Debt-laden Greece prepares "Spartan" EU presidency to burnish image

BY HARRY PAPACHRISTOU

ATHENS Tue Dec 17, 2013 8:00am EST

Dec 17 (Reuters) - Barely 18 months after it almost crashed out of the euro zone, Greece takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union with the hope of using the podium to show it is bouncing back.

Greece, which takes on the job for six months from Jan. 1, has a reputation for being the Europe's biggest problem child and will be negotiating for debt relief from other European states while it holds the presidency.

The position requires the holder to organise hundreds of ministerial gatherings and policy negotiations, giving Athens an opportunity to drive the agenda, if only for a few months.

China confirms near miss with U.S. ship in South China Sea

BY SUI-LEE WEE

BEIJING Wed Dec 18, 2013 4:23am EST

(Reuters) - China on Wednesday confirmed an incident between a Chinese naval vessel and a U.S. warship in the South China Sea, after Washington said a U.S. guided missile cruiser had avoided a collision with a Chinese warship maneuvering nearby.

Experts have said the near-miss between the USS Cowpens and a Chinese warship operating near China's only aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, was the most significant U.S.-China maritime incident in the disputed South China Sea since 2009.

Antarctica may have a new type of ice: diamonds

BY ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT ALISTER DOYLE

(Reuters) - A kind of rock that often contains diamonds has been found in Antarctica for the first time, hinting at mineral riches in the vast, icy continent -- where mining is banned.

No diamonds were found, but researchers said they were confident the gems were there.

"It would be very surprising if there weren't diamonds in these kimberlites," Greg Yaxley of the Australian National University in Canberra, who led the research, said in a telephone interview.

Leading Drug Company to Quit Paying Doctors for Promotional Talks

GlaxoSmithKline, which makes Advair for asthma, Lovaza for high triglyceride levels and the diabetes drug Avandia, is under pressure facing all drug companies for greater transparency in payments to doctors, a provision of Obamacare

Scientific American

By Charles Ornstein and ProPublica

In a major departure from industry practice, GlaxoSmithKline, the sixth-largest global drug maker, announced Tuesday that it will no longer hire doctors to promote its drugs.

The company also will stop tying compensation for sales representatives to the number of prescriptions written for drugs they market. The changes will be made worldwide over the next two years.

Low Inflation Tests World's Central Banks

Subdued Prices Persist Despite Years of Easy Money; Deflation Still a Threat

By SUDEEP REDDY in Washington, BRIAN BLACKSTONE in Frankfurt and JASON DOUGLAS in London

The Wall Street Journal

Updated Dec. 17, 2013 7:28 p.m. ET

Inflation is slowing across the developed world despite ultralow interest rates and unprecedented money-printing campaigns, posing a dilemma for the Federal Reserve and other major central banks as they plot their next policy moves.

Amid China’s Bad Air, a Reminder That Smoking Still Kills

December 17, 2013, 2:18 am 6 Comments

The New York Times
By AUSTIN RAMZY

As the recognition of the danger of outdoor air pollution in China grows, health authorities are trying to use that knowledge to raise awareness of an even deadlier health threat: smoking. China has about 350 million smokers, and despite efforts to reduce consumption, tobacco is still widely consumed, and about half of adult males are regular smokers, according to surveys.

Japan to bolster military, boost Asia ties to counter China

BY LINDA SIEG AND KIYOSHI TAKENAKA

TOKYO Tue Dec 17, 2013 4:55am EST

(Reuters) - Japan will boost its military spending in coming years, buying early-warning planes, beach-assault vehicles and troop-carrying aircraft, while seeking closer ties with Asian partners to counter a more militarily assertive China.

The planned 2.6 percent increase over five years, announced on Tuesday, reverses a decade of decline and marks the clearest sign since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office a year ago that he wants a bigger military role for Japan as tension flares with China over islands they both claim.

Climate change and disputes.

The following articles by no means are exhaustive for the topic at hand. They are part of a debate, for and against human intervention in climate dynamics. The harsh weather of the recent days sparked it and I offer a mere sample of it.

An article against man induced climate change

'GLOBAL WARMING' ICED BY 'COLDEST DAYS EVER'

An article in favor of man induced climate change

A speech in favor of man induced climate change

Riot in China's Xinjiang kills 16, 'terror gang' blamed

BEIJING Mon Dec 16, 2013 3:46am EST

(Reuters) - Chinese police shot and killed 14 people during a riot near the old Silk Road city of Kashgar in which two policemen were also killed, the local government said on Monday, the latest unrest in a region that has a substantial Muslim population.

China has previously called some of the violence in the far western region of Xinjiang the work of Islamist militants plotting holy war.

Describing the incident which happened late on Sunday, Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stopped short of directly blaming Islamist militants but said a "violent terror gang" attacked police with explosives.

Draghi Ally Asmussen to Leave ECB for German Government

By Paul Gordon and Rainer Buergin  Dec 16, 2013 10:49 AM GMT+0200

Joerg Asmussen is to leave the European Central Bank’s Executive Board for a government position, depriving President Mario Draghi of a key German ally.

Asmussen, 47, will become deputy labor minister in German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government and will shortly resign from his post at the ECB, he said in a statement distributed by the Frankfurt-based institution yesterday. Asmussen has been on the six-person Executive Board, which implements monetary policy for the euro area, since January 2012. His term was scheduled to run until 2019.

How Real Is Greece's Oil And Gas Future?

Forbes

If you’ve been watching Greece’s recent energy push lately, it’s been difficult not to get too excited about the country’s potential. From political commentators to Prime Minister Antonis Samaras himself, the message has been enthusiastic and clear – Greece is home to billions of barrels of oil, trillions of cubic meters of gas and most importantly for a country saddled with the longest recession in modern history, billions in potential revenue.

Greek exit from eurozone remains a possibility

The Guardian

By Niels Pratley

Thinktank points out the Greece's public debt – currently at 170% of GDP – is still unsustainably high

It's been a good year for the eurozone crisis in the sense that flare-ups have been few and minor. But here comes thinktank Capital Economics with the gloomy diagnosis that Greece's public debt (currently at 170% of GDP) is still unsustainably high and "the country's crisis is not yet over". That is despite the clear improvement in the public finances since the second bailout in 2012.

China Auto Sales Gain 16% as Japan Automakers Extend Rebound

By Bloomberg News - Dec 10, 2013

China’s passenger-vehicle sales rose 16 percent in November as Japanese automakers extended their recovery in the world’s largest auto market.

Wholesale deliveries of cars, multipurpose and sport utility vehicles climbed to 1.7 million units last month, the state-backed China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said today. That compares with the median 1.69 million units estimate of four analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Trade can break down China’s Great Firewall

The Washington Post

By Marcus W. Brauchli and Lee C. Bollinger, Published: December 11

Beijing has hinted ominously that it might rescind the right to live in China from as many as two dozen foreign journalists based there for U.S. news organizations.

Such a mass eviction would be a dramatic escalation from its previous practices of denying visas to individual reporters and blocking access to foreign news organizations’ Web sites or suspending the distribution of their publications in China.

EU argues over joint rescue plan for eurozone banks

BBC

11 December 2013 Last updated at 11:31 GMT

The EU is edging towards a common mechanism for rescuing problem banks, in a drive to avoid any repetition of taxpayer-funded bailouts.

EU finance ministers finished marathon talks early on Wednesday - but they will try again next week to reach a deal on the eve of an EU summit.

Bank failures triggered the eurozone financial crises that struck the Republic of Ireland, Spain and Cyprus.

The new rescue blueprint would involve transferring powers to a new EU agency.

There are arguments over the future scope of that agency's powers - and the plan still has to be agreed with the European Parliament.

China bitcoin arbitrage ends as traders work around capital controls

BY GABRIEL WILDAU

SHANGHAI Wed Dec 11, 2013 7:17am EST

(Reuters) - The price gap between bitcoins trading in Chinese yuan and those sold for other currencies has evaporated in recent days, highlighting the porous nature of China's capital controls.

Chinese bitcoin chat rooms buzzed last month as investors noticed that the digital currency as sold on China's biggest exchange was more expensive, in dollar terms, than bitcoins traded abroad using dollars, creating a tempting arbitrage play.

Traders could earn profits by buying bitcoins using dollars on a foreign exchange such as Mt. Gox, reselling them for yuan at the higher price on BTC China, the main local exchange, and finally converting the yuan back to dollars.

EU Week Ahead Dec. 9-13: Pre-Christmas Scramble

December 9, 2013, 4:43 AM

By Tom Fairless

The Wall Street Journal

The pre-Christmas summit bonanza moves into full swing this week, as European Union governments scramble to finalize legislation that they pledged to have in place by year-end. In particular, EU finance ministers hope to reach a deal on a system to centralize control of failing banks, known as the single resolution mechanism: Germany has so far held out against the European Commission’s plan for a central decision-making authority and fund, which it worries could violate EU treaties. Euro-zone finance ministers will also gather to discuss the progress of the bloc’s bailed-out members, with Greece, as ever, high on the agenda.

China Adopts Board-Game Strategy to Blunt U.S. Pivot to Asia

By Bloomberg News  Dec 10, 2013 8:42 AM GMT+0200

The foreign policy strategy emerging from China’s new leadership may include a series of incremental steps calibrated to blunt U.S. influence across Asia and sow doubt about America’s commitment to its allies in the region.

Potential next steps following last month’s imposition of an air defense zone over the East China Sea in the face of U.S. condemnation include more vigorously challenging aircraft that enter the area, imposing a similar zone over disputed territory in the South China Sea and asserting naval control over islands also claimed by other nations.

Greece: Public sector no longer too large

By Associated Press, Published: December 6

ATHENS, Greece — Greece no longer has too many public servants and is close to reaching staff reduction targets demanded by bailout lenders two years before the deadline, the government said Friday.

Administrative Reform Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also insisted that his bailed out eurozone member country is on the brink of recovery.

The number of workers on the state payroll has been slashed from 913,000 at the end of 2009 to 681,392 on Nov. 30, with annual spending on wage costs reduced by just over one-third, the government said.

Slower China inflation reduces worries of tighter policy

BY KEVIN YAO

BEIJING Mon Dec 9, 2013 2:58am EST

(Reuters) - China's annual consumer inflation unexpectedly slowed in November, easing market fears of any imminent policy tightening as authorities meet this week to outline their policy and reform priorities for 2014.

Rising money market rates and bond yields indicate the People's Bank of China (PBOC) is tightening liquidity conditions, to reduce debt levels and contain credit growth, but there is little sign of a sharp turnaround in monetary policy.

Annual consumer inflation unexpectedly slowed to 3 percent in November from an eight-month high of 3.2 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday. Analysts had expected the inflation rate to hold steady at October's level.