fit for the Next Crisis: Europe’s Brittle Banking Union
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has negotiated a European banking union suited perfectly to his country’s tastes. It looks like a victory, but it could prove to be very expensive if Europe or Germany face another financial crisis.
Lawyers are often sharp people, but they sometimes live dangerously — with a tendency to gloat so much that they lose track of what is actually right.
When German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, a trained lawyer, announced an agreement on Wednesday night in Brussels on the long negotiated EU banking union, observers might have been left thinking that he is precisely this type of lawyer.
EurActiv looks ahead:
Next Commission’s main concern will be inequality, analysts predict
Social inequalities will be the main challenge for future European leaders, according to an EU-commissioned report released on Wednesday (18 December). Europe’s economy is expected to continue its decline, and policymakers should focus on a ‘new growth paradigm’ centred on society – not growth – the report argues.
The report, conducted by the think tank RAND Europe, attempts to pinpoint issues that will most likely span the EU’s upcoming legislative term (2014-2020).
The report, ‘Europe’s Societal Challenges: An analysis of global societal trends to 2030 and their impact on the EU’, is based on input from some 200 experts.
On to Britain with Banksters Behaving Badly from The Guardian:
Loan swap scandal: twice as many affected as originally thought
Financial Conduct Authority says banks might have mis-sold complex interest rate products to around 100,000 firms
The £3bn loan swap scandal – where banks mis-sold complex interest rate products to small businesses – may have affected around 100,000 firms, twice as many as originally thought, the Financial Conduct Authority has admitted.
Martin Wheatley, chief executive of the regulator, said significantly more firms may have been sold the products, designed to protect them against interest rate rises on a loan. The contracts later landed them with bills running into hundreds of thousands of pounds
Call it “Black December,” via the London Telegraph:
Nearly 75 per cent of the high street is already on sale as Christmas panic sets in
New figures reveal that the average discount has hit 46 per cent as high street chains launch a desperate last-gasp bid to pull Christmas shoppers into their stores
Fears of a bleak Christmas for Britain’s high streets leapt as it emerged that nearly three-quarters of the top 100 stores are running promotions and Marks & Spencer is planning an unprecedented “Mega Day” sale.
South China Morning Post covers big spenders:
Chinese tycoons top list of Britain’s richest property investors
Wang Jianlin and Cheng family top rich list as Duke of Westminster falls down asset rankings
Tycoons from China have come from nowhere to top the list of the UK’s wealthiest property investors for the first time, ending the Duke of Westminster’s 10-year reign at the No1 spot.
China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin of the Dalian Wanda group, topped the 2013 Estates Gazette Rich List with an estimated fortune of £10.4 billion (HK$131 billion), closely followed in the No2 spot by New World Development chairman Henry Cheng Kar-shun and his family at £10.2 billion. Neither Wang or Cheng appeared in the top 250 last year.
The Guardian monitors misbehavin’ ankle monitor monitors:
Offender tagging: Serco to repay more than £68m in overcharging
Scale of overcharging for electronic tagging of offenders who were not monitored is at least three times higher than thought
The outsourcing firm Serco has agreed to repay £68.5m plus VAT after overcharging on its contract to provide electronic tagging of offenders, the justice secretary, Chris Grayling, has disclosed .
The scale of overcharging – which included invoicing for the tagging of offenders who were not being monitored, some of whom were already back in prison or had died – is several times larger than previously thought. The original figure was believed to be £15m-£20m for the contracts held by both Serco and the security company G4S; the latter has yet to reach agreement on how much it will repay.
Both contracts are now the subject of criminal investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
Ireland next and austerity prolonged from Independent.ie:
Final IMF report suggests tougher budget in 2015
THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has suggested a tougher budget may be needed in 2015 to ensure a crucial EU deficit target is met, as it published its final review of Ireland under the bailout.
This is despite signals from the Government that it could do less than the planned €2bn adjustment.
The Washington-based body said €2.4bn worth of measures would need to be imposed in 2015 in order for the Government to slash the budget deficit – the gap between how much the state spends and takes in through taxes and other revenue – to below 3pc of the value of the economy that year.
Sweden next, with growing opposition from TheLocal.se:
Anti-Nazi demo too big for Stockholm suburb
Sunday’s planned anti-Nazi demonstration may be moved from the suburb of Kärrtorp in south-eastern Stockholm as support has swelled to over 13,000 people, including Social Democrat leader Stefan Löfven.
“We have a group in discussions with the police over where the demonstration can be held,” said Ammar Khorshed at the Line 17 neighbourhood association which is behind the demo.
Over 13,000 people have signed up for the demonstration which was organized in response to last Sunday’s gathering which was attacked by a group of neo-Nazis from the national socialist Swedish Resistance Movement (Svenska Motståndsrörelsen, SMR).
The London Telegraph stuffs stockings:
Ikea rewards thousands of staff with pension bonus
The Swedish flat-pack furniture giant bucks the trend and says it plans to say “Thank You” to staff with an annual top-up to their retirement pots
Thousands of staff at Ikea are to receive a £500 bonus in their pension pots as the flat-pack furniture giant becomes one of the first to reward staff through their retirement policies.
Under a programme called “Tack!” – Swedish for thanks – Ikea said staff who have been in their roles for at least five years will receive an annual top-up to their pension if the business hits global sales targets.
Finland next, cooling down with New Europe:
Government changes its 2013 outlook and now expects GDP to contract
Finland: second year in recession
Finland downgraded its growth forecast for 2013 as well as the next two years on Thursday. According to the Finance Ministry, the country will spend a second consecutive year in recession.
The economy will contract by 1.2 percent this year, and will possibly grow by 0.8 percent in 2014 and 1.8 percent in 2015, the Ministry said. In the previous outlook released in June, the economy was expected to growy by 0.4 percent this year, 1.2 percent in 2014 and 2 percent in 2015.
DutchNews.nl warms up:
More signs of recovery: unemployment falls, investments rise
A string of new economic figures published on Thursday are further evidence the Dutch economy may be in recovery.
The national statistics office CBS says unemployment is falling, consumer confidence has recovered slightly and companies are investing more in machinery and cars.
The CBS said the jobless total fell by 21,000 in November to 653,000, or 8.2% of
On to Germany and latter-day fascists from Spiegel:
Crime Infested: Quarter of NPD Officials Have Been Prosecuted
Around one-quarter of the leadership of Germany’s extremist National Democratic Party has been convicted of a crime, according to a newspaper report. The news could add fuel to the national debate over whether to ban the party.
Almost one-third of officials within Germany’s far-right National Democratic Party has either been convicted of criminal offenses or the subject of investigation for suspicion of committing them, the Berliner Zeitung newspaper reported in its Monday edition.
The newspaper cited an as yet unpublished petition by Germany’s states seeking to ban the far-right NPD. Earlier this month, the sixteen states filed a motion with the Federal Constitutional Court in the city of Karlsruhe to outlaw the party, arguing it espouses a racist, violent ideology similar to Hitler’s Nazi party.
Deutsche Welle diminishes:
Germans’ real earnings shrink despite wage hikes
Fresh statistical data have revealed that Germans have less in their pockets to spend on goods and services. Moderate wage increases have been eaten up by rising consumer prices, not only in the third quarter.
Germany’s National Statistics Office (Destatis) had some bad news for German employers Thursday, reporting on a decline in people’s real earnings in the third quarter.
The agency said real incomes sank at a pace not seen in about four years, with people having 0.3 percent less in their pockets year-on-year. Destatis explained the drop came despite gross monthly wages rising by an average 1.3 percent in the third quarter, with an inflation rate of 1.6 percent more than just cancelling out any income hikes.
Europe Online cools a cartel:
Top EU court rejects Siemens, Mitsubishi, Toshiba cartel challenge
German electronics giant Siemens must pay 396.56 million euros (545.8 million dollars) for participating in a cartel for electricity grid equipment, the EU’s top court ruled Thursday, confirming also the roles of Japanese firms Mitsubishi and Toshiba.
In 2007, the European Commission imposed hefty fines after finding that eleven companies in Europe and Asia had colluded over prices on gas insulated switchgear – heavy electrical equipment used to control energy flows in electricity grids.
At the time, the overall fine of 750.7 million euros was the second-highest penalty ever imposed by the EU’s competition watchdog.
On to France and labor prolonged with TheLocal.fr:
French to work longer as pension reforms adopted
France has long been under pressure from European finance chiefs to reform its massively indebted pension system and after a quick show of hands in the National Assembly on Wednesday, the controversial changes were passed, meaning a longer working life for French employees.
Lawmakers on Wednesday adopted a reform of France’s debt-ridden pension system after the country faced pressure from the European Union.
The reform, adopted in final reading by the National Assembly in a show-of-hands vote, raises the pay-in period for pension contributions from the current 41.5 years to 43 years by 2035, meaning employees will need to work longer to be eligible for full pensions.
Intolerance from The Independent:
French far-right politician Jean Marie Le Pen fined for racist Roma remarks
Jean Marie Le Pen, the former leader of French extreme-right group the National Front, has been fined €5,000 for suggesting Romanians were “naturally” inclined to stealing.
Speaking at a rally in September last year, he said that Romanians “are like birds… they fly (voler) naturally,” French newspaper Libération reported.
The French verb “voler” means both to fly and to steal.
A Paris court ruled that the 85-year-old politician, who is also the founder of the National Front, was guilty of publicly insulting a group of people based on their ethnicity. The prosecution had requested a two year suspended sentence for Le Pen, who recently announced he is running in France’s upcoming municipal elections.
Austerity amplification from TheLocal.fr:
France’s belt-tightening budget gets green light
The French parliament on Thursday approved a belt-tightening budget for 2014 with huge spending cuts and tax hikes in a bid to rein in the country’s high public deficit.
The second budget of Socialist President Francois Hollande’s government had been rejected by the Senate but passed on Thursday in the lower house, although the main opposition centre-right UMP party and the far-right National Front voted against it.
Based on projected economic growth of 0.9 percent in 2014, the budget aims to bring down the public deficit from the current level of 4.1 percent to 3.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
Spain next, and chilly times ahead with El País:
Cash-strapped consumers to be hit by hefty hike in electricity bills
Rates due to increase by over 11 percent in January
With over one out of every four people out of work and those lucky enough to be employed facing downward pressure on their wages to enhance the country’s competitiveness, Spanish households face another assault on their already stretched budgets at the start of next year when electricity bills are set to rise by over 11 percent.
Italy next, and Bunga Bunga constrained by TheLocal.it:
Passport row keeps Berlusconi in Italy
Silvio Berlusconi has failed in an attempt to get his passport back, after it was confiscated following his tax fraud conviction, the latest move in a “chain of attacks” according to his political party.
Berlusconi had been hoping to reclaim his passport in order to travel to Brussels for a meeting with the centre-right European Popular Party (EPP), Italian media reported on Wednesday.
The former prime minister had his passport confiscated after he was convicted of tax fraud on August 1st, for which he was thrown out of the Senate and is expected to do community service next year.
ANSAmed delivers grim numbers:
Over one million Italians lost jobs during crisis
Unemployment jumped between 2008 and 2012, says Istat
The number of unemployed in Italy jumped by more than one million people between the start of the global economic crisis in 2008 and 2012, the national statistical agency Istat said Thursday. During that period, the number of Italians looking for work rose by approximately 1,052,000, the agency said.
The national unemployment rate recently reached a record level of more than 12%, and youth under 25 have been especially hard hit with a jobless rate of over 40%.
TheLocal.it dismisses:
Lampedusa staff fired over shock migrant video
The management of the immigration centre in the Italian island of Lampedusa have been sacked, after a video was broadcast showing migrants stripping before being hosed down with disinfectant.
The decision by the Legacoop cooperation to fire its staff at the Lampedusa centre came two days after the footage, filmed by a migrant, was shown by state broadcaster Rai.
The management will be replaced “to immediately start better organization with other professionals”, Legacoop said in a statement released on Wednesday.
ANSAmed assesses:
Italy’s recession caused as much damage ‘as a war’
Employers’ confederation says country still on ‘a razor’s edge’
Italy’s deep recession has caused as much damage to the country as a war and, although signs of recovery may be emerging, it is too soon to declare that a recovery has begun, the head of powerful industrial employers’ group Confindustria said Thursday.
After the jump, the Greek Crisis continues, the tense Ukrainian-Russian dance continues, Turkish turmoil, Pakistani bailout, Indian warnings, mor Chinese neoliberalism, media games, Japanese wiseguys, and Fukushimapocalypse Now!. . .
Greece next, and from To Vima, moderation:
ELSTAT estimates 27% unemployment rate for third trimester of 2013
Statistics authority reveals finer details of the 3,635,905 employed and 1,345,387 unemployed in Greece
The Greek statistics authority ELSTAT revealed that the rate of unemployment in Greece during the third trimester (July – September) was 27%, which is a marginal improvement from the 27.1% rate in the April – June trimester.
In total there were 3,635,905 employed and 1,345,387 unemployed; employment increased by 0.1% compared to the second semester of 2013 and fell by 2.8% compared to the third trimester of 2012. Likewise unemployment was reduced by 0.4% compared to the se
ANSAmed covers government phishing:
Greece: Athens to take advantage of inactive bank accounts
The Greek Deposits and Loans Fund will form a committee to examine the possibilities in seizing and taking advantage of accounts that have been inactive for decades, daily To Vima reports quoting Deputy Minister of Finances, Christos Staikouras, as saying.
This is the first time that the Ministry is planning such a thorough investigation into the matter.
Property woes from To Vima:
One in three taxpayers fear that they will lose their home
GSEVEE conducted a study on the controversial real estate tax bill and primary residence auctions
According to the Research Institute (IME) of the General Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen and Merchants (GSEVEE), one in three taxpayers fears losing their home due to accumulated debt and additional tax burdens.
The IME-GSEVEE study revealed the deep worries regarding the high tax cost and change in the legislation related to primary residence auctions. About 35% of households have accumulated debt which they will be unable to cover next year, while the tax burden is expected to increase
On to the Ukraine with BBC News:
Yanukovych tells West to keep out of Ukraine crisis
Ukraine’s Russian-backed President, Viktor Yanukovych, has said he strongly opposes Western politicians intervening in the crisis in Ukraine.
He also suggested that Ukraine could adopt parts of Russia’s recently founded Customs Union with other former Soviet republics.
The opposition is furious after he accepted a Russian bailout, seen as a reward for rejecting EU integration.
From the Moscow News, frankness:
Ukraine-style protests would not be allowed in Russia – Putin
Street protests such as those taking place in Ukraine would not be tolerated by the authorities in Russia, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.
“If anyone crosses the line, the government is obliged…to impose order,” Putin said at his annual Q&A meeting with journalists in Moscow. “Otherwise it could lead to chaos, which would have the most negative impact on the economy, social sphere and political conditions in the country.”
Turkey next with turmoil from Business Insider:
One Of The Biggest Scandals In Turkish History Is Unfolding In Ankara
Istanbul’s powerful police chief was dismissed from his post on Thursday over an anti-corruption action striking at the heart of Turkey’s ruling elite and threatening the authority of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan at home and abroad.
Huseyin Capkin was the most senior commander so far to be sacked following the dismissal of dozens of senior officers on Wednesday over what Erdogan has termed a “dirty operation” to tarnish the government.
Scores of people, including sons of three ministers and some prominent businessmen close to Erdogan, have been detained in an action seen widely as symptom of a power struggle with a U.S.-based cleric who wields influence in police and judiciary.
Pakistan next, with bailout news from the Express Tribune:
Reforms on track: IMF clears release of second $550m tranche
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday approved the release of the second tranche of the $6.7 billion loan package to Pakistan and said the country was broadly on track with reforms tied to the programme.
The lender, however, cautioned that Islamabad would have to act quickly to rebuild the country’s dwindling foreign exchange reserves.
The IMF executive board, which met in Washington, showed leniency while approving the release of the $550 million tranche. It waived a condition related to Pakistan’s net international reserves – the country had been unable to meet the target agreed upon with the IMF for the first quarter of 2013-14. The release of the second tranche would never have been approved had the condition not been waived.
India next and diminished expectations from the Financial Express:
United Nations lowers India’s economic growth forecast to 4.8 per cent for 2013
United Nations has lowered India’s economic growth forecast for 2013 to 4.8 per cent while warning that emerging markets should be prepared to deal with the impact of US Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing programme.
The Economic Times strikes a deal:
Cabinet approves trade pact on services, investment with Asean
The Cabinet today approved the free trade agreement between India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), sources said.
“The pact was approved in the meeting today,” sources said, adding approval paves the way for signing of the agreement between the two regions.
Labor woes, via the Financial Express:
Job enrolments in India soar 57% in 2012 as slowdown bites
In what bears out that the economic slowdown for the last three years has taken a toll on employment, labour ministry’s latest data revealed that fresh registrations for job at employment exchanges surged 57% year-on-year to 97.22 lakh in the calendar year 2012. This was even as actual placement fell an annual 9.3% to 4.28 lakh as firms froze hiring.
Hardly 5% of job seekers enrolled in employment exchanges got placed in 2012.
A major move by India’s two leading housing lenders from the Financial Express:
SBI, HDFC slash home loan rates day after Raghuram Rajan’s RBI puts hike on hold
Relief for borrowers, especially women, as home loan rates slashed today by both SBI, HDFC.
New SBI home loan rates for loans of up to Rs 75 lakh would be available to fresh borrowers at 10.15 per cent.
And the latest inflammation in a trans-Pacific diplomatic row from the London Daily Mail:
There was NO cavity search: US Marshals say ‘slave wage’ diplomat got special treatment when arrested in New York as Indian government claims it’s a conspiracy
Devyani Khobragade, 39, arrested, strip-searched and charged with visa fraud after allegedly lying about paying her nanny $3.31 an hour
Following diplomatic tensions, a US attorney has issued a statement claiming she was treated better than many US citizens would have been
He said she was allowed to keep her mobile phone and not handcuffed
US Marshals deny that she had a cavity search, as she claimed earlier
Indian official said it is a ‘conspiracy’ and called Khobragade ‘the only victim’ as many in her home country see the maid as duplicitous
Thailand next and tense times from the Bangkok Post:
Protesters still hope to derail polls
Election Commision says royal decree still valid, Feb 2 polls will go ahead
A general election will take place on Feb 2 as scheduled, Election Commission chairman Supachai Somcharoen affirmed on Thursday, as anti-government demonstrators drummed up their campaign to defer the polls until there has been reform.
Mr Supachai said a story on Wednesday that the polls would be postponed was wrong. The royal decree on the general election on Feb 2 was still in place and the EC was duty-bound to comply with it.
More from Channel NewsAsia Singapore:
Thai election body suggests poll postponement
Thailand’s Election Commission on Thursday warned of potential unrest at upcoming polls, suggesting a postponement as thousands of anti-government protesters marched through the capital.
China next and another whack at commons from the Mainichi:
China says more state firms might be privatized
More Chinese state-owned companies might be spun off as private entities to help improve economic growth but Beijing will keep control of major industries, a Cabinet official said Thursday.
Regulators are working on plans to overhaul ownership following last month’s Communist Party pledge to increase competition in state-dominated industries, said Huang Shuhe, deputy chairman of the panel that controls China’s biggest government companies.
Economists say Beijing must curb the dominance of state companies that control swathes of the economy, from banking to oil to steel production, or risk seeing China’s growth rate plunge. The development blueprint issued last month pledges to open more industries to competition, though it said state ownership will remain the core of the economy.
People’s Daily neoliberalizes:
China slashes business admin procedure
The State Council, China’s cabinet, has amended regulations on administrative examination and approval, abolishing or devolving them to subordinate government departments.
With immediate effect, some 16 administrative regulations were amended.
Qualification authentication and licensing of production and business operations were repealed, while the processes of administrative examination and approval were optimized. Interim and post supervision procedures were added to some regulations.
The Guardian eases:
China’s central bank acts to avert short-term credit crunch
People’s Bank of China announces emergency injection of liquidity after interbank lending rates shoot up
The People’s Bank of China has been progressively tightening financial conditions over recent months to rein in excessive lending growth in the economy. But analysts said the unexpected short-term liquidity operation (SLO) was an indication of the challenges facing Beijing as it seeks to shift to a more sustainable growth model.
As part of its clampdown on credit growth, the central bank had cancelled its usual daily “open market operations” – which push money into the markets – in recent days.
Xinhua delivers a pollution bill:
Cleaning China’s air may cost 300 billion U.S. dollars
A total of 1.75 trillion yuan (290 billion U.S. dollars) will be invested from 2013 to 2017 to deal with China’s worsening air pollution, an environment expert said on Wednesday.
Wang Jinnan, deputy head of the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning, said at the 4th Caixin Summit in Beijing that the investment would drive up GDP by nearly 2 trillion yuan and create over 2 million jobs.
According to Wang, 36.7 percent of the investment, or 640 billion yuan should go on cleaning up industry, followed by 490 billion yuan (28.2 percent) on cleaner energy sources. Cleaning up motor vehicles will absorb 210 billion yuan.
China Daily doubts:
Experts pour cold water on cloud seeding plans
Plans have been unveiled to explore the use of weather manipulation techniques to reduce air pollution over Beijing, but experts have urged caution, citing the risks of secondary pollution.
Lin Keqing, deputy mayor of Beijing, was quoted as saying on Tuesday that the city is seeking to conduct scientific experiments on the use of weather manipulation to beat pollution. He made the remarks during a conference on the modernization of meteorology but did not elaborate on the plans.
South China Morning Post reopens the door:
Beijing issues press credentials to foreign journalists after delay
Foreign news agency and New York Times had written articles critical of leadership
Beijing has issued press credentials to the China-based reporters of foreign news agency Bloomberg, after a tense delay seen as retaliation for hard-hitting reports on the country’s leaders.
Accreditation for several reporters from The New York Times has also been renewed.
The Guardian lays down the party line:
Chinese journalists face Marxist ideology exam
Exam to be based on 700-page manual that prohibits published reports from featuring comments that go against party line
Chinese journalists will have to pass a new ideology exam early next year to keep their press cards, in what reporters say is another example of the ruling Communist party’s increasing control over the media under President Xi Jinping.
It is the first time reporters have been required to take such a test en masse, state media have said. The exam will be based on a 700-page manual peppered with directives such as “it is absolutely not permitted for published reports to feature any comments that go against the party line”, and “the relationship between the party and the news media is one of leader and the led”.
Xinhua expresses desire:
Chinese premier wants more U.S. high-tech imports
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday urged the United States to relax limits on China’s high-tech imports.
“We expect the U.S. to relax restrictions on high-tech exports to China and provide a good environment for Chinese businesses to invest in the United States,” Li said in a meeting with the U.S. delegation.
The delegation includes U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, Trade Representative Michael Froman and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who came to Beijing for the 24th Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT), which begins on Friday.
Japan next, and a debt denomination from NewsOnJapan:
Government’s 2014 bond issuance to hit record
The Japanese government has announced that it will issue a record amount of bonds during the 2014 fiscal year. The amount is expected to be about 1.7 trillion dollars, a rise of nearly 6 percent in yen terms over fiscal 2013.
Officials plan to spend about 1.2 trillion dollars on refinancing government bonds. That’s up 7 percent from the current fiscal year. Spending on new government bonds will be reduced by 2 percent, to about 400 billion dollars.
JapanToday reports a hit:
Gyoza restaurant chain boss shot dead in Kyoto
The charismatic boss of a well-known gyoza restaurant chain was shot dead on Thursday in Kyoto, a hotbed of the country’s yakuza mobsters.
Takayuki Ohigashi, 72, was found bleeding and unconscious in a parking lot in front of the company’s headquarters at about 7 a.m., the Ohsho Food Service company said.
NewsOnJapan draws a line:
US blacklists 4 members of Japan crime syndicate
The U.S. has blacklisted four senior members of a Japanese crime syndicate in an effort to disrupt illicit activities and undermine their financial stability.
The Treasury Department’s action targets members of Yamaguchi-gumi, the largest and most prominent syndicate. They’re accused of drug trafficking, human trafficking, extortion, prostitution, fraud and money laundering in Japan and abroad.
The individuals blacklisted include third-in-command Tadashi Irie, fourth-in-command Hirofumi Hashimoto, the gang’s Chubu region leader Toshio Masaki and the chief of a subsidiary gang in Northern Osaka, Shoroku Ishida.
The Japan Daily Press shanks it into the rough:
Japan’s professional golf execs to resign en masse after being linked to yakuza
Two executives of Japan’s Professional Golfers Association (PGA) have recently been named in a scandal linking them with the yakuza, the Japanese organized crime syndicate. As a result, the leadership of the PGA has revealed that they will resign en masse after the two members were revealed to have played golf and socialized with one of the Japanese underworld’s known bosses, this according to a report on Wednesday.
The PGA’s policy board reached this decision to have a mass resignation on Wednesday. Elections for the new leadership will be done in January. The mass resignation will include all 91 PGA representatives, including current chairman Shizuo Mori, four vice-chairmen and some 20 board directors, as the association tries to restore public trust in the body. The incident in question happened between March and June this year, when then-PGA vice chairman Shinsaku Maeda, and then-board director Tadayoshi Bando, played a round of golf and dined with a known boss of a yakuza organized crime group in the southern island of Kyushu. Part of PGA regulations is a stipulation that prohibits representatives of the organization from socializing with members of organized crime syndicates. Maeda and Bando were expelled forthwith from the association in October because of this incident.
Ebullience from Kyodo News:
Nikkei soars to 6-yr closing high on Fed’s policy decision
The Nikkei stock index soared to a six-year closing high Thursday as investors took heart from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to begin tapering its monetary stimulus.
Jiji Press books a $694 billion budget:
Japan to Set FY 2014 Policy Spending at 72.5 T. Yen or More
The Japanese government plans to set the amount of general spending, or spending on policy measures, under its fiscal 2014 general account budget at or above 72.5 trillion yen, up from 70.37 trillion yen for the current fiscal 2013, it was learned Thursday.
This is mainly because spending on social security measures will increase due to the aging of society, informed sources said.
NewsOnJapan covers sagging arches:
McDonald’s Corp.’s Japan business plans to close 74 outlets in the country as the fast-food operator cut its full-year profit forecast by more than half in its second-largest market.
Net income will probably be 5 billion yen ($48 million) in the year ending December, 57 percent lower than its previous forecast, McDonald’s Holdings Co. Japan Ltd. said in a statement to Tokyo’s stock exchange yesterday. That compares with an average estimate of 9.53 billion yen from three analysts compiled by Bloomberg. The company had 3,170 outlets in Japan as of the end of October.
The earnings shortfall came after sales fell for five straight months through November in the world’s third-largest economy, said McDonald’s Japan, about 50 percent owned by the Oak Brook, Illinois-based McDonald’s.
And on to Fukushimapocalypse Now!
Asahi Shinbum covers deepening debt for the reactors’ owners::
State to raise ceiling on TEPCO loans to 9 trillion yen
The government is set to offer more financial assistance to Tokyo Electric Power Co. to help it deal with the Fukushima nuclear crisis, a move many decry as a taxpayer-funded bailout.
A key step will be an increase of the ceiling on interest-free loans through the state-backed Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund to 9 trillion yen ($87 billion) from 5 trillion yen.
The government will also pay for cleaning up areas affected by radioactive fallout beyond the 2.5 trillion yen to be borne by TEPCO, operator of the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
More from the Japan Daily Press:
TEPCO to ask banks for uncollateralized loans to prioritize compensation payments
Sources have said that Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), the utility operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, is set to ask their creditor banks to change some of their loans to uncollateralized status by next fiscal year. This is reportedly due to the fact that they want to prioritize paying compensation to those who were affected by the 2011 nuclear meltdown, considered one of the worst accidents in recent times.
If loans are collateralized, TEPCO would have to prioritize paying the banks rather than allotting their earnings to compensation payments for residents who are still displaced due to the ongoing decontamination efforts at the Fukushima plant. The company would probably not want to receive even more criticism that they are giving more importance to their creditors rather than the victims. This negative impression may also prevent government plans to increase aid to TEPCO by using public funds.
For our final item, NHK WORLD checks up:
Utility to request safety check of nuclear reactor
Local governments hosting a nuclear plant in western Japan will allow its operator to file for the state’s safety screening of one of its reactors.
Shimane Prefecture and Matsue City government officials will convey their approval to Chugoku Electric Power Company President Tomohide Karita next Tuesday. The local governments made the decision after soliciting views from their assemblies and residents over the request filed by the utility in November.
