Long collection of headlines from the worlds of economics, politics, environmental nightmares, and the Fukushima disaster, so we go straight on, first with a headline from New America Media:
FACTS ON ETHNIC ELDERS: Recession Leaves Ethnic Families ‘Beyond Broke’
Black, Hispanic and Asian Americans face an economic “quadruple whammy,” leaving them with little or no financial cushion as they age, finds a new study released Monday.
Titled “Beyond Broke: Why Closing the Racial Wealth Gap is a Priority for National Economic Security,” the study used 2011 Census data to examine household worth for all ages. It found that the medium net worth of households of color from 2005-2011 dropped 58 percent for Latinos, 48% for Asians, 45% for African Americans — but only 21 percent for whites.
“You have the racial gap in pay, the gender gap in pay, the ageism gap in pay and predominantly single-income households,” says Maya Rockeymoore, president of the Center for Global Policy Solutions (CGPS) which commissioned the study. “You’re looking at the intersection of all of these disparities.”
Injustice for all, via NPR:
As Court Fees Rise, The Poor Are Paying The Price
A yearlong NPR investigation found that the costs of the criminal justice system in the United States are paid increasingly by the defendants and offenders. It’s a practice that causes the poor to face harsher treatment than others who commit identical crimes and can afford to pay. Some judges and politicians fear the trend has gone too far.
A conducted by NPR found that defendants are charged for many government services that were once free, including those that are constitutionally required. For example:
In at least 43 states and the District of Columbia, defendants can be billed for a public defender.
In at least 41 states, inmates can be charged room and board for jail and prison stays.
In at least 44 states, offenders can get billed for their own probation and parole supervision.
And in all states except Hawaii, and the District of Columbia, there’s a fee for the electronic monitoring devices defendants and offenders are ordered to wear.
But some are doing well, via The Wire:
Tiffany Sold Much More Bling Than Usual This Quarter
Tiffany & Co. had an incredible quarter, blowing away analysts predictions. Tiffany reported $1 billion in revenue during the first quarter, jumping 13 percent from this time last year. Worldwide, sales increased 15 percent. Their income was $125.6 million, a 50 percent jump from 2013. Earnings were up $0.97 a share.
The key to these spectacular earnings numbers was not their highest-end luxury items, but Tiffany’s lower-cost pieces, led by the Atlas Collection. The most expensive piece in that collection is the Atlas Cocktail Watch, which is 18k rose gold and complete with 197 diamonds (just under two carats.) It’s cost is $26,500. While that might be pricey, pieces in the popular Elsa Peretti collection go well above $30,000 and the Yellow Diamonds collection offers a variety of pieces in the $100,000 range.
For these lower priced pieces, the profit margin is actually higher. This helped drive profit margins for the company as a whole. Last year, the margin was 56.2 percent, and this quarter it was up to 58.2 percent.
The Berkeley Blog covers another divide:
The Digital Divide Redux: Broadband, Net Neutrality, and the Comcast-Time Warner Merger
A few months ago, Comcast announced a $45 billion deal to purchase Time Warner. Although much of the initial commentary focused on the potential effect this proposed merger would have in the cable television market (since Comcast and Time Warner are the first-and second- largest cable providers in the US), the effects in the broadband market are far more important. Research at the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society suggests that broadband is an increasingly critical element of social, economic and civic life.
In its 2010 “National Broadband Plan” report, the FCC describes Broadband as “the great infrastructure challenge of the early 21st century.” Just as the interstate highway system transformed residential life, facilitated the growth of the suburbs, and connected families to the broader economy of a region, broadband is a structural conduit for opportunity and upward mobility and in America today. Unfortunately, like the interstate highway system and the residential patterns it engendered, broadband access and affordability may yet become a new form of segregation in America. A research paper [PDF] co-authored by Haas Institute researcher Samir Gambhir notes the inequality of broadband access, affordability and quality experienced by low-income neighborhoods, rural households, and communities of color in particular.
The Comcast-Time Warner merger would give Comcast control over 40 percent of the country’s internet service in 19 of the country’s top 20 cable markets. Imagine if one corporation privately controlled 40% of the most important roads, streets, highways and bridges in those same markets. The issue isn’t just access; its affordability and quality (such as internet speed) for low-income families and many marginalized communities. If the Comcast-Time Warner merger reduces competition and increase the price of broadband access, the harms to upward mobility, economic opportunity and our nation would be far reaching.
And another merger warning sign from PC Advisor:
Comcast and Time Warner rank dead last in satisfaction as merger looms
A combined company would probably be even worse, according to the American Consumer Satisfaction Index.
In the latest survey by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (via DSL Reports), the two companies landed at the bottom of the list for both TV and Internet services.
Comcast scored 60 points for television service, which is five points less than the industry average, and three points lower than last year’s score. Time Warner Cable scored 56 points, down 4 points from last year, and nine points lower than the industry average. DirecTV and AT&T U-Verse were on top of the list with 69 points. (Incidentally, AT&T is now hoping regulators will approve an acquisition of DirecTV.)
Internet service was even worse. Comcast scored 57 points, down from 62 points last year, while Time Warner’s score dropped to 54 points, from 63 points in 2013. Both companies are now far below the industry average of 63 points, and nowhere near Verizon’s 71 points for its FiOS service.
Via Reuters, serial killers unite:
Exclusive: Reynolds American, Lorillard in advanced merger talks
Reynolds American Inc (RAI.N) is in active discussions to buy Lorillard Inc (LO.N) in a complicated, three-way transaction that could see British American Tobacco PLC (BATS.L) take a major role to back a potential merger, according to people familiar with the matter.
The proposed deal, which is in late stage talks, would unite the second- and third-largest U.S. tobacco companies that have a combined market value of nearly $55 billion, putting brands such as Reynolds’ Camel and Lorillard’s Newport under one roof.
The companies are working to finalize an agreement in as soon as a matter of weeks but the talks will likely take longer given the complex structure, the people said, asking not to be named because the matter is not public.
From the Yomiuri Shimbun, pushing the neoliberal agenda to the East:
Japan, U.S. play leading roles in acceleration of TPP talks
The progress made toward this summer’s broad agreement during ministerial-level negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership pact in Singapore on Monday and Tuesday was largely due to accelerated discussions on tariffs, in response to the substantial agreement made between Japan and the United States.
Cooperation between the two nations to lead TPP talks also proved effective.
Speaking at a joint press conference after the two-day meeting, Australian Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb praised the acceleration of the negotiations as a whole in the wake of the breakthrough between Japan and the United States. He added that the progress in the Japan-U.S. negotiations had set a precedent for future negotiations on the TPP pact.
And pushing it to the West with EUbusiness:
New round of Atlantic trade pact talks opens in Washington
US and European negotiators opened a new round of talks on creating a transatlantic free trade zone Monday amid rising political and public resistance to the deal on both sides.
The fifth round of negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will cover the details of proposals from the US and EU sides, with no aim to resolve the most difficult divisions between the two sides, officials said.
“This is clearly not the stage in which the difficult political decisions need to be taken,” an EU official said ahead of the talks.
Xinhua predicts:
World economy poised to grow moderately, but lower than pre-crisis levels
The global economy is expected to strengthen over the next two years, despite a downgrade of growth prospects for some developing economies and economies in transition, showed a UN report released here Wednesday.
In the mid-year update of UN World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP), global growth rate was revised down from the forecasts presented in the WESP 2014.
Growth of world gross product (WGP) is now projected at 2.8 percent in 2014 and 3.2 percent in 2015, up from 2.2 percent in 2013, the report said. However, this pace of expansion is still lower compared to the growth level before the 2008 global financial crisis.
And on to Europe, first with Al Jazeera:
EU far-right expects success in elections
Eurosceptic, anti-immigrant parties hope to make big gains in vote for a new EU parliament.
From May 22-25, hundreds of millions of people from the European Union’s 28 member countries will vote for members of the European Parliament, one of the EU’s two legislative bodies.
The last elections were held in 2009, before the depths of Europe’s economic and financial crises. Since then, five EU countries – Greece, Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Cyprus – have required bailouts, and unemployment across the continent, especially among youth, has remained persistently high.
This has led many Europeans to sour on the union – a disenchantment reflected in polling figures that show a significant portion of the electorate plans on voting for far-right parties for the European Parliament.
These parties are highly sceptical of European government and the euro, and staunchly oppose immigration and multiculturalism. Far-right groups look poised to make especially large gains in the Netherlands, Greece, France and Hungary.
Britain next, and austerity rampant with the Independent:
NHS in the red: Hospitals forced to beg Government for equipment loans and electricity bills
The intense financial pressure faced by NHS hospitals has been laid bare in a series of letters, which range from pleas for bailout loans to replace defunct equipment, attempts to fend off legal threats from suppliers and even requests to pay off electricity bills.
Details of requests for short-term financial aid sent to the Department of Health reveal that one NHS trust was threatened with having the electricity supply shut off at a building on their hospital site, while another said it faced an “untenable level of equipment breakdown and obsolescence”.
The 15 loan requests, made in February and March this year, which were released following Freedom of Information requests from the Health Service Journal, reveal the impact of the NHS financial crisis for England’s most hard-up hospitals.
65 NHS trusts in England are already in financial deficit. A recent survey of NHS finance directors revealed that two thirds are concerned their trust will go into the red in the year of the General Election.
On to Paris and anticipated tarnishing from France 24:
Far-right win in European elections ‘will tarnish French image’
Most opinion polls in France forecast an unprecedented victory for France’s far-right National Front party in Sunday’s European elections, an outcome that observers warn will strip France of its influence on the continent.
Surveys indicate that the anti-euro National Front (FN) is poised to claim between 23 and 24 percent of all votes cast in EU parliamentary elections, which are less than a week away.
Buoyant from its best-ever performance in French municipal elections in March, in which it conquered 11 city councils, the far-right FN has campaigned under the slogan “No to Brussels, yes to France.”
A partisan plague from TheLocal.fr:
Immigration in France: No need for ‘Mr Ebola’
As the National Front’s Jean-Marie Le Pen courts trouble by suggesting the Ebola virus could solve the immigration problem in France, the author of a new OECD report on immigration in Europe says it’s no longer even a significant phenomenon in France.
As expected, given that he is vying for re-election as a member of the European parliament on Sunday, Jean-Marie Le Pen, the controversial honorary president of France’s anti-EU National Front party voiced his opinions on immigration this week.
Le Pen, who has been convicted of hate speech on numerous occasions, could be up in court again after suggesting the deadly Ebola virus could solve the global “population explosion” and thus Europe’s “immigration problem”.
Tracking down an error with AFP:
Red faces as new French trains ‘too wide’ for stations
Cash-strapped France will have to trim back some 1,300 rail platforms at a cost of 50 million euros after realising a brand new fleet of trains are too big to fit its stations, rail operators admitted Wednesday.
The problem affects 182 regional trains supplied by French manufacturer Alstom and 159 from Canada’s Bombardier, due to come into service by 2016.
Two state rail bodies, the Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer (SNCF) and the Reseau Ferre de France (RFF), acknowledged the embarrassing situation in a joint statement on Wednesday after it was revealed by satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaine.
Via TheLocal.fr, pimping for laundromats?:
Far-right mayor bans drying laundry in public
The newly elected far-right mayor of the French town of Beziers has once again laid down the law to residents. After imposing a curfew on teenagers and higher fines for dog waste, Robert Ménard has now banned them from drying their laundry on their balconies.
Robert Ménard the far-right mayor of the southern French town of Beziers is back in the headlines this week.
Ménard was only elected two months ago, with the support of Marine Le Pen’s National Front party, but no one can accuse him of putting his feet up once in office.
Off to Austria with TheLocal.at and action contemplated:
Third of Austrians in favour of ‘tax strike’
Some Austrian companies have started a kind of tax strike – by refusing to make some tax payments they want to put pressure on the government to make more savings.
A poll carried out by the OGM market research group, on behalf of the daily Kurier newspaper showed that a third of people asked were in favour of a tax strike and believed that tax money is being wasted.
Fifty-two percent of people thought a tax strike was not justified, while 33 percent thought it was. “Most of the population is not self-employed and view entrepreneurs as rich, because people think they have big companies. Envy plays a role. Nevertheless it’s noteworthy that 33 percent approve of the tax boycott,” OGM pollster Karin Cvrtila said.
Deflating with TheLocal.at:
Real estate bubble: ‘The hype is over’
Austria has experienced something of a real estate bubble in recent years, but some experts believe the market is now calming down.
Specialists from the Austrian Chamber of Commerce’s advisory group on real estate have said that while property costs increased significantly in 2013, current signs suggest that this year growth should be relatively flat, according to the Wirtschafts Blatt.
“While there continues to be a general upwards trend – in many regions the price increases have stopped, the hype is over,” real estate chairman Thomas Malloth explained.
In January, the Austrian National Bank (ÖNB) warned of the possibility of a real estate bubble, with prices in Vienna for selected apartments rising by 21 percent over the previous 12 months. Tenants have been complaining about rising rents, which seem to have been driven by speculative investors.
Spain next, and a hard times intolerance intolerance from El País:
Spanish government asks state attorney to crack down on Twitter hate speech
Prosecutor warns of difficulty of tackling all online insults in generalized way
“Incitement to hatred” provision cannot be applied to all cases, she says
The initiative began a month ago with an Interior Ministry order to “clean out the web” that resulted in 21 arrests for glorifying terrorism. Some of the suspects had been asking for Basque terrorist group ETA to kill again and mocking the victims of its decades-long campaign.
But the crackdown on hate speech has taken on new urgency following the recent assassination of Popular Party (PP) politician Isabel Carrasco, which spawned an outbreak of messages from people celebrating the murder and calling for further killings of PP members.
This week, Jewish associations reported more than 18,000 offensive messages on Twitter after Israeli basketball team Maccabi Tel Aviv beat Real Madrid on Sunday to win the Euroleague title.
Lisbon next and a diktat from Berlin via the Portugal News:
Germany tells Portuguese – Get out or get a job
The Portuguese secretary of state for the communities acknowledged on Wednesday that the government was applying political pressure to avoid the approval of a law by the German CSU party on the repatriation of unemployed immigrants.
“We are following the situation directly through our embassies and hope the decisions that are taken are not going to excessively penalise the Portuguese”, José Cesário told Lusa News Agency.
The ‘Diário de Notícias’ newspaper said on Wednesday that the CSU, one of the parties in Angela Merkel’s coalition government, had put forward a proposal that immigrants who had been unemployed for between three and six months should be repatriated. The paper said the measure could affect more than 5,600 Portuguese who are in Germany without a job.
Off to Italy and another Bunga Bunga scandal from TheLocal.it:
Ex-Berlusconi MP probed over labour aide’s murder
Prosecutors in Bologna have opened an investigation involving the murder of Marco Biagi, a labour ministry adviser who was shot dead in 2002, after it was revealed that senior polticians, including Claudio Scajola, an-ex minister, may have been aware of the danger he was under.
Biagi was assassinated by the extreme-left Red Brigades as he made his way home in March 2012, shortly after Scajola, who was interior minister at the time, had taken away his police escort.
Scajola is currently in jail in Rome after being arrested earlier this month for allegedly helping Calabrian businessman Amedeo Matacena escape a five-year-jail term for mafia collusion conviction.
From ANSA, not in a humoring mood:
Don’t send ‘clowns’ to Europe – Renzi
Premier says PD represents ‘seriousness’
Premier Matteo Renzi appealed to the Italian people not to vote for “clowns” in Sunday’s European elections. The broadside by the head of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) was aimed at comedian-turned-politician Beppe Grillo and his anti-estasblishment 5-Star Movement (M5S). The PD is top in most polls, but Grillo is confident his M5S, who are second in the surveys after capturing a stunning 25% of the vote in last year’s general election, can come first with a late surge.
“We don’t need shows and clownery in the European parliament, we don’t need to climb on the roof,” Renzi said on Italian radio referring to a recent M5S protest on the roof of the Italian Lower House. “We need seriousness, people who are well prepared and further Italy’s interests”.
Renzi also blasted the language used in the campaign by Grillo, who, among other things, suggested that the premier will suffer a political “lupara bianca” – a term used to refer to a mafia hit that leaves no trace of evidence – after the European elections.
ANSA again, and he’s makin’ a list:
Grillo calls for ‘people’s trial’ of system after EU poll
Web-based trial to nail blame for Italy’s ‘collapse’
Beppe Grillo, leader of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), on Wednesday called for putting politicians, industrialists and journalists “on trial” using an online system and popular vote among M5S members after European Parliament elections this month.
The comedian turned politician wrote on his blog that the aim of the Web-based “trial” was to “inform citizens about the theft and embezzlement of a system that led to the collapse of Italy” “Just as you can’t build on rubble, you can’t build a new Italy without clearing the land of those who have plundered, transforming the fifth (sixth?) industrial power into a desert,” Grillo said.
The often foul-mouthed protest leader announced “lists” of suspects would be created.
Bunga Bunga bloviation from Corriere della Sera:
Berlusconi Attacks “Killer” Grillo
Former prime minister says M5S leader “killed three friends in an accident. Watching this gentleman moralise upsets me”. Grillo replies: “He doesn’t even believe what he’s saying any more”
“Grillo is a convicted criminal, a killer”. The Forza Italia (FI) leader went on: “Grillo knows all about staying out of jail. He is guilty of killing three of his friends by ignoring a no entry sign. He got 14 months for multiple manslaughter”. Mr Berlusconi, speaking on the La7 TV talk show L’aria che tira, raised the election campaign stakes. His most direct thrust was: “He ought to have gone to jail but he got away with it. He shouldn’t be talking about that sort of thing. Watching this gentleman moralise upsets me. And he only used to do shows if he was paid cash. He was known for that”.
Mr Berlusconi went on: “He killed three friends, ignoring a warning that there was ice on the road. He managed to get out of the car but his three friends didn’t. They died. He was sentenced to 14 months in jail for multiple manslaughter”. Speaking to Enrico Mentana on La7′s Bersaglio Mobile programme, the FI leader added: “I realise there’s an election coming up but when Renzi compares me to Grillo and says we’re two sides of the same coin, he’s way off the mark”.
Beppe Grillo was quick to respond. The Five Star MoVement (M5S) leader said Mr Berlusconi was a “poor thing who doesn’t even believe what he’s saying any more. He’s talk show-hopping for the sake of his businesses, not the electorate”.
And a Grillo spawn stigmatizes the poor, via TheLocal.it:
Mayor plans to scrap dessert for poor kids
Only wealthy children will be given dessert with their school lunches, while those from poor families will go without, under plans drawn up by a mayor in central Italy.
The mayor of Pomezia, Fabio Fucci, has proposed the two-tier menu system in response to requests from a number of low-income families, Corriere della Sera said on Tuesday.
Under the plan, parents will be able to pick from two menus of different prices. The more expensive one will come with dessert, while children from poorer families will go without the sweet.
The move by the Five Star Movement (M5S) mayor has been met with ire in some quarters.
After the jump, the latest from Greece [including new bribery scandals], Russia strikes a massive deal, the Libyan coup intensifies, a Ukrainian election ultimatum, a bumper cr[h]ash crop in Libya, Brazilian World Cup blues, Argentine bankster woes and student discontent, a Venezuelan stalemate, the new Dirty Digger, a bankster blessing for India’s theocon winner, Thai uncertainty, Chinese labor loses and a Putin partnership, an Abenomics push in Japan, environmental woes, stolen baby brains [and not by zombies], and the latest chapter of Fukushimapocalypse Now!. . .
For our first Greek headline, campaign desperation from Capital.gr:
Samaras: New Greece needs stability to become competitive and grow
Greece will return to its pre-crisis state in seven years, with an increase in its GDP, the opening of 770,000 new jobs, and prosperity spread among all citizens, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said on Tuesday, during his key campaign speech at the Benaki Museum Annexe in Athens, AMNA reported.
“Until 2020, Greece will have recovered the prosperity it had before the crisis,” Samaras said, and stressed that conditions would gradually improve for the average citizen.
Samaras said that growth would begin in 2014, reaching 2.9% in 2015 and 3.7% in 2016, citing data from international organization and research centres.
Hopes from the left, via Kathimerini English:
Tsipras sets sights on victory of 4-6 percentage points
SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday gave the clearest indication yet regarding what kind of result in Sunday’s European Parliament vote would, in his view, give the opposition party the impetus to call for snap elections.
In an interview with Skai TV, Tsipras said that if SYRIZA garners less support than New Democracy, it would be a “clear defeat” but that a victory for the leftists over the conservatives by four to six percentage points would trigger “further political developments.”
Before this the opposition leader had not put a figure on what margin of victory his party is aiming for. SYRIZA MP Dimitris Papadimoulis suggested last week that if SYRIZA receives a higher percentage than New Democracy and its coalition partner PASOK combined, this would give the leftists a legitimate right to call for early elections. In Wednesday’s interview, though, Tsipras did not refer to the coalition’s combined total, only New Democracy’s share of the vote.
Dirty hands from the north, via Neos Kosmos:
German MPs implicated in Greek arms scandal
Newspaper claims they received bribes in excess of 5 million euros
Two former German MPs with the SPD party received payments in excess of 5 million euros from the company Krauss-Maffei-Wegmann (KMW) according to an article in Sueddeutsche Zeitung. According to the German newspaper the apparent bribes are connected with suspect deals struck by the Munich-based arms company in Greece.
“KMW secretly paid the consulting firm of two former parliamentarians of the SPD party over 5 million euros between 2000 and 2005,” the article writes, stressing that this, “was revealed in the context of an internal investigation related to two deals to supply armoured vehicles.”
The investigation was launched at the behest of KMW itself following allegations over bribery payments related to the company’s dealings in Greece.
Kathimerini English scents another scandal:
Greek prosecutors ask for information on Saab executive suspected of kickbacks
Greek prosecutors have contacted Swedish authorities to request more information regarding a high-ranking Saab executive who is suspected of working with a middleman in Greece to bribe defense officials, Kathimerini has learned.
Sources said that the head of the First Instance Court, Vassiliki Brati, wrote to the public prosecutor’s office in Stockholm at the beginning of the month for help in investigating the role of Lennart Joelsson, who was senior vice president and managing director of Saab Microwave Systems.
The company inherited a 1999 contract with the Greek armed forces to supply an air surveillance system when Saab took over Ericsson. It is alleged that Joelsson worked with a retired army officer in Greece to bribe Greek officials.
Peddling the commons with Keep Talking Greece:
Greece sells 110 of its best beaches in the name of “development”
One hundred and ten of Greece’s best beaches are on sale by Greece’s privatization agency, the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (TAIPED) in the name of supposed “development” and “utilization of public assets”. In fact a sale off of Greece best beaches for cash so that the debt-ridden country can pay back its lenders.
The beaches plots are to be on sale with “50 years of utilization by the new owners.”
In the list of TAIPED are featured among others Myrto Beach in Kato Achaia, Vasiliki Beach in Lefkada, Kalmitsi beach in Chalkidiki and – what a shame – two beaches in Elafonisos, the small island between Peloponnese and Kythira, famous for its blue-green waters and light colored sandy beaches.
A case of curious timing as the election draws nigh, via Capital.gr:
OAED announces programme for unemployed youth
The Manpower Employment Organisation (OAED) on Tuesday announced that procedures in connection with the hiring of approximately 10,000 unemployed persons between 30 and 66 years old will be completed during the following two weeks.
The employment programme, which was introduced in March, is funded by OAED and offers full-time employment and insurance for one year, while it funds each employee with 450 euros per month for each employee, with the rest of the salary paid by the employer.
To Vima hunts haircuts:
RMF argues that Greece will need a “deep debt write-off”
Paper shows that the government’s current policies will require 26 years to reduce the debt to 60% GDP
The London-base Research on Money and Finance (RMF) network of political economists has published a policy paper on the Greek debt, where the necessity of a “deep write-off” is argued.
In the paper co-authored by professor Kostas Lapavitsas and economist Daniel Munevar, it argued that the debt is a serious problem for the Greek because on top of the huge sums required for the repayment of relevant loans, harsh austerity measures and policies in place further stifles growth. The authors make two proposals, a ‘soft’ option of reducing the interest rate by 0.5% to 1% and a ‘hard’ option which entails cutting the nominal debt value to 60% GDP.
The first option would have a negligible effect on the debt, as it would only result in a 5% GDP reduction by 2019. This is due to the considerable restructure of 2012, while the average interest rate has been lowered to about 3%. Conversely, the ‘hard’ option would result in a 4.8% GDP reduction on an annual basis over the next five years. The benefits of the hard option are between three-and-a-half to six times greater than the soft option.
Off to Moscow and a major deal from Channel NewsAsia Singapore:
China, Russia in “US$400b” gas deal as Ukraine crisis looms
Russian President Vladimir Putin Wednesday oversaw a vast gas deal with China said to be worth $400 billion as the Ukraine crisis threatens Russian energy exports to Europe and his country faces Western sanctions.
The gargantuan 30-year deal finally came to fruition after a decade of negotiations. It represents a turn to the east by Moscow at a moment when its geopolitical assertiveness, particularly the takeover of Crimea, has seen it heavily criticised by the West.
The signing in Shanghai was witnessed by Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, said Chinese energy giant CNPC, the country’s largest oil and gas producer and a party to the contract.
On to the Ukraine, again with Channel NewsAsia Singapore:
Ukraine boosts security for vote as US warns Russia
The United States piled the pressure on Russia on Wednesday over its actions in Ukraine, where the authorities are mobilising tens of thousands of police for a presidential vote threatened by the bloody insurgency gripping the east.
Vice President Joe Biden threatened further sanctions on Moscow if it disrupts Sunday’s presidential ballot, seen as crucial to prevent all-out civil war on Europe’s doorstep.
But just days ahead of the vote, violence appears to have tapered off in the east, where the Ukrainian army has been battling for almost six weeks to crush the pro-Moscow rebellion.
On the the Mideast and a bumper crop from the Independent:
Syria conflict: Lebanon sees surge in cannabis crop as army is forced to focus on border security
Last year, as violence spilt over the border from Syria’s civil war – with bombs and gunfights in Lebanon’s coastal cities and rockets striking towns in the Bekaa – authorities called a halt to a battle they had waged with farmers since the end of Lebanon’s own 1975-1990 civil war.
“From the 1990s until 2012, cannabis eradication took place on an annual basis,” said Colonel Ghassan Shamseddine, head of Lebanon’s drug enforcement unit. “But in 2012… it was halted because of the situation on the Lebanese borders and the instability in Syria,” he added.
On to Libya and ongoing escalation from Reuters:
Clashes erupt in Libyan capital after air chief backs rogue general
Explosions and fighting erupted in Libya’s capital on Wednesday, killing at least two people after the top air commander signaled support for a renegade general who is campaigning to dissolve parliament and wipe out Islamists.
It was not immediately clear who started the clashes, but government figures and Islamist groups in parliament – some of them with allied militias – have become increasingly alarmed by signs of growing support for General Khalifa Haftar. Forces loyal to him stormed parliament on Sunday.
Western powers fear Haftar’s bid to persuade army units to join his campaign will split the military and trigger more turmoil in the oil producer which is struggling to restore order three years after the fall of strongman Muammar Gaddafi.
Tripoli residents reported several loud explosions early on Wednesday near the al-Yarmouk air defense barracks after air defense top commander Juma al-Abani released a video message saying he was joining “Operation Dignity” – Haftar’s campaign against Islamists.
And a helping hand from Deutsche Welle:
Libya’s interior ministry supports renegade general Hifter
Libya’s state news agency has said the interior ministry has thrown its support behind the renegade General Khalifa Hifter’s campaign to rid Libya of Islamist militias. High-ranking officials have also backed Hifter.
The official Libyan news agency, LANA, quoted a statement by the country’s interior ministry Wednesday that it is backing rogue General Khalifa.
The Reuters news agency, however, has reported that acting interior minister, Saleh Mazeg, told local television station al-Nabaa that the statement was wrong and that his ministry stood with “the Libyan people” and not with Hifter. Hifter, a former military chief of staff under Moammar Gadhafi who then went into exile in the US, has set up what he calls a “Libyan National Army” to “rescue” the wartorn country.
Hifter, who fought as a rebel in the war against Gadhafi, has said he wants to clear the country of Islamist militias.
The Independent adds background:
Libya uprising: Former general Khalifa Hifter declares war on parliament and the Islamist militias
The former general who is leading an armed uprising in Libya says that he will not negotiate with his rivals and will instead rely on force to achieve his objectives.
“We see that confrontation is the solution,” Khalifa Hifter said from his headquarters in the eastern city of Benghazi. “I do not think talks will work with them.”
On Friday, Mr Hifter launched an offensive in Benghazi against Islamist militias that have been widely blamed for a string of killings. As least 70 people were killed and dozens injured in the most intense fighting since the revolt that deposed the dictator Muammar Gaddafi three years ago. The assault was followed two days later by an attack on the national parliament by militias loyal to Mr Hifter.
The fighting was a dramatic sign of the central government’s inability to assert control over the country, which has broken up into virtual fiefdoms ruled by militias since the ousting of Gaddafi. The stunning offensive of recent days led by Mr Hifter – a former anti-Gaddafi activist who spent years in exile in Virginia – has prompted militias to choose sides, in what could be a prelude to large-scale clashes.
Latin America next, and more pre-World Cup woes from the Argentina Independent:
Brazil: Police in 14 States Go On Strike
Police in 14 Brazilian states police are striking today, demanding improvements in their working conditions. The 24-hour strike comes just 22 days before the beginning of the football World Cup.
Later on today, at 3pm local time, police unions will stage a protest in the capital city of Brasilia, where they will be joined by the federal police. The military police have announced they are not joining the strike or the protest.
It is estimated that, in some states, up to 70% of police agents could join the strike. The states affected are Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Pernambuco, Amazonas — all of which will hold World Cup games — Alagoas, Espírito Santo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Pará, Paraíba, Rondônia, Santa Catarina, and Tocantins.
From MercoPress, an unconditional guarantee:
Rousseff ‘guarantees’ Brazil’s airports will be prepared to welcome World Cup visitors
President Dilma Rousseff has “guaranteed” Brazil’s airports will be prepared to welcome visitors for the World Cup, which starts on June 12 in São Paulo. Rousseff made the comments on her weekly ‘’Breakfast with the President’‘ national radio program following criticism that a number of airports which were promised to be completed for the key football tournament remain unfinished.
Airports in four host cities – Belo Horizonte, Cuiabá, Fortaleza and Rio de Janeiro – will be completed only after the tournament has finished. Airports in four host cities – Belo Horizonte, Cuiabá, Fortaleza and Rio de Janeiro – will be completed only after the tournament has finished.
“I guarantee that our airports are prepared for the World Cup,” Rousseff said. “We are going to welcome everyone extremely well, and Brazilians will be able to be proud of the Brazil we are building.”
The president stressed that although new and expanded airports were timed to help Brazil welcome the influx of World Cup visitors, both from abroad and traveling around the country, the new facilities were aimed primarily at improving Brazilians’ lives.
The Buenos Aires Herald covers Argentine anger:
Government bashes ‘speculative strategies from financial groups’
In his daily press briefing, Cabinet Chief Jorge Capitanich praised the country’s “favorable economic performance” and accused “financial agents” of developing “speculative strategies” that aim to create uncertainty.
The Kirchnerite official also referred to the so called Congress index which is calculated by private agencies, saying “it is rubbish” and that it is part of a “deliberate strategy to create negative expectations”.
Capitanich explained that economic indicators show that “there are no objective reasons” for concern. “Deliberate speculative movements should be socially condemned,” he said.
The Santiago Times hits the bricks:
Students march as president promises reform in state of nation speech
Though the president devoted a great portion of the first state of the nation address of her second term to high profile education reforms, thousands of students marched on Congress to show their displeasure at what they describe as patchwork changes.
Earlier in the week, President Michelle Bachelet send the first bill in her education reforms to Congress. The reform package promises free higher education after six years and an end to profiteering in education, two of the signature demands of the student movement. But student leaders say that the legislation fails to provide the broad restructuring they have championed with mass protests since 2011.
Naschla Aburman, president of the Universidad Católica Student Federation (Feuc) said students were demanding “real and structural” change.
From MercoPress, a Venezuelan stalemate:
Unasur mediators leave Venezuela unable to re-launch peace negotiations
Mediators from Unasur (Union of South American Nations) urged Venezuela’s government and opposition back to the negotiating table after failing to revive talks to stem months of protests in the polarized nation.
MUD head Aveledo said mediators, who came at the weekend to meet with both sides, would stay in contact and return any time needed. MUD head Aveledo said mediators, who came at the weekend to meet with both sides, would stay in contact and return any time needed.
Since anti-government demonstrations began in February, 42 people have been killed, more than 800 injured, and about 3,000 arrested, of whom more than 200 remain behind bars.
The unrest has been Venezuela’s worst in a decade, and drawn attention to the country’s deep economic problems, including soaring inflation and scarcities of basic goods.
On to Australia and a smirking hypocrite from GlobalPost:
Does this video prove that Tony Abbott is kind of an a-hole?
Watch as Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott smirks and winks at a financially struggling grandmother forced to work at an adult hotline.
Tony Abbott doesn’t much care about the environment, climate change, sharks, and asylum-seekers. His new federal budget suggests he doesn’t care much for Australians, either. His federal budget for 2014 slashes funding for healthcare, education, social welfare programs, and the arts.
Many Australians are pissed. Protest marches are happening across the country, which you can follow on Twitter using the hashtags #MarchinMay and #bustthebudget. Father Rod Bower, a reverend in the Anglican Parish of Gosford, became an internet sensation when he started criticizing Abbott on his church’s old-timey, moveable-letter, 50-character roadside announcement board.
And now there’s Gloria.
The idiocy at issue, via ABC News [Australia]:
PM winks during radio call from sex line worker
Program note:
Gloria, a 67-year-old pensioner, from Warburton, Victoria called 774 ABC Melbourne to quiz Prime Minister Tony Abbott over the budget cuts. Gloria claims she has to work as a telephone sex worker to make ends meet.
Indian next and a bankster blessing from the Financial Express:
Under Narendra Modi govt, Indian economy expected to improve: JP Morgan
Key policy promises of Narendra Modi’s BJP-led NDA, if implemented, will push Indian economy towards recovery in the near-term, a JP Morgan AMC report said.
“… if the NDA coalition and Narendra Modi hold onto their key policy objectives as set out in BJP’s manifesto, then markets should start to anticipate a cyclical improvement in the economy beginning early in 2015 that in turn will feed through company profits, margins and earnings, holding out the prospect of significant upgrades to 2015 Sensex earnings,” the report said.
Historically, India’s election and change of government have only had a limited impact on the stock market, it added.
Thailand next, and the Mainichi brings in the brass:
Thai army chief assumes role as crisis mediator
Thailand’s army chief assumed the role of mediator Wednesday by summoning the country’s key political rivals for face-to-face talks one day after imposing martial law. Residents, meanwhile, tried to make sense of the dramatic turn after six months of turmoil.
Around Bangkok there was little sign of any change, and most soldiers that had occupied key intersections in the capital a day earlier had withdrawn. People went about their work normally, students went to school, and the traffic was snarled as it would be any other weekday in this bustling city.
Martial law for now appeared to be playing out primarily behind closed doors, as army chief Gen. Prayuth Chan-Ocha “invited” the key powerbrokers in the country’s latest political crisis to meet for the first time since it escalated six months ago.
From the Associated Press, a coup by any other name:
With martial law, Thai government nearly powerless
The question to Thailand’s army chief was a basic one: After he declared martial law this week, would he be consulting the government? His response encapsulated the increasingly surreal nature of this Southeast Asian country’s political crisis.
“Where is the government right now? Where are they now? I don’t know,” Gen. Prayuth Chan-Ocha snapped before adding awkwardly: “I’m not interfering with the government, or anybody.”
But where, actually, is the elected leadership of Thailand? Few people here believe it is still running the country.
China next, and the race to the bottom goes on, via Want China Times:
Shoemakers in China lose 30% of orders to Southeast Asian rivals
Rising costs and wages in China have forced many labor-intensive shoes-making and textile businesses to relocate their production lines to Southeast Asian countries, reports Shanghai’s China Business News.
Taiwan’s Pou Chen Group, which is a contract manufacturer for Nike and Adidas, has cut 51 of its production lines in China’s Pearl River Delta region and relocated them to central and western provinces such as Anhui, Jiangxi and Henan as well as Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia over the past few years.
Taiwanese-funded shoemaker Apache Footwear opened its first factory in Guangzhou in southern China’s Guangdong province in 1991 before relocating to neighboring Qinyuan city and leaving China to set up factories in India in 2006.
Want China Times does the deal:
Putin’s latest China visit confirms economic strategy: Duowei
Putin arrived in China on Tuesday to attend the fourth Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia summit in Shanghai, during which the Chinese and Russian military will also be conducting Joint Sea 2014, a joint military drill in the northern part of the East China Sea.
One of the main focal points of Putin’s trip is expanding bilateral cooperation and will include signing a range of agreements from energy, finance and agriculture to mining and infrastructure. Reports claim that Russia is hoping annual bilateral trade with China can grow to US$200 billion by 2020 after confirming that trade figures will reach US$100 billion by 2015.
Duowei claims that economic sanctions imposed by Europe against Russia as a result of the Ukraine crisis–which began in February when Russia invaded Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in response to the civil unrest that resulted in the ouster of Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovych–have pushed Moscow in a new strategic direction towards the East, with China at the center of the its focus.
Japan next, and a boost from the Japan Times:
LDP touts moves to bolster ‘Abenomics’
Tax cut, tighter oversight among key proposals
Corporate tax cuts, stronger corporate governance and closing the tax gap between one- and two-income households are among the Liberal Democratic Party’s recommendations for inclusion in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic growth strategy, due by the end of next month.
The LDP, which met Tuesday to discuss the recommendations, will submit its draft to Abe later this month, a source close to the matter said.
The Cabinet is likely to approve this year’s growth strategy on June 27 after reviewing the recommendations from the LDP and other government councils.
On to Fukushimapocalypse Now!
From the Asahi Shimbun, hot water unleashed:
TEPCO begins releasing groundwater diverted at Fukushima plant into sea
Tokyo Electric Power Co. has started diverting uncontaminated groundwater at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the sea, in an attempt to reduce the vast quantity of radioactive water accumulating on site.
At a news conference on May 21, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the start of the water bypass project represents a “small step” in tackling the buildup of contaminated water, which has been a major source of public concern.
At 10:25 a.m. on May 21, the utility started releasing about 560 tons of water that it had pumped from 12 wells located in the plant compound in April. It took about two hours to release the water.
The Asahi Shimbun again, with the latest fail:
Glitch-prone ALPS water treatment equipment shut down at Fukushima plant
Hundreds of thousands of tons of highly contaminated water accumulating at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant will go untreated for some time, as key equipment to remove radioactive substances has been shut down completely.
According to Tokyo Electric Power Co., the last of three channels of the ALPS multinuclide removal equipment that treats contaminated water was switched off May 20 due to trouble with prior processing.
It is the first time for all three channels to be out of operation simultaneously. The equipment has been operating intermittently due to a series of glitches since it was introduced for trial runs in March 2013.
NHK WORLD propagandizes:
Fukushima residents to hear waste facilities plan
The Japanese government will brief people from 2 Fukushima towns on its storage plan for radioactive soil and waste from the 2011 nuclear disaster.
The government plans to build intermediate storage facilities in Futaba and Okuma towns near the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant. They will purchase 16 square kilometers of land in the area.
On Wednesday, the government announced the schedule of briefing sessions for former residents and the owners of land plots at the proposed storage sites. The government will explain why the facilities are needed, as well as how it plans to compensate for the land and buildings.
The Asahi Shimbun covers a corporate disaster:
TEPCO ready to release radiation, not information, during Fukushima crisis
In the chaotic early stages of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Tokyo Electric Power Co. was preparing a last-ditch countermeasure that would have released a large amount of radiation on an unknowing public.
Masao Yoshida, the manager of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, told a government committee that dry venting was planned on March 14, 2011, to prevent rising pressure from causing the containment vessel of the No. 3 reactor to break apart, according to documents.
Venting is an emergency measure to prevent a containment vessel from rupturing and spewing huge amounts of radioactive materials into the atmosphere. But venting also results in the release of such substances, including radioactive iodine that can cause thyroid gland cancer, albeit at a lower level.
However, residents around the nuclear plant were never warned about the venting plan. At the time, the government had called on TEPCO and the Fukushima prefectural government not to make any announcements about the precarious situation at the No. 3 reactor to avoid panic among the public.
The Asahi Shimbun again, with a reactor rush:
Fukui court deals setback to Kansai Electric bid to restart Oi reactors
The Fukui District Court on May 21 ordered Kansai Electric Power Co. not to restart the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors of the Oi nuclear power plant, whose operations are currently suspended due to regular safety inspections.
The ruling marked the first handed down by a court in Japan in response to a lawsuit seeking the stoppage of operations of nuclear reactors, in the wake of the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Presiding Judge Hideaki Higuchi said that residents living within a radius of 250 kilometers from the plant, located in Oi, Fukui Prefecture, can seek a halt to operations of the reactors.
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