Latest News Clips 2013.06.02

1.      Energy-hungry China scours the globe to secure future supplies

CNN    May 28, 2013                    

                                                                    

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and China President Xi Jinping signing energy deal on March 22.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

·         China's new leader has taken extraordinary steps to secure future energy supplies

·         President Xi Jinping's first state visit was to ink an energy deal with Russia

·         Follows a spate of Chinese oil and gas investments in Africa, the Middle East and Australia

·         China overtook the United States as the world's biggest energy user in 2009

(CNN) -- China's energy imports are so fundamental to its survival and development that China's new leadership has taken extraordinary steps to secure future supplies.

In a flurry of official visits over the past two months involving President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, China has sought to bolster its energy relations with big strategic neighbors Russia and India, key energy exporters Indonesia, Brunei and South Africa, emerging resources suppliers such as Tanzania and the Republic of Congo in Africa, and renewable energy pioneer Germany.

In addition, China hosted a visit by Australian leader Julia Gillard, whose discussions with Xi and Li touched on clean energy expertise and the burgeoning resources trade between the two countries.

China's push for energy security and its willingness to buy assets around the globe may drive up costs for other energy importers like India, Japan, South Korea and Europe. They will have to compete with China through a combination of co-operation, conservation and technological advances.

But Xi maintains that China's investments are creating development opportunities for the rest of Asia and the world.

"The rest of Asia and the world cannot enjoy prosperity and stability without China," Xi told the Boao Forum held on the Chinese island of Hainan island last month.

Next week, Xi will visit the oil and gas-rich countries of Mexico and Trinidad & Tobago. He will follow that with a two-day summit with U.S. President Barack Obama in California on June 7-8, where a packed agenda of political and commercial issues almost certainly will touch on energy.

China's big three state-owned oil and gas entities CNPC, CNOOC and Sinopec already are investors in North American energy assets.

There has been a spate of Chinese oil and gas investments in Africa, the Middle East, Russia and Australia -- part of a multi-pronged push for the world's second largest economy to meet its energy needs.

2.      Mr. Abe's 'Third Arrow'

The Wall Street Journal    May 17, 2013

 Japan's gains from monetary policy will be fleeting without major economic reform.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe enjoyed more good fortune Thursday as GDP for the first quarter of 2013 showed surprisingly strong growth of 3.5% on an annual basis. While this recovery began last year, Mr. Abe will claim he helped it along by forcing the Bank of Japan to print more money. The question is whether he will use this window of recovery to press the economic reforms that would unleash Japan's potential after 20 years of stagnation.

The rising Japanese stock market is another sign that economic expectations are starting to shift and animal spirits to stir. But the history of monetary easing is that it can lift asset prices and confidence for a time, but it cannot sustain an expansion. The risk is that the monetary boost will be as temporary as the gains from 20 years of Keynesian deficit spending have proven to be.

Mr. Abe's real opportunity is to use these short-term gains in political capital to pursue more far-reaching reform. This is what Mr. Abe calls the "third arrow" of his economic program, after monetary easing and additional spending on public works. It is by far the most important.

While exporters like Toyota have always been world-class, behind them lies a sheltered world of laggards leeching away the lifeblood of Japan's economy. During Japan's boom years, increasing inputs of capital and labor guaranteed growth. Now Japan needs productivity gains to grow, and this means opening domestic manufacturing and services to more competition.

Mr. Abe may want to avoid difficult reforms ahead of parliamentary upper house elections in July. And so far when the Prime Minister has tried to advance he has ended up retreating—for example, on plans to make it easier for firms to fire full-time employees.

3.      Anti-government protests spread across Turkey

Two days of anti-government rioting left damage in Istanbul and Ankara. Powered by NewsLook.com

USA TODAY June 2, 2013

Amnesty International said two were killed and more than 1,000 injured in clashes.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

·    Spontaneous demonstrations rocked Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir over the weekend

·             Interior Minister Muammer Guler said Saturday that more than 900 people were detained

·           Crowds chanted "Tayyip resign!" while marching in Istanbul on Sunday

ISTANBUL — Thousands of anti-government protesters continued demonstrations Sunday in Istanbul and several major cities across Turkey, speaking against rising authoritarianism and calling for the government to resign after police used violence against demonstrators marching against plans to demolish a local park.

Demonstrators say they are alarmed with the rising power of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party has won plaudits for its democratic and economic reforms but has recently become more restrictive on social issues.

A bill creating far-reaching restrictions on alcohol was hastily passed last month, and Erdogan has also publicly stated women should have at least three children.

That's alarmed secular Turks such as Filiz Polat who, along with more than 100,000 demonstrators, have defied the prime minister and marched on the city center since last week.

"The government interferes with what we need to eat, what we need to drink, how we should sleep with our partner, how many kids that we should have," Polat said. "This is getting beyond reasonable."

Spontaneous demonstrations rocked Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir over the weekend with clashes between protesters that Amnesty International said resulted in at least two deaths and more than 1,000 injured.

Interior Minister Muammer Guler announced on Turkish state TV on Saturday that 939 people in 90 separate protests across Turkey had been arrested in connection with the demonstrations, but some of them have already been released.

Heavy rains early Sunday appeared to dampen spirits but by afternoon, crowds paraded up Istiklal Avenue — a major pedestrian shopping street that's been the scene of vandalism and clashes — chanting "Tayyip resign!" as throngs of shoppers returned to the battered city center. Meanwhile, groups of protesters arrived with trash bags to help clean up litter and debris from the demonstrations.

4.      Scientists taking Chinese medicine West

 CNN     May 28, 2013

Chinese medicine looks to go mainstream

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

·         Chi-Med and Nestle working to get FDA approval for some Chinese medicine

·         Phase III trials have started on HMPL-004 -- used to treat stomach problems

·         It's final round of trials before FDA approval to enter the $7B IBD market

Hong Kong (CNN) -- At Chi-Med's labs in Shanghai, a group of 70 chemists has been working for a decade to try and crack the mysteries of Chinese medicine.

The company's scientists are attempting to break 1,300 medicinal herbs into their component parts and then test them for global use against diseases.

It's an ambitious effort and one that looks close to paying off. Chi-Med, in partnership with Nestle, has started the first worldwide phase III clinical testing trials -- the final step before approval for sale -- for a botanical drug based on Chinese Traditional Medicine.

If Chi-Med and Nestle succeed in winning U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, the companies will be at the forefront of efforts to export Chinese medicine beyond its loyal following at home. They'll also have tackled the central problem in taking Chinese medicine global: how do you get a centuries-old remedy through the rigors of modern government regulation?

Bosideng in the UK

"The simpler the product, the better at this stage," says Chi-Med CEO Christian Hogg. "The more similar it is to conventional drugs, the better from the FDA standpoint."

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. 

Latest News Clips 2013.05.06

                   

1.      China calls Japan-U.S. island drill "provocative"

Reuters – Wed, Apr 24, 2013

Reuters/Reuters - An aerial photo shows a Chinese marine surveillance ship Haijian No. 66 (C) cruising next to Japan Coast Guard patrol ships in the East China Sea, near known as Senkaku isles in Japan and …more 

BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Wednesday that "provocative actions" would not sway it from defending its territory, after Japan confirmed it would conduct military drills with the United States amid tension between Beijing and Tokyo over disputed islands.

Japan said on Tuesday that the joint drill, scheduled for June off California, involved the recapture of an isolated island but was not aimed at scenarios involving a specific country, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported.

China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said "foreign pressure" could not sway China from protecting its territorial sovereignty in the East China Sea.

"For any related provocative actions, the Chinese government will maintain a resolute response," Hua told reporters at a regular news briefing when asked about the drills.

"We have always upheld the same stance on issues related to the Diaoyu Islands: to appropriately solve, manage and control the relevant issues through bilateral dialogue and negotiations."

Beijing and Tokyo have both protested over an incident on Tuesday in which Chinese patrol vessels played cat-and-mouse with a flotilla of Japanese nationalists near the uninhabited islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.

The Japanese government bought the islands near rich fishing grounds and potentially lucrative maritime gas fields from a private Japanese owner last year, sparking sometimes-violent anti-Japanese protests across China.

The issue has brought Chinese-Japanese relations to their lowest point since normalization of relations more than 40 years ago.

China also chastised Japan for Tuesday's visits by at least 168 lawmakers to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 14 leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal along with Japan's war dead.

sway from: sway A from doing something
conduct military drills實行軍演
off California: off離開, 在此指加州外海的意思
uphold: defend and support
Senkaku :世界對釣魚台的稱呼
lucrative : 有利可圖的
spark:爆發(引起了)
chastise: 嚴厲譴責
convict:判...有罪

2.      Abe Uses First Russian Visit in Decade to Revive Peace Talks

The Bloomberg   April 29, 2013

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to revive stalled talks on a peace treaty to formally end World War II hostilities between the two countries.

The two leaders instructed their foreign ministries to accelerate discussions of “mutually acceptable options” and voiced “determination” to use bilateral talks to bridge differences and sign a peace accord, according to a joint statement issued to reporters in Moscow today.

Abe is using the first trip to Russia by a Japanese premier in a decade to break an almost seven-decade-long territorial dispute and win more access to energy resources. Putin said the two sides are “sincere” in seeking a diplomatic breakthrough and want to harness stronger economic ties to advance the talks.

“I’ll personally deal with this issue, which is the biggest unsolved question in relations between our countries, and will apply all my efforts to solve it,” Abe said in the Kremlin in remarks translated into Russian.

Abe met Putin in the Kremlin midway through a three-day visit to discuss energy, trade and investment. The countries’ relationship has been hamstrung by a dispute over islands known as the Northern Territories in Japan and Southern Kurils in Russia that were seized by the Soviet Union in the final days of the war.

stall 陷入泥潭(停止)
hostility敵視
access取得
sincere: honest
harness :use利用
 A ties to B: 結合 
apply運用
hamstring阻礙
seize攻占

3.      Obama’s Mexico Trip Ties Immigration Debate to Economy

The Bloomberg   May 02, 2013

President Barack Obama arrived in Mexico today with a message that ties the immigration debate in the U.S. to economic growth on both sides of the border.

In his discussions with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, Obama also will be conscious of his audience back home, where Congress next week resumes negotiating possible changes to immigration law. That debate will affect U.S. and Mexican businesses as well as the millions of Mexicans living in the U.S. illegally.

Obama and Pena Nieto are scheduled to meet for about an hour before holding a joint news conference at 4:10 p.m. local time.

The domestic debate is intertwined with the thorniest issues in U.S. relations with Latin America, including border security, drug trafficking and free trade.

“The White House is hoping to highlight the economic opportunities that would emanate from a modernized immigration system,” said Ana Navarro, a Republican strategist who met with Obama and other White House officials about the trip this week. “He doesn’t want security and violence issues to dominate this trip.”

Mexico’s economic expansion has been changing the dynamics of the U.S. immigration debate and opening opportunities for Obama to meet his goal of doubling U.S. exports by the end of next year. The Mexican economy has grown at about twice the pace of the U.S. since the end of 2009, lessening the lure of the U.S. for Mexican workers. Net Mexican migration dropped to zero from 2005 to 2010, according to a Pew Research Center study released a year ago.

tie A to B:結合 A to B
 be conscious of 意識到
traffic, trafficked,trafficked,trafficking
dynamics 活力(複)

4.         Willem-Alexander sworn in as king of the Netherlands

BBC    30 April 2013 

Willem-Alexander has been sworn in as king of the Netherlands following the abdication of Queen Beatrix.

He became the country's first king since 1890 when his 75-year-old mother signed the abdication deed earlier on Tuesday after 33 years on the throne.

Huge crowds of orange-clad partygoers are in Amsterdam to pay tribute.

Now known as Princess Beatrix, the former queen maintained a recent Dutch tradition of monarch's handing over power to a new generation.

Wearing the royal mantle, the new king swore to uphold the constitution at a colourful enthronement ceremony in the Nieuwe Kerk, a decommissioned church, before a joint session of the Dutch parliament.

"I swear that I shall defend and preserve the independence and territory of the state with all my powers," he said.

"That I shall protect the general and individual freedom and rights of all my subjects and shall use all available means granted to me by law for preserving and promoting general and individual prosperity as I befitting of a good king.... So help me God almighty."

Crowds in the square outside cheered as the announcement of his inauguration was made from a balcony overlooking the square amid trumpet fanfare.

In the evening, the royal family will take part in a water pageant.

'Happy and grateful'

The queen had announced her intention to stand down in January, saying her son was ready to reign and that it was time for the throne to be held by "a new generation".

She formally relinquished the throne at a short ceremony in the Royal Palace on Tuesday, signing a statement transferring the monarchy to her son "in   accordance with the statutes and the constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands".

There were huge cheers from the crowds outside in Dam Square, who were watching the ceremony on giant television screens, as she, her son and his wife Maxima - a 41-year-old Argentine-born investment banker - signed the deed of abdication.

Shortly afterwards, the three royals emerged on a balcony above the square.

The visibly emotional Princess Beatrix told the crowds: "I am happy and grateful to introduce to you your new king, Willem-Alexander."

take part參加

inauguration就職典禮 
balcony 陽台
 amid  trumpet fanfare在一陣號響聲中
relinquish 交出

adbicate:辭職(王位權力)
resign、quit

5.      Alibaba Buys a Stake in China’s Twitter

The New York Times   Apr. 29, 2013

    

The Internet giant Alibaba was once known as China’s answer to eBay. Now it is forging closer ties to the country’s counterpart to Twitter.

Alibaba agreed on Monday to buy an 18 percent stake in the Sina Corporation’s Weibo, the most popular of China’s microblogging services, for $586 million. It has the right to raise its stake to 30 percent in the future.

The deal values Weibo at about $3.3 billion — equivalent to Sina’s entire market value as of Friday.

Alibaba and Sina also agreed to cooperate in improving ways to marry social networking with e-commerce, as microblogging services like Sina’s continue to grow in popularity. Sina Weibo said that last year it had more than 46 million daily active users, an increase of 82 percent from the period a year earlier.

That remains a fraction of Twitter’s user base, however. And a recent study of about 30,000 Sina Weibo users found that about 57 percent of the sampled accounts had no measurable activity or posts.

Alibaba continues to grow, most recently being valued by analysts at more than $55 billion. It has reshuffled its management ranks ahead of a much-anticipated initial public offering that could come as soon as this year.

The growth of social networking and its close ties to the continuing boom in mobile Internet usage have prompted a natural response: how to make money from the phenomenon. Sina and Alibaba expect their efforts to yield about $380 million in advertising and commercial revenue for the Weibo service over the next three years.

“We believe that the cooperation of our two robust platforms will bring unique and valuable services to Weibo users, as well as making the mobile Internet a core part of Alibaba’s strategy,” Jack Ma, the Alibaba chairman, said in a statement.

forge形成、遞造
marry with與什麼結合
 the period a year earlier去年同期
yield 產出