US defends dollar as China questions currency role

WASHINGTON: The United States on Tuesday defended the use of the dollar as a key global currency, shrugging off China's calls to ditch the greenback as the international reserve currency.

President Barack Obama told a White House press conference that "the dollar is extraordinarily strong right now," and although the United States was "going through a rough patch" at present, it enjoyed a "great deal of confidence" from investors.

"I don't believe there is a need for a global currency," Obama said.

But People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan's call to replace the dollar, installed as the reserve currency after World War II, with a different standard run by the International Monetary Fund was a "serious" proposal, a senior IMF official said.

Meanwhile, a top economic official from the European Union, whose single currency is gaining an increasing share among central banks as a reserve currency, said the dollar remained unchallenged as the dominant reserve unit.

US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said at a Congressional hearing that they would not allow the dollar to be stripped of the premier reserve status as suggested by Beijing.

At the hearing, a lawmaker asked the two financial chiefs: "Would you categorically renounce the United States moving away from the dollar and going to a global currency as suggested by China?"

Geithner immediately responded, "I would."

"And the chair?" the lawmaker asked, turning to Fed chairman Bernanke.

"I would also," Bernanke said.

China is the largest creditor to the United States, being the top holder of US Treasury bonds worth US$739.6 billion as of January, according to US figures. It is also the world's largest holder of US dollars as a reserve currency, at more than one trillion dollars.

In such a dominant position, "China appears to be growing more and more assertive over it's rights," noted currency analyst Andrew Busch of BMO Capital Markets.

Zhou's comments came just two weeks after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, in a rare expression of concern, called on US economic planners to safeguard Chinese assets.

"We have lent huge amounts of money to the United States. Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets," Wen said as the United States grappled with the worst financial turmoil since the Great Depression.

The latest Chinese concern came as the dollar took a beating following the Federal Reserve's decision last week to buy up to US$300 billion in long-term US Treasury bonds and boost its purchases of mortgage securities by US$750 billion in an effort to revive the ailing economy.

The decision, according to foreign exchange dealers, made US assets less attractive to investors worried that the Fed move would end up debasing the world's reserve currency.

Despite the financial meltdown at home, the dollar has been mostly regarded as "safe haven" by investors averting risks amid a global economic slump.

Zhou suggested the IMF's Special Drawing Rights, a currency basket comprising dollars, euros, sterling and yen, could serve as a super-sovereign reserve currency, saying it would not be easily influenced by the policies of individual countries.

The idea of a global currency, determined by multilateral organisations, is not new, said John Lipsky, the IMF's first deputy managing director.

"But it's a serious proposal," he said in Washington.

And he hastened to add, "I don't think even the proponents think it as a short-term issue but as a longer-term issue that merits serious study and consideration."

EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said the dollar would remain unchallenged as the top reserve currency even as emerging economies such as China play a more critical role in the global economy.

"The relative economic powers are changing," he told a news conference at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.

"But I don't expect major structural changes in the role that the dollar plays today as a reserve currency."

The debate over the dollar's role came ahead of the G20 summit of developing and industrialised nations on April 2 in London, where world leaders and international organisations, including the IMF, are to discuss reforming the financial system.

Russia has also proposed the summit discuss creating a supranational reserve currency. The IMF created the SDR as an international reserve asset in 1969, but it is only used by governments and international institutions.

"The arguments for doing such a thing have economic merit, though the actual implementation of such a system would likely take a Herculean effort and a great deal of consensus building amongst economic powers," said Sacha Tihanyi, currency strategist with Scotia Capital. channelnewsasia Read More..

(CNN) -- A NASA satellite crashed back to Earth about three minutes after launch early Tuesday, officials said.

"We could not make orbit," NASA program manager John Brunschwyler said. "Initial indications are the vehicle did not have enough [force] to reach orbit and landed just short of Antarctica in the ocean."

"Certainly for the science community, it's a huge disappointment."

The satellite, which would have monitored greenhouse gases to study how they affect the Earth's climate, was launched on a rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 1:55 a.m. PT (4:55 a.m. ET).

But the payload fairing -- a clamshell-shaped structure that allows the satellite to travel through space -- failed to separate from the rocket, NASA officials said.

The weight of the fairing caused the rocket and the satellite to come crashing down to Earth about three minutes later.

A team of investigators will look into what caused the payload fairing to fail to separate.
The $273 million satellite, called the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, would have collected "precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere" to help better forecast the changes in carbon dioxide "and the effect that these changes may have on the Earth's climate." Read More..

Global alert issued for 85 terror suspects

PARIS, France (CNN) -- Interpol has issued a rare global security alert for 85 suspected al Qaeda-linked terrorists wanted by Saudi Arabia.

The "orange alert," issued on Tuesday, comes after Saudi Arabia asked for Interpol's help last week in apprehending the 83 Saudis and two Yemenis.

Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said the alert is unprecedented.

"Never before has Interpol been asked to alert the world about so many dangerous fugitives at one time," Noble said in a news release.

He also pointed out that the alert comes ahead of the 16th anniversary of the first World Trade Center bombing in New York.

"Therefore must be especially vigilant of fugitive al Qaeda terrorists," Noble said.

Six people were killed and more than 1,000 injured on February 26, 1993, when a 1,200-pound (540 kilogram) bomb exploded in a rented van in the parking garage below Two World Trade Center.

The 85 wanted "terrorists" are suspected of plotting attacks against Saudi Arabia, Interpol said.

It is rare for the kingdom to announce that some of its most wanted terrorists are on the loose. It is also unusual for Saudi Arabia to ask for help in finding them.

By asking for Interpol's help, Saudi Arabia is sending a clear message that it thinks the men are dangerous.

The country has taken great strides to crack down on al Qaeda within its borders, touting the fact that the suspects have fled beyond its borders as proof that operations against them are successful.

In some cases, terror suspects wanted by Saudi Arabia have fled to the neighboring country of Yemen because they can hide out there more safely than Saudi Arabia, a source explained.

Interpol is an international police organization aimed at facilitating cross-border police cooperation. It is headquartered in Lyon, France. Read More..

Russia says ready to work with U.S. on Afghanistan

TASHKENT (Reuters) - Russia welcomes U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to review policy in Afghanistan and is ready to cooperate, including on supply routes for NATO forces, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday.

"Let us hope the new U.S. administration will be more successful in the Afghan settlement than its predecessor," Medvedev told a news conference after talks with Uzbek President Islam Karimov.

"We are ready for fully fledged and equal cooperation on security in Afghanistan, including with the United States," he added. "We are ready to work on the most complicated issues ... including the transit of non-military goods."

Cooperation on Afghanistan has been the most successful project uniting NATO and Russia, whose relations froze after Moscow's brief war in Georgia last August.

Before the war, Russia agreed to allow non-military NATO supplies to be delivered to Afghanistan across its territory bypassing Pakistan, where supply convoys face security risks.

NATO and Russia are expected to hold on Monday the first session of their council since the South Ossetia war. Russian officials have made clear the fate of the Afghan transit depends on how relations between Moscow and the alliance develop.

Medvedev's overtures to Obama are part of an effort by the Kremlin to use change in the White House to mend bilateral relations.

Russia, alarmed by a threat from Afghanistan's Taliban rulers to its Central Asian allies, had backed a U.S. drive to topple them in 2001.

But it later became more critical of the U.S.-led operation in Afghanistan saying it had stopped short of stabilizing the country and failed to lessen the threat of Islamic radicalism and drug trafficking.

"The number of radicals is not declining in Afghanistan," Medvedev said. "Poverty continues to produce terrorism."

Security risks are high for many regional leaders, including Karimov who violently stamped out a rebellion by opponents in the town of Andizhan in 2005.

Karimov told a news conference that apart from violence in Afghanistan he was concerned about rising tensions in Pakistan. "Radicals (in Uzbekistan) may be reinvigorated by the recent events in Pakistan," he said.

He said countries in the region should have a stronger say in efforts to restore peace in Afghanistan. "We offer to solve the problem through the involvement of regional states."

Earlier on Friday Karimov and Medvedev suggested the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation -- grouping Russia, China and four ex-Soviet Central Asian states -- could initiate an international conference on Afghanistan. Reuters Read More..

Israeli forces intensify Gaza offensive

GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli forces tightened their hold on the outskirts of the city of Gaza on Tuesday and Israel's top general said "there is still work" ahead against Hamas in an 18-day-old offensive that has killed more than 900 Palestinians.

The sounds of explosions and heavy machinegun fire echoed through the city of 500,000 after Israeli tanks drew nearer but did not enter its densely populated center, local residents said.

Medical workers said 12 Palestinian gunmen, some of them members of the Islamist Hamas group that rules the Gaza Strip, were killed in morning fighting.

Hamas said its forces detonated explosives beneath Israeli armor and fought with Israeli forces backed by helicopter gunships and naval fire.

Israel aircraft attacked 60 targets, including tunnels used by Gaza militants to smuggle arms across the border from Egypt, weapons-making facilities and Hamas command posts, the military said. Two rockets hit the Israeli city of Beersheba, causing no casualties.

"We have achieved a lot in hitting Hamas and its infrastructure, its rule and its armed wing, but there is still work ahead," Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi, chief of staff of Israel's armed forces, told a parliamentary committee.

"We are working to deepen the blow to its military arm, reduce (Hamas) fire, strengthen (Israeli) deterrence and improve the security situation for residents of southern Israel living under the threat of (rocket) attacks," he said.

Earlier, an Israeli general speaking to reporters touring Israeli positions, said his forces were "tightening the encirclement" of the city of Gaza.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was heading to the region for a week of talks with leaders in Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Syria aimed at ending the bloodshed.

"My message is simple, direct, and to the point: the fighting must stop. To both sides, I say: Just stop now," Ban told reporters before his departure.

Palestinian medical officials said at least 925 people in the Gaza Strip have been killed since Israel began its offensive on December 27. The health minister in Gaza's Hamas-run government said close to 400 of those were women and children.

Thirteen Israelis -- 10 Israeli soldiers and three civilians hit by mortar bombs and rockets from the Gaza Strip -- have been killed.

Egypt pursued efforts to broker a ceasefire, 18 days after Israel began its attack in the Gaza Strip saying it aimed to halt cross-border rocket fire, salvoes that have caused few casualties but disrupt life in southern Israeli communities.

Lebanese political sources said Hamas negotiators would on Tuesday reject Cairo's proposals.

A Lebanese source close to Hamas said the group wanted a truce for a limited time only.

"VICTORY"

Human rights groups report shortages of vital supplies including water, in the Gaza Strip, due to the fighting. A fuel shortage has brought frequent power blackouts. Israel has permitted almost daily truck shipments of food and medicine.

Hamas's leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, said on television on Monday it was ready to negotiate a ceasefire but only if Israel pulled back all its forces and ended a blockade it tightened after Hamas seized the Gaza Strip in 2007.

Speaking from a secret location, he said "victory is at hand."

Israel has rejected a U.N. Security Council call for a truce but said it was ready to discuss proposals, insisting a ceasefire include measures to stop Hamas from rearming through tunnels in a Gaza-Egypt frontier area known as the Philadelphi corridor.

As diplomats worked with Egypt on a truce, Israeli army spokesman Brigadier General Avi Benayahu said Israeli forces were "deeper in the territory" but had yet to launch a "Phase 3" of the war following its air and ground offensive.

An all-out push into densely populated areas could lead to heavy casualties on both sides, a politically risky outcome for Israel's government less than a month before a national election.

Israeli cabinet minister Shaul Mofaz said Israel was "very, very close" to achieving the goals of the campaign, the deadliest it has waged against Palestinians in decades.

"I assume that in the coming week, the situation will be assessed and a decision made at a cabinet meeting on whether and how to continue the operations," Mofaz told Army Radio.

The bloodshed has opened faultlines in the map of Middle East diplomacy, with the Bush administration in its final week standing behind Israel, Europe pressing Israel to call off its attacks and Arab leaders speaking out against the Jewish state.

The Israeli military said troops at a border crossing with Jordan came under fire from the kingdom on Tuesday, but that no one was hurt. Jordan, which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, denied any shooting had occurred.

(Additional reporting by Ari Rabinovitch, Adam Entous, Ori Lewis, Alastair Macdonald, Luke Baker, Alistair Lyon, Jeffrey Heller and Joseph Nasr in Jerusalem, Dan Williams in Gaza and Alaa Shahine in Cairo; Writing by Jeffrey Heller, editing by Samia Nakhoul)by http://www.reuters.com Read More..

Indonesian first rice export goes to Japan next month

After recording a rice overproduction of 2.7 million tons in 2008, Indonesia decided to export its super quality rice to some countries.

It is for this purpose that the National Logistics Agency (Bulog) has been assigned by the government to handle this with Japan as the first country of destination as the country is known to have a high consumption of super quality rice.

Bulog Director Mustafa Abubakar on Thursday said Japanese importers had conducted a feasibility study of Indonesia`s capability in meeting its regular orders for the super quality rice requested by Japanese consumers.

"In order to meet that country`s demand, the rice exports will be conducted in February and March this year," he said.

According to him, the rice to be exported to Japan will be of the best quality containing broken rice of only 5 to 10 percent,like Pandan wangi, Cianjur, Padi Mulia, Aromatic rice and others.

As to the volume of the rice exports to Japan, he further said that they reached 10,000 to 20,000 tons a month or 120,000 to 140,000 tons a year, so that the exports will never disrupt Indonesia`s capability to meet domestic demand for the staple in relation to national production currently reaching 35 million tons a year.

The price of rice of super quality in Japan may range from USD 1 to USD 2 per kg, so that the consumers are an exclusive layer of the society.

"On Wednesday (Jan 7), we signed an agreement with two importers and a local company in East Java to arrange the issuance of a permit from the Trade Ministry for the rice exports," he said.

In addition to Japan, accordinig to Mustafa, some other ASEAN countries had also requested for the Indonesian rice, but of medium quality in 2009. "They are the Philippines, Malaysia, Timor Leste, and Brunei Darussalam, but we are still waiting for adequate rice supply to meet local consumption which can be calculated from June to September 2009."

"The four countries have tendered their formal and informal orders through their respective consuls in Jakarta for the import of the Indonesian," he said, adding Indonesia planned to export one to 1.5 million tons of rice of medium quuality.

However, Mustafa admitted that he was not in a position to decide on the rice export plan. He could only make a proposal, because the relevant authorities have left the matter to the Trade Ministry on the condition that Indonesia reached a rice overproduction of three million tons.

According to him, if the production of unhusked rice in 2009 reaches the projected 63.5 million tons, it is predicted that there will be a big overproduction, paving the way for rice exports to the Philippines, Malaysia, Timor Leste and Brunei Darussalam.

In the meantime, the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) last year projected Indonesia`s dry unhusked rice production at 59.88 million tons, up by 2.72 million tons due to an expansion of the land of the harvest by 237,610 hectares and an increase in productivity of the roce fields by 130 kg/hectare.

In 2007, Indonesia`s dry unhusked rice output rose by 4.98 percent or 2.70 million tons from 2006, enabling the country to enjoy a surplus of 1.5 million tons, while the country could only enjoy a surplus of about 50,000 tons. But in 2009 the surplus is expected to reach over three million tons.

Earlier, Director General of Food Crops Sutarto Alimoeso expressed optimism over Indonesia`s ability to record a surplus of over 2.7 million tons in 2009 following a BPS prediction of an increase in the country`s rice output in 2009.

Sutarto said he would ask the National Land Agency (BPN) to allow the rice growers to use idle land. "We have millions of hectares of idle land. However, our farmers cannot make use of them," he said.


Possible regular basis

Although Indonesia has become self-sufficient in rice and had a rice overproduction in 2008, the country is still considering rice exports on a regular basis.

Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono said last year Indonesia had no intention to export the commodity in large quantities, although many countries had asked Indonesia for the staple.

But, the minister said the government would not impose a ban on rice exports, but merely put a limit to volume and type of the rice for export.

The rice surplus will be handed over to the National Logistics Agency for storage.

The ministry had issued a regulation that only Bulog is authorized to export rice. The board can also import the staple if its stock has started declining from 1 million tons.

It said exporters are only allowed to export sticky rice after obtaining an approval from the foreign trade director general at the trade ministry.

The ministry said the regulation was needed to stabilize rice prices in the domestic market and protect the interest of the public, as rice is a staple food in Indonesia, with a population of over 230 million.

As the result of the rice price hikes in the global market, Indonesia`s rice exports had become more competitive, but the ministry said that it did not mean the government would hastily decide to allow the export of the commodity.

Meanwhile, Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said the government was drafting a regulation on the export of a number of foodstuffs which are in a surplus, including rice. Under the regulation, rice of a certain quality could be exported while the government is committed to securing stocks and stabilizing prices in the domestic market.

"The government is committed to keeping the price of the staple at Rp4,750 to Rp6,000 per kg so that it will not burden the people," Pangestu said.

"The price of rice in the world market is relatively high but as long as the domestic price is maintained at a stable level and stock is adequate, the situation will remain secure," Mari added.

The increase in foodstuff prices was triggered by increasing demands in the world market, while supply was limited. Moreover, the rice exporting countries like Vietnam had imposed a tax on rice exports to secure their own need for the staple.

(ANTARA News) Read More..

The green city of Jakarta

A metropolitan city, as a man-made environment, is one of the biggest contributors to carbon-dioxide (C02) -- the gas causing global warming -- as a result of traffic congestion, urban exhaust gas emission and the narrowing of the green open space.

Ironically, a coastal city like Jakarta will in fact receive the biggest adverse impact of this global warming phenomenon.

Luckily, the awareness shared by the government, property developers, planners and city residents has led to a commitment to integrate a sustainable development policy in all their operational activities.

Global warming has prompted green cities to compete throughout the United States and elsewhere in the world.

In Indonesia, we are familiar with Adipura, the award given to the cleanest and greenest city.

Jakarta must become a green city. Right now this city is in ""suicidal"" mode, ecologically and urban-wise.

Jakarta is marked by a degradation of its environment including coastal abrasion, sea water intrusion to buildings and roads, a clean water crisis, ground water contamination, and soil subsidence.

The city undergoes chronic traffic congestion and thick air pollution. Fire accidents in densely populated residential areas reach their apex during the dry season.

Flooding will (surely) drown the city.

Experts on disaster mitigation and city planners have again sounded their warning our city's spatial layout design is yet to take disasters into account.

As a result, a disaster will claim a lot of lives and inflict great material losses. With reference to Law No. 24/2007 on Disaster Management and Law No. 26/2007 on Spatial Layout Design, a city must be designed to be ""disaster alert"".

This refers to a city's ability to anticipate and mitigate various natural disasters (flooding, earthquake, tsunami) and non-natural disasters (fires, clean water crisis, sea water intrusion, soil subsidence, environmental pollution).

A disaster policy makes a priority of urban development and how to overcome environmental quality degradation.

Disaster management is a cycle of sustainable activities rather than post-disaster recovery plans.

Disaster management makes green open space the backbone of a disaster-alert city.

A green city is supported by a structured green open space network system and includes home parks/gardens, environment parks, urban parks, sports grounds, cemeteries, urban forest/botanical gardens and water-catchment areas (man-made and natural lakes and dams).

To be a green city, Jakarta must be reformed so that it will be more transparent and more accountable.

The mission is simple: ""If you go out of your house, you will be in a park.""

This mission will be spelled out in greater detail in the master plan of green open space.

With reference to Law No. 26/2007 on Spatial Layout Design and Regulation of Home Minister No. 1/2007 on green open space in urban areas, the green open space of a green city must make up at least 30 per cent of the total area of a city (20 per cent of public green open space and 10 per cent of private green open space).

The establishment of new green open space areas will be necessary to significantly augment the city's ""lungs"" and water catchment areas.

Eco-drainage and ecotourism involving man-made lakes and mangrove forests must be revitalized and developed as water catchment areas.

Hardened neighborhood parks (sports ground, neighborhood security system checkpoints, parking grounds for local residents) should be better managed. The yards of schools and office buildings should be made green with grass and trees. And all green areas should ensure a better water absorption capacity. Once these steps have been implemented, those responsible should enjoy government incentives (relief in tax payment).

The green belts on free plots of land on river banks and on either side of railway lines, open space under bridges and flyovers and high-voltage channels should be restored to their original function and be freed from illegal settlers in a humane and comprehensive manner.

As a result of limitation in the availability of land, the government must encourage the public to (voluntarily) live in high-rise buildings or apartments so there can be more green open space.

The awareness of the public, particularly in disaster-prone locations, must be raised so they will voluntarily move to apartments in the city and give more room for evacuation.

It is now time for the government to provide a (flyover) disaster evacuation park measuring some 500 square meters in areas crowded with people and buildings -- the places hurt most when disasters strike.

In a normal situation throughout the year, the parks will serve their functions, including ecological, economic, educational and conservation functions (solar energy, biogas), as well as their esthetic function (environmental cleanliness and beauty).

Planting large trees in a great number in all corners of the city will make the city's air fresh and cool. These large trees will absorb water and provide shade to pedestrians and cyclists.

They also reduce solar radiation (the greenhouse effect) and lend softness to the buildings and the city landscape.

A green city will give a number of advantages and lead to environmentally friendly and sustainable development, productivity and the culture of high competition.

The city is supported by proper facilities and infrastructure, public transportation and employment opportunities. The city is geared towards being a healthy city that is energy-efficient and environmentally friendly and marked with the culture of sustainability.

Read More..