South Korea raises military alert level

South Korea raised its military alert level on Wednesday upon intelligence that North Korea was preparing two mid-range missiles for a possible launch. The move comes amid weeks of mounting tensions between the two countries.

South Korea raised its military watch alert to "vital threat" Wednesday ahead of an expected North Korean missile launch, as UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned the Korean peninsula may be slipping out of control.
South Korean intelligence says the North had prepared two mid-range missiles for imminent launch from its east coast, despite warnings from ally China to avoid provocative moves at a time of soaring military tensions.

No significant N. Korean troop movements, says US

There is no sign North Korea is taking steps towards military action by mobilising troops or positioning its forces, despite its increasingly aggressive rhetoric, the White House said Monday as tensions mount on the Korean Peninsula.

The White House said Monday that despite days of bellicose rhetoric, North Korea had yet to back up its threats to the United States and South Korea with mass troop mobilisations or movements.
With tensions on the Korean peninsula rising ever higher, Washington reiterated that it took Pyongyang's war talk seriously but also noted that threats and warnings were nothing new from the isolated state.
"Despite the harsh rhetoric we're hearing from Pyongyang, we are not seeing changes to the North Korean military posture, such as large-scale mobilisations and positioning of forces," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
"We haven't seen action to back up the rhetoric," Carney said, adding, "what that disconnect between the rhetoric and actions means, I'll leave to the analysts to judge."
Washington has warned North Korea that it will take robust efforts to defend its allies in Asia and repeatedly tells Pyongyang to stand down its nuclear program and that its "unproductive" rhetoric is self-defeating.

US Navy deploys missile destroyer to Korean coast

A US Navy missile destroyer has been deployed off the Korean peninsula as a countermeasure against a possible missile strike by North Korea, a defence official told AFP Monday. The move follows weeks of increasingly bellicose rhetoric from Pyongyang.

The United States has placed a destroyer off the South Korean coast to defend against a possible missile strike, the latest in a series of publicised US deployments to counter North Korean threats.
The USS Fitzgerald was moved to the southwestern coast after taking part in annual military exercises, instead of returning to its home port in Japan, a US defence official told AFP Monday on condition of anonymity.

US sends missile defence to Guam on N. Korea threat

The Pentagon on Wednesday announced plans to install an advanced missile defence system in the US-administered Pacific island of Guam. The US defence secretary spoke of a "real and clear" danger of a North Korean missile attack.

The Pentagon said on Wednesday it was sending an advanced ballistic missile defense system to Guam in the coming weeks, as U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel cited a “real and clear” danger from North Korea.

North Korea warns US of 'diversified' nuclear strike

North Korea issued another stern warning to Washington Thursday, saying it was ready to respond with a "smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear strike" as the US military deployed a missile defence system to Guam to guard against a possible attack.

North Korea on Thursday issued another stern warning to Washington, saying it was ready to respond with a "smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear strike" as the US military sent a missile defence system to Guam to guard against a possible attack.

Chinese President Xi calls for 'great renaissance'

China's new President Xi Jinping said on Sunday he will fight for the "great renaissance of the Chinese nation and the Chinese dream", in a keynote speech at the National People's Congress parliament meeting in Beijing.


China's newly-installed President Xi Jinping said Sunday he would fight for a "great renaissance of the Chinese nation", in his first speech as head of state of the world's most populous country.

Xi called for "arduous efforts for the continued realisation of the great renaissance of the Chinese nation and the Chinese dream", in a speech to delegates at the National People's Congress (NPC) parliament meeting in Beijing.

Calls for such a revival in the world's second-largest economy have been a motif of Xi's speeches since he took the top post in China's ruling Communist Party in November, but he has not given a detailed account of the phrase's meaning.

He has close ties to China's expanding military -- the navy took delivery of its first aircraft carrier last year -- and called for the armed forces to strengthen their ability to "win battles".

Beijing is embroiled in a bitter territorial row with Japan over islands in the East China Sea, and with neighbouring nations over claims to the South China Sea.

Xi's 25-minute address stressed continuity with previous Chinese leaders, thanking outgoing president Hu Jintao, who stood and bowed as China completed the once-in-a-decade transition of its top leaders.

Xi also touched on corruption, which infuriates the public and he has called a threat to the party's grip on power, and urged delegates to "oppose hedonism and flamboyant lifestyles".

The speech formally brought the almost two-week long NPC meeting in Beijing's Great Hall of the People to a close, and was followed by China's new premier, Li Keqiang, stepping into spotlight for a rare news conference.

He took control of the day to day running of the government on Friday, a day after Xi was handed the title of president.

Li rejected US accusations of hacking, after President Barack Obama weighed in on the issue, calling them "groundless", but said that the relationship with Washington was vital and the two should work to ensure their mutual interests outweighed their differences.

"Conflicts between big powers are not inevitable," he said.

Li pledged to strengthen economic reforms, saying: "What the market can do, we should release more to the market, what society can do well, we should give to society. The government should be in charge of and manage well the issues that it ought to govern."

But he did not give any specific examples of planned changes.

Increasing prosperity is a key part of the Communist Party's claim to a right to rule, and its consensus view is that China needs economic reform to maintain growth, while avoiding political changes which could threaten its grip on power.

The new premier handled the rare set-piece encounter with the foreign press -- for which questions had to be submitted in advance -- in a relaxed manner, smiling and occasionally joking with reporters.

He also pledged to fight corruption, saying that the government had an "unshakable resolve" to do so, adding: "Clean government should start with oneself.

Since we have chosen public service we should give up all thought of making money."

China's leaders have come under fire in the last year after reports, suppressed within the country, that the families of top politicians -- including Xi -- have amassed huge wealth, but have not vowed to make their assets public.

A news conference by the premier, which can last up to three hours, has been an annual part of China's political calendar for more than two decades.

Last year the then premier Wen Jiabao warned the gathering that China could fall into deadly chaos without "urgent" political reform.

Wen advocated political change during several of his annual press conferences, but such reforms stagnated during his 10 years as premier, while rapid economic growth saw China become the world's second largest economy.

A career bureaucrat who speaks fluent English, Li, 57, has a more youthful bearing than his stiff party peers.

But his real power comes from his position as number two in the Communist Party, where analysts say his lack of close allies means he will struggle to push through reforms.

(AFP)

Xi Jinping officially named China’s president

     

The National People’s Congress officially confirmed Xi Jinping as China's new president on Thursday at a time when public faith in the government has waned, leaving many clamouring for change.       

US imposes new sanctions as N. Korea threatens war

     

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un stepped up rhetoric against South Korea on Tuesday, threatening to “wipe out” the border islands of Baengnyeong, as the US imposed new sanctions on Pyongyang amid escalating tensions.

          

Chinese President Xi calls for 'great renaissance'

     

China's new President Xi Jinping said on Sunday he will fight for the "great renaissance of the Chinese nation and the Chinese dream", in a keynote speech at the National People's Congress parliament meeting in Beijing.

          

North Korea tells South to leave islands

The Uriminzokkiri website, linked to the regime, mentioned targets including Yeonpyeong island, which was attacked by Northern forces in 2010.

Pyongyang has made a series of threats since its last nuclear test in February prompted the UN to tighten sanctions.
The US said on Friday it would refocus missile defences to its west coast to counter the North's threats.
Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said 14 more batteries would be placed in Alaska by 2017, adding to 30 already in place along the coast.
'War games' On 12 February the North tested a nuclear device, which is believed to be its third such test.
The UN Security Council condemned the move and tightened sanctions on the regime.
Before and after the UN announcement, Pyongyang promised reprisals for the sanctions, including a threat to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the US.
North Korean media has also been vitriolic against the South.
The Uriminzokkiri website stated: "Even an accidental spark by the belligerents in their war games can grow into a fire.
"And the damage for those living along the border and on the five western islands will be great."
The threats came shortly after South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won visited Yeonpyeong.
The US and South Korea also began military drills earlier in the week.
South Korea's western islands are regarded as being particularly vulnerable to attack as they lie 10km (six miles) south of the sea boundary.
In 2010, the North bombarded Yeonpyeong with artillery shells, causing four deaths.
North Korea's foreign policy has for decades been dominated by threats of military strikes, and bartering over its nuclear programme.
Although Pyongyang has given up parts of its nuclear programme in return for aid, it has continued to develop missiles and enrich nuclear material.
The most advanced missiles have the capacity to reach Alaska.
It is not thought to have a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

Businessman robbed of Rs 7 lakh in public

A 32-year-old businessman was allegedly brutally assaulted and robbed of Rs 7 lakh by two unidentified men in West Delhi on Friday, even as nearly 30 passersby stood by as mute spectators.
The incident was reported from Miawali Nagar around 3 pm on Friday, police said.
Rakesh, who has an import and export business, was on his way to his office in Peeragarhi when he was robbed.
Speaking to Newsline, he said, "I was carrying Rs 7 lakh as I had to make a payment. The moment I parked the car, two men came and obstructed my way. One of them asked me to hand over the cash bag."
When Rakesh resisted, one of the accused punched his face. "He punched my nose and I was about to fall. But I did not let them snatch the bag and held on to it tightly. I was shouting for help but no one came. There were a lot of roadside vendors , auto drivers, and passersby there. But they just stood by watching the men assault me," he said.
The other man then kicked Rakesh on the chest.
"I had to let go of the bag as I did not want to get killed. The accused snatched the bag and ran towards a car that was parked 50 metres away and escaped in it," he said.
"No one even cared to make a call to the police control room. When the drama ended, they went about their business as usual," Rakesh alleged.
Rakesh made a PCR call and a case of robbery and causing hurt has been registered. "Rakesh has given us the description of assailants. and we are getting the sketches prepared. We are also scanning the CCTV footage of the market area to ascertain the sequence of events. We will also be questioning employees of the businessman as the assailants seemed to be aware that Rakesh was carrying cash and were probably trailing his car. We hope to make the arrests soon," a police officer said.

 

Naval guards issue: EU urges 'common solution' to India-Italy row

The European Union has said it hoped for a "common solution" to the dispute between India and Italy over Rome's decision not to return the naval guards who are facing trial in New Delhi for killing two Indian fishermen.

"The EU is taking note of the disputes between India and Italy and continues to hope that a common solution can be reached through negotiation," Catherine Ashton, a spokesperson for EU foreign affairs representative, was quoted as saying by Italian newspaper Gazzetta del Sud on Friday.

India and Italy are in the midst of a diplomatic row after Rome reneged on its commitment to send back its two naval guards, who were allowed by the Supreme Court on February 22 to go to Italy for four weeks for voting in election.

India is in the process of downgrading its diplomatic ties and decided not to post the ambassador-designate to Rome who was to assume the charge by next week.

The Indian government had this week announced decision to initiate review of entire gamut of relations with Italy which includes diplomatic, trade and defence ties apart from reaching out to the European Union, which was briefed on India's views and position in the matter.

The naval guards face trial in a special Indian court for shooting and killing two Indian fisherman — Jelestine Valentine and Ajesh Binki — while guarding an Italian oil tanker off the coast of Kerala last February.

The Italian government claims India does not have jurisdiction in the case as the incident took place in international waters. 

Collapse of antibiotics 'colossal threat'

One of New Zealand's top clinical microbiologists has joined the warning of Britain's chief doctor that the growing resistance to antibiotics poses catastrophic threats to human health and receives too little attention internationally.
"It doesn't get taken as seriously as some of these other issues such as the global threats of terrorism," said Dr Sally Roberts, an infectious diseases physician at Auckland City Hospital and the head of microbiology at its laboratory.
Britain's Chief Medical Officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, warned this week that failure to act could see patients go into hospital for minor surgery and die from an ordinary infection as more bugs grow resistant to antibiotics.
The number of people infected or harmlessly "colonised" by super-bacteria resistant to multiple or in some cases all antibiotics is growing internationally and in New Zealand.
Environmental Science & Research (ESR) said the country's prevalence of a methicillin-resistant bug called MRSA grew significantly in a decade, "culminating in a massive 37 per cent increase between 2010 and 2011".

Dr Roberts echoed the dire British warnings on the growing resistance of micro-organisms to treatment, following the health-care revolution since the mid-1900s based on an array of vaccines and antimicrobial drugs.
In her annual report, Dame Sally outlined the "apocalyptic scenario" of Britain's health system rapidly falling back two centuries, if new, sustained and costly efforts were not made in what she called "the war" against bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites.
"If we don't act now, any one of us could go into hospital in 20 years for minor surgery and die because of an ordinary infection that can't be treated by antibiotics."
She recommended the "ticking time-bomb" of antimicrobial resistance be entered on to Britain's National Risk Register, which also includes "catastrophic terrorist attacks" and other civil emergencies.

Kerry to speak on Ross Sea plan

United States Secretary of State John Kerry and New Zealand ambassador to the US, Mike Moore, will speak in Washington next week about protecting the Antarctic's Ross Sea.
Both men will be at a function which will include a screening of the New Zealand film The Last Ocean.
Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr may also be there.
Foreign Minister Murray McCully had a long telephone conversation with Mr Kerry this week, his first since the former presidential candidate replaced Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.
One of the main subjects discussed was the joint bid by the US and New Zealand to get support at a meeting in Germany in July of the 25 Antarctic Treaty partners for a vast protected area in the Ross Sea.
Mrs Clinton championed the marine protected area and it appears Mr Kerry is also committed to it.
"He was very keen to promote oceans-related issues and mentioned his keenness for us to work together for the Ross Sea MPA and to co-ordinate our efforts towards the meeting," Mr McCully said.
Mr Kerry had also mentioned that he and Mr Moore would be at the Ross Sea event, hosted next Tuesday afternoon NZ time by a Pew environmental trust in Washington.

It is expected to be attended by Washington-based ambassadors of countries belonging to the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCMLR).
The Last Ocean - in which Mr McCully appears - features mainly US and New Zealand scientists arguing against commercial fishing in the Ross Sea and film-maker Peter Young is in Washington for the screening.
Attempts by the US and New Zealand to get agreement for the proposed 2.27 million sq km reserve, including a 1.6 million sq km no-fishing zone, failed at the CCMLR meeting in Hobart in November.
Nations that must be persuaded to support any Ross Sea reserve include South Korea, Japan, Russia and China.
Mr McCully has not met Mr Kerry but may do so in May at an NZ-US partnership forum in Washington.
Mr McCully said Mr Kerry had said he was "very much on board with the emphasis that the Asia-Pacific region had been given under the Obama Administration" and would take a similar interest in the region.
He hoped Mr Kerry could visit New Zealand this year.

 

N. Korea scraps peace pacts after new UN sanctions

FR - EN - AR
14 March 2013 3:05 PM GMT
NEWSWIRESTVSHOWSTV

07/03/2013 - North Korea
N. Korea scraps peace pacts after new UN sanctions
Pyongyang ratcheted up its aggressive rhetoric on Thursday, cancelling its non-aggression pacts with South Korea after the UN Security Council unanimously agreed to tough new sanctions to punish North Korea for its latest nuclear test.


The U.N. Security Council responded swiftly to North Korea’s latest nuclear test by punishing the reclusive regime Thursday with tough, new sanctions targeting its economy and leadership, despite Pyongyang’s threat of a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the United States.
The penalties came in a unanimous resolution drafted by the U.S. along with China, which is North Korea’s main benefactor. Beijing said the focus now should be to “defuse the tensions” by restarting negotiations.
The resolution sent a powerful message to North Korea’s new young leader, Kim Jong Un, that the international community condemns his defiance of Security Council bans on nuclear and ballistic tests and is prepared to take even tougher action if he continues flouting international obligations.
“Taken together, these sanctions will bite, and bite hard,” U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said. “They increase North Korea’s isolation and raise the cost to North Korea’s leaders of defying the international community.”
The new sanctions came in response to North Korea’s underground nuclear test on Feb. 12 and were the fourth set imposed by the U.N. since the country’s first test in 2006. They are aimed at reining in Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile development by requiring all countries to freeze financial transactions or services that could contribute to the programs.
North Korea kept up its warlike rhetoric Friday after the U.N. vote, issuing a statement saying it was canceling a hotline and a nonaggression pact with rival South Korea.
North Korea’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, the country’s arm for dealing with cross-border affairs with Seoul, said it will retaliate with “crushing strikes” if enemies intrude into its territory “even an inch and fire even a single shell.” It also said it was voiding past nuclear disarmament agreements between North and South Korea.
South and North Korea agreed in a 1992 joint declaration not to produce, test or use nuclear weapons. North Korea has since conducted three nuclear tests.
The resolution also targets North Korea’s ruling elite by banning all nations from exporting expensive jewelry, yachts, luxury automobiles and race cars to the North. It also imposes new travel sanctions that would require countries to expel agents working for sanctioned North Korean companies.
The success of the sanctions could depend on how well they are enforced by China, where most of the companies and banks that North Korea is believed to work with are based.
Tensions with North Korea have escalated since Pyongyang launched a rocket in December and conducted last month’s nuclear test _ the first since Kim took charge. Many countries, especially in the region, had hoped he would steer the country toward engagement and resolution of the dispute over its nuclear and missile programs. Instead, the North has escalated its threats.
Immediately before the Security Council vote, a spokesman for Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry said the North will exercise its right for “a pre-emptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressors” because Washington is “set to light a fuse for a nuclear war.”
The statement was carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.
In the capital of Pyongyang, Army Gen. Kang Pyo Yong told a crowd of tens of thousands that North Korea is ready to fire long-range nuclear-armed missiles at Washington, which “will be engulfed in a sea of fire.”
White House spokesman Jay Carney said the U.S. is “fully capable” of defending itself against a North Korea ballistic missile attack.
Experts doubt that the North has mastered how to mount a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile capable of reaching the mainland United States.
The North Korean statement appeared to be the most specific open threat of a nuclear strike by any country against another. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the threat “absurd” and suicidal.
North Korea also has threatened to scrap the cease-fire that ended the 1950-53 Korean War. It has a formidable array of artillery near enough to the Demilitarized Zone to strike South Korean and American forces with little warning.
The top U.S. envoy on North Korea, Glyn Davies, cautioned Pyongyang not to miscalculate, saying the U.S. will take necessary steps to defend itself and its allies, including South Korea, where it bases more than 30,000 U.S. forces.
“We take all North Korean threats seriously enough to ensure that we have the correct defense posture to deal with any contingencies that might arise,” Davies told reporters.
Rice said “the entire world stands united in our commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and in our demand that North Korea comply with its international obligations.”
China’s U.N. Ambassador Li Baodong said the resolution reflects the determination of the international community to prevent nuclear proliferation, but he stressed that its adoption “is not enough.”
“The top priority now is to defuse the tensions, bring down heat ... bring the situation back on the track of diplomacy, on negotiations,” Li said.
The resolution stresses the Security Council’s commitment “to a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution” to North Korea’s nuclear program and urges a resumption of the long-stalled six-party talks involving both Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan.
South Korea’s U.N. Ambassador Kim Sook said North Korea’s threats and inflammatory statements will be dealt with “resolutely.”
“North Korea must wake up from its delusion of becoming a ... nuclear weapons state and make the right choice,” he said. “It can either take the right path toward a bright future and prosperity, or it can take a bad road toward further and deeper isolation and eventual self-destruction.”
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin also warned that “new threats or trying to build up the military muscle in the region ... might be taking us away from the need to resume six-party talks,” which he added must be an international priority of all countries.
In addition to the sanctions, the resolution bans further ballistic missile launches, nuclear tests “or any other provocation,” and demands that North Korea return to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. It condemns all of North Korea’s ongoing nuclear activities, including its uranium enrichment.
It strengthens inspections of suspicious cargo heading to and from the country, calls on states to step up “vigilance” of possible illegal activity by North Korean diplomats.
To get around financial sanctions, North Koreans have been carrying around large suitcases filled with cash to move illicit funds. The resolution expresses concern that these bulk cash transfers may be used to evade sanctions. It clarifies that the freeze on financial transactions and services that could violate sanctions applies to all cash transfers as well as the cash couriers.
The resolution identifies three individuals, one corporation and one organization that will be added to the U.N. sanctions list. The targets include top officials at a company that is the country’s primary arms dealer and main exporter of ballistic missile-related equipment, and a national organization responsible for research and development of missiles and probably nuclear weapons.

S Korea-US joint drills escalate tensions with North

New joint military drills between South Korea and the US kicked off Monday, escalating tensions with North Korea. In response, Pyongyang condemned the joint exercises as a provocative invasion and said it was scrapping the 1953 armistice.


South Korea and the United States launched joint drills Monday involving thousands of troops, defying North Korea's apocalyptic threat to repudiate the 60-year-old Korean War armistice in retaliation.

The start of the two-week "Key Resolve" exercise follows a week of escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula, with North Korea also threatening nuclear war over UN sanctions adopted after its third atomic test last month.

Pyongyang has condemned the annual joint manoeuvres as a provocative invasion rehearsal and announced that -- effective Monday -- it was scrapping the 1953 armistice and voiding non-aggression treaties signed with the South.

The South's Unification Ministry confirmed that the North appeared to have carried through on another promise to cut a telephone hotline between Pyongyang and Seoul.

"The North did not answer our call this morning," a ministry spokeswoman said.

The hotline was installed in 1971 and the North has severed it on five occasions in the past -- most recently in 2010.

In a dispatch late Monday from its official news agency KCNA, North Korea restated its view that the armistice, "which has existed for form's sake, would be completely invalid from March 11".

The US-South Korean wargames are "bringing the dark clouds of a nuclear war to hang over the Korean peninsula", KCNA added, while vowing that North Korea's armed forces were ready for an "all-out action".

Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the North's ruling communist party, said that with "the ceasefire agreement blown apart... no one can predict what will happen from now on".

Voiding the armistice theoretically paves the way for a resumption of hostilities, as the two Koreas never signed a formal peace treaty and remain technically at war.

"The North is giving the impression it wants to put things back to where they were 60 years ago," said Yang Moo-Jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

Experts point out that North Korea has declared the ceasefire dead or obsolete nearly a dozen times in the past 20 years.

On the last occasion in 2009, the North specifically said it would no longer guarantee the safety of US or South Korean naval vessels operating near the disputed maritime border.

The sinking of a South Korean naval corvette and the shelling of a South Korean island near the border followed in 2010.

Sabre-rattling and displays of brinkmanship are nothing new in the region, but there are concerns that the current situation is so volatile that one accidental step could escalate into serious confrontation and conflict.

Having issued so many dire warnings, the North will feel obliged to take some provocative action, observers say. Yang predicted short-range missile tests or an incursion across the sea.

Feed industry well presented at VIV Asia 2013

Feed industry well presented at VIV Asia 2013

For professionals in the international feed industry, the upcoming VIV Asia, to be held 13-15 March, 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand, will be an event not to miss. The eleventh edition of the show presents a full range of exhibitors from the feed to meat chain and has a wide range of seminars and congresses to offer on topical feed processing and nutritional issues.

The 2011 edition of VIV Asia attracted a record number of almost 29,000 visitors.
Almost 600 exhibitors from 40 countries, filling six full halls of the Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre (BITEC). Add to that about 25,000 expected visitors from the Middle East to Oceania and from India to Japan. These figures alone should convince you that VIV Asia 2013 has a good selection to offer, comprising global market leaders and regional as well as national Asian players of importance. With Aquatic Asia 2013 co-located with VIV Asia, professionals active in the production of pork, poultry meat, eggs, fish and dairy all have good reasons to meet up in Bangkok in March.

Where many international livestock shows these days go for more and bigger, VIV Asia deliberately chooses to keep the total surface of the show relatively concise, zooming in on quality rather than quantity. Events like the Rabobank conference and the Animal Health Summit (see opposite), designed for CEO-levels, testify this approach, explains Ruwan Berculo, project manager VIV, Asia-Pacifi c & Europe. “We want to stand out as the event where agricultural companies can present themselves in a business environment.”

CropTech-FeedTech Asia 2013
For the animal feed industry, the major feature jumping into view is the pavilion CropTech-FeedTech Asia 2013. The
pavilion is set up against developments of growing investments in Asia in technology and equipment for the milling, processing, storage and handling of raw materials to produce feed. The demand is driven by a rapidly growing population, the increased level of income and the focus on food safety. In particular China, Vietnam, India, and Indonesia propose many opportunities.

With almost 5,000 visitors dedicated to feed milling throughout Asia, Africa and the Middle East, the 2011 edition showed
that feed milling had developed itself into a strong segment on its own. All global market leaders have confirmed
their participation, many of them with significantly larger booths. The space allocated for CropTech-FeedTech Asia
2013 has been extended as a result. In addition to the CropTech-FeedTech pavilion at the exhibition, two feedrelated
conferences will be held:

• Digital engineering in the feed industry (March 13, 2 pm – 4 pm, focusing on engineers). Eight participants will give ten minute presentations as input for the closing debate.

• Nutrition, (March 14, 2 pm – 4 pm, focusing on nutritionists). International keynote presentations, with e.g. ‘The future of enzymes in poultry feed’ by Christos Antipatis, DSM and ‘The use of immunoglobulins in piglet feed’ by Thomas Heile, EW Nutrition.

General programme
The show’s opening ceremony will consist of five parts and will take place in the Grand Hall, second floor and starts at
10.30 am on March 13th. On March 14th, the conference ‘Developments in the animal protein sector: A multi-species approach’.
This CEO-level conference, starting at 10.30 am, presents developments in feed manufacturing, poultry breeding, pig breeding and aquaculture. On the very same day, another option is to visit the Animal Health Summit Asia. This two-tier event focuses on the reduction of antibiotics in the livestock industry related to the current increase in antibiotic resistance, which has led to a worldwide discussion. The widespread occurrence of multiresistant bacteria is considered to be a threat for future human and animal health. The safety of meat and eggs and the discussion on how to deal with this worldwide problem in the Asian markets is the theme of this summit.

From 10.30 am until 1.30 pm, several seminars with speakers from different exhibitors will present their vision and related solutions on reducing antibiotics in livestock production tomorrow. Shortly after the morning session, a two
hour CEO-level conference runs from 2-4 pm. Four international keynote speakers present the global context as well as specific best practices related to the reduction of antibiotics in livestock production.

Aquatic Asia 2013
As Asia is the world’s market leader in aquaculture, everything benefiting the production of fish, molluscs, crustaceans and shrimp also receive a lot of attention at VIV Asia. Countries like China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand rank high on the list of the largest producers. This is why joint organisers VNU Exhibitions Europe, VNU Exhibitions Asia and NEO present a new edition of this trade show for the Asia-Pacific Aquaculture business: Aquatic Asia 2013.
For other interesting events, please check the box ‘Events at VIV Asia’. AAF

Feed-related highlights at 11th VIV Asia
• Mycotoxins & Salmonella 2013: One day paid conference (Imperial Queens Park Hotel, Bangkok – Tuesday, March 12, 8 am – 4.15 pm)
• Exhibitor seminars: One-hour exhibitor presentations (BITEC, March 13-15, 10 am onwards)
• Country pavilions: Presenting exhibitors from feed to meat; Belgium, China, France, Israel, Korea, Spain, Thailand, the Netherlands, United Kingdom (BPA), USA (BITEC, all days)
• Indonesia partner country seminar: International investment opportunities in the Indonesian poultry industry (BITEC, Thursday, March 14, 10 am - noon)
• The Philippines partner country seminar: International investment opportunities in the Philippine livestock industry (BITEC, Thursday, March 14, 10.30 am – 12.30 pm)
• Dairy Production Conference: ‘Taking the Asian Dairy industry into the 22nd Century’ - International keynotes addressing visions and solutions for the Asian dairy industry in the fi eld of breeding, animal health and nutrition. (BITEC, Thursday, March 14, 2-4 pm)
• GlobalGAP: ‘Good Agricultural Practices’ (BITEC, Friday, March 15, 10.30-11.30 am)

US imposes new sanctions as N. Korea threatens war

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un stepped up rhetoric against South Korea on Tuesday, threatening to “wipe out” the border islands of Baengnyeong, as the US imposed new sanctions on Pyongyang amid escalating tensions.


North Korea leader Kim Jong-Un threatened to "wipe out" a South Korean island as Pyongyang came under new economic and diplomatic fire Tuesday from US sanctions and UN charges of gross rights abuses.

Military tensions on the Korean peninsula have risen to their highest level for years, with the communist state under the youthful Kim threatening nuclear war in response to UN sanctions imposed after its third atomic test last month.

It has also announced its unilateral shredding of the 60-year-old Korean War armistice and non-aggression pacts with Seoul in protest at a joint South Korean-US military exercise that began Monday.

While most of these statements have been dismissed as rhetorical bluster, the latest threat to the border island of Baengnyeong, which has around 5,000 civilian residents, appears credible and carries the weight of precedent.

In 2010, the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan was sunk in the area of Baengnyeong with the loss of 46 lives, and later that year North Korea shelled the nearby island of Yeonpyeong, killing four people.

On a visit Monday to frontline artillery units, Kim Jong-Un briefed officers on plans for turning Baengnyeong into "a sea of flames".

"Once an order is issued, you should break the waists of the crazy enemies, totally cut their windpipes and thus clearly show them what a real war is like," Kim was quoted as saying by the Korean Central News Agency.

Priority targets included radar posts, Harpoon anti-ship missile launchers, 130mm multiple rocket stations and 150mm self-propelled howitzer batteries, Kim said.

An administrative official on Baengnyeong, Kim Young-Gu, said civilian emergency shelters on the island had been fully stocked and all village councils put on high alert.

"It's not like there's a mass exodus of panicked islanders to the mainland. But to be honest with you, we're a bit scared," he told AFP by telephone.

The disputed sea border off the west coast was the scene of deadly naval clashes in 1999, 2002 and 2009.

Residents on a number of frontline islands have reportedly taken to sleeping in their clothes in preparation for a night-time alert.

The crisis represents an early test for South Korea's new President Park Geun-Hye, who was sworn in only two weeks ago, while analysts worry about just how far the inexperienced Kim Jong-Un is willing to go.

In Seoul, Defence Ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok said the North Korean leader's frontline visits were aimed at exerting "psychological pressure" on South Korea.

Kim said the North had already begun a series of naval drills using submarines and was expected to launch full-scale military manoeuvres in the coming days.

"If the North provokes us, we will respond in ways that will cause them more harm," he said.

In a move likely to provoke a fresh round of furious rhetoric from Pyongyang, the United States on Monday slapped sanctions on North Korea's primary foreign exchange bank and four senior officials.

The United States will "continue to work with allies and partners to tighten national and international sanctions to impede North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes", US national security advisor Tom Donilon said in New York.

Past sanctions have failed to persuade Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear programme, but the international community hopes measures targeting financial lifelines can slow down the process and curb proliferation.

The US measures come on top of financial sanctions imposed last week by the UN Security Council including China, North Korea's economic and diplomatic patron.

While Donilon labelled the recent threats emanating from Pyongyang as "hyperbolic", he stressed the United States would use the "full range of our capabilities" to protect the US and its allies such as South Korea.

Pyongyang also came under attack on another front at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, where the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in North Korea laid out a litany of abuses and crimes against humanity.

Rights violations in North Korea "have reached a critical mass", Marzuki Darusman told the council, citing public food deprivation, torture and arbitrary detention.

He also highlighted concerns about a network of political prison camps believed to hold at least 200,000 people, including detainees who were born in captivity because entire families are thought to have been sent there.

He called for an international commission of inquiry into the human rights record of North Korea, which has repeatedly refused to cooperate with past UN investigators.

First look at Oceania Cruises' newest gem

Riviera, the newest ship in the Oceania Cruises fleet, is now sailing on its inaugural cruise from Monaco to Venice, Italy. The christening ceremony (watch the video) was held mid-cruise in Barcelona on May 12, with Cat Cora, the Food Network’s only female Iron Chef, as the godmother.

Riviera is the sister ship to Marina, introduced in February 2011. Together, the two spacious and elegant new ships have redefined Oceania Cruises. Their biggest difference from Oceania's first three ships is their size: The combined passenger capacity of Marina and Riviera now accounts for two-thirds of the Oceania fleet.

Cat Cora is a fitting godmother, since culinary excellence is the new calling card for Oceania.  Cuisine has always been important to the line, but Riviera and Marina are specifically designed to appeal to guests who not only love consuming gourmet food, but also talking about it and even cooking it.

Seeing the Brand New Riviera

I just sailed on the first half of the ship's inaugural cruise and attended the christening ceremony. Like its sister Marina, Riviera is also an exquisite ship – in fact they are near duplicates. If you asked my professional opinion -- and I get asked this a lot -- I would say these ships are among the best at sea, in terms of the elements that comprise the ideal cruise for me.

Why is Riviera so good? I believe there is a ship for everyone, but not everyone will like the same ship. For me, a great ship first of all is one built primarily for travel – I cruise to see the world, not to sit by a pool. And the best cruise travel also includes excellent cuisine, because eating well is one of life’s great pleasures. Finally, it must provide a night of perfect relaxation and sleep to restore me for the next port of call.

Oceania focuses on port-intensive itineraries -- often providing a port call every day of a cruise -- making it a great cruise line for travelers. For cuisine, Riviera and Marina both provide a formidable culinary consistency that I have rarely seen at sea, even on so-called luxury cruise lines. The staterooms are roomy and accommodating, with luxurious king-size beds and pillows featuring Ralph Lauren linens.

To top it off, Riviera is just a gorgeous ship, with beautiful décor, good entertainment and quiet but attentive service. Add the philosophy that exciting destinations are the primary reason to board a ship and Oceania is now among the best cruise experiences anywhere.

The Culinary Details

Most of the cuisine served on Oceania's ships was developed by the renowned French chef Jacques Pépin, known to many for his 1960s TV series on PBS. Pépin is now a 76-year-old sprite who is still far more obsessed with preparing amazing food than he is with branding his own name.

In fact, despite his television shows and library of recipe books, Pepin never opened a single restaurant in his own name until last year, when Oceania’s Marina set sail with the intimate and eponymous “Jacques” onboard.  And now there is a second “Jacques” on Riviera. His authentic French menu features classics like French black foot free-range chicken, warm pistachio and truffle sausage, pumpkin soup ladled from a real carved pumpkin, and Brittany-style Maine lobster. Best of all, there is no additional charge to dine there.

There is no surcharge to dine in any of the other five restaurants on Riviera and Marina. The other restaurants include the Polo Grill for steaks and chops, Toscana for abundant Italian, and the Grand Dining Room as the regular restaurant. In addition, there is Red Ginger, which qualifies as one of the best Asian Fusion restaurants at sea (with only Nobu aboard the Crystal ships as a rival). Rounding out the dining is the Terrace Cafe buffet - most efficient and with excellent selections.

For those who want to avoid excessive calories, Oceania is one of the few cruise lines affiliated with Canyon Ranch Spa for its "healthy choice" menu items.

The line does not include alcohol or gratuities in its cruise fare, but you can purchase a house wine and beer package for a very competitive $29.95 per person per day. To add spirits, the daily price is $49.95 per person.

Even More Culinary Ideas

People who love good wine can try the La Reserve program sponsored by Wine Spectator Magazine -- a series of tastings and seminars on wine pairings (cost: $95 plus gratuity).

Everyone should try the Bon Appétit Culinary Center - the only cooking classes at sea where not only the chef but also the guests have their own kitchen work-stations with sinks, induction heating elements, whisks, knives and real ingredients. Other cruise lines only have show kitchens where you can watch the chef. On Riviera, I made my own frittatas, scones and poached eggs. Add this to some time watching the 24-hour Jacques Pépin channel on the stateroom TV and I feel ready to open my own restaurant.

Other Onboard Attractions

Other Riviera onboard attractions include arts and crafts classes, with hands-on materials supplied, and an expansive library. For inspiration, both new ships come with an extensive multi-million dollar, all-original art collection, with the exception of a few limited-editions Picasso prints on each ship.

Each ship has a production-show theater with a 10-piece show ensemble and seven-piece orchestra. The theaters are nice, although not the high-tech extravaganza venues you see on mega-ships. But the advantage to that is Oceania's stage shows (produced by industry veteran Jean Ann Ryan) place more emphasis on artistic talent than on “special effects.” The tribute band “Beatlemania Now” appeared on my cruise, but different special artists will appear on various cruises.

The Spa offerings, such as massage and facials, also come from Canyon Ranch Spa. Oceania is one of the few cruise lines in the world not to use Steiner Leisure for its shipboard spa services. One of the few rare differences aboard the new Riviera is a thelassotherapy pool in the spa area in place of two hot tubs on sister ship Marina.

But other than décor and the spa pool, the two new ships are nearly identical. When these two new ships were originally announced in 2007, Oceania CEO Frank Del Rio said “Good things come in threes.” But times change, and on this cruise he commented casually, “If there is to be a new ship it will probably go to Regent within a few years.” Regent is the luxury cruise line that is a sister to Oceania, and Del Rio is CEO of Prestige Cruise Holdings, the parent company for both.

Comparing Oceania to Other Cruise Lines

Oceania is considered an “upscale” cruise line, which is technically a step below “luxury” in the cruise industry. This mostly originated with Oceania's original smaller ships, which now only make up a third of the fleet's capacity. Still, “luxury cruise lines” today are typically defined as including alcoholic beverages and gratuities in the cruise fare – which Oceania does not offer. But this is the only real difference. As far as décor, service and cuisine are concerned, the Oceania ships come as close to “luxury” as possible.

To my thinking, the closest comparison to the new Oceania ships is Crystal Cruises. Both lines offer luxury-style cruising on mid-size ships (about 65,000 tons). Now, Crystal is an inclusive luxury cruise line and Oceania is considered a category lower, but comparing Oceania to Crystal is a huge compliment to both lines, in my mind. I much prefer the somewhat larger and more active lifestyle of these ships over the smaller “yacht-like” luxury ships -- which are frankly far too austere and languid for me, especially with repeated days at sea with little to do except wait for the next meal.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2012/05/16/first-look-at-oceania-cruises-newest-gem/#ixzz2NEzKs56n

Bank of East Asia Says China Rate Cuts Weighed On Results

Bank of East Asia's overall net profit up 39%

- Bank of East Asia saw Chinese loan quality deteriorate last year

- The bank's China unit posted a mild drop in pretax profit as interest margins narrowed

HONG KONG--Hong Kong's Bank of East Asia Ltd. (0023.HK) said Tuesday profit at its mainland China operations fell slightly last year as Beijing's interest rate cuts ate into its margins.

The fifth-largest local lender in Hong Kong has the largest China exposure among its peers and is the second-largest foreign bank in China with more than 100 outlets in the country, just after HSBC Holdings PLC. Though its overall net profit rose 39% thanks to buoyant financial markets, its thinner margins in China were accompanied by a rise in bad debt, reflecting the risk of deteriorating credit quality in the world's second-largest economy.

"Interest margins in China were challenging last year, because the People's Bank of China cut interest rates and injected liquidity into the banking system," said Brian Li, Bank of East Asia's deputy chief executive. Mr. Li said interest margins started to stabilize at the end of last year.

Pretax profit at the bank's China unit fell 5% to 2.25 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$290 million) in the year ended Dec. 31, from HK$2.37 billion in 2011. During the same period, the bank's impaired loans in China doubled to HK$453 million from HK$216 million, while loans overdue by more than three months jumped to HK$375 million from HK$21 million.

Mr. Li said the bad loans were concentrated in Zhejiang province, where unpaid loans surged last year. Wenzhou, a city in the eastern Chinese province that is home to many export-oriented businesses, was particularly hard hit by weakening global demand.

"Bad loans might still be popping up in the first half of this year. But it is well under control and won't cause material problems to the bank," he said.

Banking analyst Daniel Tabbush at the Tabbush Report said Bank of East Asia's bad loans rose 44% in the second half of last year compared with the first half. "(That) confirms the worsening credit metrics in China," he said.

The bank said its impaired loan ratio rose to 0.27% in the six months ended December, from 0.18% during the first half of 2012.

Bank of East Asia's net profit last year jumped 39% to HK$6.06 billion from HK$4.36 billion a year earlier, as rosier equity and bond markets drove its gains from trading and financial assets. The result was above the average HK$4.94 billion forecast of 11 analysts polled by Thomson One.

Spanish lender CaixaBank S.A. owns 16.38% of Bank of East Asia, while Guoco Group Ltd., a conglomerate controlled by Malaysian tycoon Quek Leng Chan, has a 14.34% stake. Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. also owns 9.5% of the Hong Kong lender.

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2013/02/26/bank-east-asia-says-china-rate-cuts-weighed-on-results/#ixzz2NEyDrZLc

US 'fully capable' of defending against North Korea attack, White House says

WASHINGTON –  The U.S. is fully capable of defending itself against a North Korean ballistic missile attack, the White House said Thursday, after Pyongyang threatened a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the United States.

The threat from the North Koreans came ahead of a unanimous vote in the U.N. Security Council approving its toughest sanctions yet on the North in response to an atomic test last month.

North Korea has escalated its bellicose statements this week as the tightening of U.N. sanctions loomed. It has also threatened to scrap the cease-fire that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.

"I can tell you that the United States is fully capable of defending against any North Korean ballistic missile attack," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

North Korea has now conducted three nuclear tests. In the past year, it has made strides toward its goal of having a nuclear weapon that could threaten the U.S. although experts doubt it yet has the capability to hit the U.S. with a ballistic missile or miniaturize a nuclear device to mount on such a missile.

However, the North possesses hundreds of shorter-range missiles that could hit U.S. bases in Japan and South Korea, said Victor Cha, Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.

It is difficult to know how capable U.S. missile defense is, should it be required.

Carney alluded to the development of U.S. system designed to defend against long-range missiles. He said the U.S. is on a "good trajectory" after success in its return to testing of the Ground-Based Interceptor.

David Wright at the Union of Concerned Scientists said that system, deployed in the U.S., was initiated by the George W. Bush administration because of concern about the North Korean threat. Some of its previous tests of the system failed, and Wright said it is still in development.

In East Asia, the U.S. has deployed the land-based Patriot system and the sea-based Aegis systems, which are designed to intercept shorter-range missiles.

The top U.S. envoy on North Korea, Glyn Davies, cautioned Pyongyang not to miscalculate, saying the U.S. will take necessary steps to defend itself and its allies, including South Korea, where it bases nearly 30,000 U.S. forces.

"We take all North Korean threats seriously enough to ensure that we have the correct defense posture to deal with any contingencies that might arise," Davies told reporters after testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Thursday's statement out of Pyongyang appeared to be the most specific open threat of a nuclear strike by any country against another, but the Senate panel's chairman, Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said the threat was "absurd" and one that if carried out would be suicide for North Korea.

Davies reiterated that the U.S. will not accept North Korea as a nuclear-armed state — although after conducting three nuclear tests it is already assumed to be capable of making at least a crude atomic bomb.

Davies, however, faced Republican skepticism about the effectiveness of Obama administration policy toward North Korea. In December, the North conducted its first successful launch of a three-stage, long-range rocket. Its Feb. 12 nuclear test could help it miniaturize a warhead.

The Foreign Relations Committee's top Republican, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, drew a comparison to U.S. policy on Iran, where the U.S. has warned it could resort to military action to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

North Korea is "equally nutty" and with a worse human rights record, and "way past any red line we would accept in Iran," he said.

Corker concluded that Davies' hope that the dual-track U.S. policy of pressure and engagement would eventually work in getting Pyongyang to change its ways was a "highly aspirational statement that does not seem to be based on reality."

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., also drew a comparison with Iran and said he did not believe North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, could be persuaded to disarm. The best the U.S. could hope for was to delay the development of the North's weapons and its ability to strike the West, he said.

"They're convinced the only way they are ever going to accomplish what they want is by having a nuclear program and being able to hold the world hostage with it," Rubio told the hearing.

He also foresaw a danger of nuclear proliferation in Asia — to date alleviated through the "nuclear umbrella" security guarantee the U.S. provides to both South Korea and Japan, which do not have atomic weapons.

The new U.N. sanctions, which were drafted by the U.S. and the North's chief ally and benefactor, China, should make it more difficult for Pyongyang to finance and obtain material for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and for the reclusive nation's ruling elite to acquire luxury goods.

Davies said the growing international condemnation of North Korea's actions and the new U.N. sanctions showed "the world is beginning to wake up" to the problem the North poses. But he said for diplomacy to work, China has to "step up and play its full role in bringing home to Pyongyang the choices it faces."

U.S. lawmakers remain skeptical of Beijing's commitment to implementing the sanctions, which will be critical for their effectiveness since most of the companies and banks that North Korea is believed to work with are based in China.

Three individuals who were added Thursday to the U.N. sanctions list — including top officials at a company that is North Korea's primary arms dealer and main exporter of ballistic missile-related equipment — were also quickly added to a U.S. Treasury blacklist. Two other new entities on the U.N. list are already sanctioned by Washington.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/08/white-house-says-us-can-defend-against-north-korea-attack/#ixzz2NExyo4tE

Stalling European factories and slowing China leave world economy looking to America

LONDON/BEIJING –  European manufacturing appeared no closer to recovery last month while growth in Asia cooled, according to business surveys and trade data on Friday that pointed to ongoing weakness in global demand.

Purchasing managers' reports from the United States due later, however, are expected to show growth picking up in the world's largest economy, after a weak fourth quarter.

In China, factory growth slowed to multi-month lows. Sluggish domestic demand added pressure to already depressed foreign sales, two separate purchasing manager indexes (PMI) showed.

Worryingly for European Central Bank policymakers balancing the needs of 17 different economies, euro zone reports painted a picture of ongoing divergence, with a dire performance in France offsetting a return to growth in economic powerhouse Germany.

Markit's Eurozone Manufacturing PMI was unchanged at January's 47.9 last month, just pipping an earlier flash reading of 47.8, but holding below the 50 level that divides growth from contraction for the 19th month running.

Germany, Europe's largest economy, and Ireland were the only two countries in the 17-nation bloc to see growth. PMIs from Spain and Italy showed activity in their factory sectors deteriorated again with the situation worsening in Italy.

The euro zone output index, which feeds into the Composite PMI, a broader gauge of the economy due out on Tuesday, sank to 47.8 from January's 48.7.

"Most of it is driven by Germany. Germany has outperformed the rest of the euro zone for quite a while now and that divergence is going to persist," said Evelyn Herman at BNP Paribas.

In other upbeat news German retail sales grew at the fastest monthly rate in more than six years in January, rebounding from a deep fall in December, confirming signs it has turned the corner after a dismal end to 2012.

But unemployment in the currency union hit a new high in January of 11.9 percent, official data showed, and the PMI data pointed to factories reducing headcount for the thirteenth month.

Some 44 out of 55 economists polled by Reuters said the European Central Bank would have to step in and buy bonds from its struggling members.

Inflation among the countries using the euro fell to 1.8 percent last month, according to official data released on Friday, below the ECB's two percent target ceiling and giving them room to ease policy.

That said, only a handful of the 76 economists polled by Reuters this week predict the ECB will reduce rates from their current record low of 0.75 percent.

British manufacturing shrank unexpectedly in February and new orders dwindled, making it likely the sector will put a drag on economic growth in the first quarter in a country at risk of sinking into a triple-dip recession.

Chances are rising that the Bank of England will rekindle its asset purchase programme next week and the PMI data coupled with figures showing mortgage approvals for home buyers dropped in January will only increase those odds.

FRAGILE CHINA

China's official PMI from the National Bureau of Statistics eased to 50.1 after seasonal adjustments in February, the weakest reading in five months and just above the 50-point level separating growth from contraction on a monthly basis.

A second PMI issued by HSBC fell to a 4-month low of 50.4 after seasonal adjustments, off January's 2-year high and in line with a flash, or preliminary, reading late last month.

But the bigger-than-expected retreat in the purchasing managers' indexes does not signal China's economy is slipping into another slowdown, analysts said. Instead, they show China's growth recovery this year would be mild, as widely expected.

The Lunar New Year holiday, China's biggest annual holiday and widely observed across much of East Asia, fell in February this year making it harder to draw firm conclusions, even though the data was seasonally adjusted.

"Today's data point to a stabilization of economic activities in coming months, not a strong recovery of growth," said Jian Chang, a Barclays analyst.

Tim Condon, head of Asian economic research at ING in Singapore, argued China's economic data in January and February has "a lot of noise" due to the festive season. "When it settles down we expect the data will reveal that industrial production is growing around 10 percent," he said.

In South Korea, trade data showed a sharp fall in exports, while a PMI report from last year's emerging market investor favorite Indonesia showed a slight improvement in manufacturing overall, but a fall in new export orders.

Factory growth was stronger in India, struggling to escape the grip of its weakest economic growth in a decade, but there too the strength came from domestic demand, with export orders remaining subdued.

Twin U.S. PMI surveys from Markit and the Institute of Supply Management are expected to come in well above 50. Data on Thursday showing rising consumer spending and falling jobless claims suggested the U.S. economy was picking up after growing just 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter.

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2013/03/01/stalling-european-factories-and-slowing-china-leave-world-economy-looking-to/#ixzz2NExcoUt1

New concerns over China, Iran forging closer ties

What is impact for United States?

http://video.foxnews.com/v/2202964788001/new-concerns-over-china-iran-forging-closer-ties/

Cameron confronts colonial past on India visit

British Prime Minister David Cameron laid a wreath at Jallianwala Bagh in India’s northwestern city of Amritsar on Wednesday where hundreds of Indians were massacred by colonial forces in 1919, calling the act ‘’a shameful event in British history”.


Britain’s prime minister laid a mourning wreath Wednesday at the site of a notorious 1919 massacre of hundreds of Indians by British colonial forces, calling the killings ‘’a shameful event in British history.”
David Cameron was the first British prime minister to make a gesture of condolence at Jallianwala Bagh in the northwest city of Amritsar, but stopped short of issuing a formal apology for his country’s actions 94 years earlier.
‘’This is a deeply shameful event in British history – one that Winston Churchill rightly described at the time as ‘monstrous,” Cameron wrote in the visitors’ book at the site. ‘’We must never forget what happened here. And in remembering we must realize that the United Kingdom stands for the right of peaceful protest around the world.”
The park was the site of an attack by British colonial troops on unarmed Indians attending a rally calling for independence. More than 300 Indians were killed during the massacre, which galvanized the national independence movement and marked the beginning of the end of Britain’s rule over the Indian subcontinent.
Queen Elizabeth II visited the same site in 1997 and laid a wreath there. She called the killings ‘’distressing.”
Cameron’s visit to Amritsar came at the end of his trip to India. The trip was aimed at boosting trade and investment between the two countries in the areas of energy, infrastructure, insurance, banking and retail.

After fatal shark attack, New Zealand official confident "the beast is dead"

Dennis Rodman is North Korean leader's 'friend for life'

Dennis Rodman visits North Korea

(CNN) -- Former NBA star Dennis Rodman declared his eternal friendship with North Korea's supreme leader Thursday.

KFC unveils tighter quality control in China to rebuild battered brand after poultry scandal Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/02/24/kfc-unveils-tighter-quality-control-in-china-to-rebuild-battered-brand-after/#ixzz2M7icOkBa

BEIJING –  KFC has unveiled new quality control measures in China in an effort to rebuild its battered brand after a scandal over misuse of antibiotics by its suppliers to fatten poultry.

KFC said Monday it will strengthen oversight of its suppliers and expand drug testing. It said more than 1,000 small producers used by the company's 25 poultry suppliers have been eliminated from its network.

The company, owned by Yum Brands Inc., says sales in China might fall by as much as 25 percent in the current quarter after state television reported in December that poultry suppliers were using excessive levels of antibiotics to fatten chickens.

KFC is China's biggest fast-food chain with more than 4,000 outlets. China accounts for about 40 percent of KFC's profit.

Bank of East Asia Says China Rate Cuts Weighed On Results

Bank of East Asia's overall net profit up 39%

- Bank of East Asia saw Chinese loan quality deteriorate last year

- The bank's China unit posted a mild drop in pretax profit as interest margins narrowed

HONG KONG--Hong Kong's Bank of East Asia Ltd. (0023.HK) said Tuesday profit at its mainland China operations fell slightly last year as Beijing's interest rate cuts ate into its margins.

The fifth-largest local lender in Hong Kong has the largest China exposure among its peers and is the second-largest foreign bank in China with more than 100 outlets in the country, just after HSBC Holdings PLC. Though its overall net profit rose 39% thanks to buoyant financial markets, its thinner margins in China were accompanied by a rise in bad debt, reflecting the risk of deteriorating credit quality in the world's second-largest economy.

"Interest margins in China were challenging last year, because the People's Bank of China cut interest rates and injected liquidity into the banking system," said Brian Li, Bank of East Asia's deputy chief executive. Mr. Li said interest margins started to stabilize at the end of last year.

Pretax profit at the bank's China unit fell 5% to 2.25 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$290 million) in the year ended Dec. 31, from HK$2.37 billion in 2011. During the same period, the bank's impaired loans in China doubled to HK$453 million from HK$216 million, while loans overdue by more than three months jumped to HK$375 million from HK$21 million.

Mr. Li said the bad loans were concentrated in Zhejiang province, where unpaid loans surged last year. Wenzhou, a city in the eastern Chinese province that is home to many export-oriented businesses, was particularly hard hit by weakening global demand.

"Bad loans might still be popping up in the first half of this year. But it is well under control and won't cause material problems to the bank," he said.

Banking analyst Daniel Tabbush at the Tabbush Report said Bank of East Asia's bad loans rose 44% in the second half of last year compared with the first half. "(That) confirms the worsening credit metrics in China," he said.

The bank said its impaired loan ratio rose to 0.27% in the six months ended December, from 0.18% during the first half of 2012.

Bank of East Asia's net profit last year jumped 39% to HK$6.06 billion from HK$4.36 billion a year earlier, as rosier equity and bond markets drove its gains from trading and financial assets. The result was above the average HK$4.94 billion forecast of 11 analysts polled by Thomson One.

Spanish lender CaixaBank S.A. owns 16.38% of Bank of East Asia, while Guoco Group Ltd., a conglomerate controlled by Malaysian tycoon Quek Leng Chan, has a 14.34% stake. Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. also owns 9.5% of the Hong Kong lender.

China's Loose Policy Ending, Newspaper Says

China's recent loose monetary policy is coming to an end, said an editorial in the China Securities News published Tuesday.

Liquidity conditions have been looser than expected since Chinese New Year, the paper said.

But the People's Bank of China isn't likely to adjust interest rates or reserve requirements in the short term, the paper said. Instead, the main mechanism for transmitting policy is likely to be bond purchases and sales by the central bank, known as open market operations.

The paper didn't claim insider knowledge on the outlook for monetary policy, but its commentaries on policy are generally highly regarded in the market, having correctly predicted policy moves in the past.

The PBOC hasn't made any changes to interest rates since they were cut in July 2012, relying on open market operations to control the amount of liquidity in the financial system.

The PBOC will be reluctant to tighten conditions too drastically because of the huge levels of financing required for the country's urbanization drive, the China Securities News said. China's incoming leadership is expected make urbanization a centerpiece of its policy agenda.

It is important to build up multiple financing channels in addition to bank loans, the paper said, such as allowing local governments to issue municipal bonds.

Yum cutting some supplier ties after China food scare

BEIJING –  Yum Brands Inc said on Monday it will stop using more than 1,000 slaughterhouses in China as it moves to tighten food safety and reverse a sharp drop in business at KFC restaurants in its top market after a scare over contaminated chicken.

Diners began avoiding Kentucky-based Yum's nearly 5,300, mostly KFC, restaurants in China in December after news reports and government investigations in the Asian country focused on chemical residue found in a small portion of its chicken supply.

Yum was not fined by Chinese food safety authorities, but its restaurant sales in the country dropped and have yet to recover. As a result, Yum warned this month that it expected 2013 earnings per share to contract, rather than grow.

Yum said it would end ties with smaller chicken suppliers that have not modernized their operations.

"This is a public problem. Even though China has rules on use of additive products, we very much regret that some people still operated while breaking those rules," Yum China Chairman and Chief Executive Sam Su told a news conference in Beijing.

Su declined to give specifics on other efforts to shore up the safety of the company's food supply in China or its plans to lure diners back.

Yum gets more than half of its overall sales from China, the world's fastest-growing major economy.

The scandal has been a blow to the company, which has a reputation for serving safe, high-quality meals in China, where food contamination is a chronic problem.

"This is going to be quite a management task for (Yum) in terms of their reputation," said David Mahon, managing director of Mahon China, an investment management company that advises multinational companies that operate in the Asian country.

"I think they'll put a lot of effort into closing suspect suppliers and bringing better standards and proving to consumers that they're doing so," Mahon said.

Ultimately, the Chinese government is responsible for setting and enforcing better food safety standards, he said.

Yum Chief Executive David Novak said early this month that time, not money, is the cure for the company's China sales drop.

Based on the company's experience with prior sales-damaging crises related to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), avian flu and "Sudan Red" dye, Yum said it does not expect restaurant sales there to turn higher until the fourth quarter.

Shares in Yum closed down 1.1 percent at $64.73 on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday.

China May Allow Foreign Banks to Distribute Local Fund Managers' Products - Source

China may soon allow foreign banks to distribute products for domestic fund management companies, in a long-anticipated move that will offer foreign lenders access to a lucrative and fast-growing market in the country.

"As early as next month, China's securities regulator is expected to unveil amended guidelines that will effectively make foreign banks eligible to tap the domestic fund distribution market," a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Dow Jones Newswires Tuesday.

That will give foreign banks entry into a fast-growing niche in the world's second-largest economy. China's 72 fund-management companies managed 3.62 trillion yuan ($575.8 billion) as of the end of last year, 31% more than a year earlier.

Major foreign banks operating in China, including Citigroup Inc.'s (C) Citibank, Standard Chartered PLC (STAN.LN) and United Overseas Bank Ltd. (U11.SG) have already submitted applications to the regulator, the person said.

The Shanghai Branch of China Securities Regulatory Commission said Monday in a statement posted on its website that it has received the applications of these three banks.

Standard Chartered said in an email the bank will "prepare for the business under requirements of the regulator." A Citibank official in China declined to confirm its application. UOB didn't immediately respond to queries.

The anticipated change will help foreign banks expand their currently small customer bases in a tightly-controlled sector, but the new business is unlikely to contribute meaningfully to revenue.

The move is also part of Beijing's efforts to introduce a broader variety of participants into the country's fund management distribution market, which has been dominated by major state-owned lenders for years.

Observers say the de facto monopoly by the big state-owned banks with vast distribution networks and deep pools of retail deposits have pushed up costs for fund investors.

China first amended the guidelines aimed at allowing foreign banks to distribute fund management products two years ago, after Beijing made a commitment to do so at the third Sino-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue, a high-profile meeting between officials of China and the U.S.

However, none of the foreign banks in China has so far succeeded in meeting the existing guidelines, which contain strict criteria and virtually insurmountable hurdles such as a record clean of administrative penalties for three consecutive years.

As part of easing restrictions on foreign banks, the securities regulator will change the guidelines to allow foreign banks with no record of "significant" administrative penalties for three years in a row to distribute fund management products, said the person with direct knowledge of the matter.

Many major foreign banks in China will meet this adjustment, the person added.

With their dominance of the market, Chinese state-owned banks enjoy strong bargaining power and their distribution charges account for an average of a fifth of a fund manager's total management fees to investors, analysts say.

In a bid to introduce more competition into the market, the securities regulator has in recent years brought in more players, including independent fund sale institutions, in addition to banks, securities firms and fund houses. As of the end of last year, 65 banks, 96 securities companies, five securities investment advisers and 14 independent fund sale institutions hold distribution licenses.