Suicide car bomb kills 5 in bar district of north Nigeria’s Kano |
- Suicide car bomb kills 5 in bar district of north Nigeria’s Kano
- Asian stocks drop while ringgit climbs; nickel extends rebound
- China forgets its history in territorial disputes — James Gibney
- Rooney slams ‘disgusting’ press
- Music albums mark their anniversary since 1964
- Jakarta jubilant as nickel soars, China plans smelters
| Suicide car bomb kills 5 in bar district of north Nigeria’s Kano Posted: 18 May 2014 05:54 PM PDT
Kano police spokesman Musa Majiya said the bomber struck Gold Coast Street in the Sabon Gari or "foreign quarter" of the North's biggest city. "I heard a loud blast. And there was a lot of smoke. Soldiers came in to cordon off the place and ambulances were rushing people to hospital," witnessAbdul Dafar, who lives a block away from the blast, said, adding that he had seen four dead bodies in the aftermath. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but blame is likely to fall on violent Islamist group Boko Haram, whose struggle against the Nigerian state has killed thousands over the last five years. The militants also operate in neighbouring Niger, Cameroon and Chad, and President Goodluck Jonathan described them as West Africa's al-Qaeda on Saturday in Paris, where regional leaders met France's President Francois Hollande to discuss how to tackle the growing threat posed by the group. The Islamists grabbed world headlines with abduction of more than 200 school girls a month ago from a remote village in the northeast. Britain, the United States and France have pledged to help rescue them. Boko Haram has frequently attacked Sabon Gari, whose liquor stores are also a cause of friction with Kano's Islamic police. The area has for decades housed ethnic Igbo traders from the South, who are predominantly Christian. Nigeria's population of 170 million is split roughly evenly between Christians and Muslims. Multiple bomb blasts in Sabon Gari killed at least 15 people in July and an attack on a bus station there in March 2013 killed 25. The focus of Boko Haram's insurgency is on the northeast border area with Cameroon, where it has repeatedly attacked military outposts and massacred villagers with growing ferocity. But two bombs on the outskirts of the capital Abuja last month that killed 105 people between them showed the Islamists can strike across north and central Nigeria. Boko Haram is now seen as the main security threat to Africa's biggest economy and top oil producer, although it has so far spared the commercial hub of Lagos and the oil fields in the South. Outrage over Boko Haram's kidnapping of the school girls has prompted Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, criticised at home for his government's slow response to the crisis, to accept US, British and French help in the hunt for the girls. US officials have said the effort to retrieve the kidnapped girls is now a top priority. But it has been complicated by Nigeria's early reluctance to accept assistance and US rules banning aid to forces that commit human rights abuses. ― Reuters  |
| Asian stocks drop while ringgit climbs; nickel extends rebound Posted: 18 May 2014 05:48 PM PDT
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.2 per cent by 9:22 am. in Tokyo, with the S&P/ASX 200 Index in Sydney and Seoul's Kospi gauge down at least 0.4 per cent. Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures rose 0.1 per cent after the gauge halted a two-day drop May 16. The ringgit climbed for the first time in three days, adding 0.4 per cent. Nickel rose 0.8 per cent after slipping 4.4 per cent last week, and copper gained 0.4 per cent. Gold and silver lost at least 0.1 per cent after rising last week. China's housing-market slowdown is spreading, according to data issued yesterday, with prices rising in the fewest cities in 1 1/2 years. The government plans to evacuate citizens from Vietnam amid violent protests and damage to factories there, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported. Thailand reports quarterly gross domestic product data today, amid a political vacuum after the ouster of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Malaysia posted the fastest economic growth in five quarters. "Data out of China's real-estate sector continues to worsen," Sharon Zollner, a senior economist in Auckland at ANZ Bank New Zealand Ltd. wrote in a client note today. "A property slowdown has long been desired by the authorities, but there is a risk this train could overrun the station." Japanese indexes Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.2 per cent while the broader Topix measure was little changed. New Zealand's NZX 50 Index lost less than 0.1 per cent. The ringgit appreciated to 3.2230 per dollar, while Thailand's baht was little changed at 32.385 a dollar. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg predict data today will show the Thai economy contracted in the first three months of the year from the previous quarter. One-month non-deliverable forwards on India's rupee weakened 0.2 per cent today to 59.01 per dollar after the currency reached an 11-month high May 16. The rupee surged as an opposition bloc led by Narendra Modi unseated the Congress Party in national elections. Nickel climbed to US$19,174 (RM61,864) a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange, while copper rose to US$6,885.50 a ton. Nickel rose for the first time in three days in London May 16, cutting its weekly decline to 4.4 per cent after rallying nine per cent the previous week. Macquarie Group Ltd says demand for the metal will exceed production for the next five years as consumers seek to replace supply from Indonesia, which banned ore exports in January. Russia is also the world's second-biggest producer of refined nickel. Gold fell 0.1 per cent to US$1,292.06 an ounce after climbing 0.4 per cent last week. Silver dropped 0.2 per cent to US$19.3415 an ounce following last week's 1.1 per cent jump. — Bloomberg |
| China forgets its history in territorial disputes — James Gibney Posted: 18 May 2014 05:40 PM PDT MAY 19 — For all China's stern injunctions to Japan to remember wartime history, its bumbling aggression in Southeast Asia suggests it also could use a refresher course. The arrival of a Chinese oil rig in waters claimed by both China and Vietnam is a case in point. Demonstrations in Vietnam over China's bullying deteriorated into a series of attacks by Vietnamese on foreign businesses, many run by Taiwanese with Chinese workers, that resulted in two dead and scores injured. China, of all countries, should know better. In the decades before World War II, it suffered territorial incursions and economic depredations at the hands of Japan. These, in turn, sparked widespread popular protests and economic boycotts. One of the most severe reactions came after Japan's promulgation of its "21 Demands" in January 1915. Capitalising on its status as one of the Allied powers in World War I, which enabled its takeover of Germany's territorial holdings on China's Shandong peninsula, Japan browbeat China into granting it de facto control over swathes of Chinese territory and valuable railway and mining concessions. Although China's government went along to avoid war, the Chinese people responded with demonstrations, strikes and boycotts. As the historian Odd Arne Westad writes, "The Twenty-One Demands became a watershed in Sino-Japanese relations. To many Chinese they symbolised an aggressive Japan that had become the main threat to China's independence." Even more galling to many Chinese was the Versailles Treaty's ratification of Japan's control of the Shandong Peninsula in 1919. That sparked not only more protests and a major national boycott but the birth of the May Fourth Movement, a larger attempt by students, intellectuals and disaffected Chinese government officials to create a new national consciousness. As one student manifesto of the time put it, "China's territory may be conquered, but it cannot be given away." Fear of Japan became one of the strongest animating forces of Chinese nationalism, even as Japan's trade and investment ties with China, and with other countries in Asia, grew. There are other historical similarities between Japan's pre-war behaviour and China's attitude toward its territorial disputes with five of its Southeast Asian neighbours. The maximalism of China's infamous "cow's tongue" claim to the entire South China Sea today is reminiscent of Japan's over-reaching 21 Demands. China's insistence on bilateral negotiations over territory, where size gives it maximal advantage, mirrors Japan's efforts to isolate China diplomatically. Like thinkers in prewar Japan who had their own version of an Asian "Monroe Doctrine," strategists in 21st century China hope to displace US naval forces from the Pacific. And the belligerence of China's public commentary on territorial disputes echoes the tone of Imperial Japan's pronouncements about China's unwillingness to grant Japan its place in the sun — even if the Chinese have been less grandiloquent about it. Whereas Japan painted itself as a "modern" country especially equipped to play by Western rules to dominate Asia, China's leaders are more apt to argue, as its foreign minister did to his Southeast Asian peers in 2010, "China is a big country, and other countries are small countries, and that's just a fact." The outcome of such attitudes will likely be the same, too: nationalist outbursts in the countries China seeks to intimidate, which in turn could increase the risks of miscalculation and hostilities. At a Chinese Foreign Ministry briefing the day after the Vietnamese riots, a spokeswoman chided Vietnam for not doing more to stop the mayhem. Without missing a beat, she then turned to the subject of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's increasingly assertive foreign policy, urging Japan "to earnestly face up to and reflect upon its history, respect the legitimate and reasonable security concerns of regional countries, pursue a peaceful development path and play a constructive role in maintaining regional peace and stability." Historical wisdom begins at home, Chairman Xi Jinping. —Bloomberg View *This is the personal opinion of the columnist. |
| Rooney slams ‘disgusting’ press Posted: 18 May 2014 05:40 PM PDT
Manchester United striker Rooney has gone to Portugal, where England are due to hold a pre-World Cup training camp, with his wife and two sons, as well as a couple of fitness experts in a bid to recover from the groin strain that saw him miss the final three matches of the Premiership season. On his Twitter feed, Rooney wrote on Sunday: "Disgusting that English press have flew out to Portugal to follow me while I'm with my children." But the fact Rooney ― who last played for United on April 26 ― is in Portugal for rehabilitation work, as well as a family holiday, will be used by the British media to argue that his time there, in addition to that the England squad will spend in the country ahead of the World Cup finals in Brazil, is a subject of legitimate interest. Further complicating the situation is that, while in Portugal, the England forward has posted videos of himself exercising with his son, Kai. Rooney has also authorised the publication of a photograph of Kai wearing an England shirt on Twitter. ― AFP |
| Music albums mark their anniversary since 1964 Posted: 18 May 2014 05:38 PM PDT
No, we're talking about classic albums that are celebrating key anniversaries this year: For instance, did you know that Madonna's Like A Virgin is celebrating its 30 anniversary, as is Depeche Mode's Some Great Reward? At any rate, we look at our favourite albums marking milestones this year. 50 years ago: 1964 The swinging '60s, was going into full swing. The British Invasion was a roaring success: The Rolling Stones , The Kinks, The Swinging Blue Jeans, The Yardbirds, The Dave Clark Five, The Searchers and more all stormed into the United States, even as America's home grown R&B artistes were holding their own, with Sam Cooke, The Supremes, The Ronettes, The Temptations, Dionne Warwick all gave the Brit bands a run for their money. The year also saw a new music style coming into bloom. The Stan Getz-Joao Gilberto album, Getz/Gilberto, helped fuel the bossa nova craze in the US and internationally. Notably, it featured Antonio Carlos Jobim on piano, who wrote most of the songs on the album; and Astrud Gilberto, who sang on The Girl From Ipanema and Corcovado, and whose career saw a boost after this album. The album became one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time, winning Grammy Awards for Best Album of the Year, Best Jazz Instrumental Album — Individual or Group and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. The Girl From Ipanema also won the Grammy for Record of the Year. It was the first time a jazz album received the Album of the Year gong (and it would be the last to do so — until Herbie Hancock's 2008 effort River: The Joni Letters). But 1964 belonged to one band from Liverpool. Can anyone say Beatles? That was the year The Beatles took the top five positions on the United States' singles charts; appeared in their debut movie, A Hard Day's Night; and had five albums released on both sides of the Atlantic - A Hard Day's Night, Beatles For Sale, Meet The Beatles, Beatles 65 and Something New (seven, if you count the movie soundtrack by United Artists and the documentary album, The Beatles' Story). But it was A Hard Day's Night that really encapsulated what the swinging '60s was all about. It was more than just a soundtrack for their movie; it was the soundtrack for the year. Filled with bright jangly pop songs (with a brace of ballads thrown in for good measure – And I Love Her, If I Fell), the album is the only one The Fab Four ever released that's filled only with Lennon-McCartney compositions. 40 years ago: 1974 It seems like 1974 was quite a rockin' year. Where do we start? How about alphabetically, with Bad Company's eponymous album? Containing rock classics such as Ready For Love, Can't Get Enough and Rock Steady, if there's one Bad Company album you ought to own, this would be it. Then there's David Bowie, who retired his Ziggy Stardust persona in 1973, and came up with Diamond Dogs, a concept album of sorts that incorporated shades of George Orwell's 1984 — with glam-rock bent. Ziggy's influence was still very much alive, as heard on the track, Rebel Rebel; and Bowie experimented with different styles, such as a song suite, Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (Reprise), and shades of what would be end up being his "plastic soul" phase. 1974 was also a pivotal year for Eric Clapton, who released 461 Ocean Boulevard, his "comeback" album of sorts. This was the first solo studio album after overcoming his heroin addiction. Given a demo tape by former Derek And The Dominoes bassist Carl Radle, Clapton was inspired to head back to the studio again. He formed a band and found himself in Florida — yes, in a house at 461 Ocean Boulevard — where they recorded among other tracks, a cover of Bob Marley's I Shot The Sheriff. Interestingly, Clapton didn't want to include that song on the album, as it had been released by Marley only the year before. However, the other members of the band persuaded him to leave it in. I Shot The Sheriff was eventually released as a single and became Clapton's only chart-topper on the Billboard Hot 100. Rockers Queen offered two albums that year, Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack. Although the former has since become a cult favourite, the sheer force of Sheer Heart Attack broke Queen into the mainstream. With songs like Killer Queen, Stone Cold Crazy and Now I'm Here, Queen built on what would eventually become their trademark — albeit a very fluid and constantly evolving trademark — sound: Multi-layered overdubs, vocal harmonies and varied musical styles. And let's not forget alternative favourite Big Star's Radio City. Though not a commercial success at the time, it has since been hailed a milestone album in the history of power pop music. The album included September Gurls and Back Of A Car, which remain among the most famous Big Star songs.Radio City has grown since its release, with many critics and listeners positing that it is not only the definitive power-pop album but one of the finest rock-music albums. 30 years ago: 1984 If there was one phrase that could describe the music of 1984, it would be "all over the place". From New Wave to synth-pop to metal to soul-funk to good ol' hard-edged rock, 1984 saw a proliferation of music that was hard to beat. Incidentally, All Over The Place also happens to be the title of The Bangles' debut album. The band — sister s Vicki and Debbie Peterson, Susanna Hoffs and Michael Steele — had already gained success being part of Los Angeles' Paisley Underground scene but they really took off with this album. The album featured a lovely blend of Beatles/Beach Boys/Byrds/Big Star musical sensibilities, heard on songs like Hero Takes A Fall, Going Down To Liverpool and Dover Beach, quite possibly the best track on the album. All Over The Place captured The Bangles ' '60s-influenced roots as well as paved the way for the band's future. The Bangles also had a fan in Prince, who contributed Manic Monday to their next album. However, in 1984, Prince, together with his band, The Revolution, scored the biggest hit of the year with Purple Rain. The soundtrack for the film of the same name, the album was propelled by its soaring eight-minute ballad of a title track (complete with a blitzing guitar solo), as well as beat-driven funked-up numbers like When Doves Cry and Let's Go Crazy. Despite its short tracklist — there are only nine songs — the album went on to become one of the biggest albums of all time. Dance-pop diva-dom was truly born with Madonna's Like A Virgin. Fuelled by singles Material Girl, Angel, Dress You Up and the title track, this sophomore effort by Madge had the word "mega-hit" written all over it, and, thanks to the accompanying music videos, turned Madonna into a fashion icon as well. Rockers Van Halen and Scorpions showed that hard rock wasn't going to roll over in the face of new musical trends. Scorpions struck with Love At First Sting, noted for two of the band's biggest hits ever — Rock You Like A Hurricane and Still Loving You. Van Halen put out 1984, the final album with all four original members, which proffered singles like Hot For Teacher (with its racy music video) and the punchy No 1 single, Jump, which features one of Eddie Van Halen's most recognisable keyboard riffs ever. Working class hero Bruce Springsteen also scored with his effort, Born In The USA, which looked at shades of American life. Almost every song is a veritable gem — Glory Days, I'm Going Down, Downbound Train, No Surrender, I'm On Fire — but the two songs that bagged headlines were the pop ditty, Dancing In The Dark, noted for featuring a then-unknown Courtney Cox in the music video and being his biggest hit to date; and the crunching title track, which is often misinterpreted to be a passionate nationalistic anthem. Across the Atlantic, working class Irish rockers U2 were discovering a new sound. The Unforgettable Fire would mark a transition from their familiar post-punk rock to atmospheric musical textures. Haunting tracks such as A Sort Of Homecoming and Bad — anchored by The Edge's echo-drenched guitar and Mullen's distinct percussive style — would signal the band's new musical intentions, even as they churned out hard-hitting hits like Pride (In The Name Of Love). The indie/alternative scene was picking up steam, with laudable efforts from the likes of The Smiths (Hatful Of Hollow), The Cure (The Top), Echo And The Bunnymen (Ocean Rain), Depeche Mode (Some Great Reward) and Nick Cave (From Her To Eternity), but the one album that stood out was Stop Making Sense by Talking Heads. Like Purple Rain, it was a soundtrack, but although the original release features only nine of the songs from the movie, many of them edited, Stop Making Sense still spent a whopping 118 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart. Make sense of that. 20 years ago: 1994 You could say that 1994 was the year where the alternative really became the mainstream. Weezer's debut album had a happy-sad vibe, thanks to songs like Undone-The Sweater Song and Buddy Holly. Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral, a concept album that looked a man's descent into his own psychosis, was led by the brutally lovely — but controversial, thanks to the disturbing music video — tune, Closer. At the same time, the American rock of that era, often termed "grunge", was being fortified by the likes of Pearl Jam (Vitalogy), The Offspring (Smash), Soundgarden (Superunknown), Green Day (Dookie), Live (Throwing Copper), Stone Temple Pilots (Purple) and Alice In Chains (Jar Of Flies). Rap and hip-hop were also taking over the airwaves, with Beastie Boys and Nas leading the way. Curiously both released albums with the word "ill": Nas had Illmatic, while Beastie Boys gave us Ill Communication. The terms "emo" and "Britpop" became buzzwords. The first is wonderfully captured in Jeff Buckley's Grace. The only complete studio album by Buckley, it initially had poor sales (peaking at No 149 in the US), but it gradually acquired critical and popular acclaim, and often lands in many "best album" lists. (It was announced in April this year that Buckley's performance of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah would be inducted into the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry in America.) Britpop began with two of the coolest albums that year: Parklife by Blur and Definitely Maybe by Oasis. The incredibly perky Blur album, bearing shades of the Madchester scene (heard in songs like Girls & Boys, End Of A Century and Parklife) stands in stark contrast with the gritty Oasis offering – featuring tracks such as Cigarettes & Alcohol, Rock 'n' Roll Star and Shakermaker — but both are gleaming examples all the same. 10 years ago: 2004 Two things marked the music scene of 2004: Pumpy indie-style music that fused pop and dance elements, and emo-ridden heart-on-sleeve offerings by singer-songwriters. Nothing captured the former more than The Killers' Hot Fuss. Songs like Mr Brightside, Somebody Told Me and All The Things I've Done were brilliant examples of how Brendan Flowers and gang made party-pop work: Blend the percolating style of Blur 10 years earlier, combined with a touch of the edge that Oasis brought. Other bands would try that formula to varying degrees of success — Franz Ferdinand, The Libertines, Kasabian — but Hot Fuss was head and shoulders above the rest. Meanwhile, solo singer-songwriters were giving bands a run for their money with their heartfelt tunes that spanned the genres, whether it was the gritty A Grand Don't Come For Free by The Streets or the decidedly poppy The Sound Of White by Missy Higgins. But one man managed to capture that whole vibe with one song: You're Beautiful. Off his Back To Bedlam album, ex-soldier James Blunt took the world by storm with his lilting voice and musical narrative of not being able to be with the one you want. ― todayonline.com |
| Jakarta jubilant as nickel soars, China plans smelters Posted: 18 May 2014 05:37 PM PDT
But in the case of nickel, at least, Indonesia is proving its doubters wrong as the price of the metal soars and Chinese producers starved of raw material begin to ship equipment for processing plants to the Southeast Asian nation. Just four months after a ban on ore exports, one smelter is under construction and equipment for two others has been shipped from China to Indonesia, including a dismantled blast furnace, industry sources told Reuters. At least two other firms plan to start construction of processing plants by year-end or shortly after, amid fears that China's nickel-pig iron industry is running out of raw material. "It's been a success," Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik told Reuters. One Chinese firm that told Reuters it expected to start production by year-end at the earliest said the smelter would produce nickel pig iron with four per cent metal content, which then would be shipped back to China for production of higher value grades with 10-15 per cent metal. Analysts say new plants on the drawing board mean Indonesia's nickel production could triple by end-2016, with investors starting to believe that Jakarta will hold the line on its ban despite past policy flip-flops. Indonesia, the world's biggest nickel ore exporter before the ban, has traditionally shipped thousands of tonnes of ore to customers such as China, who turn it into alloys such as nickel pig iron, a key ingredient in stainless steel. January's ban on nickel ore exports aimed to create a local processing industry, with Jakarta effectively foregoing US$1.5 billion (RM4.8 billion) of ore shipments a year to move up the value chain. Early market reaction was muted as traders eyed large stockpiles built up in China and Japan and raised doubts that Indonesia would stick to its plan. But nickel prices have since shot up as much as 50 per cent as nickel pig iron and ferro-nickel producers fretted about longer-term shortages. "I think people are starting to believe that the ban will stick in place," said Andrew Mitchell, principal nickel analyst for Wood Mackenzie in London Price impact The surge in nickel prices has benefited nickel producers worldwide, but is also helping to cushion the impact of the ore ban on Indonesia's export earnings. Increased earnings for local producers PT Vale Indonesia and PT Aneka Tambang (Antam), who already operate nickel refineries, could offset about half of the lost export revenue from nickel ore exports, says Macquarie. At current prices, it estimates Indonesia will recover roughly half of the US$1.5 billion it earned last year from sales of 585,000 tonnes of nickel in ore, but for less than a quarter of the same reserves. "If they persist with the ban, the nickel price could hit 30,000 a tonne," said Macquarie's Jim Lennon in London. "It always was a smart idea - the trick was to get people to invest." Indonesia says three nickel pig iron plants have been registered for exports, but has not given details, with several more expected to be completed by the end of the year. "Nickel prices now are how much, US$21,000? At the end of last year they were still US$13,000. So, build those smelters quickly," Coal and Minerals Director General Sukhyar told reporters last week. Under construction At the vanguard, Sulawesi Mining Investment, a joint venture between China's second largest stainless steel company Tsingshan and Indonesi a's PT Bintang Delapan Group, is building what will be one of the biggest plants in the country, having starting planning after Jakarta first flagged the new rule in 2009. The project, partly funded by a US$384 million loan from China's policy lender State Development Bank, will produce 300,000 tonnes of ferro-nickel inIndonesia's Morowali county. Minerals consultancy CRU estimates there will be six or seven plants under construction by the end of 2014 and is following 20 projects, with most expected to be smaller blast furnace type operations, said Beijing-based analyst Peter Peng. Many of the planned smelters will pair local Indonesian firms with Chinese backers. "Everybody had thought these NPI projects would take a fair amount of time but it looks like some of them may be built faster than expected and at least one or two should be ready next year," said Shanghai-based Citi analyst Ivan Szpakowski. A second firm, China Hanking Holdings, said it has shipped some equipment to Indonesia for a planned smelter and hopes to win a nickel ore export licence once Indonesia authorities see its smelter plans are serious. "We haven't started the commencement of any construction yet," a spokesman said. "The reason why we're shipping equipment there is to show the government we are really sincerely looking forward to cooperating with them." A third firm, Ibris Nickel expects to partner with a Chinese firm to build a plant, with the first phase of production scheduled for the second half of 2015, two sources said. Consultancy Wood MacKenzie expects about 16,500 tonnes of processing capacity to be completed this year climbing to 190,000 tonnes of nickel capacity by the end of 2016. This would add to 100,000 tonnes of sales expected by existing producers at the end of this year, although Mitchell cautioned it was "very difficult to really be certain exactly what the actual stage of development is." But Indonesia's actions had the full support of traders and nickel miners, forty per cent of whom were losing money six months ago, analysts said. "The bottom line is, if it is reversed, it's game over for nickel and for investments in smelters in Indonesia," Mitchell said. — Reuters |
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