Docudharma Times Friday July 31

Big Banks Paid Billions in Bonuses Amid Wall St. Crisis



By LOUISE STORY and ERIC DASH

Published: July 30, 2009

Thousands of top traders and bankers on Wall Street were awarded huge bonuses and pay packages last year, even as their employers were battered by the financial crisis.

Nine of the financial firms that were among the largest recipients of federal bailout money paid about 5,000 of their traders and bankers bonuses of more than $1 million apiece for 2008, according to a report released Thursday by Andrew M. Cuomo, the New York attorney general.

At Goldman Sachs, for example, bonuses of more than $1 million went to 953 traders and bankers, and Morgan Stanley awarded seven-figure bonuses to 428 employees. Even at weaker banks like Citigroup and Bank of America, million-dollar awards were distributed to hundreds of workers.

Japan jobless at six-year record

Japan saw unemployment levels reach a six-year high last month, with job availability at a new low, official figures have shown.

The BBC  Friday, 31 July 2009

The jobless number increased by 830,000 in June, or 31.3% from a year before, to 3.48 million. The unemployment rate was 5.5% up from May’s figure of 5.2%.

For every 100 people seeking work, there were 43 jobs.

Separate data showed core consumer prices, excluding food costs, fell 1.7% in July year-on-year, a new record.

“The core Consumer Prices Index data was largely within expectation and is expected to stay [negative] until mid 2011 as domestic demand is weak with this severe jobs market and income situation,” said Kyohei Morita, chief economist at Barclays Capital.

A fall in household demand, as consumers seek to tighten their belts, has compounded the problem of falling prices.

USA

‘Clunkers’ Auto Rebate Plan So Popular That It’s Broke



By MATTHEW L. WALD

Published: July 30, 2009

WASHINGTON – New-car shoppers appear to have already snapped up all the $1 billion that Congress appropriated for the “cash for clunkers” program, leading the Transportation Department to tell auto dealers Thursday night to stop offering the rebates.

But a White House official said the program had not been suspended, creating confusion about its status. The program offers $3,500 to $4,500 for people who trade in an old car for a new one with higher fuel economy.

In a statement issued Thursday evening, Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said: “We are working tonight to assess the situation facing what is obviously an incredibly popular program. Auto dealers and consumers should have confidence that all valid CARS transactions that have taken place to date will be honored.”

Industry Is Generous To Influential Bloc

BLUE DOG DEMOCRATS

By Dan Eggen

Washington Post Staff Writer

Friday, July 31, 2009

On June 19,  Rep. Mike Ross of Arkansas made clear that he and a group of other conservative Democrats known as the Blue Dogs were increasingly unhappy with the direction that health-care legislation was taking in the House.

“The committees’ draft falls short,” the former pharmacy owner said in a statement that day, citing, among other things, provisions that major health-care companies also strongly oppose.

Five days later, Ross was the guest of honor at a special “health-care industry reception,” one of at least seven fundraisers for the Arkansas lawmaker held by health-care companies or their lobbyists this year, according to publicly available invitations.

Asia

Can we befriend Pakistan?

Do young Pakistanis believe that the west will treat them as equals? I am not sure, and neither are they



Ed Husain

guardian.co.uk, Friday 31 July 2009 09.00 BST

It was the year 1946. The man did not speak English, and yet sat attentively listening to a speech by the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, with great enthusiasm. The listener shouted, clapped, and supported Jinnah’s every utterance.

“Why?” asked another man. “Why do you support Jinnah when you don’t understand what he’s talking about?” The listener responded: “Because I know Jinnah is on my side. He speaks for me.”

So what did Jinnah create for the average Pakistani? Last week, I visited Pakistan for the first time for a national conference of students from across Pakistan. The student leaders I met, the next generation of Pakistani politicians, unlike Jinnah’s listener, understood English and listened attentively to what Maajid Nawaz and I said.

Burma court delays Suu Kyi verdict

Associated Press

Friday, 31 July 2009

The Burma court scheduled to deliver a verdict in the high-profile trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said today it was not yet ready to make a decision and adjourned until 11 August, diplomats said.

Suu Kyi rose to her feet after the judge’s announcement, turned to foreign diplomats in the courtroom and said jokingly, “I apologize for giving you more work,” a Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity, citing protocol.

The 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest by harboring an American man who swam to her house uninvited. She faces up to five years in prison.

Middle East

Mourners met with force as they flock to Neda’s grave

Iran’s opposition leaders barred from ceremony marking 40 days since protester’s death

By Katherine Butler, Foreign Editor

Friday, 31 July 2009

Forty days after the death of Neda Soltan, the young Iranian woman whose harrowing last moments during a post-election protest were filmed and seen around the world, Tehran was the scene of extraordinary clashes yesterday as police used force to crush an opposition-backed memorial service for the student and other victims of violence.

Mirhossein Mousavi, the defeated presidential candidate and de facto opposition leader, was prevented by a phalanx of police from paying his respects at the grave of Ms Soltan, where large crowds had defiantly gathered for a ceremony to mark the 40th day since her death, a key moment of mourning in Shia Muslim tradition.

Africa

Islamist sect leader shot dead after 600 killed in Nigeria siege

  From The Times

July 31, 2009

Tristan McConnell

Nigerian security forces claimed to have defeated a well-armed Islamist sect after four days of bloody fighting that left hundreds dead and forced thousands to flee their homes in the northern town of Maiduguri.

Army soldiers captured Mohamed Yusuf, the leader of the sect, and took him to a barracks. He was later transferred to the police and shot dead in their custody. A spokesman said Mr Yusuf had tried to escape.More than a thousand Nigerian soldiers were sent to reinforce police and troops were deployed in Maiduguri, Borno state, where the heaviest fighting has taken place.

Zimbabwe gems classed as ‘blood diamonds’

 Diamonds exported from Zimbabwe should be classed as “blood diamonds” and banned because of Robert Mugabe’s human rights abuses, according to international inspectors.

By Peta Thornycroft in Harare And Sebastien Berger

Monitors from the Kimberley Process, the international watchdog set up to monitor the trade, made the recommendation to the scheme’s bosses after visiting the country earlier this month.

They focused on the Marange diamond fields in eastern Zimbabwe, where mining is controlled by the country’s military and police, and around 200 independent miners were massacred last year.

Mr Mugabe’s regime uses the profits from the area to buy the loyalty of police and military commanders and units, according to a report by Human Rights Watch earlier this year.

Europe

Silvio Berlusconi ignores protesters on visit to quake town L’Aquila

From The Times

July 31, 2009

Josephine McKenna

Silvio Berlusconi ignored protesters when he toured the earthquake-hit town of L’Aquila yesterday and boasted that projects to rehouse those made homeless were superior to those everywhere else in the world.

In a carefully managed visit to the town in the Abruzzo region the Italian Prime Minister appeared to sidestep almost all contact with the 20,000 people living in 140 tent communities.

His entourage invited only TV cameras and photographers to follow at a discreet distance as he greeted building workers in Bazzano on L’Aquila’s outskirts, where construction of apartments is taking place.

Mr Berlusconi was reported to have been met by 70 angry residents when he visited the city council offices while journalists were kept waiting for him several miles away. The devastating earthquake in April killed 300 people and left 50,000 homeless.

Fears of ETA terror campaign targeting Spanish resorts

Fears of a terrorist campaign targeting Spanish tourist resorts are growing after two car bombs were planted in Majorca.

By John Bingham, Fiona Govan and Murray Wardrop

Ports and airports on the island were shut for several hours to prevent the culprits escaping, causing chaos for thousands of travellers as flights and boats were cancelled.

Suspicion immediately fell on the Basque separatist group ETA, which marks the 50th anniversary of its founding on Friday.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office immediately revised its advice for travellers to Spain, warning of a “high threat from terrorism” in the country.

The updated advice, posted just hours after yesterday’s blast, warned tourists they could be targeted by the Basque separatist group.

“Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers,” it said. “The Spanish authorities are fully aware of the impact of terrorism and take measures to protect visitors, but you should be vigilant.

Latin America

 Venezuela home builders face new hurdles

In a country badly strapped for housing, the government of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez orders large refunds to buyers of new homes.

  By Chris Kraul and Mery Mogollon

July 31, 2009

Reporting from Barquisimeto, Venezuela — Home-building in Venezuela is not for the faint of heart.

For starters, you’ve got land seizures, squatters, double-digit inflation and socialist President Hugo Chavez’s unveiled hostility to private enterprise.

Now builders such as Mariano Briceño, a 30-year veteran of the construction industry here in western Venezuela, are facing a new curveball: an order from the Chavez government to give large refunds to home buyers.

“This isn’t socialism — it’s abuse and nonsense,” said Briceño, an MIT grad. He said the national home builders association is protesting the order this week before the Supreme Court. “It’s a populist attempt to pit the have-nots against the haves.”

The mostly low- to middle-income buyers at Briceño’s Yucatan subdivision paid cash at the start of construction, but promised to pay adjustments for inflation between purchase and move-in, a common sales practice here.

Ignoring Asia A Blog