China Hesitant to Ease Yuan Control Amid Growth Slowdown

100 Yuan Bank Notes ChinaReuters

Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said his country will continue with its intervention in the yuan given the weakness of the economy and abnormal capital inflows.

"The US side has constantly raised the issue about whether intervention is still needed in our foreign exchange policy," Lou said at a press briefing on the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED).

"But for us, under the current situation, when the economy hasn't recovered fully and when cross-border capital flows are not completely normal, we'll continue."

The US has been demanding that China liberalise its currency policy and end its intervention in the currency market. Earlier in March, China widened its daily currency trading limits, as it signalled a gradual withdrawal from its regular intervention.

The latest comments by the Finance Minister hint that the country would not stop its intervention all of a sudden.

He noted that China has entered a stage of medium-to-high economic growth following years of high growth.

"Therefore the global economic recovery depends on the situation in the United States," Lou said.

He added that the Federal Reserve's orderly exit from its massive bond buyback scheme would cause fluctuations in developing markets including China. The so-called quantitative easing in the US is expected to come to an end later in 2013 in line with the stabilisation of the US economy along with improvements in its job market.

Due to the tapering, China has faced challenges in managing hot money inflows, according to Lou.

Indicating that China is flexible with its growth expectations, Lou said that the country's growth target of about 7.5% "isn't a floor". He added that the country has undertaken steps including faster infrastructure spending and tax cuts to boost economic growth.

In the first quarter, China's economy expanded 7.4% from last year – the slowest growth in six quarters. China is expected to report better growth rates for the second quarter next week.

Sunni Insurgents Stole Nuclear Materials from Mosul University, Iraq Tells UN

Shi'ite volunteers, who have joined the Iraqi army to fight against militants of the Islamic State which was formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis), march in the city of Kerbala, southwest of Baghdad.Reuters

Sunni insurgents have seized nuclear material used for scientific research at Mosul University, Iraq's UN Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim has said in a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

In the letter, obtained by Reuters, Alhakim has requested for help to "stave off the threat of their use by terrorists in Iraq or abroad."

Alhakim said Mosul University was housing almost 88 pounds of uranium for scientific research, adding that it "can be used in manufacturing weapons of mass destruction."

"Terrorist groups have seized control of nuclear material at the sites that came out of the control of the state."

“"Terrorist groups have seized control of nuclear material at the sites that came out of the control of the state."”

- Iraq's UN Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim

"These nuclear materials, despite the limited amounts mentioned, can enable terrorist groups, with the availability of the required expertise, to use it separate or in combination with other materials in its terrorist acts," said Alhakim.

Fears that Iraq was in possession of weapons of mass destruction helped spark the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Those tales proved to be unfounded. On Wednesday, US officials told Reuters they do not believe the substance reportedly seized by insurgents is weapons-grade. In order for the uranium to be used as a weapon, it needs to enriched, a heavily complicated process.

While Alhakim did not specify which group seized the stockpiles, the city of Mosul was taken over by a Sunni extremist group, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in June. Since then they have taken over several other cities in the country.

"The Republic of Iraq is notifying the international community of these dangerous developments and asking for help and the needed support to stave off the threat of their use by terrorists in Iraq or abroad," Alhakim wrote.

On Tuesday, a letter made public at the United Nations claimed that ISIS captured a facility near Baghdad stocked with sarin-filled rockets left over from the reign of Saddam Hussein.

The US, however, did not see it as a threat. "Whatever material was kept there is pretty old and not likely to be able to be accessed or used against anyone right now," US Defence Department spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told the New York Daily News.

Bahrain: Woman Charged With Smoking in the Day During Ramadan

The case throws up how smoking is frowned upon during Ramadan

A woman has been charged with insulting Ramadan as she smoked a cigarette during daylight hours while she was being questioned at Bahrain International Airport.

According to Gulf Daily News, the 32-year-old Egyptian woman, whose name was not disclosed, was stopped by the airport's officers who wanted to search her luggage.

As she refused, the officers escorted her to the lieutenant's office for questioning.

The woman allegedly insulted the lieutenant, knocked off his hat and then smoked a cigarette.

"I had a cigarette as I was not fasting because I was travelling," the woman said in her statement to prosecutors.

"I needed to travel back to my home country for Ramadan and I was late to board my flight.

"I accidentally knocked off the policeman's hat because I was waving my hands around trying to explain to him that I was late for my flight and that's why I did not want a thorough examination of my luggage."

As well as smoking a cigarette during daylight hours, the woman was also charged with insulting a police officer.

She was released on 500 Bahrain dinar (£775; $1326) bail by the Lower Criminal Court.

The trial was adjourned until 14 July.

Germany v Brazil, the Sex Tapes: PornHub Begs Users to Stop Uploading Humiliation Videos of World Cup Hosts

Public Humiliation: German players celebrate after Toni Kross scored their forth goal.Pornhub

Brazil suffered the greatest humiliation in football history when they lost 1-7 to the unrelenting machine that was Germany at the World Cup Semi-finals.

While some fans were left shocked by the whipping that the hosts received, other couldn't resist adding salt to the wound.

During the epic showdown, which saw Brazil completely dominated by the thrusting Germans, fans began flooding adult site Porn Hub with footage from the embarrassing game.

In one clip entitled 'Young Brazilians get f**ked by entire German soccer team' members of the German side are seen celebrating after Toni Kross scored the four goal.

The site later took to Twitter to plead with users to stop uploading the clips, while also addressing Brazil's' shambolic performance.

Please stop uploading the game highlights to Pornhub... Our public humiliation category is full. #BrazilvsGermany

— Pornhub Katie (@Pornhub) July 8, 2014

And the jokes about the defeat did not stop there.

Morning. Had the most amazing dream. England drew 0-0 with Brazil. Crazy. Off to see how Rio's taking to global humiliation shortly

— Paul Kelso (@pkelso) July 9, 2014

If you can't handle me at my Brazil, you definitely don't deserve me at my Germany.

— Barry Roux (@MrBarryRoux) July 9, 2014

I don't think Brazil fans will ever be drinking 7up again after what happened last night ?⚽️

— Benjamin James (@Officialben_) July 9, 2014

Meanwhile Brazil's annihilation , in the absence of key players Neymar da Silva Santos and Thiago Silva, was the most discussed single sports event in Twitter history, racking up over 35 million tweets, peaking at over 580,000 tweets per minute.

Islamic State Smuggling Operations Hurt Turkish Fuel Market

Men work at a makeshift oil refinery site in the Kurdish town of al-Qahtaniya of al-Hasakah Governorate, SyriaReuters

Fuel smuggled from rebel-controlled areas in Syria could slow the growth of Turkey's own fuel market by as much as 3%, BP Turkey manager Martin Thomsen has said.

"The smuggled fuel coming from Syria has begun to affect us adversely since the beginning of April," Thomsen told reporters.

"Fuel sales have remarkably dropped, particularly in southern provinces," he added.

Turkey's fuel market was expected to grow between 4% and 4.5% in 2014, but the rise of illicitly smuggled fuel from Syria to Turkey could shave 1.5 to 3 points from expectations, Thomsen said.

While the overall volume of fuel being smuggled from Syria to Turkey is almost impossible to track, Turkish daily Hurriyet reported that it has reached around 500,000 tons, citing industry sources.

Licensed distributors sell gasoline at 4.5 liras per litre, while the equivalent can be purchased at the Turkey-Syria border for 1.1 liras per litre, Thomsen said, adding that smuggled fuel has reached provinces far from Turkey's 559-mile border with Syria.

"The market has been affected in a triangle-shaped region up to Central Anatolia," he said.

Gas station operators in Turkey have held crisis meetings in which they have complained about the new source of cheap fuel reaching Turkey but the trade continues unabated.

While some groups have struck a deal to sell oil and fuel to the Syrian government, other fuel has been sold outside the country.

The Islamic State (IS) which is holding 49 Turks hostage, controls all of Syria's major oil fields after it seized the Tanak oil field in early July.

IS, formerly known as Isis, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, had previously seized control of the major al-Omar oil field in Syria, but smaller oil facilities remain in the hands of local tribesmen, a monitoring group reported.

India's GDP Growth Could Accelerate to About 6% This Year: Economic Survey

A labourer cuts iron rods at a construction site in Ahmedabad, India.Reuters

India's economy could grow six percent this year, a key report on the state of Asia's third largest economy showed.

The India Economic Survey, which was tabled in parliament by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, said GDP growth could hover between 5.4% and 5.9% in the financial year 2014-15, up from 4.7% in the preceding year.

However, the Survey warned that weak monsoon rainfall could restrict growth to 5.4% in the fiscal year 2014-15. The June-September monsoon accounts for 70% of India's rainfall and irrigates more than half its farmland.

The government report called for a simplified tax regime comprising a single-rate goods and services tax (GST), fewer exemptions in direct taxes and a transformation of tax administration.

The report, delivered a day before Jaitley presents his maiden budget in parliament, also stated that producer prices are expected to moderate by end-2014.

Lower inflation will persuade the nation's central bank to reduce interest rates, a move that will stimulate growth.

"India needs sharp fiscal correction ... Improvements on both tax and expenditure are needed to obtain high quality fiscal adjustment," the Survey noted.

"It is better to achieve fiscal consolidation partly through a higher tax-GDP ratio than merely through reduction in the expenditure to GDP ratio, in view of the large unmet development needs."

"Restoring economic freedom of farmers and allowing them to be part of a competitive national market is essential for controlling food inflation," it added.

Nirakar Pradhan, Chief Investment Officer at Future Generali India Life Insurance, said in a note: "The focus on fiscal consolidation and inflation shows the government's focus on the two main risks for the Indian economy.

"Going forward, if monsoon behaves, there will be nothing to worry about. 2014/15 GDP growth pegged between 5.4% to 5.9% is good, as it shows we will break the trend of sub-5% growth rate seen over the last [two] years. One should expect GDP growth to reach about 8% in the next [two] years."

The Indian economy expanded by 4.7% in the financial year 2013-14, the second consecutive year of sub-5% growth, resulting in the worst slowdown for more than 25 years.

Jakarta Governor Jokowi Claims Win in Disputed Indonesia Elections

A combination photograph shows Indonesian presidential candidates Joko "Jokowi" Widodo (L) voting in Jakarta and Prabowo Subianto voting in Bogor.Reuters

Jakarta governor Joko Widodo, nicknamed 'Jokowi,' has claimed victory in the Indonesian presidential elections based on preliminary results.

According to initial results from pollsters, which usually foresee the results accurately, Widodo has secured a little more than half of the votes against his opponent Prabowo Subianto, a former army general.

"We are thankful that according to the quick count announcements, until now, they show that Jokowi-JK [Jufuf Kalla] at this moment in the count have won," he told his jubilant supporters in Jakarta.

"I think that from the data, we can conclude that Jokowi-JK is likely to win this presidential election," said Phillips J Vermonte, a researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), according to the local daily Tempo. He said: "The main battle takes place in West and East Java."

The official results are expected to be announced only two weeks later.

Urging his supporters to carefully monitor the counting process which is undertaken by the General Election Commission (KPU), Jokowi said: "No one should spoil what the people want."

Meanwhile, the other presidential contender Prabowo has refused to concede defeat.

"Based on quick count results by polling institutions that we use as a benchmark, we have received a mandate from the people of Indonesia," Prabowo said in televised remarks.

"We ask our people to watch the counting in the voting booth. We have at least four survey institutions that clearly state we win," said Mohammed Mahmud, the mastermind behind Prabowo's campaign.

The recent election campaign has been one of the bitterest confrontations in Indonesia, the world's third largest democracy.

There were fears of clashes breaking out once the results emerge. However, there has been no sign of violence so far.

Outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who could not run for a third term, has urged both sides to accept the outcome of the elections.

China Expects US Pressure but Vows to Find Right Pace for Financial Reforms

China's Vice Premier Wang Yang and State Councillor Yang Jiechi share a toast with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry(Reuters)

China's Vice Premier has said Beijing needs to find the right pace to introduce financial reforms.

Speaking at annual high-level talks between the United States and China, Wang Yang said reforms would not be rushed.

"If reforms go too fast, we could be bogged down in details and make fatal mistakes in China's reforms and opening up. If it's too slow, China's reform process could be affected and the United States will put pressure" on China, he said, as quoted by Reuters news agency.

"How to quicken reforms when the time is right and slow down when needed is something we need to grasp in China's reform process and an issue to be resolved at the . We find a reasonable balance," he added.

High level delegates from the Obama administration including Secretary of State John Kerry, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz visited Beijing for the latest round of the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue.

Lew had earlier said that moving China's currency on to a market-determined exchange rate was a crucial step for Beijing.

The US has frequently accused the Chinese government of keeping the value of the yuan artificially low, in a bid to reduce the price of Chinese exports on global markets.

Lew had encouraged China to speed up reform of its exchange rate mechanism, Wang said.

The world's second largest economy recently introduced measures to allow banks to set their own exchange rates against the dollar in deals with clients. Prior to the change, the spread in banks' dollar-yuan purchasing and selling prices had been tightly regulated.

China is keen to increase the use of the yuan in international trade but Beijing would have to free up the currency to market demands.

India Gang Rape Victims: Bodies Exhumed for Fresh Autopsy

The mothers (centre) of the two gang-rape victims with villagers by the tree where they were found hangingGetty

The bodies of two teenage gang rape victims will be exhumed for a fresh autopsy.

Photographs of the two cousins, aged 14 and 15, hanging from a tree in Uttar Pradesh state caused an international outcry in May.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has decided to exhume the bodies of the victims after the initial autospy report from the state government was only suggestive of rape without conclusively proving it.

CBI officials have also conducted lie-detector tests on the accused, as well as the fathers of the two girls.

Three suspects have been held, along with two policemen who have been charged with dereliction of duty and criminal conspiracy.

The victims' families said officers took more than 12 hours to respond to reports of their disappearance on the evening of 27 May.

The girls, who belonged to a low caste, went missing from the Badaun district after they went outside to relieve themselves as they did not have a toilet at home.

Their dead bodies were found the following day. The initial post-mortem examination revealed multiple sexual assaults and death due to hanging.

The victims' families say it took police a long time to search for the girls because they were from a low caste.

It is commonly known deep divisions exist between India's castes and violence is often used by upper castes to instill fear in their lower counterparts.

Rape is one of the most common crimes in India. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, 25,000 rape cases were reported in 2012, of which 24,470 were committed by a relative or neighbour.

Brics to Launch New Development Bank at Brazil Summit

Brics to launch development bank

Leaders from the Brics countries will launch a new development bank next week, according to Russian Foreign Minister Anton Siluanov.

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa first proposed a new bank in 2012, to finance infrastructure projects but disagreements over funding and location have held back its launch.

The headquarters of the bank are yet to be decided, with Shanghai and New Delhi the two candidates, Siluanov told reporters.

"The headquarters issue will be decided on the level of the heads of the countries," he said.

Leaders from the Brics are due to meet in Fortaleza, Brazil for a two-day summit on July 15-16.

Funding the new bank has been a major issue for the group. The Russian minister said the capitalisation would be split equally between the partners, with an initial $10bn cash total over seven years and $40bn in guarantees.

That $50bn will eventually be doubled and will allow the bank to begin lending by 2016, he added.

The bank's eventual launch will mark a breakthrough for the Brics after a turbulent period for the world's most rapidly emerging economies, marked by capital flight sparked by the withdrawal of monetary stimulus by the United States Federal Reserve.

Russia's economy has been squeezed doubly hard as the US and the European Union imposed economic sanctions after Moscow annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea from its neighbour in March.

The Western allies have threatened to impose further sanctions on Russia if Moscow does not take steps to ease the crisis in eastern Ukraine, where armed pro-Russian separatists continue to occupy government buildings.

While the new bank will be open to other member states from the United Nations, the Brics' share will not decline below 55%, Siluanov told reporters, adding that the bank's first five-year chairmanship was still to be decided.

Brics leaders are also set to sign an initial agreement on a new $100bn fund to be used on foreign exchange markets.

"We have reached an agreement that, in current conditions of capital volatility, it is important for our countries to have this buffer in addition to the International Monetary Fund," Siluanov said.

However the blueprint deal due to be signed in Brazil would not consist of direct commitments, which would come later.

Brazil vs Germany: Brazilian Fans Mourn 1-7 Semi-Final Drubbing

A Brazil fan cries as she watches the 2014 World Cup semi-final between Brazil and Germany at a fan area in BrasiliaReuters

Brazilian football fans are yet to recover from the shocking 1-7 defeat of the host nation in the World Cup semi-final.

With the Brazilian press heaping scorn on the team with headlines such as 'historic humiliation' and 'catastrophic suffering,' and internet memes poking fun, the host nation's drubbing is set to haunt the fans in the years to come.

Hundreds of Brazilian fans left the Belo Horizonte's Mineirao stadium after the first half of the match which saw the Germans scoring five goals. Many fans tore up their tickets as they streamed out of the stadium while several others who gathered in various other cities to watch the match burnt Brazilian flags.

The stunning rout caused tears to stream down from the eyes of die-hard Brazilian fans of all ages, from young boys to elderly women, smudging the Brazil colours painted on their faces.

Those fans who had come to watch the match at bars and restaurants drowned their misery in beer.

"I couldn't believe my eyes! It was like the game was on replay. I'm feeling disappointed, sad, but more than anything I'm feeling embarrassed. It was embarrassing to watch," 67-year old Valerie Mazure told Associated Press.

Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who owned up to the team's wretched performance on the field, said: "My message is for the Brazilian people and to Brazilian fans. Please forgive us for this negative mistake. I am sorry we weren't able to get to the final. This is a catastrophic, terrible loss, the worst loss. We have to deal with that."

Scolari, the much worshipped football coach who led the country to the title in 2002 against Germany in the finals, would likely be remembered for the 2014 thrashing.

"Like many Brazilians, I'm very, very sad because of this defeat. I'm immensely sorry for all of us, our fans and players. But let's not let ourselves give up. Brazil, get up, dust yourself off and bounce back," Dilma Rouseff wrote on her twitter account after the match.

The Latin American country spent billions of dollars to host the Fifa event this year, sparking widespread protests.

No violence has been reported so far, though a rout of this scale was expected to ignite riots and security personnel were deployed across the country after the match.