TwistedSifter

Every Wednesday you will find links and top-line summaries to current events around the globe.

India Worries as China Builds Ports in South Asia [New York Times]

- As trade in the region grows more lucrative, China has been developing port facilities in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar, and it is planning to build railroad lines in Nepal. These projects, analysts say, are part of a concerted effort by Chinese leaders and companies to open and expand markets for their goods and services in a part of Asia that has lagged behind the rest of the continent in trade and economic development
- India and China, the world’s two fastest-growing economies, have a history of tense relations. They share a contested Himalayan border over which they fought a war in 1962. India has given shelter to the Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet as China exerted control over it. And China has close military ties with Pakistan, with which India has fought three wars
- China recently became India’s largest trading partner, and both have worked together to advance similar positions in global trade and climate change negotiations. As recently as the 1990s, China’s and India’s trade with four South Asian nations — Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan — was roughly equal. But over the last decade, China has outpaced India in deepening ties

Economy dogs North Korea’s “brilliant” Kim on birthday [Reuters]

- North Korea celebrated leader Kim Jong-il’s birthday on Tuesday, glorifying the “kind-hearted father” while it made overtures for dialogue with its foe the United States. Kim, in questionable health as he turned 68 and trying to pave the way for succession in Asia’s only communist dynasty, was facing one of the most difficult periods of his rule due to economic measures that sparked a rare public backlash
- Kim Jong-il’s nearly 16-year rule has survived a famine that killed an estimated 1 million of the North’s 22 million people and isolation caused by its nuclear brinkmanship, but a currency revaluation implemented late last year has shown cracks in his leadership. It sped up inflation, made it tougher for an impoverished people to buy the necessities that keep them alive, and sparked civil unrest in one of the world’s most entrenched authoritarian states
- Persistent energy shortages mean that two-thirds of its factories are idle and even with a bumper harvest, its food production still falls about 20% short of what is needed. In signs the North may be ready to return to nuclear talks, this month it hosted high-profile envoys from the United Nations and its biggest benefactor, China, with reports saying it was going to dispatch its top nuclear envoy to the United States next month

Taliban chief’s capture seen as start, more needed [Reuters]

- The capture of the Taliban’s top military commander in Pakistan followed months of behind-the-scenes prodding by U.S. officials who saw inaction by Islamabad as a major threat to their Afghan war strategy. But officials and analysts said it was too soon to tell whether Pakistan’s cooperation against Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar — captured earlier this month in a joint raid in Karachi by Pakistani and U.S. intelligence agencies — would be extended to other top militants on the U.S. hit list
- Mullah Baradar has been described as one of the Afghan Taliban’s top strategic leaders, and U.S. officials said interrogations now under way could produce significant intelligence about the group’s leadership, capabilities and military operations at a critical time of stepped-up U.S. operations in neighboring Afghanistan
- ISI cooperation with the CIA is a highly sensitive issue in Pakistan, where anti-American sentiment is high and conspiracy theories abound over what American spies and Special Operations forces are doing there and whether it infringes on the country’s sovereignty

Greece told to make more spending cuts [BBC]

- Greece has been warned by European finance ministers that it must make further cuts to spending and public sector wages or face more sanctions. Last week, the European Union vowed to help Greece if needed. But the idea of bailing out a euro nation has been badly received, prompting a harsher stance
- Greece’s woes have sent the value of the euro down to a nine-month low recently. Now the country has been told that further measures will be imposed if its debt reduction plans are not on target by March 16th. Germany’s deputy finance minister, Joerg Asmussen, said Greece should follow the actions of Ireland and Latvia - both of which are making major cuts to spending and wages
- Greece is trying to reduce its public deficit from 12.7% - more than four times the level that single currency rules allow. It has pledged to reduce this to 8.7% during 2010 under an austerity plan that involves major cuts in public spending. But those plans are hugely unpopular with the Greek public and strikes have already been scheduled. Greek bank shares fell again on Tuesday on the continuing concerns. The country’s main stock index is down 14.6% so far this year

Asia may have edge in top accounting job [Reuters]

- The hunt for a new chairman of the world’s top accounting standard setter is sparking discrete jostling for a job Asian candidates are seen having the edge as economic influence shifts east. International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) Chairman David Tweedie stands down in June 2011 after a decade spent transforming an obscure committee into a board whose rules are effectively law in over 120 countries, including the European Union
- Japan, Canada, India, Korea and Brazil are also adopting IASB rules, with China bringing its domestic standards in line too. The United States is left increasingly isolated as it decides how to join the club and when. The Asian crisis of the 1990s sparked the need for a global approach to accounting but the credit crunch politicized standard setting as policymakers changes after blaming accounting for amplifying fallout from the financial crisis
- The growing power of the IASB has sparked concern in some countries with U.S. Congress also leery of adopting its rules which would involve ceding regulatory sovereignty. The EU gave the critical mass which helped launch the IASB’s rules on the road to becoming the global benchmark by mid-2011 and feels the board still owes the bloc a debt of gratitude. But with several Asian countries, Brazil and Canada coming on board, there is discrete lobbying for Asia in particular to have a stronger say to counter EU clout

Demand for Oil Set to Rise Anew [New York Times]

- Chinese oil demand is once more growing fast, rebel militants are threatening to attack pipelines in Nigeria, and tensions are again rising in the Gulf. Recent headlines are increasingly making it seem like 2003 all over again. In recent times, oil has taken a back seat while the world has focused on the recession. What happens next in China and Iraq will shape the direction of oil markets well into the next decade
- Thanks to the slowdown in energy consumption, OPEC producers now hold an estimated six million barrels a day of spare capacity, equal to roughly 7% of current demand, much of it in Saudi Arabia alone. Such a cushion should shield the market from the wild excesses of the 2003-8 period, when prices rose as demand expanded, supplies fell, and spare capacity dwindled to a precariously slim level of well under two million barrels per day
- More than ever, what happens in the next few years to China will be central to the direction of the oil markets. From 2003 to 2008, more than half the growth in oil demand came from China, according to analysts at Raymond James. Even last year, when demand in most of the world shrank, China was the only major economy to see strong growth, with its oil consumption rising 5.7%. This year, analysts expect Chinese oil demand to grow at an even faster pace
- The opening of Iraq’s oil fields to foreign investors could provide a watershed moment for the industry. Most international oil companies, who were initially skeptical of the terms on offer, have flocked to Iraq. For companies like Shell and Exxon, no other country now offers such a chance to expand reserves

- Haiti reconstruction cost may near $14 billion: IADB [Reuters]
- Barclays profit tops $18 billion [Reuters]
- Dubai Hamas killing suspects’ passports ‘fraudulent’ [BBC]
- Toyota Announces Steps to Restore Confidence on Safety [New York Times]
- U.N. Rejects ‘Militarization’ of Afghan Aid [New York Times]
- Elders of Wall St. Favor More Regulation [New York Times]
- Energy Company Mergers Are Expected to Rise [New York Times]

A snowboarder flies through the olympic rings at the start of the opening ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, February 12, 2010. (REUTERS/David Gray)

via The Big Picture: Opening Ceremonies for Vancouver 2010

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