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(Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Wednesday welcomed the House of Representatives’ approval of a landmark financial reform bill, saying it was a victory in the fight against irresponsibility on Wall Street.
“It will make our financial system more transparent, so that complex transactions that escaped scrutiny in the past will now be done in the light of day,” he said in a statement.
(Reuters) – Democratic Representative Barney Frank said on Wednesday that he would revive a proposal to tax banks and other large financial firms that had been stripped from a landmark overhaul of financial regulations.
Frank’s proposal would move separately from the sweeping financial regulation bill, which the House is expected to approve imminently.
“The committee that I chair will, I hope, bring out a bill that revives that assessment,” Frank said in debate on the House floor.
(Reporting by Andy Sullivan and Kevin Drawbaugh; Editing by Leslie Adler)
June 29 (Reuters) – Taiwan stocks closed 1 percent lower on Tuesday as the boost from a landmark trade deal with China to be signed later in the day faded.
The main TAIEX index fell 77.22 points to 7,423.57 after having risen as much as 1.1 percent earlier in the session.
See [nECFA] for more on the trade deal. (Reporting by Jonathan Standing; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)
June 24 (Reuters) – Taiwan and China will sign a landmark trade deal on June 29, cutting import tariffs on hundreds of items and giving a major boost to around $100 billion in annual two-way trade, negotiators said on Thursday.
The agreement will be the most significant between the former political foes in 60 years. (Reporting by Lin Miao-jung; Editing by Chris Lewis)
June 15 (Reuters) – Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is struggling to regain voter support ahead of elections expected in October, with polls showing he may be ousted after only one term, due to a series of policy backflips and a controversial mining tax.[nSGE65E006]
Following is a summary of key Australian risks to watch:
* RUDD’S LEADERSHIP
Despite speculation of a leadership challenge due to his falling popularity and a planned mining “super profits” tax, Rudd is unlikely to be toppled before the election.
His popular deputy Julia Gillard, whom some Labor politicians believe would offer a more conciliatory face and lure back jaded voters, has shrugged off suggestions she will mount a leadership challenge.
Rudd can expect a boost come the poll, due to a robust economy, with unemployment half that of Europe and the United States.
Rudd’s popularity has plummeted in recent months after he shelved a series of policies, including a landmark carbon trade plan. Opposition policies are similar in most aspects, although the opposition will abandon the mining super profits tax.
A further dive in Rudd’s re-election prospects, or a leadership change, is unlikely to have a major impact on markets. For a factbox on key policy differences, click on [ID:nSGE64R07F]
But over the longer-term, Rudd’s leadership may be drawing to a close, with Gillard possibly poised to replace him if Labor loses the election, or early in a new term if Rudd wins with a reduced majority in parliament.
What to watch:
– Opinion polls. The Reuters Poll Trend shows Rudd could lose, or face a hung parliament, although he is still favoured to win the coming election. The government held a narrow 0.4 point lead, down from 10.4 points a month earlier. [ID:nSYU010055]
* ECONOMIC AND TAX POLICY
Economic management is always a key election battleground. Traditionally, conservative parties have claimed this mantle, but the ability of Rudd’s centre-left government to steer the country through the global crisis and avoid recession has given it economic kudos among many voters.
Homeowners, particularly in crucial marginal mortgage belt electorates around Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, are concerned about rising interest rates. The central bank has lifted its key cash rate by 150 basis points since October to 4.50 percent, with mortgage rates now around 7 percent. [ID:nSYC002333]
The booming resources sector is also angry at plans for a 40 percent tax on mining profits, to start in mid 2012, which underpins Rudd’s plan to restore the budget to surplus in 2012-13.
What to watch:
– Mining tax: The government is locked in negotiations with more than 80 mining companies on details of the new super profits tax. The 40 percent headline rate appears set in stone, but the government appears more flexible on the definition of a super profit, and may compromise by increasing the threshold for the new tax rate, currently set at around 6 percent. For full coverage of the mining tax, click on [ID:nAUTAX]
– Mining firms say the move puts new investment at risk, and expansion plans have been put on hold. Mining shares have tumbled and the government faces heavy opposition from the resource sector, which has financed an advertising campaign against the changes. The conservative opposition has also promised to abandon the tax if it wins power, putting the issue at the centre of the coming election campaign. The government has countered with its own taxpayer-funded advertising campaign.
– The government could reach a deal with miners, but the fate of any compromise will hang on changes in the composition of the upper house. The post-election Senate is expected to have fewer conservatives but more crossbench Greens. Rudd also faces an outside chance of needing key independents to hold a majority in the lower house. [ID:nSGE64T02H]
– Monetary policy. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) left interest rates unchanged at its policy meeting on June 1, with expectations rates will remain on hold in the near term. [ID:nnSYC002333]
* POLICY SWITCHES
Ahead of the election, Rudd is postponing policies that risk being vote-losers, delaying them to next year and a future parliament in which he hopes to have a stronger hand. The government withdrew its twice-defeated carbon emissions trading scheme from parliament, where it faced a third defeat in the obstructive Senate where it is seven votes short of majority. The government also postponed its planned mandatory Internet filter, which had angered the U.S. government and web heavyweight Google (GOOG.O). Rudd also dumped a troubled scheme to give free home insulation to all houses after the programme was blamed for house fires and linked to four deaths.
What to watch:
– Broadband. The government is bogged down in talks with the country’s biggest phone company, Telstra (TLS.AX), and other telcos on a A$43 billion super-fast broadband spanning the country. Communications Minister Stephen Conroy says difficult negotiations on folding Telstra’s telecoms infrastructure into the network are reaching a conclusion, with parties either reaching a deal soon or breaking off negotiations. The government also has laws before the Senate designed to force Telstra to join the broadband plan by forcing the company to split its retail arm from its wholesale business. The laws face an uncertain future, and the row has weighed on Telstra’s share price.
– Health. Rudd has struck a deal with all states except conservative-ruled Western Australia to take control of health and hospital funding, using consumption tax revenues reserved for states. The deal, popular with voters, could still unravel if Rudd is unable to reach agreement with Western Australia to include it in the scheme. If he fails, it will be a major blow to his authority and could fuel criticism he has not delivered most of his big reform visions. [ID:nSGE63I051]
– Climate policy. Plans for a sweeping carbon trade plan have been put on the backburner until 2012 at the earliest. Rudd has said he will wait until the Senate is more receptive and the direction of world climate talks is more certain. Once the likely outline of long-term climate change policy becomes clearer, the expected impact on corporate profits will be reflected in Australian stocks .AXJO.
(Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
Diego Maradona has promised to run naked through the centre of Buenos Aires if Argentina win the World Cup. The Argentina coach made the promise during a radio show. The unpredictable Maradona was speaking a day after Argentina defeated Canada 5-0 on Monday in their final warm-up match before the World Cup.
“If we win the World Cup, I’ll get naked and run around the Obelisk,” he said, referring to the tall monument that marks the centre of the city and serves as its most famous landmark.
Maradona’s response came after a reporter asked him in the interview what he would do if his team returned to Argentina with their third World Cup title.
In the same interview, Maradona said he had to explain to Lionel Messi why he did not play against Canada. Messi is the reigning FIFA player of the year, but sat out the match to protect him against any possible injury. “If something would have happened to you in that match, I’d have been shot – you know where,” Maradona said he told Messi.
Argentina play in Group B, opening against Nigeria on June 12. The team also face Greece and South Korea.
No pressure, says Messi
Meanwhile, Messi has said he doesn’t feel any pressure to deliver at the World Cup.
Messi heads to the tournament in South Africa having won a string of personal honours and titles with Barcelona, largely due to his extraordinary playmaking and scoring prowess. “I don’t feel the pressure,” Messi said. “The truth is I’m arriving in good shape. I have a strong desire to do as well as I can, as do my teammates. We want to give our best for Argentina and we hope things turn out well.”
London, May 16 (ANI): Socialite Paris Hilton has taken inspiration from Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe for her 10th fragrance titled ”Tease by Paris Hilton”.
The hotel heiress celebrated the landmark by dressing up like her idol for a glamorous advertising campaign to accompany the launch this summer (10).
“I got to dress up like my idol Marilyn Monroe, and we ended up with some great photos. She”s always been such an inspiration to me,” the Daily Star quoted her as telling People.com.
“Tease is a really sweet and flirty scent, so the name is very fitting. It”s playful and sexy – perfect for grabbing attention,” she added. (ANI)
London, May 10 (ANI): Singer Gary Barlow has reportedly been asked by royal aides to organize Queen Elizabeth II”s 85th birthday party and the 2012 Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
According to The Sun, the Take That star has already met with aides to the Queen, who turns the landmark age next April (11), to discuss how to mark her birthday.
He has also discussed plans regarding another bash the following year (12) to celebrate her 60 years on the throne, according to a report.
“Gary”s got the power to pull in some big names and ensure it”s a party to match the occasion. The timing means he can get the ball rolling early and start ringing his contacts,” the Daily Express quoted a source as telling the publication. (ANI)
London, May 5 (ANI): Centenarian Ted Binge, a former railwayman who lives in Armana House Care Centre in York with wife Irene, 91, swears a tot of whisky everyday is the secret of his long life.
The great-great grandfather gets through half a bottle of whisky every week. He has a glass in the morning and another before bedtime.
Binge, who has been taking his daily nip for 82 years, celebrated his landmark birthday last week, reports The Daily Express.
Ted said: “It’s beautiful, wonderful stuff. I love it. It’s never done me any harm, maybe they should put it on prescription.
“I had my first taste of it as a young man, when I had a bit of a cold and my father gave me a nip of whisky saying, ‘that will make you feel better’.
“It did the trick and I liked it, so I started having a glass on a morning. I like it straight, as it should be. I always say work as long as you can because it’s good for you. I love to have a laugh and a joke, sometimes a bit of a sing, it keeps you going.”
His daughter June Ogden, 67, said: “He’s wonderful, the whole family love him to bits. He has had a hard life, he lifted heavy sleepers on the railways for 37 years. But you would never know it to look at him, he’s barely got any wrinkles.
“My parents have rooms next to each other, it’s lovely that they can be together. She always goes to bed earlier than him and in the morning she says ‘have you been out on the town drinking whisky again?’.
“She only lets him have a little tot in the morning, but when she goes to bed he sneaks in another quick glass.”
Ted’s favourite whisky is Bell’s but he is also partial to Glenfiddich or Glenmorangie. (ANI)
London, April 27 (ANI): Playboy magazine’s founder Hugh Hefner has saved the Hollywood sign by donating 900,000 dollars needed to prevent a development that would block the famous landmark on Hollywood hills.
Built in 1923, the sign is 450ft-long. The land on which it stands was recently put on sale. It was being feared that developers would buy the land to build grand homes.
Public Trust For Lands, an NPO, launched a campaign to purchase the 138-acre site known as Cahuenga Peak. The trust needed to raise 12.5 million dollars for the possession, reports The Telegraph.
And Hefner’s charity made them reach their target soon.
“My childhood dreams and fantasies came from the movies, and the images created in Hollywood had a major influence on my life and Playboy. The Hollywood sign is Hollywood”s Eiffel Tower and I”m pleased to help preserve such an important cultural landmark,” Hefner said.
It was “the Hollywood ending we hoped for,” California”s governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said, announcing the conclusion of the campaign.
“It”s a symbol of dreams and opportunity. The Hollywood sign will welcome dreamers, artists and Austrian bodybuilders for generations to come. I did what the Terminator was supposed to do, and that was to jump into action,” Schwarzenegger added. (ANI)
Former United States president Jimmy Carter says he hopes today’s election in Sudan will be free and fair.
His organisation, the Carter Centre, is monitoring the poll.
The landmark poll – Sudan’s first multi-party election in 24 years – is being marred by opposition boycotts and Western criticism.
But speaking in Khartoum, Mr Carter said he hoped the elections would live up to international standards:
“I’ve talked with all the other party leaders about the election and preparations for it,” he said.
“I hope that it will be safe and free and fair, and that the decisions of individual voters will be expressed freely without intimidation as they cast their ballot, and that … the election be tabulated honestly and fairly.”
Brisbane City Hall celebrates its 80th birthday today but concerns remain about who will foot the bill for its $215 million refurbishment.
The building is closed for major repairs but will temporarily reopen today for birthday celebrations.
The landmark building opened in 1930 but in recent years it began to crumble.
It was closed in December to allow for $215 million worth of structural, electrical and safety repairs.
Deputy Council Opposition Leader Milton Dick says ratepayers have not been told where the money is coming from.
“Currently looking at a shortfall of about $185 million,” he said.
A committee has been set up to raise funds but Lord Mayor Campbell Newman says at this stage he cannot say how much has been donated.
“At the end of the day the restoration bill will be presented to people in an open and transparent way,” he said.
He says more funding details will be revealed in the council budget.
Councillor Newman says the $215 million restoration project is progressing well.
“When visitors today go through City Hall on a free guided tour they’ll see a forest of scaffolding in the central auditorium that goes right up to the top dome,” he said.
“It’s quite spectacular and it shows the magnitude of the work and the effort required to actually deal with the problems in this building.”
Karnal (Haryana), Mar 30 (ANI): In a landmark judgement, the Karnal sessions court on Tuesday awarded death sentence to the five accused and life-term to the leader of the Khap Panchayat for murder of a newly married couple.
Last week, in a historic judgement, the court had delivered a guilty verdict against the six members on charges of kidnapping and murdering Manoj and Babli.
The Khap Panchayat members had killed the two for they married against their will.
The court had earlier on Monday after recording the statements of all the accused deferred the hearing for Tuesday.
Babli”s brother Suresh, her uncles, Rajender and Baru Ram, her cousins, Gurdev and Satish, and village strongman, Ganga Raj, were declared guilty of the murders that took place in June 2007. (ANI)
China’s best known rights lawyer, missing for a year and feared dead, appears to be alive and is staying at a Buddhist landmark in north China after speaking to Reuters reporters and another dissident lawyer on Sunday.
Gao Zhisheng, a Christian lawyer who helped defend members of China’s banned Falun Gong spiritual group, was abducted from his relative’s home in Shanxi province on Feb 4, 2009. Authorities have failed to provide consistent information on his fate.
Gao told Reuters by telephone on Sunday that he had been released about half a year ago and was in Wutai mountain, a sacred Buddhist landmark in coal-rich Shanxi province.
“I want to live a quiet life for a while,” said Gao, who was able to answer questions about past conversations and the venue of previous meetings he had with a Reuters reporter.
Asked if he planned to join his family in the United States, Gao said: “It’s not that easy.”
He appeared to be under some sort of police surveillance and declined further comment.
Human rights lawyer Li Heping, who had a lot of contact with Gao before the latter was jailed, confirmed he spoke to Gao by phone on Sunday.
“It’s certainly him. I spoke to him over the phone. I could tell from the way he spoke and the way he spoke to me that it’s him,” Li said, adding that Gao would not speak much about his current circumstances.
Last month Dui Hua Foundation, a U.S.-based group which campaigns for the rights of Chinese prisoners, said it had been told by the Chinese embassy in Washington that Gao was working in Urumqi, capital of the remote, northwestern region of Xinjiang, and has been in contact with his wife and relatives in China.
At the time of Gao’s disappearance, his wife and children had already escaped from their home, ultimately arriving in Bangkok where they applied for asylum in the United States.
Gao’s family had feared he was dead, after a cryptic comment from police that he had “lost his way and gone missing” in September.
He was sentenced to four years in jail for subversion in 2006 but won a good behaviour reprieve. He has, however, since been under constant police watch and periods of secretive detention, his wife, Geng He, told Reuters after her escape.
Gao had previously published instances when he was tortured while in detention. Self-educated, he had grown disenchanted with the Chinese system while representing Falun Gong practitioners and underground Christians.
In 2005, he wrote an open letter to China’s president and premier, calling for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong, which China regards as an “evil” cult.
(Reporting by Chris Buckley and Benjamin Kang Lim; Editing by Sugita Katyal)
The United States hopes to sign a landmark nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia on April 8, a U.S. senator said on Wednesday after a briefing with President Barack Obama on the status of talks on the pact.
“April 8 in Prague, that’s at least the hope that I think they have,” for signing the new START treaty, Senator Richard Lugar, a Republican, told Reuters after he and Democratic Senator John Kerry were briefed by Obama.
“The president is fairly confident that he will be heading towards a signing,” said Lugar, who will play a key role in Senate ratification of the treaty.
Lugar said he thought he would be able to support the treaty and that missile defense would not be part of the pact.
A South Australian Government appeal against a landmark Stolen Generations claim has been thrown out of court.
Bruce Trevorrow became the first member of the Stolen Generations to successfully sue for damages when he was awarded more than $750,000 in 2007.
He had been removed from his family as a toddler and put in foster care.
The government appealed to the South Australian Supreme Court against the judgment, saying it did not want the money back but wanted to clarify the legal precedent.
Lawyer Claire O’Connor represented Mr Trevorrow’s family, who mounted the case after his death in 2008.
She says the latest judgment will not necessarily make it any easier for other children removed from their families to take legal action.
“You have to remember that in 1997 Bruce Trevorrow issued proceedings against the state of South Australia. We’re now in 2010,” she said.
“Millions of dollars have been spent by both the commonwealth and the state in this matter and for another child to take on the government in this way would be extremely difficult.
“It does uphold that there was a breach of the duty of care towards Mr Trevorrow in the way they removed him and it upholds that the state was wrong in the way that he was removed.”
A ruling on who will pay the legal bills is on hold.
The government’s lawyer said it would be weeks before he had instructions, given the Attorney-General’s decision to move to the backbench after Saturday’s South Australian election.
The Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement (ALRM) says the judgment shows the SA Government was wrong to appeal.
Neil Gillespie from the ALRM believes the decision will encourage at least seven other claimants.
“It’s quite exciting for those members of the Stolen Generations, it gives them hope, hope that they didn’t have before once the State Government appealed its decision,” he said.
Agra, Sep 19(ANI): People of all religions and communities gathered to celebrate the 405th anniversary of the installation of the Sikh holy scriptures, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, at Gurudwara Maithan in Agra.
This was a significant landmark for the Sikhs, as the 275-year-old handwritten scripture, whose front pages are written with gold, was put on display for the devotees.
“The Guru Granth Sahib has the preaching or ‘bani’ of famous poets like Kabir ji, Guru Ravidas ji and Baba Farid ji. It is symbol of humanity and so people of all the religions have gathered here to celebrate the ‘Prakash Parv’, the installation ceremony together,” said Kanwldeep Singh, President of Sri Gursikh Sabha.
Also on display was a miniature scripture of Guru Granth Sahib, which has been preserved at the Gurudwara Maithan for the past 15 years.
“We have Guru Granth sahib of 1 X 1 inches long. The British for the convenience of Sikh soldiers especially designed the holy book during the First World War, as they could not carry a normal sized book in the battlefield. The miniature Guru Granth Sahib was printed in Germany. It was kept in a silver box,” said Gyani Kashmir Singh, head Granthi of Gurudwara Maithan.
To mark the anniversary of the installation of Guru Granth Sahib, special prayers were also held in the Gurudwara premises, which once the house of Mai jassi that was visited by Guru Sri Tegh Bahadur.he gurudwara is currently undergoing renovation and will be expanded to facilitate the large number of devotees visiting the shrine.
A total of 20 million dollars will be spent on renovation and construction of new Gurudwara, a 100-bed hospital and a community hall.
Gurudwara Maithan also upheld the tradition of Langar, which has been followed over the centuries. Guru Arjan Dev and Mata Ganga set the precedent of preparing and serving food to the hungry, in the langar hall, where all social, economic and religious barriers collapse and all – the laborer, the lord, the peasant and the prince, are treated alike and served the same food in the same manner.
This is a practice of great social significance, and it is the key to the understanding of Sikhism. By Brijesh Sharma (ANI)
Washington, September 19 (ANI): A team of archaeologists has discovered a 2000-year-old Roman amphitheatre near Tiberias in Israel.
According to a report in the Haaretz newspaper, Archeologist, Doctor Valid Atrash, from the Israel Antiquities Authority, said that the remnants of the Roman amphitheatre peaks from 15 meters below ground.
The 1990 findings came as a surprise to the archeologists digging near Mount Berniki in the Tiberias hills as there are no references to such a place anywhere in scriptures.
Only at the beginning of 2009, 19-years after the primary discovery, did the uncovering of the theatre in its entirety begin.
The late Professor Izhar Hirshfeld and Yossi Stefanski, the archeologists heading the excavation, initially assessed the remains to belong to the 2nd or 3rd century CE, but quickly realized that they go all the way back to the beginning of the 1st century CE, closer to the founding of Tiberias.
“The most interesting thing about the amphitheatre is its Jewish context,” said Hirshfeld upon the discovery.
“Unlike Tzipori, which was a multi-cultural city, Tiberias was a Jewish city under Roman rule. The findings demonstrate the city’s pluralistic nature and cultural openness, a fact uncommon in those days,” Hirshfeld added.
According to Atrash, in light of the findings, Tiberias appears as particularly liberal for a city that was established over 2000 years ago.
He added that “the theatre was enormous, and being so it attracted a lot of attention. It seated over 7000 people, and appears to have been a prominent landmark for the entire area.”
Zohar Oved, Mayor of Tiberias, said that the discovery of the amphitheatre is undoubtedly “one of the most important findings in the history of the Jewish people” and is planned to open to the public as part of Tiberias archeological gardens in the near future. (ANI)
Istanbul (Turkey), Sep.18 (ANI): In a unique landmark exercise, the Indian Government has undertaken a massive action plan to help over 150,000 illegal Indian immigrants acquire Italian citizenship within the next fortnight.
Revealing this information exclusively to ANI TV, Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said the Italian Government has given New Delhi fifteen days to formalise the required documentation.
Krishna further revealed that about 50 percent of the over 150,000 illegal Indians hailed from Punjab and a majority of them were doing odd jobs in agricultural farms in Italy.e said the Indian Government has taken the matter up with Italy and the latter has agreed to grant citizenship to illegal immigrants.
Krishna told ANI TV that he has ordered officials from Punjab to reach Italy to facilitate the process, adding that P.M. Meena, a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, would oversee the whole exercise.
The External Affairs Ministry would be issuing over 75,000 thousand passports in the next ten days to formalise a process which is unique anywhere in the world, he disclosed.
There are three types of illegal immigrants (a) those who have left India on their own passport with short term visa and have overstayed after expiry of visa; (b) those who have left India on their own passport to a transit country like Ukraine, or Russia etc. but stayed in Italy without passport or visa and (c) those who have left on some else’s passport or under a fake identity and entered Italy illegally. (ANI)
Colombo, Sep.14 (ANI): India’s Sachin Tendulkar scored his 44th ton in one-day internationals on Monday.
The new landmark came off 91 balls against Sri Lanka in the finals of the Compaq trilateral series being held at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
The ton came in the 33rd over of the Indian innings. At the time of the filing of this report, India had scored 195 for the loss of Rahul Dravid’s wicket. Dravid was caught of the bowling of left-arm spinner Sanath Jayasuriya for his individual score of 39. Tendulkar and Dhoni have completed a century partnership of 104 balls. (ANI)
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