china confidential
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
In Meltdown, Iceland Takes a Fresh Look at Fishing
Foreign Confidential....
It's back to the future--from finance to fishing--for crisis-hit Iceland, following its spectacular, banking meltdown.
Jim Lawless reports from Reykjavik: For centuries, Icelanders earned a living from the sea, setting out in small boats to haul cod, haddock and herring from the North Atlantic waters.
But in recent years these proud descendants of Vikings found new fish to catch, scooping up businesses around the world with the help of light financial regulation and turbocharged banks.
Now the sea may once again be Iceland's lifeline. While the rest of the economy crumbles, the island nation's fishing industry is booming, with big catches and rising export prices thanks to the collapse of Iceland's currency, the krona.
"There was some banker who said we didn't need the fishing industry," said Helgi Mar Sigurgeirsson, chief engineer of a fishing trawler moored in Reykjavik harbor. "He said we could make money with the banks. I'd like to speak to him now."
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Russian Military May Buy Israeli Spy Drones
Foreign Confidential....
Israel makes world-class spy drones and trains pilots from all over the world to fly the unmanned vehicles.
Now, Russia is considering buying some Israeli spy drones, Vladimir Isachenkov reports from Moscow.Russia is negotiating with Israel to buy a batch of spy drones, the head of the Russian armed forces said Tuesday, in what would be its first ever purchase of military hardware from the Jewish state.
Israel sparked concern in Moscow after it previously sold drones to Georgia that were used successfully before and during its August war with Russia.
Russia's weapons industries have failed to supply the military with drones, developing only experimental models that experts have described as outdated.
Gen. Nikolai Makarov, the chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces, said that Russia would like to buy an unspecified number of drones from Israel, the Interfax news agency reported.
Click here to continue.Is Speculation Boosting the Price of Oil?
The oil market is in contango, which means prices are ascending into the future.
But prices should be descending--in backwardation--given declining demand owing to the global economic meltdown and growing fears that China is heading into a recession. A weakening dollar and anticipated OPEC production cuts are not enough to drive the oil market up in light of downward global trends.
One wonders: are speculators boosting prices?
China Confidential analysts say many large institutional players are buying and hoarding physical oil in the hope of selling it at a profit in future months. They include speculators who are not in the energy business, have no real need to own or store oil.
Should that be allowed? Why does an energy-starved world tolerate trading in its lifeblood--oil--as if it were just another commodity?
For that matter, should a hungry planet permit speculation in food commodities?
What legitimate--human--purpose does speculation serve?
Such questions were ignored in the best of times. In the worst of times, they cry out for answers.
It will take concerted government action on an unprecedented international scale to prevent these times from worsening to horrific degrees. One possible measure could be strict global licensing of speculation in sensitive commodities.
Meanwhile, gold looks like a better bet every day. Gold is indestructible money. It is meant to be bought and sold--and saved. In fact, over 95% of the gold ever produced is still in circulation. But that's another story....Monday, December 15, 2008
Israel Preparing to Fight Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas
Foreign Confidential....
Israel is preparing for war with nuclear-arming Iran and its Islamist proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas.
But the Jewish state is still hopeful that Iran's secular Arab ally, Syria, will stay out of the coming conflict.
Hezbollah, which is bristling with missiles, is a major concern. The Lebanese Shiite group believes it has no chance of surviving if the Iranian regime is toppled. Thus, Hezbollah is expected to bombard Israeli cities and towns in a coordinated reprisal with Tehran following Israeli air attacks on suspected nuclear and missile sites in Iran.
Iranian missile attacks on Israeli population centers could trigger a devastating Israeli response: obliteration by nuclear missiles.Israeli FM: We Can't Tolerate Hamas-Run Gaza
Foreign Confidential....
Israel can't tolerate an Islamist state in the Gaza Strip.
So says Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, as a six-month truce with Hamas, which controls Gaza, comes to an end.
Gwen Ackerman reports from Jerusalem:“Hamas cannot continue to control Gaza,” Livni said in remarks to high school students today. “In the long term, Israel cannot tolerate an extreme Islamic state on its southern border.”
The truce, or “lull,” as both sides call it, has been repeatedly violated in recent weeks as Palestinian militants lob rockets at Israel and Israeli troops and aircraft fire on launchers. The period of calm officially ends Dec. 19.
Livni’s comments were the harshest the Israeli leader has made to date and came in the midst of an election campaign that began after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resigned to fight corruption allegations. Livni, who took over as leader of their Kadima party, failed to form a new coalition. Israelis go to the polls on Feb. 10.
Housing Minister Ze’ev Boim echoed Livni’s remarks in an e- mailed statement calling on Defense Minister Ehud Barak to act against Hamas before the end of the truce.
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Tuesday, 16 December 2008
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