Forex / World news

WASHINGTON (Thomson Financial) - The United States called on the World Trade Organisation today to strengthen rules on subsidies during the current Doha Development Round of international trade negotiations."The subsidies we want to prohibit maintain inefficient production capacity in industries ranging from steel to semiconductors," US Trade Representative (USTR) Susan Schwab said in a statement...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The West should consider expelling Russia from the G8 and other bodies for poisoning former intelligence agent Alexander Litvinenko, a Russian exile who plans to run for his country's presidency said today.Vladimir Bukovsky, a holder of both Russian and British citizenship who wants to run in election to succeed Vladimir Putin in 2008, said he has already made such a recommendation to the British authorities...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Russian President Vladimir Putin's threat to point missiles at European targets if the US expanded its nuclear defences towards Russia's borders could harm inward investment there, said Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Inflation in the UK could rise to as high as 5 pct in the year ahead, a leading economist has warned, according to the Daily Telegraph.Tim Congdon, the former adviser to Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke, warned that the Bank of England has lost control of prices and said it is foolhardy to assume that prices will only fall in the coming months...

HONG KONG (XFN-ASIA) - Hong Kong can cope with any turbulence on the China stock markets but investors should be prepared for increased volatility, said Joseph Yam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).Yam said the local economy is still mainly influenced by the United States rather than the mainland and so it will be able to withstand the fallout from any measures China imposes to rein in its overheated stock markets...

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - China is ready to work with the international community to address climate change, said Ma Kai, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).In a nationally televised press briefing, he said the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change presents a reasonable and realistic approach to addressing the issue...

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - Asian markets at 0500 GMT:Stocks:-Bangkok: SET index 761.81 (up 7.88 pts)-Bombay: BSE-30 index 14,666.10 (up 95.35 pts)-Hong Kong: Hang Seng index 20,815.82 (up 212.95 pts)-Jakarta: Composite index 2,110.502 (up 26.178 pts)-Kuala Lumpur: Composite index 1,367...

TOKYO (XFN-ASIA) - The support rate for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet has dropped to a new low of 30 pct after his scandal-hit farm minister committed suicide, a poll by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper showed.Farm minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka hanged himself on May 28 hours before he was to face questioning in parliament over alleged bid-rigging for government contracts...

BERLIN (Thomson Financial) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair was due to brief German Chancellor Angela Merkel on his tour of Africa here ahead of this week's G8 summit where they will urge more action for the continent.Speaking to journalists before the meeting with Merkel, at which climate change was also likely to be high on the agenda, Blair said he hoped for a "historical breakthrough" on the issue at the G8...

ROME (Thomson Financial) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has again blasted a planned US missile shield in Europe and warned that Moscow could redeploy missiles aimed at targets on the continent."If the US nuclear potential extends across the European territory, we will have to get new targets in Europe," Putin said in an interview to newspapers from the Group of Eight most industrialised nations...

TOKYO (XFN-ASIA) - The government's proposed 2007 blueprint for economic and fiscal management calls for tax reform, including the full-fledged introduction of net taxation of financial income, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported over the weekend.The tax reforms would have goals in six areas, such as accelerating economic growth and building a uniform structure for taxes and social security, it said...

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - China urged local officials to prepare their own energy efficiency plans in a bid to save a plan to drastically reduce energy consumption, Xinhua news agency reported.Local government departments and state enterprises must report back to Beijing with detailed plans by June 30, Xinhua said, citing a circular issued earlier in the day by the State Council, or Cabinet...

SEOGWIPO, South Korea (XFN-ASIA) - Foreign ministers of South Korea, China and Japan launched a new forum here today, with the deadlock in North Korea's nuclear disarmament high on the agenda.South Korea's Song Min-Soon, China's Yang Jiechi and Japan's Taro Aso arrived in the southern resort island of Jeju for the trilateral forum, which host Seoul wants to make a regular event...

MILAN (Thomson Financial) - Italy's ruling centre-left coalition said in a statement that it had given prime minister Romano Prodi the mandate to examine all possible solutions on the crisis involving deputy economy minister Vincenzo Visco, in order to avoid divisions in the government...

BANJA LUKA, Bosnia-Hercegovina (Thomson Financial) - A former Bosnian Serb general wanted on genocide charges will be transferred to the UN war crimes court in The Hague today, a day after he was arrested, police said."Zdravko Tolimir is in Sarajevo, from where he will be transferred to The Hague at 1...

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - A summary of Asian economic and corporate news at 1000 GMTJAPAN:-Japanese PM appoints insider to head farm ministry-Japan May new vehicle sales fall 8.3 pct yr-on-yr; down for 23rd straight mth-Takeda Pharmaceutical drops efforts to combine diabetes drug with ARBs-Bank of America aims to beef up business with financial institutions in JapanSOUTH KOREA:-SKorea revised Q1 GDP up 0...

MILAN (Thomson Financial) - Italy's centre-left ruling coalition is expected to meet today to discuss how to deal with the crisis concerning deputy economy minister Vincenzo Visco that could cause the government to fall if it escalates, daily la Repubblica reported...

MOSCOW (Thomson Financial) - Britain's charge against an ex-KGB officer in the murder of an exiled Russian former intelligence agent in London is part of a political campaign, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today."We see attempts from the British side to use a criminal case for stirring up of some kind of political campaign," Lavrov was quoted as saying by Interfax and other Russian news agencies, referring to the mysterious poisoning of former FSB (the successor to the KGB) agent Alexander Litvinenko...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso warned the UK that it risks damaging its own interests if it blocks a deal on a revamped EU constitution.Such a situation would come back to haunt incoming British prime minister Gordon Brown, Barroso told the Financial Times newspaper...

SYDNEY (XFN-ASIA) - Prime Minister John Howard backed a national carbon emissions trading scheme but said he would not be rushed into setting targets that could damage the economy.Howard released a government-commissioned report that recommended establishing a carbon trading scheme in about four years time...