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Lunes, Enero 30, 2012

Caution rules ahead of EU Summit, Greek deal

The euro edged back from six-week highs and global stocks were lower.

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The euro edged back from six-week highs and global stocks were lower on Monday as investors turned cautious after US growth figures on Friday that fell just short of expectations and ahead of more crisis talks among EU leaders.

The lack of concrete progress in Greek debt talks, which officials have said are on the verge of a deal, kept markets on edge and for the single currency there was an element of profit-taking after its strongest week in more than three months.

The Greek deal is needed before agreement can be reached on a second bailout package which Greece needs to meet a 14.5 billion euro repayment on its debt due in mid-March. Otherwise Athens faces a messy default that could reverberate through European and world markets.

“It is all pretty negative, Greece is still trying to get a deal and there are worries about contagion,” said Joe Rundle, head of trading at ETX Capital.

“Euro zone leaders still need to come up with a solution and all the negative news is not good for consumer confidence and could lead to a snowball effect, spending could slow down and hit company earnings.”

The euro was down about 0.4 percent to $1.3160, after climbing to $1.3235 on Friday - its highest level since mid-December. But new data showed currency speculators have raised their net euro short positions - bets on the currency falling - to a fifth straight record high in the week ended Jan. 24.

European stocks opened down around 0.4 percent 1036.06 though they remain up over three percent for the year to date on hopes an economic slowdown will be milder than expected. Financial stocks were among the early losers with Europe STOXX 600 bank index down around 1.5 percent.

In a further reminder of the euro zone's problems, Fitch downgraded the sovereign credit ratings of Italy, Belgium, Cyprus, Slovenia and Spain on Friday, indicating there was a 1-in-2 chance of further cuts in the next two years.

Against this backdrop, Italy will auction up to 8 billion euros of debt in the five and 10-year sectors, the first significant test of demand for these longer-dated securities this year.

Italy needs foreign investors to help it refinance some 90 billion euros of bonds falling due between February and April.

Its 10-year bond yields have been falling, in part due to the extra liquidity provided to the banking system by the European Central Bank, and are currently under six percent

German government bond futures, used by investors as a safe haven in the crisis, were up slightly awaiting the outcome of the EU leaders' summit with the front month contract up 39 ticks on the day at 139.28. - Reuters

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/caution-rules-ahead-of-eu-summit-greek-deal-1.1223012

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Six Nations 2012 preview: Robert Kitson on France's chances ? video

Can world class players such as Dimitri Yachvili, Imanol Harinordoquy and captain Thierry Dusautoir inspire France to improve on last year's second position?

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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/video/2012/jan/30/six-nations-preview-france-video

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Bolton and Crystal Palace 'way apart in valuation' of Wilfried Zaha

? Owen Coyle confirms Bolton have had offer rejected
? 19-year-old winger has impressed for Palace this season

A verbal offer from Bolton Wanderers for Crystal Palace's highly rated winger Wilfried Zaha has been rejected out of hand by the Championship club.

The Bolton manager, Owen Coyle, confirmed on Monday that a bid had been lodged that he deemed to be "fair" for the 19-year-old, who has scored five goals in 32 appearances this term and impressed as Palace reached the semi-finals of the Carling Cup.

Yet Zaha, a product of the London club's academy who has also attracted interest from Liverpool and Newcastle United, recently signed a new long-term contract at Selhurst Park and, under no financial pressure to sell, Palace considered the amount on offer derisory.

"We have made an offer, but I don't think it is to the value that the Crystal Palace [co-] chairman [Steve Parish] wants," Coyle said. "We felt it was fair for where a very talented young player is at the moment. I always put what I think is a fair value on a player and if we get to it, great. If we don't, then we have to accept that we are not going to pay what we would believe would be over the odds.

"But he is such a talented young player and he will get better. There is scope for improvement. He has got pace and unbelievable quality and natural attributes. We would love for that to come to fruition, but at the moment it looks as if we are a way apart in terms of valuation."

Dominic Fifield

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/jan/30/bolton-crystal-palace-wilfried-zaha

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To pay or not to pay?

By Lanuola Tusani Tupufia

FALEALUPO MP: A'e'au Peniamina Leavaise'eta. Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi last week suggested that small kindergarten teachers should offer their service ?for free?.

He was responding in Parliament to a question from Falealupo, MP and deputy opposition leader A?e?au Peniamina Leavaise?eta, why kindergarten teachers in his constituencies ?were working for free.? ?They are working day to day for free,? said the former Speaker.

Source: http://www.samoaobserver.ws/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=37754:to-pay-or&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=50

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Chinese developers demolish home of revered architects

Demolition of house where Liang Sicheng and his wife Lin Huiyin once worked has horrified heritage experts

Their appreciation of China's ancient buildings and their devotion to preserving its heritage made them two of the country's most revered architects.

But now the home where Liang Sicheng and his wife Lin Huiyin once worked lies in rubble ? having fallen prey to the development they feared would destroy their city's ancient streets.

The demolition has horrified heritage experts. Liang is known as the father of modern Chinese architecture, and much of his and Lin's most important work was carried out while they were living in the courtyard house in Beizongbu Hutong in the 1930s.

It was knocked down by developers over the lunar New Year, despite the fact it is rare for labourers to work during the festival, raising suspicions that the company hoped to avoid publicity.

A Beijing official told state news agency Xinhua the firm wanted to prevent the residence being harmed during last week's holiday, apparently referring to the fireworks which are let off.

Other Chinese media quoted an unidentified developer as saying that the demolition was "in preparation for maintaining the heritage site" because the buildings were in bad condition.

But heritage protection activist Zeng Yizhi ? who alerted city officials to the demolition ? said they should have repaired the buildings.

"Liang and Lin made such a great contribution to the protection of Chinese ancient buildings. If their home can be torn down, then developers can do the same thing to hundreds of other ancient houses in the country," he told China Daily.

He Shuzhong, founder of the Beijing Cultural Heritage centre, said the early 20th century building was the intersection between the study and preservation of cultural relics, as pioneered by the couple, and the dangers posed by rapid urban development.

Last year, China's top cultural heritage official warned that high speed development had been a disaster for conservation.

Experts and campaigners are also angry because they hoped they had staved off the threat to Liang and Lin's home in 2009, when the district government approved its destruction and it was partially knocked down.

Following a public outcry, the state administration of cultural heritage intervened and the site was designated a permanent cultural relic, meaning official approval was required for demolition.

He said the one positive aspect of the affair was that it had roused an unprecedented level of public interest, debate and civic participation.

Liang and Lin wrote a seminal work on Chinese architecture, listed relics in need of protection during wartime, designed the national emblem of the People's Republic of China and worked on the Monument to the People's Heroes in Tiananmen Square.

Liang and his colleague Chen Zhanxiang urged the Communist government to build an entirely new city when it decided to make Beijing the capital of the new republic. He believed it was the best way to preserve its ancient buildings.

But officials rejected that plan and most of the old city has vanished forever.

According to journalist and heritage expert Wang Jun, China had 7,000 hutong ? lanes of old-fashioned low-rise homes ? in 1949 and 3,000 in the 1980s. Since the late 1990s they have vanished at a rate of around 600 a year.

Chinese media named the developers of the Beizongbu site as Fuheng Real Estate, a subsidiary of state-owned China Resources.

An employee at the China Resources Group said it was a holding company and the matter should be raised with the China Resources Land Company. A staff member at the subsidiary said she would call back but did not do so.

The city administration of cultural heritage said it would not comment as the Dongcheng district cultural committee was responsible for the case. Officials there did not answer calls.

But district heritage officials admitted that the demolition had not been approved by the city-level authorities, Xinhua reported.

Dongcheng officials told reporters they had ordered developers to rebuild the house ? a measure dismissed by campaigners as meaningless.

"Building a replica only makes things worse. So I suggest that the government build a monument or a park on the original site in memory of Liang and Lin," Chen Zhihua, a professor at Tsinghua University's school of architecture and a former student of the couple, told China Daily.

Lin died in 1955 after an illness. Liang was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution and died in 1972.

His second wife Lin Zhu said she was very sorry to hear of the demolition.

"I don't think his contribution and work is being properly valued and respected," she said, adding that Liang's later home on the Tsinghua University campus was also worth preserving but was in poor condition at present.

Additional research by Han Cheng

Tania Branigan

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/30/chinese-developers-demolish-home-architect

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