Latest News Clips 2013.05.13

1. Asia Wrestles With a Flood of Cash 

Asian Central Banks Struggle to Tamp Down Strong Currencies 

    The Wall Street Journal   May 9, 2013 

HONG KONG—Central banks in Asia, Australia and New Zealand are ratcheting up moves to deal with an influx of capital that is keeping currencies strong and complicating efforts to manage growth. 

New Zealand's central bank said Wednesday it intervened in foreign-exchange markets to blunt the rise of its currency and would continue to do so, a day after Australia's central bank cut interest rates to a record low and noted the stubborn strength of the Australian dollar. Elsewhere, China is moving to curb bets on the rising yuan, while Thailand is considering efforts to curb the strongest baht since the 1997 Asian financial crisis. 

In a surprise move early Thursday, South Korea cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, as the country grapples with a slowing economy. The cut in borrowing costs comes a day after a government official voiced concern about "one-sided" moves in foreign exchange, code for a rise in the value of the currency. 

The surging flows to the region are one more example of how investors are scouring the globe looking for higher returns on their money. Many central banks in the developed world are pumping in money in a bid to spur their economies, sending interest rates down and money flowing into alternative investments. In another example, the yield on junk bonds—like emerging markets, generally considered high-risk, high-reward investments—fell below 5% this week as investors flocked to the securities. Yields fall as prices rise. 

ratchet up: increase regularily,一步步增加
influx: surging flow
intervene in: interrupt and try to control,干涉,介入 
in a bid to: 努力為了to do something

2. Anwar supporters hold protest over Malaysia election result 

         FT  2013.05.07 

   

Anwar Ibrahim leads a mass protest in Petaling Jaya 

Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia’s opposition leader, led tens of thousands of supporters in a protest rally on Wednesday evening against his election defeat in a sign that concerns about the poll’s fairness are gaining traction. 

About 50,000 protesters, most of whom were wearing black, jammed the streets leading to a football stadium in the Kelana Jaya district of Selangor, an opposition-controlled state bordering Kuala Lumpur. Many were unable to get into the stadium’s overflowing stands and were squeezed out on to the street. 

 “This is the beginning of a battle between the people and an illegitimate, corrupt and arrogant government,” Mr Anwar told the chanting crowd. “We will continue this struggle and we will never surrender.” 

A large number were young ethnic Chinese who have been angered not only by what the opposition says was a fraudulent election but also by comments from Najib Razak, the prime minister, saying that his ruling coalition lost ground in the poll partly because of a “Chinese tsunami”. 

“We are not Chinese, we are Malaysian,” read some of the placards. 

Russ Chong, a 42-year-old property sales executive, said Mr Najib was “stupid to bring [the Chinese issue] up . . . All we want is a fair election,” he said. 

Many people at the rally conceded the result of the vote was unlikely to change but wanted to voice their concerns at what they called a flawed electoral system. 

Earlier on Wednesday, a study part-funded by the British and Canadian governments was published which found Sunday’s election, which the incumbent ruling coalition won, was “only partially free and not fair”. 

The findings, produced by two independent think-tanks in Malaysia, cast a cloud over an election the losing opposition claims was flawed. 

3.  The Scientific 7-Minute Workout 

        The New York Times         2013.05.09 

Exercise science is a fine and intellectually fascinating thing. But sometimes you just want someone to lay out guidelines for how to put the newest fitness research into practice. 

An article in the May-June issue of the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health & Fitness Journal does just that. In 12 exercises deploying only body weight, a chair and a wall, it fulfills the latest mandates for high-intensity effort, which essentially combines a long run and a visit to the weight room into about seven minutes of steady discomfort — all of it based on science. 

“There’s very good evidence” that high-intensity interval training provides “many of the fitness benefits of prolonged endurance training but in much less time,” says Chris Jordan, the director of exercise physiology at the Human Performance Institute in Orlando, Fla., and co-author of the new article. 

Work by scientists at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and other institutions shows, for instance, that even a few minutes of training at an intensity approaching your maximum capacity produces molecular changes within muscles comparable to those of several hours of running or bike riding. 

4.  South Korean president to Congress: "No North Korea provocations can     succeed" 

    CNN    May 9, 2013  

  

South Korean President Park Geun-hye says the future of the Korean peninsula relies on U.S. involvement in the peace process. 

Washington (CNN) -- The future of the Korean peninsula relies on U.S. involvement in the peace process, South Korean President Park Geun-hye told a joint meeting of Congress Wednesday. 

Park said that despite recent tensions with communist North Korea, reunification of the Koreas is possible, even if it "feels distant today." 

"North Korea continues to issue threats and provocations, firing long range missiles, staging nuclear tests and undermining peace on the peninsula and far beyond it," Park said. "The Korean government is reacting resolutely but calmly. We maintain the highest level of readiness." 

And as long as the United States and South Korea maintain their strong relationship, Park said, "You may rest assured, no North Koreans provocation can succeed." 

rest assured:放心

5. Abused but alive: Lessons for Cleveland's survivors 

       CNN     May 11, 2013  

(CNN) -- The world will never fully know the unspeakable tortures they endured. But they survived. 

Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped from her bedroom at 14, declared a child bride by her captor and sexually assaulted for nine months. Jaycee Dugard, 11, was snatched from a roadside and held for 18 years, eventually bearing two babies fathered by her rapist kidnapper. Taken at 11, Shawn Hornbeck was sexually abused by his abductor for four years before police freed him. 

This week in Cleveland, three new names were added to that list of young abduction survivors. After a decade in captivity, Amanda Berry, Georgina "Gina" DeJesus and Michelle Knight now face a challenging journey toward recovery. 

What can they learn from the paths followed by Smart, Dugard, Hornbeck and others that led them from darkness to brighter lives? 

The resiliency of these survivors is nothing short of remarkable. Smart, now 25, is married. She formed a foundation to battle child abuse and travels the country as a public speaker. Nearly four years after regaining her freedom, Dugard, 33, heads her own group aimed at helping victims like herself. She wrote a book about her ordeal and has learned to ride horseback. Hornbeck, 21, works full-time and wants to finish his education. 

Experts credit much of their recovery to access to important health care resources and strong family support. 

There's another factor: faith. These survivors likely were more confident  that they would re-emerge into a safe world.