Latest News Clips 2016.12.19

                     

1.      Putin-Abe Summit Brings Big Japan-Russia Economic Projects

 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS   Dec 16, 2016

Japan and Russia are stepping up cooperation as Russian President Vladimir Putin pursues opportunities in fast growing Asian markets for his country's vast Far East. Many of the dozens of deals finalized during his visit to Japan this week involve the energy sector, and most are projects linked to some of both countries' largest corporations.

Here are details of some expanding areas of Japanese-Russian cooperation:

NUCLEAR ENERGY

The Japanese government and Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corp. agreed on cooperation in helping with the clean-up at from the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant, including radioactive waste management and possible decommissioning. The two sides already have been discussing working together on uranium exploration and mining; design, construction and operation of light water reactors; waste processing and management; nuclear safety including radiation protection and environmental control; research and application of radioisotopes and radiation; other areas based on additional written agreements between the parties, Rosatom says.

OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION

Russia enjoys a trade surplus with Japan thanks to exports of oil and natural gas. In addition to oil and natural gas projects already underway in Sakhalin and Eastern Siberia, the two countries agreed on cooperation in exploration and development and on expanding joint work on wind and coal co-generation projects. Rosneft said a consortium of Japanese companies including Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. has agreed to jointly pursue exploration, development and production of oil and gas in the Sea of Japan off Russia's coast. The Kyodo News Service reported major Japanese trading houses also plan to invest in a $40 billion natural gas field project on the Gydan Peninsula near the Arctic Ocean, working with Russia's Novatek.

CHEMICALS

Russia's Rosneft and Japan's Marubeni Corporation and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. agreed to study the feasibility of building a gas chemical facility in Russia's Far East that would be built using advanced Japanese technologies and supported by Japanese financing.

INVESTMENT

The Russian Direct Investment Fund and Japan Bank for International Cooperation agreed to set up a Russia-Japan Investment Fund to identify projects that would promote economic, trade and investment cooperation. Each side agreed to invest $500 million in the fund, which is intended to operate independently in joint projects to be launched beginning next year.

DISPUTED ISLANDS

The two governments agreed to consider ways to cooperate in jointly developing islands claimed by both countries in a territorial dispute left over from World War II that is preventing the two sides from signing a peace treaty. Possibilities include modernizing the fisheries industry and expanding tourism in the region, north of Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido. But the dispute itself is an obstacle, and it's unclear if the two sides can find a way to finesse a disagreement over what laws would prevail in such projects, which would be on islands long controlled by Russia.

2.      What a Fed rate hike means for you (get ready to pay more)

USA TODAY    December 16, 2016

The Federal Reserve’s decision Wednesday to lift its benchmark short-term interest rate by a quarter percentage point is likely to have a domino effect across the economy as it gradually pushes up rates for everything from mortgages and credit card rates to small business loans.

The Fed forecast slightly faster increases the next few years amid the prospect of a massive government stimulus, signaling three similar hikes next year.. There are a couple of wild cards in the mix that could have a bigger effect on borrowing costs than the Fed.

President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to cut taxes and spend up to $1 trillion to upgrade infrastructure, combined with forecasts of rising oil prices, have driven up inflation expectations and long-term bond yields in recent weeks. Such factors could play a significant role again next year.

“Fiscal policy may have a bigger say” than Fed interest rate decisions, says John Canally, chief economic strategist for LPL Financial. That would mark a shift from prior years, when Fed action had an outsized effect on a slowly growing economy.

Still, the Fed’s decision to lift the federal funds rate, which is what banks charge each other for overnight loans, could have at least some effects on consumers:

Mortgages

Thirty-year fixed mortgage rates have climbed above 4% since late October, costing the holder of a $200,000 mortgage about $75 more a month. That’s because 10- year Treasury bond yields have jumped about a percentage point since September, partly on Trump’s fiscal stimulus plan and faster inflation forecasts.

The Fed’s key short-term rate affects mortgages and other long-term rates only indirectly. Wednesday’s anticipated hike was priced into such mortgage rates, but three more quarter-point rate bumps next year could lift mortgage rates by a total of an additional 3/8 of a point, says Greg McBride, chief economist of Bankrate.com. That would mean an additional $44 a month in payments on that $200,000 mortgage.

On the margins, that could discourage a small portion of home purchases, says Steve Rick, chief economist of CUNA Mutual Group. That effect could be more than offset by a tight labor market and faster-growing economy pushing up average wage gains, allowing homebuyers to easily afford the added cost, Canally says.

10 ways to lower your mortgage rate

Other factors may loom large. If Congress fails to approve Trump’s fiscal stimulus, for example, long-term rates could fall regardless of the Fed, while a faster-growing economy and higher inflation could drive up borrowing costs.

Adjustable-rate mortgages, by contrast, typically are modified annually and probably would be affected more significantly by four Fed hikes over the next year (including Wednesday’s), McBride says. Adjustable rates, he says, could rise about three-quarters of a percentage point in that period, increasing the monthly payment of the $200,000 mortgage by $84.

Auto loans

Typical five-year auto loans will be more directly influenced by a quarter-point increase in the Fed’s key short-term rate, with a 4.25% car loan rate rising by a similar quarter-point, or $3 a month, McBride says. Wednesday’s move and three similar rate increases next year would increase the monthly payment for a new $25,000 car by a total $12.

“Interest rates are going to be a non-issue,” he says.

3.      Woman has baby using ovary frozen in childhood

BBC   14 December 2016

Media captionMoaza Al Matrooshi: "It is a miracle that I have my son in my hand"

A woman has given birth in London after doctors restored her fertility using frozen ovarian tissue removed when she was a young child.

The 24-year-old is thought to be the first in the world to have a baby after having an ovary frozen before the onset of puberty.

Moaza Al Matrooshi, whose son was delivered at the privately-run Portland Hospital yesterday, told the BBC: "It's like a miracle.

"We've been waiting so long for this result - a healthy baby."

Her doctor, Sara Matthews, a consultant in gynaecology and fertility, said she was overjoyed for the family - and delighted by the hope it offered to others too.

"This is a huge step forward. We know that ovarian tissue transplantation works for older women, but we've never known if we could take tissue from a child, freeze it and make it work again."

Doctors say it will give hope to many other girls and young women who risk losing the chance of motherhood as a result of treatment for cancer, blood or immune disorders.

Frozen for the future

Moaza Al Matrooshi, who is from Dubai, was born with beta thalassaemia, an inherited blood disorder that is fatal if untreated.

She needed chemotherapy, which damages the ovaries, before receiving a bone marrow transplant from her brother at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

So, prior to treatment, when she was nine years old, she had her right ovary removed in an operation in Leeds, where the tissue was frozen.

Fragments of her ovarian tissue were mixed with cryo-protective agents and slowly reduced in temperature to minus 196C, before being stored under liquid nitrogen.

Last year, surgeons in Denmark transplanted five slivers of the ovarian tissue back into her body - four were stitched on to her failed left ovary and one on to the side of her uterus.

Moaza had been going through the menopause. But after the transplant, her hormone levels began returning to normal, she began ovulating and her fertility was restored.

In order to maximise the chances of having a child, Moaza and her husband Ahmed underwent IVF treatment.