China eyes freer financial markets to boost yuan role
China, the world's second-largest economy, is looking to increase investment and competition in its financial and banking sectors.
On Tuesday, it almost tripled the amount that international fund managers can invest in China to $80bn (£50bn).
At the same time, Premier Wen Jiabao told China National Radio that the monopoly of state-owned banks needed to be broken.
The shift may boost growth and create a more international Chinese currency.
Analysts have long said that opening up its financial markets was key to Beijing's efforts of pushing the yuan as an alternative to the US dollar as a global reserve currency.
The Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) scheme is one of the main channels used by foreign firms to invest in Chinese financial markets.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission said raising the quota of the scheme was a step towards opening up the sector.
"The QFII programme enhances our experience of monitoring and regulating cross-board investment and capital flows," it said in a statement.
"It is a positive experiment to further open up the market and achieve the yuan convertibility under the capital account."
'Provide stability'
The move comes amid volatility in the Chinese stock markets.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index fell more than 20% last year. It has since seen a small revival, gaining almost 3% so far this year.
Analysts said the move to increase the quota for OFIIs was an attempt by the authorities to provide more stability to the markets.
"The longer term issue is about the structural health of China's stock markets," Stephen Joske of Australia Super, an institutional investor, told the BBC.
He explained that volatility in recent times had raised concerns about the impact of short-term and speculative investment in the markets.
"The hope is that allowing more foreign institutional investors, who are likely to have a more longer term approach, will provide stability to the markets."
'Far too easily'
In a further indication of Beijing's intent to loosen its grip on the tightly controlled financial sector, Premier Wen Jiabao hinted at allowing private investment in the country's banking sector.
The sector is dominated by the four big state-owned banks, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Agricultural bank of China.
However, Mr Wen said that their monopoly was hurting businesses in the country, as they had few options to raise capital.
"Frankly, our banks make profits far too easily. Why? Because a small number of major banks occupy a monopoly position, meaning one can only go to them for loans and capital," he was quoted as saying by the China National Radio.
"That's why right now, as we're dealing with the issue of getting private capital into the finance sector, essentially, that means we have to break up their monopoly."
Future growth
The lack of easy availability of capital has often been cited as threat to growth of small and medium sized businesses in China.
There have been fears that some of these businesses may turn to unofficial sectors for capital, increasing their borrowing costs substantially.
Analysts said that ensuring the sustainability of these businesses was key to China's growth.
"This is a time in China's economic history where future growth, and future jobs, depend heavily on small and medium enterprises and the private sector," said William Overholt of Harvard University.
Mr Overholt said growth of these businesses had been hurt by moves by China's central bank in the past to try to limit the amount of lending in the country. He added that the entry of private players was likely to create a more level playing field by helping them get more access to fresh capital.
"When you control inflation by high reserve ratios, what the banks do is cut off everybody but their biggest clients," he said.
"The financial system is strangling them."
Adele confirms she will release new music in 2012
Adele has told a French radio station she will have a new single out by the end of the year, but her next album will take "a good two years" to record.
The news will fuel speculation that the artist will record the theme tune to the latest Bond movie, Skyfall.
She has been the bookmakers' favourite since last year, but no official announcement has been made.
Speaking to France's NRJ, the singer added she needed to find time to write the follow-up to her hit record, 21.
"If I didn't write my own songs, I'd be out next week with a new album," she said.
"I have to take time and live a little bit. There were a good two years between my first and second albums, so it'll be the same this time."
Adele added that she was not worried about recreating the success of 21, which has now sold more than 20 million copies around the world.
"I don't think I'll feel the pressure for the next album to be as big as the last one because I know that's not really possible," she said.
"What's happened with this album is very rare anyway."
She said her ideal duet partner would be the late Etta James but she would also like to sing with Beyonce.
"I adore Beyonce, I've been listening to her since I was about 11," she told NRJ.
"I think her work as an artist and a singer is enviable in terms of the length of her career and how she's grown and grown but most of my inspirations are (from) old music and sadly they have all died."
Adele's second 21 recently overtook Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon in the list of best-selling UK albums.
The LP has now sold more than 4,142,000 copies in the singer's home country, making it the seventh biggest-selling album of all-time.
The singer from north London has enjoyed a stellar year with two Brit awards and six Grammy awards to her name.
Ashton Kutcher Dumps Rihanna
In Hollywood, relationships come and go like the wind.
The latest relationship to suffer this fate (if you even want to call it that) was Ashton Kutcher and Rihanna’s brief fling together.
When the papparazzi caught Rihanna sneaking out of Ashton’s house, that was the last straw for the actor.
According to an OK Magazine insider, once he found out that Rihanna’s visit to his house was made public he contacted her and told her that it was over.
Here’s the quote:
“When Rihanna arrives at his house she didn’t tell him she’d been photographed by paparazzi,” says the insider. “He was very specific that she check to make sure she wasn’t being followed, and the way he sees it, she either screwed up or — even worse — tipped the photographers off herself.”
Rihanna Wants to Portray Whitney Houston on the Big Screen
If the opportunity ever presented itself, Rihanna is hoping to make it known she would “love” the chance to play Whitney Houston in a biopic based on the singer’s life.
Opening up to The Press Association, Rihanna, 24, discussed her attachment to the legendary vocalist, who died tragically on February 11 at the age of 48.
“My first song that I remember falling love with was a Whitney Houston song: ‘I Will Always Love You,’” Rihanna shared. “It was really inspiring and it made me develop a passion for music, so really, she’s partly responsible for me being here in this industry.”
The “We Found Love” singer added she understands the type of commitment needed to undertake such a meaningful part.
“That would be something that I would have to give my entire life to do, because I would really want to pull it off,” Rihanna told reporters. “That’s a huge, huge role and whoever does it has to do a good job.”
Rihanna is slated to make her big screen debut next month when Battleship (also starring Alexander Skarsgard and Brooklyn Decker) hits theaters.
YAHOO News
Trump Won’t Bar Transsexual Beauty Queen From Shot at Miss Universe Canada Title
Jenna Talackova, the Canadian beauty queen, won’t have to fight Donald Trump for a chance to compete for the Miss Universe Canada title after all, even though she was born a he.
Talackova is everything you think of when you hear the words “beauty queen.” With her bright smile, flowing blonde hair and viciously long legs, you can’t deny she’s stunning.
But Talackova, 23, was first disqualified from the Miss Universe Canada competition because she was born a male, according to CTV. Talackova was originally selected as one of 65 finalists for the Donald Trump-owned competition and her profile and photos were pulled from the Miss Universe Canada website.
But the Trump organization has reversed its decision, announcing today that it won’t attempt to keep Talackova out of the contest.
“The Miss Universe Organization will allow Jenna Talackova to compete in the 2012 Miss Universe Canada pageant provided she meets the legal gender recognition requirements of Canada, and the standards established by other international competitions,” Michael D. Cohen, executive vice president and special counsel to Donald Trump, said in an email.
The Miss Universe Canada website states that to enter, women must be a Canadian citizen and between the ages of 18 and 27. If basic requirements are met, they are asked to fill out a longer application form. The form does not mention any rules against sexual reassignment surgery.
Talackova and her attorney, Gloria Allred, had scheduled a news conference for Tuesday in Los Angeles to discuss “why Jenna should be permitted to compete and what action [Allred] plans to take in the United States on behalf of Ms. Talackova if the Miss Universe Pageant refuses to change its discriminatory rule.”
The blonde beauty has not tried to hide her past. In a 2010 YouTube video for Miss International Queen, a transgender/transsexual competition in which Talackova was a contestant, she states that she began hormone therapy at age 14. At 19, she had sexual reassignment surgery.
A petition was started on Change.org asking Miss Universe Canada to “reverse the unfair disqualification of Jenna Talackova.” The petition was signed by tens of thousands of people.
Other fans have flocked to Facebook and Twitter to express their feelings over Talackova’s disqualification.
“Disgraceful. This is flat-out discrimination,” one fan commented on the Miss Universe Canada Facebook page.
“@JennaTalackova should NOT have been disqualified from @MissUniverse! Beautiful is beautiful. Down with discrimination,” one fan tweeted.
But reactions to Talackova’s story have been mixed.
“If she never stated on her application such detail, I support this decision,” one Facebook user posted to the Miss Universe Canada page.
This isn’t the first time a transgender woman has been disqualified from a competition. In 1976, Renèe Richards, a professional American tennis player who had sexual reassignment surgery to make her a woman, was denied entry into the U.S. Open by the United States Tennis Association unless she agreed to chromosomal testing. The USTA cited an unprecedented, women-born-women policy. Richards took her case to the New York Supreme Court, which ruled in her favor in 1977, allowing her to play as a woman.
The crown for Miss Universe Canada will be awarded May 19 in Toronto.
By Dean Schabner
YAHOO News
Hiccup for Beenie Man
DANCEHALL artiste Beenie Man’s performance on this evening BET’s 106 & Park will not happen. The Grammy-winning deejay was expected to perform Gunshot with hip-hop artiste Nicki Minaj.
The track is the first single on Nicki Minaj’s new album Pink Friday and was recorded at Anchor Recording Studio in St Andrew a few weeks ago.
Beenie Man, whose real name is Moses Davis, is the holder of a valid United States visa. However, he has no work permit, which is needed for this evening’s performance.
The artiste’s publicist Claude Mills told the Jamaica Observer that the deejay has no intention of violating his visa, so he will miss the performance.
“If he had gone ahead and performed on 106 and Park, it would have been a clear violation of his visa,” Mills said.
He said Beenie Man had been invited some time ago by Minaj’s team to perform on the show with her. His management team agreed, not knowing it would have posed a problem.
According to Mills, on Sunday, a visa consultant advised them on the issue.
“Whenever you do a live performance on BET or MTV, you are paid a performance royalty and that would be deemed work,” the publicist explained.
106 & Park has been a strong promotional avenue for Jamaican artistes looking to break into the mainstream media. Had Beenie Man performed on the show today, it would have been his third appearance.
In April 2010, the visas of several highprofile dancehall artistes including Beenie Man, Bounty Killer and Mavado were cancelled by the United States. No reason was given for the cancellations. Beenie Man was reissued a visitor’s visa the summer of the same year.
Beenie Man is currently working on his new album.
“He will be dropping some hot tracks and he also has some international collabs lined up for the album,” Mills said.
He is enjoying fair amount of airplay with the single Wine Wine which features Boom.
In 2001, Beenie Man won a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album with his effort Art and Life.
On Friday, the deejay will be in performance in Portland; two days later he will be in action at the Cran Wata Boston Jerk Festival. Easter Monday will see Beenie Man at the International Kite Festival in St Ann, then later on in the evening he is scheduled to perform in St Catherine at the Portmore Seafood Festival.
Jamaica Observer
Trinidad and Tobago launches 50th anniversary celebrations
Trinidad and Tobago Monday night launched activities to mark 50 years of political independence from Britain with Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar calling for a level of compromise as the country moves into the future.
In her address, Prime Minister Persad Bissessar recalled the political differences that emerged during the negotiations leading to the country’s independence from Britain in 1961.
“While the constitution negotiating process involved some resistance at home, in the end compromise in the interest of the greater national good triumphed,” she said, adding “compromise is not defeat nor is it surrender. In deciding the future of the people and of the country no one person or government can claim to have all the answers all the time. Compromise is a process of consultation.
“What is also important in compromise is that those in power to make the final decision must possess the will to take that decision and see it through courageously,” Persad-Bissessar said as she paid tribute to her five predecessors.
“Each prime minister faced their own challenges and each did what they felt was right,” she said, as she described following in the footsteps of the previous prime ministers as “standing on the shoulder of giants”.
But she told the audience that the best is yet to come for the oil rich twin-island republic.
“As we celebrate therefore we do so with confidence and renewed hope in the future. With the foundation we have and the dedication of all our citizens and renewed focus by all our people our nation now stands ready to lead by example.
“Our nation’s best days are still to come and together we will usher those days in,” Persad-Bissessar said.
A government statement said that Cabinet has approved a range of programmes and activities which will take place over the next four months through the Independence month of August and into December 2012.
It said that a number of free concerts will be held at the National Performing Arts (NAPA) with performances by some of the country’s internationally known performers.
Antigua Observer
Judge's appeal causes further delay in Cuban light bulb trial
THE Cuban Light Bulb case today suffered further delay in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court after it was disclosed that Presiding Magistrate Judith Pusey is appealing the recent judicial review which ruled that the Director of Public Prosecutions, Paula Llewellyn will not testify in the trial.
As a result Kern Spencer and his former assistant, Coleen Wright had their bails extended for them to return to court on June 8.
The high profile trial came to a halt in May last year after the DPP sought a judicial review, challenging the subpoena which was obtained by the defence. Defence attorneys wanted Llewellyn to give evidence about what transpired at a meeting that resulted in charges against then co-accused Rodney Chin being dropped and him becoming a prosecution witness.
Spencer and Wright, are charged with money laundering, fraud, corruption and conspiracy arising the distribution of free energy saving light bulbs which were donated by the Cuban Government.
Source--Jamaica Observer
Guatemala drugs: Zetas cartel suspect Overdick arrested
Guatemalan police have captured one of the country's most-wanted drug traffickers, the authorities say.
Horst Walther Overdick - known as "the Tiger" - was arrested at a property he owns outside Guatemala City.
He is accused of being a crucial ally of Mexico's notorious Zetas cartel, which has increased its influence in Guatemala in recent years.
President Otto Perez Molina described his arrest as "extremely important".
Security Minister Maurico Lopez said Mr Overdick had played an important role in helping the Zetas move into his home province of Alta Verapaz in northern Guatemala.
He is also wanted for extradition to the US on charges of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine.
Guatemala is an important transit point for South American cocaine smuggled north to the US, with Mexico's powerful drugs cartels increasingly involved.
In 2010 the government declared a state of emergency in Alta Verapaz to combat the rising power of the Zetas.
Former army general Otto Perez Molina was elected president last year after promising an "iron fist" approach to organised criminal gangs.
But since taking office he has also called for a debate on decriminalising drugs as a way of reducing violent crime.
Gonsalves: No sympathy for REDjet
Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves says he has no sympathy for the financial problems facing the Barbados-based low cost carrier, REDjet, adding that he was never informed as the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) lead prime minister on air transport of its operations in the Caribbean.
“Nobody in any country in CARICOM wrote me or told me about it. None of the countries where REDjet was servicing (informed me). None. The owners of REDjet did not come and see me and tell me what they were doing, so I interpreted that as there was no interest in having the CARICOM air transport spokesperson get involved in their business,” Gonsalves told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).
On Monday, a senior Barbados government minister said that efforts were being made to have the low-cost carrier resume operations within a two month period.
Trinidad and Tobago over the weekend announced that it had revoked the licences granted to the carrier that last month suspended its services to various regional destinations.
Billed as a low-cost, no-frills carrier initially offering fares as low as US$9.99, the privately-owned airline did not give specific reasons for the shutdown last month, but suggested that it was expecting state assistance to continue operations and blamed "subsidised" competitors for its troubles.
“REDjet is hopeful that we will be given a small part of the state assistance others receive, as it will allow us to get our recently approved and exciting new routes established and profitable. Once this happens our shareholders and staff will do their utmost to see that there is no return to high fares and business as usual”, the company said in a statement then.
But Gonsalves, who has renewed a call for a regional meeting on aviation, told CMC that he had no intention of getting involved in the any action to save the airline, adding “let me say this, REDjet is privately owned, Caribbean Airlines (CAL) is owned by the governments of Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, LIAT is owned by the governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
“The statement by REDjet that the market is not on a level footing...they are quite correct about that in one important respect and that is to say that CAL continues to receive substantial subsidies in fuel from the government of Trinidad and Tobago”.
--CMC