US Targets Higher Duties on Chinese Solar Imports as Spat Escalates


China Solar Farm

A solar farm in Gansu Province in China.Reuters



The recent political and trade spat between the US and China has apparently escalated with the US now targeting China's big solar industry.


The world's largest economy is planning to impose higher tariffs on solar imports from China. The Department of Commerce is proposing duties between 18.56% and 35.21%, much higher than that announced in 2012, on solar panels and cells.


The department noted that the higher import duties are to offset the subsidies given by the Chinese government to solar panel makers. It is expected to make a final decision in the coming months, after a review by the US International Trade Commission (ITC).


Solar companies in the US have been saying that their Chinese counterparts could substantially reduce prices and flood solar products in the US market due to the subsidies.


The higher duties would increase the prices of solar products from China. The country is the world's largest maker of solar panels, and has always denied the allegations of government subsidies.


China and the US have been in a war of words after the latter indicted five Chinese military officials on charges of spying and hacking network systems of US companies.


The US warned China over its territorial disputes with Japan and Taiwan. The proposed higher duties on solar imports are expected to weaken the trade relations between the countries further.


In counter measures, China is expected to increase tariffs on US imports of polysilicon, the material used to make solar cells.


China faced the same situation in its trade relations with the European Union, which also tried to increase import duties on Chinese solar products. In order to counter the move, China increased duties on European chemicals, wine and luxury cars.


Subsequently, the parties settled the dispute in 2013 after the EU set quotas and minimum prices to solar imports.



Tiananmen Square 25th Anniversary: No Hard Landing for China Economy


tiananmen square anniversary

Chinese Paramilitary security force officers walk past couples near Tiananmen Square in Beijing ahead of the 25th anniversary of the massacreGetty



The Tiananmen Square protests are remembered chiefly as a spectacular moment of youthful defiance, crushed by the bloody violence unleashed by the state. This may be the legacy of the 6-week protest movement through western eyes but the aftermath marked a significant turning point for China's economy.


The country's leadership pivoted, prioritising economic progress above the political progressivism and embracing radical, neoliberal economic reform. China became the world's workshop and its economy expanded at a stellar rate, growing bigger than everyone else's, bar the United States.


Now, 25 years later and the country's economy stands at another cross roads.


China is slowing down and the question on that's been on the mind of every economist and analyst is whether the landing will be hard or soft?


Hard of Soft Landing?


A 'hard landing' occurs when an economy experiences rapid growth followed by a dramatic downturn, perhaps even a recession, after the government moves to halt inflation.


A 'soft landing' sees a high-growth country easing down steadily toward more normal levels of growth.


The most notable critic, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), reported that China is facing the danger of a hard landing.


IMF chief Christine Lagarde warned of the risk to China and other emerging economies in her Global Policy Agenda report.


She wrote that poor asset quality posed the biggest risk to the country, although the risk of a hard landing was small. She urged China to cover risks in its shadow banking system and to liberalise its financial sector in order to free up credit allocation.


These are fair points but they do not mean that China should necessarily brace for a hard landing. Part of Lagarde's job is to warn the world's leaders of looming economic threats before they bite.


What is strange in China's case is that its leadership has heeded warnings and acted in a bid to avert a hard landing before a crisis is under way.


That is more than can be said for the way US leaders dealt with the domestic sub-prime mortgage disaster, or the manner in which European leaders allowed the Eurozone crisis to unfold.


Under the direction of President Xi Jinping, China's leadership has engaged with cautious economic reform.


Xi is slowly opening up the economy to the foreign investment, engaging with environmental problems, while floating reforms to state-backed enterprises and freeing up bank interest rates over the next few years.


China's growth has slowed in recent years but the slowdown has been gradual and steady. Its economy is actually expected to expand by 7.3% in 2014. The leadership set out a blueprint for economic reforms in December 2013 and has rarely strayed from its own guidelines so far.


Xi's record suggests he will take on the task of managing China's changing economy with caution, making smaller and easier reforms before tackling the more painful measures at a later date.


While this policy may be enough to warrant a soft rap on the knuckles from the IMF, the leadership has stuck to its reformist blueprint and is showing no sign of losing its nerve yet.



India Gang Rape: The Dire Necessity of Improved Sanitation


India Dalit Girls Gang-Rape Graphic Photo Murder Cousins Hung Mango Treee

Onlookers sit at the site where two girls were hanged from a tree in Uttar PradeshReuters



One night last week, two teenage girls were gang raped and hung with their scarves from a mango tree for doing what half a billion women and girls are forced to do every day: Go outside to relieve themselves.


Aside from highlighting the issue of rampant sexual violence in India, the appalling crime has drawn attention to another problem which is threatening the safety of women: the lack of toilets.


Taken for granted by the majority of us, around 2.5 billion people worldwide live without access to a lavatory. Women and girls are forced to walk outdoors in potentially dangerous places – particularly at night – where they are often attacked.


The latest victims, aged 14 and 16, were cousins from the Dalit community, a caste at the bottom of Hinduism's established hierarchy. This made them even more vulnerable to attacks from men, in particular those from a higher social standing, and male family members rarely accompany women as modesty is a major consideration. The pair had walked for 10 to 15 minutes from their mud-and-straw huts into wild bamboo fields before being attacked.


In response to the incident, an NGO has announced it will construct toilets in all of the houses in the girls' village of Katra Sadatganj, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.


Sulabh International, the largest non-profit organisation in India, is a social service organisation which works to promote human rights, environmental sanitation, non-conventional sources of energy, waste management and social reforms through education.


"Any women defecating in the open in vulnerable and the central government must acknowledge the issue. Resources will only pour in then," Sulabh founder Bindeshwar Pathak told NDTV.


The work of building the facilities is to begin immediately. "A team of sanitation workers and engineers from Sulabh will visit the village to start toilet construction work from tomorrow," Mr Pathak added. "We have asked our team to construct toilets with highest pace.


"We are just setting an example by adopting this village as the issue of toilet [sic] was the main reason behind both the deaths."


Although the news is a step forward, Mr Pathak estimated that the country needs around 120 million more latrines. According to the World Health Organisation, around 65% of people in villages across India are forced to defecate in the open.


In February, a Times of India report quoted the police in a district of Uttar Pradesh as saying that 95% of rape and molestation cases took place when women and girls had left their homes to answer "a call of nature". Back in April, two women and two teenagers were raped in fields in the northern state of Haryana. The women were Dalits and their attackers Jats, a superior caste.


"Around 65 percent of the rural population in India defecates in the open and women and girls are expected to go out at night. This does not only threaten their dignity, but their safety as well," Unicef representative Louis-Georges Arsenault said in a statement.


But Indian women aren't alone in their vulnerability. One in three people across the globe lack access to basic sanitation, and 15% of the world's population currently practise open defecation. Last year, the UN revealed that while six billion of the world's seven billion people have mobile phones, only 4.5 billion have access to toilets.


According to Jan Eliasson, the UN deputy secretary-general, 22 countries account for more than 80% of open defecation in the world. India, Brazil, China, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and South Sudan are among those named.


Beyond the safety of women and girls, having to openly defecate poses a major public health risk. Polluting waterway and food sources, it is one of the main causes of diarrhoea, which results in the death of over 750,000 children under the age of five each year. As reported by the Guardian, researchers estimate that ending open defecating across the globe would see this figure fall by more than a third.


In India, prime minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party coined the phrase "toilet first, temple later" in their election manifesto last September. But while a sanitation project was launched with the federal government in Uttar Pradesh in 2002, data from 2011 showed that only 22% of the state's households had them.


Incidences of violence are pushing the problem to the surface, but the goal for better sanitation has come too late for the two Dalit girls. While awaiting the arrival of the new toilets, a women's rights organisation in Katra Sadatganj could only offer advice: that women relieve themselves in large groups.



Egypt's Former Army Chief Al Sisi Wins Presidency with Landslide 96.91%


Egypt's Al-Sisi

Al-Sisi wins landslide electionReuters



Former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been officially declared the winner of Egypt's presidential elections with a landslide 96.91% of the vote, according to the country's election commission.


Sisi, who won against his sole competitor, the leftist politician Hamdeen Sabbahi, was elected with 23.8 million votes. The turnout in Egypt's 2014 presidential elections was 47.45%, which accounts for roughly 25 million people.


Egypt's elections committee rejected Sabbahi's appeal against the voting results that gave Sisi a landslide victory.


Sabbahi, who gathered only 700,000 votes (3.9%), complained about the "existence of campaigning inside polling stations" by Sisi supporters among other abuses.





The vote came after the army ousted democratically-elected Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in a coup.



Turkey Lifts YouTube Ban After High Court Ruling


Turkey YouTube Twitter Ban Erdogan Corruption

A man tries to get connected to the youtube web site with his tablet at a cafe in Istanbul.Reuters



Turkish authorities have lifted a two-month ban on YouTube after the country's highest court ruled that it violated freedom of expression.


The video-sharing website was blocked following the leak of an audio recording of a key high-level security meeting on Syria.


In the audio, Turkey's intelligence chief Hakan Fidan discusses with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Deputy Chief of Staff Yasar Guler and other officials a possible operation in Syria to secure the tomb of Suleyman Shah, grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman empire.


Ankara regards the tomb as sovereign Turkish territory under a treaty signed with France in 1921, when Syria was under French rule.


Turkey's Foreign Ministry said the leaked recording of top officials discussing the Syria operation was "partially manipulated" and is a "wretched attack" on national security.


Erdogan condemned the tape recording, which followed a series of other leaked wiretaps, as an act of treason.


Turkey's highest court, deliberating appeals submitted by individuals challenging the ban, last week ruled that the block was a violation of the right to freedom of speech.


YouTube was banned sporadically in Turkey between 2007 and 2010 because it refused to remove videos that were said to be insulting to the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.



MQM Leader Altaf Hussain's Arrest in London Sparks Unrest in Karachi


Altaf Hussain

The image of Mutahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain is seen as his female supporters take part in a rally "Empowered Women, Strong Pakistan" in February 2012Reuters



Panic spread through the Pakistani city of Karachi after news that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement's (MQM) leader Altaf Hussain had been arrested in London.


The city was plunged into chaos after news of Hussain's arrest filtered through. Rescue officials told AFP there had been widespread disorder as vehicles were torched by protesters, while the city's streets were congested as workers headed home early and citizens stocked up on groceries in anticipation of a protracted political crisis.


MQM's political leader inside the country, Dr Farooq Sattar, urged restraint.


"We should stay calm, we should not become impatient in any condition. The workers must be aware with the developments, keep in touch with the party office, stay united and also look around you," said Dr Sattar.


"We should act on the teachings of Altaf Hussain. We should pray for his health, we should say that he should be given medical treatment and his medical tests should be conducted," he added.


Karachi is Pakistan's largest city and the country's economic hub but it is gripped by sectarian divisions which can escalate into violent conflict with little warning. Its stock exchange plunged 3% on the news of Hussain's arrest.


A security professional in the city told the BBC that Karachi was essentially in lockdown after the news registered among its inhabitants.


"When it comes to Karachi, if anything happens to Altaf Hussain, you can count on the city just shutting down and a lot of violence," he told the BBC.


Hussain, the leader of MQM, was detained at his home in northwest London on suspicion of money laundering.


"Officers have this morning arrested a 60-year-old man on suspicion of money laundering," the Metropolitan police said in a statement.


Hussain settled in London in 1992, having fled Pakistan amid a military crackdown in his home city of Karachi. He gained British citizenship in 2002.


The MQM represents ethnic Mohajirs who make up a hefty chunk of the Karachi population. The party holds a majority of parliamentary seats in Karachi and wields influence on the city's streets through the street gangs it controls.


From his base in London, Hussain has been a towering figure within the party, addressing massive street rallies attended by tens of thousands in Karachi through a loudspeaker connected to a telephone.


The arrest could spark a power struggle within the MQM. The party leadership have since met in a bid to plan a response to Hussain's arrest.


Hussain, 60, who founded the MQM in 1984, is a powerful but divisive figure within Pakistan. While popular among Urdu-speaking Muhajirs, opponents hold him responsible for much of the violence that plagues Karachi and he has been accused of 30 murders. He denies all criminal charges against him.


Britain has largely tolerated Hussain leading the MQM party from London since 1992 and even taken advantage of the opportunity to improve British interests in Karachi. However, relations changed after a senior MQM member, Imran Faroqo, was murdered in 2010.


Shortly afterwards, the police investigation began to hone in on Hussain and his associates in London, which led police to examine his financial affairs. Police raided Hussain's office in December 2012 and his house in June 2013, arresting his nephew Iftikhar Hussain who worked for his uncle.



Syria Civil War: Massive Tunnel Bombs Become New Rebel Weapon to Break Stalemate [VIDEOS]



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Syria Tunnel Bombs Rebels Aleppo

Rebel fighters digging in a tunnel in the Bustan al-Basha neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of AleppoBARAA AL-HALABI/AFP/Getty Images



Syria Tunnel Bombs Rebels

A Syrian army soldier makes his way in a tunnel reportedly previously used by rebel fighters in Jobar, a mostly rebel-held area on the eastern outskirts of DamascusJOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images





A huge explosion rocked the Syrian city of Aleppo over the weekend, killing at least 20 government troops.


A massive cloud of dust was thrown into the air and, moments later, a shower of debris rained onto buildings' rooftops in the historic city.


The Islamic Front rebel coalition claimed responsibility for the attack which, they said, was carried out by digging under an army position and blowing it up with an underground bomb.


The tunnel bomb was the third to be detonated within a few weeks by Islamic Front units to take the fight to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.


The group, which was formed last year with the reported backing of Saudi Arabia, has specialised in a technique that was widely used in the First World War's trenches.


Last year, The Times reported that Syrian rebels were being trained in tunnel building by Hamas military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, which have extensive experience in building underground corridors to smuggle goods from Egypt to the Gaza strip.


Syrian rebels are instead tunnelling underneath enemy positions for surprise attacks to try and break the stalemate in fighting against government forces.


Earlier in May Islamic Front fighters in the northwestern Idlib province dug 850 metres under the Wadi al-Deif military base, which had been under siege by rebels for three years.


They set off some 60 tonnes of explosives, opening the way for the base to be finally captured, a rebel commander said.


Days earlier, the group used a tunnel bomb to destroy Aleppo's Carlton Citadel Hotel, which was being used by the army as a barracks, killing about 50 soldiers.


"Our holy warriors this morning blew up the Carlton Hotel barracks in old Aleppo and a number of adjoining buildings," the Islamic Front said announcing the operation on Twitter.


Aleppo, Syria's largest city, has been split into rebel and government held areas since anti-Assad forces launched a large offensive in mid-2012.


Tunnel bombs are also being used as a powerful propaganda tool by rebels who have otherwise suffered setbacks in some areas of the country.


The Islamic Front has posted spectacular online videos of all its recent attacks. After each explosions rebels are heard shouting "Allahu akbar" or "God is Great".



World Bank's Kim Sees No End to Syrian War but Insists Region Can Come Back Stronger


Bashar al-Assad Asma al-Assad

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma (R) cast their votes in the country's presidential elections at a polling station in Damascus(Reuters/SANA)



World Bank president Jim Yong Kim said the Middle East can come back stronger once the political crises and violent conflicts in the region are resolved, but he could not see an end to the Syrian civil war.


Speaking to students at the Lebanese Education Ministry in Beirut, Kim highlighted the catastrophic impact of the Syrian civil war on the region's economy but pointed to post-war Europe as a model for economic optimism amid devastation.


"It's extraordinarily difficult to feel optimism in the shadow of the catastrophe unfolding in Syria. It is larger than anything most of us have witnessed," he said.


"It is important for us to remember that Europe's economic output in 1951 was 35% higher than before the war. We know that it's possible to build back better, even after the most devastating conflicts," he added.


As the World Bank chief addressed the crowd, Syrians were voting in a presidential election that incumbent Bashar Al-Assad is widely expected to win. Assad has retained power in Damascus, despite more than three years of civil war sparked when government forces killed unarmed protesters in 2011. The Syrian government has been accused of multiple human rights violations, including the use of chemical weapons against the Syrian people.



No one knows how or when this war will end – and sadly there are no signs of it ending anytime soon. But this is exactly the right time for us to prepare for the peace that surely will come


- Jim Yong Kim, World Bank president



Now in its fourth year, more than 160,000 people have been killed in the war, according to a Syrian opposition-aligned watchdog, while millions more have been displaced.


Despite interventions from the international community to resolve the conflict, the war has reached a bloody stalemate with each side entrenched in its position. Yet Kim said the region should prepare to rebuild Syria's and the region's economy.


"No one knows how or when this war will end – and sadly there are no signs of it ending anytime soon. But this is exactly the right time for us to prepare for the peace that surely will come," Kim said.


As well as crippling Syria's economy, the war has impacted on neighbouring countries including Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan, who have accepted millions of Syrian refugees between them.


Speaking in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah on Sunday, Kim said the Syrian war had cost Lebanon $7.5bn so far and had a "profound" impact on Jordan as well.


The World Bank estimated that Lebanon's gross domestic product has contracted by 2.9% annually between 2012 and 2014, while the unemployment rate in the country doubled in the same period.


Kim warned that the regional refugee crisis has put a huge strain on services in Lebanon and Jordan, including water, electricity, waste disposal, primary education and health, while increasing the number of people competing for scarce jobs.


"The international community needs to step up its support to the Jordanian and Lebanese hosting communities," said Kim. "The people of these countries have demonstrated unprecedented generosity. They should not be left to shoulder this crisis alone."



India Could Seal $20bn Deal for Dassault Rafale Jets in Three Months


India Could Seal $20bn Deal for Rafale Jets Within Three Months

The Dassault Rafale combat jet.Reuters



New Delhi expects to seal a multi-billion-dollar deal to purchase 126 combat jets from France's Dassault Aviation within three months, according to a media report.


Completion of the deal could see the first 18 Rafale jets being delivered to the Indian Airforce in mid-2016, while the remainder will be assembled in the subcontinent from 2018 onwards, the Times of India reported on 3 June, citing defence ministry sources.


Pursued by Reuters, Dassault refused to comment.


Dassault chief executive Eric Trappier said in May that his firm expects to sign a deal to sell the Rafale jets to India by the end of 2014.


The optimism followed the election of business-friendly candidate Narendra Modi as the nation's new prime minister the same month.


"It's reassuring for us, because I think that will accelerate the process further," Trappier said on 19 May on the sidelines of the Ebace business aviation show.


The Indian military establishment had earlier deferred the plan to buy the 126 fighters, a deal estimated to be worth about $20bn (£12bn, €14.7bn), until the financial year 2014-15 owing to budget constraints.


Defence Modernisation


India recently bought an aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, which gives it the strongest naval air power in the region outside of the US.


India is building its own 40,000-tonne vessels named Vishal and Vikrant. The first is due to be completed within four years.


New Delhi picked the Rafale fighters over the Eurofighter Typhoon jets, made by EADS and financed by a four-nation consortium that includes Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy, for the Indian Airforce in 2012.


Dassault also beat US bidders Boeing and Lockheed Martin, Sweden's Saab and the Russian makers of the MiG-35.


Rafale also has a naval variant which could interest the Indian military in the future.



China Mulls Firm CO2 Cap From 2016, Says Top Government Official


China Mulls Firm CO2 Cap: Government Official

A file photograph of smoking chimneys in China's Jilin province.Reuters



China, the world's biggest carbon emitter, plans to establish a firm cap on its CO2 emissions from 2016, a top government official has said.


The target will be included in the next five-year plan, which comes into force in 2016, He Jiankun, chairman of China's Advisory Committee on Climate Change, told a conference in Beijing.


He said China's greenhouse gas emissions will peak in 2030, at around 11 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent. Emissions from the world's second largest economy hover at between seven to nine-and-a-half billion tonnes.


However, the adviser said that will depend on China accomplishing a real reduction in coal consumption from sometime around 2020 or 2025, and on the nation meeting its target of generating 150-200 gigawatts of power through nuclear energy by 2030.


The share of non-fossil fuels in China's energy mix will hit 20% to 25% in 2030, He added.


Meanwhile, Sun Cuihua, a top climate change official at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's main economic-planning agency, said Beijing is planning to roll out a national emissions trading scheme in 2016 or 2017, but that it will only be fully operational in 2020.


"The government will use two ways to control CO2 emissions in the next five-year plan, by intensity and an absolute cap," He said, reported Reuters.


Vehicular Pollution


The official Xinhua news agency, quoting the State Council, the country's cabinet, reported in May that China will eliminate six million vehicles that do not meet carbon emission standards.


About 20% of the vehicles to be eliminated are from the country's northern regions, including the municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin, and the Hebei province, which have suffered severe smog attacks in recent years.


Environment Law


In April, the government passed amendments to China's 25-year-old environmental protection law, which will target polluters with tougher penalties.


The highly-anticipated amendments, which go into effect on 1 January 2015, followed public dismay over the pervasive pollution that has stifled China.



CNN Reporter Harassed by Police During Gezi Park Anniversary 'was an Agent', Claims Turkish PM Erdogan


Ivan Watson

CNN International's reporter Ivan Watson he's asked passport and press credentials before being detainedScreengrab



Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused CNN International's correspondent Ivan Watson, who was harassed and detained live on air during the Gezi Park anniversary protest in Istanbul, of being a secret agent.


In a further sign that he is tightening his rhetoric against foreign media, Erdogan said: "CNN International made an eight-hour broadcast during last year's Gezi events. Why? To stir trouble in my country.


"This year they've been caught red-handed. Those don't have anything to do with independent and impartial media. They've been given tasks. They are agents."


Watson had just finished explaining that police had sealed off central Istanbul, to prevent demonstrators from being able to lay flowers at the site of last year's anti-government protests, when he was detained by officers.


While the camera was still rolling, the officers asked for Watson's press credentials and passport. Then, he was kneed in the back. The reporter told anchor Errol Barnett: "Errol, we're being detained right now".


CNN's microphone was also broken by police as they wrestle it out of the hands of the cameraman.


"Turkish police released CNN team after half an hour. Officer apologised for another officer who kneed me while I was being detained," Watson tweeted later.


In the weekly address to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Erdogan also defended the police's attitude during the crackdown on the Gezi anniversary, which took place on 31 May.


Some 25,000 police officers, 50 water cannon trucks, a large number of armoured vehicles and helicopters were deployed to prevent any gathering in Taksim Square.


Officers used water cannons, teargas, rubber bullets and batons, leaving several protesters injured and detaining over 150 people.



India's Central bank Leaves Rates Unchanged but Eases Rules to Spur Lending


India's Central bank Leaves Rates Unchanged but Eases Rules to spur Lending

India's central bank leaves rates unchanged but eases rules to spur bank lending.Reuters



The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) left its key policy rate on hold at its policy review on 3 June but eased rules to encourage bank lending.


The latter is set to be well received in New Delhi, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pro-business regime has a mandate to revive growth in Asia's third-largest economy.


Governor Raghuram Rajan on Tuesday left the key policy rate unchanged at 8%, as was widely expected.


But he reduced the amount banks need to invest in government securities -- called the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) -- by half a percentage point to 22.5% of deposits starting in mid-June.


The RBI hinted that it will not hike interest rates further provided inflationary pressures continue to abate.


In a bid to prevent the rupee from escalating too much, the RBI increased the amount of cash Indians can remit abroad, to $125,000 (£74,595, €91,965) from $75,000. The decision takes away some of the pressure on the rupee, stemming from dollar inflows that are making the currency stronger and exports difficult.


"A reduction in the required SLR will give banks more freedom to expand credit to the non-Government sector. However, the Reserve Bank is also cognisant of the significant on-going financing needs of the Government. Therefore, the SLR is reduced by 0.50 per cent of NDTL, with any further change dependent on the likely path of fiscal consolidation," Rajan said in his bi-monthly monetary policy statement, the first since the formation of the Modi government.


"The Reserve Bank remains committed to keeping the economy on a disinflationary course, taking CPI inflation to 8% by January 2015 and 6% by January 2016. If the economy stays on this course, further policy tightening will not be warranted. On the other hand, if disinflation, adjusting for base effects, is faster than currently anticipated, it will provide headroom for an easing of the policy stance.


"Contingent upon the desired inflation outcome, the April projection of real GDP growth from 4.7% in 2013-14 to a range of 5-6% in 2014-15 is retained with risks evenly balanced around the central estimate of 5.5%..." Rajan added.


ANZ Research said in a note: "[3 June's] dovish turn does open up possibility of a rate cut towards the end of 2014 but we believe that even if RBI does cut rates, it will likely have to reverse that in 2015. We agree with RBI's assessment that CPI inflation is likely to edge lower perhaps from June till end-2014.


RBI Inflation Target

RBI's inflation target.Bloomberg, CEIC, ANZ Research



"But RBI has been re-iterating that it wants to get inflation lower from 8% to 6% by end-2015. That, we think, is likely to be challenging because 1. Food inflation seems to have structurally moved higher over the years 2. Growth is likely to recover, so there'll be less slack in the economy 3. Continued upward price adjustments for government-controlled prices (fuels, fertilisers, power)."


"In addition to the obvious (monsoon/El Nino developments), we will be looking out for any hints by the government to improve food supply (for eg. by selling from its large stocks of wheat and rice). The latter is something RBI mentioned [on 3 June] while talking of downside risks to inflation," ANZ added.



Thailand: Anti-Coup Protesters Adopt Hunger Games' Three-Fingered Salute


A three-fingered salute borrowed from "The Hunger Games" has become a symbol of opposition to Thailand's military coup. In "The Hunger Games" books and films, the salute symbolises rebellion against totalitarian rule.


Thailand three fingers salute hunger games

Anti-coup protesters flash the three-fingered salute made famous by Katniss in "Hunger Games" during a gathering at a shopping mall in BangkokAFP



Colonel Weerachon Sukhondhapatipak said that authorities were "monitoring the movement" and would take action if the salute is performed in large groups. He said that if protesters ignore a warning to stop, "we will have to make an arrest".


Protesters at a shopping mall in Bangkok said the three fingers represented liberty, brotherhood and equality.



Katniss gives a three-fingered salute in

Katniss gives a three-fingered salute in "The Hunger Games" to symbolise rebellion against totalitarian ruleLionsgate



A protester against military rule gestures by holding up his three middle fingers in the air, as soldiers look on from an elevated walkway in Bangkok

A protester against military rule gestures by holding up his three middle fingers in the air, as soldiers look on from an elevated walkway in BangkokReuters



Protesters in a Bangkok shopping centre hold up their three middle fingers in the air

Protesters in a Bangkok shopping centre hold up their three middle fingers in the airReuters



A masked demonstrator gives a three-fingered salute during a brief protest against military rule at a shopping mall in Bangkok

A masked demonstrator gives a three-fingered salute during a brief protest against military rule at a shopping mall in BangkokReuters



Catniss? Anti-coup protesters wear paper bags with messages written on them as they flash a three-finger sign at a shopping mall in Bangkok

Catniss? Anti-coup protesters wear paper bags with messages written on them as they flash a three-finger sign at a shopping mall in BangkokReuters



One brave anti-coup protester flashes the salute in front of a line of policemen in Bangkok

One brave anti-coup protester flashes the salute in front of a line of policemen in BangkokAFP




Anti-coup protesters have found another way to express resistance – a "novel" form of resistance, perhaps.


About a dozen people sat down in the middle of a busy, elevated walkway in Bangkok and began reading books like George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four" — a dystopian novel about life in a totalitarian surveillance state.


"People are angry about this coup, but they can't express it," said a human rights activist who asked to be identified only by an alias, Mook, for fear of being detained. "So we were looking for an alternative way to resist, a way that is not confrontational," she said. "And one of those ways is reading."


Their defiance is found in the titles they chose. Among them: "Unarmed Insurrection", ''The Politics of Despotic Paternalism" and ''The Power of Non-Violent Means."



Protesters against military rule read subversive books as a silent protest on an elevated walkway in Bangkok

Protesters against military rule read subversive books as a silent protest on an elevated walkway in BangkokReuters



An anti-coup protester reads

An anti-coup protester reads "Noli me Tangere" (Touch me Not) by Jose Rizal, a book about resistance against European colonialism in the PhilippinesReuters



A protester against military rule reads a book on

A protester against military rule reads a book on "Unarmed Insurrections" on an elevated walkway in BangkokReuters




Since taking over, the military has made clear it will tolerate no dissent, and has launched a major campaign to silence critics and censor the media. The junta has warned all citizens against doing anything that might incite conflict, and the list of targets has been long.


At least 14 partisan TV networks have been shut down along with nearly 3,000 unlicensed community radio stations. Independent international TV channels like CNN and BBC have been blocked along with more than 300 web pages, including New York-based Human Rights Watch Thailand page.


Human rights organisations are concerned over how far the clampdown will go. Some have begun using encrypted chat apps on their smartphones, for fear of being monitored. And at least one major bookstore in Bangkok has pulled from its shelves political titles that could be deemed controversial.



A banner with a drawing depicting Thai army chief General Prayut Chan-O-Cha and a reference to George Orwell's dystopian novel

A banner with a drawing depicting Thai army chief General Prayut Chan-O-Cha and a reference to George Orwell's dystopian novel "1984" is displayed during a gathering at a shopping mall in BangkokAFP



Soldiers block the entrance to an elevated train station near a shopping mall where anti-coup protesters were gathered in Bangkok

Soldiers block the entrance to an elevated train station near a shopping mall where anti-coup protesters were gathered in BangkokReuters



The Bangkok Sky Train races by as the Thai military take over the streets surrounding the Victory Monument

The Bangkok Sky Train races by as the Thai military take over the streets surrounding the Victory MonumentAFP



A Thai police officer takes a selfie while taking up a position to stop protests against military rule in a shopping district of Bangkok

A Thai police officer takes a selfie while taking up a position to stop protests against military rule in a shopping district of BangkokReuters






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Syria's 'Blood Elections': Assad and Wife Asma Cast Ballot in Damascus


Syrian president Bashar al-Assad votes asma

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad casts his ballot in Damascus flanked by his wife AsmaFacebook



Bashar al-Assad has cast his ballot in Syria's first multi-candidate presidential vote denounced as a sham by the opposition and branded "blood elections" for the horrific civil war that has torn the country apart.


The Syrian president, whose victory against two little-known, regime-approved challengers is widely expected, voted in the morning hours at a school in the upscale Damascus neighbourhood of al-Malki where he lives.


Pictures posted on Assad's official Facebook page showed him in a dark blue suit and tie as he cast his ballot surrounded by a cheering crowd and flanked by his wife, Asma.


In other photos broadcasted by Syria's state television he was seen contemplating before filling the ballot paper in a curtained booth.


It was the first time in more than 40 years of the Assad family rule that other names have appeared on the ballot paper.


The other two candidates, Maher Hajjar and Hassan al-Nouri, however did not represent a real challenge and had actually voiced their support for Assad.


"The people in Syria are calling for stability and security, and to fight terrorism. They want military leadership and President Assad is doing well in this," Nouri told The Daily Telegraph.


Hajjar and Nouri cast their ballot at Damascus's Sheraton Hotel.


The US, Britain and other western powers have described the elections which will give Assad a third seven-year term in office as a farce.


Boycotted by the opposition, the vote was taking place in government-controlled areas, where thousands lined up outside polling centres to show support for Assad.


"He is my leader and I love him," said Uday Jurusni, a student who voted using a pin to prick his finger to draw blood. "With the leadership of Bashar, my country will return to safety."


Murhaf al-Zoubi an activist from the rebel-held central town of Rastan said all local residents opposed Assad. "There are no elections here, this is a free, liberated area," he said.


The ballots didn't stop fighting between government forces and rebel groups. A mortar shell landed near Damascus' landmark Opera House on Omayyad Square but resulted in no damages or casualties.


Fighting, shelling and air raids were also reported in other rebel-held areas across the country.



Qatar World Cup 2022: Fifa Ethics Chief Michael Garcia to Ignore Bin Hammam Bribery Allegations


Fifa World Cup Qatar

Michael J. Garcia, Chairman of the investigatory chamber of the Fifa Ethics Committee attends a news conference at Fifa's Zurich headquartersReuters



Fifa's chief ethics investigator will not examine millions of documents - which form the basis of new corruption allegations surrounding the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar - in his report on the bidding process to be released next week.


Michael Garcia is to release his report without investigating potentially crucial documents obtained by The Sunday Times which allege that former Fifa vice-president Mohamed Bin Hammam used bribes to influence voting outcomes in favour of Qatar as hosts for the 2022 World Cup.


"After months of interviewing witnesses and gathering materials, we intend to complete that phase of our investigation by 9 June 2014, and to submit a report to the adjudicatory chamber approximately six weeks thereafter," said Garcia.


"The report will consider all evidence potentially related to the bidding process, including evidence collected from prior investigations."


The paper alleged that Bin Hammam used a slush fund of approximately £3m to influence his chances at challenging Sepp Blatter for the Fifa presidency and also to sway four African Fifa executive committee members who each carried a vote in the 2022 World Cup bidding process.


"If the Garcia investigation refuses to accept the Sunday Times evidence the process will be a sham and Fifa will be forever tainted. Corruption must be tackled," said Jim Murphy, the shadow secretary for international development.


Garcia has spent £6m and over a year interviewing those involved in the 2018 and 2022 bids, including a Qatari bid delegation, to investigate allegations of bribery and corruption.


His report will influence Sepp Blatter's decision on whether to hold a re-run of the bidding process if allegations are proven.


Qatari denial


The Qatari bid committee has repeatedly denied Bin Hammam's involvement in their challenge for the tournament.


"We say again that Mohamed bin Hammam played no official or unofficial role in Qatar's 2022 bid committee."


British Prime Minister David Cameron has called for Garcia's enquiry to continue as promised.


"We will see what happens with this inquiry into the World Cup. And who knows what the chances may be for the future," the prime minister said.


"There is an inquiry under way, quite rightly, into what happened in terms of the World Cup bid for 2022. We should let that inquiry take place rather than prejudge it.


"My memories of that bidding process are not happy memories in terms of the way the whole thing was arranged and the role of Fifa."


The chief executive of the Football Federation Australia, David Gallop, said that The Sunday Times revelations were a serious development and it was now a "bit of a watch-this-space at this stage".



Singapore: Blogger Raises Funding to Fight PM Lee Hsien Loong's Lawsuit


Singapore Blogger

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong speaks during Standard Chartered's 150th anniversary dinner.Reuters



A Singaporean blogger who is being sued by the Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for defamation has raised more than $55,700 through crowdfunding for his legal costs.


Donations from the public have exceeded blogger Roy Ngerng's target of $55,700 (£33,200) after he was sued by Singapore's leader for an article published on 15 May.


The blogger offered an apology and $4,000 for damages but this was declined.


"As far as I know, this is the first time a political leader in Singapore is suing a blogger," Ngerng's lawyer M. Ravi told Bloomberg.


Lee's press secretary, Chang Li Lin, declined to comment when asked about the blogger's crowdfunding efforts.


Lee's lawyer, Davider Singh, sent a letter to Ngerng which he subsequently published on his website.


The letter requested that Ngerng apologise to the prime minister and remove the article which "impugns his [Lee's] character, credit and integrity."


Another letter sent to Ngerng by Lee's lawyer claimed that his apology was not sufficiently genuine and was only issued "to raise his public profile, garner support and sympathy and renew his attack" on the prime minister.


It is believed that hundreds and, possibly, thousands of Singaporeans have donated to Ngerng's crowdfunding effort in opposition to prime minister Lee for initiating such a lawsuit against a blogger.



Hot Shots Photos of the Day: Risque Rihanna, Iran Sandstorm, D-Day Veterans


Rihanna arrives for the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Awards at Lincoln Centre in New York

Rihanna arrives for the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Awards at Lincoln Centre in New YorkReuters/Getty



Prince attends the French Open match between Spain's Rafael Nadal and Serbia's Dusan Lajovic at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris

Prince attends the French Open match between Spain's Rafael Nadal and Serbia's Dusan Lajovic at the Roland Garros stadium in ParisAFP



A cake made by prisoners at the Castro-Castro prison in Lima is displayed as they participate in the opening ceremony of their own version of the 2014 World Cup

A cake made by prisoners at the Castro-Castro prison in Lima is displayed as they participate in the opening ceremony of their own version of the 2014 World CupReuters



A security guard walks in front of the Brazilian congress in Brasilia as it is lit up in the colours of the national flag ahead of the 2014 World Cup

A security guard walks in front of the Brazilian congress in Brasilia as it is lit up in the colours of the national flag ahead of the 2014 World CupReuters



Diners eat suspended in the air above the Parc du Cinquantenaire in Brussels

Diners eat suspended in the air above the Parc du Cinquantenaire in BrusselsAFP



A picture taken with a smartphone shows a sandstorm engulfing the Iranian capital Tehran. A massive sandstorm and high winds killed at least four people in Tehran, plunging the city into darkness, knocking out power supplies, damaging buildings and causing massive disruption

A picture taken with a smartphone shows a sandstorm engulfing the Iranian capital Tehran. A massive sandstorm and high winds killed at least four people in Tehran, plunging the city into darkness, knocking out power supplies, damaging buildings and causing massive disruptionAFP



The Italian Air Force aerobatic unit Frecce Tricolori leaves smoke trails in the colours of the Italian flag over Rome as part of the ceremonies marking Republic Day

The Italian Air Force aerobatic unit Frecce Tricolori leaves smoke trails in the colours of the Italian flag over Rome as part of the ceremonies marking Republic DayAFP



The wreckage of a Gulfstream IV private jet is seen at Hanscom Airfield in Bedford, Massachusetts. The aircraft caught fire and crashed as it tried to take off, killing all seven people aboard including Lewis Katz, co-owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper

The wreckage of a Gulfstream IV private jet is seen at Hanscom Airfield in Bedford, Massachusetts. The aircraft caught fire and crashed as it tried to take off, killing all seven people aboard including Lewis Katz, co-owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaperReuters



Members of the Civil Defence rescue children after what activists said was an air strike by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the al-Shaar neighbourhood of Aleppo

Members of the Civil Defence rescue children after what activists said was an air strike by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the al-Shaar neighbourhood of AleppoReuters



A Ukrainian army volunteer from the Donbass region smokes a cigarette as he takes part in exercises at the Ukrainian National Guard shooting range near Novo-Petrictsi village, not far from Kiev

A Ukrainian army volunteer from the Donbass region smokes a cigarette as he takes part in exercises at the Ukrainian National Guard shooting range near Novo-Petrictsi village, not far from KievAFP



Semen Semenchenko, the commander of a Ukrainian army volunteer battalion from the Donbass region, speaks at the entrance to the Ukrainian National Guard shooting range

Semen Semenchenko, the commander of a Ukrainian army volunteer battalion from the Donbass region, speaks at the entrance to the Ukrainian National Guard shooting rangeAFP



A pro-Russia insurgent takes part in a firefight from the roof of an apartment building in Luhansk

A pro-Russia insurgent takes part in a firefight from the roof of an apartment building in LuhanskAFP



Indian police in Lucknow use a water cannon to stop demonstrators moving towards the office of the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, during a protest against the rape and hanging of two girls

Indian police in Lucknow use a water cannon to stop demonstrators moving towards the office of the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, during a protest against the rape and hanging of two girls



People wave Republican flags during an anti-royalist demonstration in Oviedo after Spain's King Juan Carlos said he would abdicate

People wave Republican flags during an anti-royalist demonstration in Oviedo after Spain's King Juan Carlos said he would abdicateReuters



Schoolgirls who escaped from Boko Haram arrive at Government House in Maiduguri. Governor Shettima met with 28 schoolgirls who reportedly escaped from Islamist abductors

Schoolgirls who escaped from Boko Haram arrive at Government House in Maiduguri. Governor Shettima met with 28 schoolgirls who reportedly escaped from Islamist abductorsAFP



People carry tombstones and coffins after the remains of six people who had disappeared on 2 June 1982 during the Guatemalan Civil War are returned to the community, at Pambach in the Alta Verapaz region. The skeletons were found during an archaeological investigation at the regional command headquarters of the Guatemalan Army

People carry tombstones and coffins after the remains of six people who had disappeared on 2 June 1982 during the Guatemalan Civil War are returned to the community, at Pambach in the Alta Verapaz region. The skeletons were found during an archaeological investigation at the regional command headquarters of the Guatemalan ArmyReuters



North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits the Pyongyang Orphanage to mark International Children's Day

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits the Pyongyang Orphanage to mark International Children's DayReuters



Chinese Paramilitary security force officers walk past couples near Tiananmen Square in Beijing ahead of the 25th anniversary of the massacre

Chinese Paramilitary security force officers walk past couples near Tiananmen Square in Beijing ahead of the 25th anniversary of the massacreGetty



An elderly Chinese man flexes his muscles as he performs a martial arts routine on the street in Beijing

An elderly Chinese man flexes his muscles as he performs a martial arts routine on the street in BeijingGetty



D-Day veteran Charles Wilson, 90, from Kentucky, poses on Utah beach in Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, Normandy. He landed on the beach on June 6, 1944 with the US army's 4th infantry division

D-Day veteran Charles Wilson, 90, from Kentucky, poses on Utah beach in Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, Normandy. He landed on the beach on June 6, 1944 with the US army's 4th infantry divisionAFP



Vera Hay, 92, who was a nurse in a field hospital shortly after D-Day, poses for a photograph in a Rolls Royce used by Field Marshal Montgomery during WW2. The car is parked outside Southwick House in Portsmouth, which in June 1944 was the headquarters of Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D Eisenhower

Vera Hay, 92, who was a nurse in a field hospital shortly after D-Day, poses for a photograph in a Rolls Royce used by Field Marshal Montgomery during WW2. The car is parked outside Southwick House in Portsmouth, which in June 1944 was the headquarters of Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D EisenhowerGetty