World Stocks Lose Gains As Wall Street Flounders

Thursday, 17 September 2009 10:59 PM
LONDON, KOMPAS.com — European stocks lost their earlier gains Thursday as Wall Street floundered on the open, pushing investors to take profits on this week’s rally, which has seen many indexes reach new highs for the year. Germany’s DAX was up 0.1 percent at 5,703.84, Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.4 percent to 5,142.83 and France’s CAC-40 was down 0.1 percent to 3,810.78. Asian markets made strong gains, but U.S. indexes were unable to maintain the previous day’s momentum. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.1 percent at 9,797.75 and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index traded 0.1 percent lower at 1,068.04. U.S. traders were hesitant to extend this week’s rally, which has been driven largely by strong economic data, on fears that the good news may be priced in by now. The figures have supported the claims by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that the recession is “very likely over,” although some analysts say markets need more proof of recovery to sustain gains. On Thursday, data showed housing starts rose 1.5 percent in August, about as expected, indicating the sector’s downturn has bottomed out, although experts believe a recovery will be slow because of high foreclosure rates and weak consumer spending. Other upbeat statistics this week included industrial production on Wednesday — a 0.8 percent rise in August, better than expected — and retail sales on Tuesday. After weeks of caution over the valuation of stocks — with investors worrying that gains since March were not justified and economic recovery would be slow — equities have risen steadily this week. Mitul Kotecha, analyst at Calyon, noted that while momentum is strong and stocks may rise further, “equity valuations are increasingly suggesting some caution.” The increased appetite for risk and rise in stocks has had the knock-on effects of weakening the dollar — which is typically bought as a safe haven — and boosting oil prices and commodities. In Ireland, the benchmark index jumped 2.8 percent after the government announced it would acquire euro77 billion ($113 billion) in defaulting property loans from the country’s struggling banks — and pay 30 percent less. The hope is that a “bad bank” would stabilize the financial sector and free up banks to lend normally once again. Shares in Allied Irish Banks soared 21.7 percent and Bank of Ireland rose 12.8 percent on the news. In Asia, indexes generally rose more sharply than their European or U.S. counterparts, driven in part by unprecedented liquidity from government stimulus spending and low interest rates set by central banks. “Asia is outperforming right now, but this is primarily liquidity driving the market up,” said Peter Lai, investment manager at DBS Vickers in Hong Kong. “I feel the upside opportunities are quite limited but the downsides risks are high, and many people may start looking for opportunities to take profits.” Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average closed up 1.7 percent at 10,443.80 after the central bank raised its assessment of the world’s second-largest economy and kept interest rates at 0.1 percent to nurture a recovery. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.7 percent, China’s Shanghai benchmark rose 2 percent and South Korea’s Kospi added 0.7 percent. Elsewhere, Australia’s market jumped 1.4 percent and India’s Sensex was up 0.5 percent. Among other countries whose main stock measures hit new highs for 2009 on Thursday were India, Thailand, Malaysia and Taiwan. Oil prices rose slightly, holding above $72 a barrel. Benchmark crude for October delivery was up 7 cents at $72.58 a barrel by afternoon European time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The dollar rose to 91.33 yen from 90.88 yen late Wednesday in NewYork. The euro gained to $1.4740 from $1.4706.Sumber : AP

The Meaning of Noordin M Top's Death

Thursday, 17 September 2009 10:50 PM
SOLO, KOMPAS.com — Noordin Muhammed Top, a militant mastermind who eluded capture for seven years and terrorized Indonesia with a string of deadly al-Qaida-funded bombings, was killed during a raid Thursday, the Indonesian police chief said. Police hunting for suspects in bombings of two luxury Jakarta hotels raided a hide-out in central Indonesia, sparking an hours-long gunfight that ended at dawn with an explosion. Four suspected militants died, including Noordin, national police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri said. Three suspects also were captured. The operation left behind a charred house with no roof and blown-out walls. Noordin’s remains were found inside the house on the outskirts of the town of Solo in central Java, the main Indonesian island, Danuri said. Fingerprints of Noordin’s obtained from authorities in his native Malaysia and stored on a police database matched those of the body, Danuri said. DNA tests have not yet been conducted. The bodies were flown to Jakarta for autopsies. “It is Noordin M. Top,” Danuri told a nationally televised news conference to loud cheers from the audience of reporters, photographers and TV crews. Documents and laptop computers confiscated from the house prove that Noordin “is the leader of al-Qaida in Southeast Asia,” he said. Hundreds of pounds (kilograms) of explosives, M-16 assault rifles, grenades and bombs were removed from the house as ambulances shuttled away the dead and injured.“We asked Noordin M. Top to surrender, but they kept firing,” Danuri said. “That is how he died. ... He even had bullets in his pockets.” Noordin fled to Indonesia in 2002 amid a crackdown on Muslim extremists in Malaysia in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. He is accused of heading a splinter group of the al-Qaida-funded regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah and has been implicated in every major attack in Indonesia since 2002, including two separate bombings on the resort island of Bali that together killed 222 people, mostly foreigners. He has also been blamed for a pair of suicide bombings at Jakarta’s J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in July, an earlier attack on the Marriott in 2003 and a bombing at the Australian Embassy in 2004. “The most dangerous terrorist in Southeast Asia has been put out of commission,” said Jim Della-Giacoma, Southeast Asia project director for the International Crisis Group think tank. “It would have been better if police had managed to arrest him alive, but it appears that this was not an option,” he said. “Unfortunately, Noordin’s death does not mean an end to terrorism in Indonesia, though it has been dealt a significant blow.” In the Philippines, where authorities are fighting an Islamist insurgency in the south, Noordin’s death was welcomed by authorities as a sign that terrorists cannot hide from the law forever. “It’s a major accomplishment, it’s a big blow to their leadership, to their capability to train new bombers,” said Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino, who leads assaults against al-Qaida-linked militants. “There are gains being made in the anti-terrrorism campaign in the region.” A spokesman for Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he was aware of reports of Noordin’s death. “We are awaiting official confirmation from the Indonesian government,” he said. Dozens of Australians were killed in the 2002 bombing of Bali nightclubs. An Indonesian counterterrorism official said the militants killed Thursday included alleged bomb-maker Bagus Budi Pranato. The captured militants included a pregnant woman who is being treated at a hospital, national police spokesman Nanan Sukarna said. She was in stable condition.Sumber : AP

Did Hitler Play Lenin at Chess?

Sunday, 6 September 2009 8:43 AM
KOMPAS.com - Their opposing ideologies would be a central part of the most destructive military clash of the 20th century. But here the battleground was just a chessboard.This remarkable picture supposedly shows Adolf Hitler pitting his wits against Vladimir Lenin. And its owners claim it is based on a real chess game between the men 100 years ago. While historians have cast doubt on its authenticity, the family which owns the picture is convinced they can prove it is genuine.The image is said to have been etched in Vienna by Hitler's art teacher, Emma Lowenstramm. It is also said to be signed on the reverse by the men who would go on to lead their respective nations.Hitler was a 20-year-old jobbing artist in the city in 1909 and Lenin - twice his age - was in exile from Russia. The house where they apparently played the game belonged to a prominent Jewish family.In the run-up to the Second World War the family fled and gave many of their possessions, including the etching and chess set, to their housekeeper.Now the housekeeper's great-great grandson is selling the image and the chess set at auction. Both items have a pre-sale estimate of £40,000.The unnamed vendor is confident they are genuine after his father spent a lifetime attempting to prove their authenticity.He compiled a 300-page document that included results of tests on the paper and the signatures. Richard Westwood-Brookes, of auctioneers Mullock's, said: 'The signatures in pencil are said to have an 80 per cent chance of being genuine.'Some experts, however, have questioned the picture's authenticity. Historian Helen Rappaport, author of Conspirator: Lenin in Exile, said the etching was probably a 'glorious piece of fantasy'.She said there was no evidence Lenin had been in Vienna in 1909, adding that 'he was as bald as a bat by 1894' - unlike the man pictured, who has a full head of hair. The items are to be auctioned in Ludlow, Shropshire, on October 1.Sumber : The Daily Mail

Istanbul-Jakarta Flight Service Offered

Sunday, 6 September 2009 9:21 AM
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Turkish Airlines has opened an Istanbul-Jakarta flight service to increase cooperation between the two countries. "The opening of the service is part of the company’s efforts to widen relations between the two countries," the airline’s chief, Candan Karlitekin, said here on Saturday. He made the statement at the opening of the service, which was also attended by the chairman of the Indonesian People’s Consultative Assembly, Hidayat Nur Wahid. The opening of the service had long been awaited by various parties in the two countries, Karlitekin said adding the route to Jakarta was one of hundreds the airline was serving in the world. He said he was optimistic the service would increase the two countries’ relations in the economic field and also in tourism and make the relations between the two countries and their communities closer. "Indonesia is a big country and potential so that the company has considered it necessary to open flights to Jakarta," he said. For the time being flights would still make a stopover in Singapore but in 2011 there would be direct flights, he said. Hidayat Nur Wahid welcomed the opening of the service and hoped it would make the two countries’ relations closer. "I welcome the opening of the service and hoped it would benefit both Indonesia and Turkey," he said. The Istanbul-Jakarta service will be carried out five times a week namely on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday departing at 11.20 pm local times and arriving at 05.25 pm local times. The Jakarta-Istanbul service will also be carried out five times a week on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday with schedule of departure at 07.15 pm local time and arrival at 05.40 am local time.Sumber : Antara