Sharing perspective on how buybacks could reduce capitalization and in turn, make growth numbers more effective, with Chuck Lieberman, Advisors Capital Mgmt. and Steven Wieting, Citigroup.
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JOHANNESBURG?? It's been a disastrous year for elephants, perhaps the worst since ivory sales were banned in 1989 to save the world's largest land animals from extinction, the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC said Thursday.
A record number of large seizures of elephant tusks represents at least 2,500 dead animals and shows that organized crime ? in particular Asian syndicates ? is increasingly involved in the illegal ivory trade and the poaching that feeds it, the group said.
Some of the seized tusks came from old stockpiles, the elephants having been killed years ago. It's not clear how many elephants were recently killed in Africa for their tusks, but experts are alarmed.
TRAFFIC's elephant and rhino expert Tom Milliken thinks criminals may have the upper hand in the war to save rare and endangered animals.
"As most large-scale ivory seizures fail to result in any arrests, I fear the criminals are winning," Milliken told The Associated Press.
Most cases involve ivory being smuggled from Africa into Asia, where growing wealth has fed the desire for ivory ornaments and for rhino horn that is used in traditional medicine, though scientists have proved it has no medicinal value.
"The escalation in ivory trade and elephant and rhino killing is being driven by the Asian syndicates that are now firmly enmeshed within African societies," Milliken said in a telephone interview from his base in Zimbabwe. "There are more Asians than ever before in the history of the continent, and this is one of the repercussions."
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All statistics are not yet in, and no one can say how much ivory is getting through undetected, but "what is clear is the dramatic increase in the number of large-scale seizures, over 800 kilograms (1,760 pounds) in weight, that have taken place in 2011," TRAFFIC said in a statement.
There were at least 13 large seizures this year, compared to six in 2010 with a total weight just under 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds).
In the most recent, and worst, case Malaysian authorities seized hundreds of African elephant tusks on Dec. 21 worth $1.3 million that were being shipped to Cambodia. The ivory was hidden in containers of handicrafts from Kenya's Mombasa port. Most large seizures have originated from Kenyan or Tanzanian ports, TRAFFIC said.
Fifty elephants a month are being killed, their tusks hacked off, in Tanzania's Selous Game Reserve, according to the Washington-based Environmental Investigation Agency.
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With shipments so large, criminals have taken to shipping them by sea instead of by air, falsifying documents with help of corrupt officials, monitors said.
Milliken said some of the seized ivory has been identified as coming from government-owned stockpiles ? made up of confiscated tusks and those of dead elephants ? in another sign of corruption.
"In 23 years of compiling ivory seizure data ... this is the worst year ever for large ivory seizures. 2011 has truly been a horrible year for elephants," said Milliken.
Rhinos also have suffered. A record 443 rhino were killed in this year in South Africa, compared to 333 last year, according to National Geographic News Watch. South Africa is home to 90 percent of the rhinos left on the continent.
Africa's elephant population was estimated at between 5 million and 10 million before the big white hunters came to the continent with European colonization. Massive poaching for the ivory trade in the 1980s halved the remaining number of African elephants to about 600,000. Following the 1989 ban on ivory trade and concerted international efforts to protect the animals, elephant herds in east and southern Africa were thriving before the new threat arrived from Asia.
A report from Kenya's Amboseli national park highlighted the dangers. There had been almost no poaching in the park, which lies in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro, for 30 years until a Chinese company was awarded the contract to build a highway nearby two years ago. Amboseli has lost at least four of its "big tuskers" since then.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45814115/ns/world_news-world_environment/
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ROME ? Italy's Premier Mario Monti says he's encouraged by the results of two days of bond auctions which saw Italy's borrowing costs drop.
But at a year-end press conference Thursday, he said he didn't consider the market turbulence to be over.
He said his new government was working intensively on preparing a package of measures to get the Italian economy moving again, which will be presented to EU leaders on Jan. 23. He said it would focus on boosting competition and liberalizing the labor market.
Markets had grown fearful over the past few months that Italy can pay off its debts, which stand at around euro1.9 trillion ($2.5 trillion).
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
ROME (AP) ? Italy saw its borrowing rates fall for the second day running as it raised around euro7 billion ($9.2 billion) in a range of auctions Thursday, a further sign that concerns over a default have eased a bit over the past month.
The Bank of Italy said Italy raised euro2.5 billion ($3.3 billion) of ten-year bonds at an average yield of 6.98 percent. That's lower than the 7.56 percent it had to pay at an equivalent auction last month, when investor concerns over the ability of the country to service its massive debts became particularly acute and effectively prompted a change in government.
However, the country's borrowing rate on the key 10-year bond remains uncomfortably close to the 7 percent level widely considered to be unsustainable in the long run. Greece, Ireland and Portugal all had to request financial bailouts after their 10-year bond yields pushed above 7 percent.
In the secondary markets, it continues to hover around the 7 percent mark.
Markets had grown fearful over the past few months that Italy will find it difficult to pay off its massive debts, which stand at around euro1.9 trillion ($2.5 trillion). Next year alone, Italy has some euro330 billion ($431 billion) of debt to refinance.
Italy, which is the eurozone's third-largest economy, also sold euro2.54 billion of 3 year bonds at an average interest rate of 5.62 percent, far lower than the 7.89 percent rate it had to pay last month. It also raised euro803 million in the 7-year auction at a rate of 7.42 percent and euro1.18 billion in nine-year bonds at a yield of 6.7 percent.
Thursday's results come a day after Italy raised euro10.7 billion in a pair of auctions, again at sharply lower rates than those it was forced to pay just a month ago.
The sharp decline in Italy's borrowing costs over the past couple of days suggests that commercial banks from the 17 countries that use the euro may have diverted some money they tapped from emergency loans from the European Central Bank last week to buy the bonds of heavily indebted governments.
It may also suggest rising investor confidence in Italy's recent efforts to reduce its long-term debt through a variety of austerity measures.
Mario Monti, Italy's new premier, is holding a press conference Thursday and the state of the economy is likely to feature large.
Monti's technocratic government got parliamentary approval last week for more spending cuts and tax increases intended to save the country from financial disaster. One of the most controversial aspects of the austerity package is reform of Italy's bloated pension system.
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BETHLEHEM, West Bank ? The annual cleaning of one of Christianity's holiest churches deteriorated into a brawl between rival clergy Wednesday, as dozens of monks feuding over sacred space at the Church of the Nativity battled each other with brooms until police intervened.
The ancient church, built over the traditional site of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, is shared by three Christian denominations ? Roman Catholics, Armenians and Greek Orthodox. Wednesday's fight erupted between Greek and Armenian clergy, with both sides accusing each other of encroaching on parts of the church to which they lay claim.
The monks were tidying up the church ahead of Orthodox Christmas celebrations in early January, following celebrations by Western Christians on Dec. 25. The fight erupted between monks along the border of their respective areas. Some shouted and hurled brooms.
Palestinian security forces rushed in to break up the melee, and no serious injuries were reported. A Palestinian police spokesman would not immediately comment.
A fragile status quo governs relations among the denominations at the ancient church, and to repair or clean a part of the structure is to own it, according to accepted practice. That means that letting other sects clean part of the church could allow one to gain ground at another's expense. Similar fights have taken place during the same late-December cleaning effort in the past.
Tensions between rival clergy at the church have been a fact of life there for centuries and have often been caught up in international politics.
In the 1800s, friction between the denominations at the church ? each backed by foreign powers ? became so fraught that Russian Czar Nicholas I deployed troops along the Danube to threaten a Turkish sultan who had been favoring the Catholics over the Orthodox.
Those disagreements threaten the integrity of the church itself, which was originally built 1,500 years ago and parts of which have fallen into disrepair. Although the roof has needed urgent work for decades, and leaking rainwater has ruined much of the priceless artwork inside, a renovation has been delayed all these years by disagreements among the denominations over who would pay.
Only recently, the Palestinian Authority brokered an agreement to move ahead with replacing the roof, and officials hope work will begin in 2012.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nydnrss/news/~3/6iYEx9pkCog/story01.htm
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As one journalist put it, it said how much we all knew about North Korea that for the better part of Wednesday morning, most of the world remained in the dark about just when ? if at all? ? the state funeral for Kim Jong Il had begun.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/45799929#45799929
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BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan ? The Kyrgyz government says that 31 people have been injured in the crash-landing of a passenger jet.
Kyrgyzstan's Health Ministry said the Soviet-built Tu-134 jet was carrying 95 passengers and six crew when it crash-landed in deep fog Wednesday at the airport of the southern city of Osh.
Emergency Situations Minister Kubatbek Boronov said the plane flying from the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek was damaged when it made a rough landing in Osh. He didn't elaborate, but eyewitnesses said the jet rolled off the runway, broke its wing, overturned and caught fire.
Boronov said that 17 of the 31 injured were hospitalized.
The Tu-134 is a two-engine jet that has remained in service with many post-Soviet carriers.
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WASHINGTON ? U.S. home prices fell in most major cities for the second straight month, further evidence that the housing recovery will be bumpy and weigh on the broader economy in 2012.
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index released Tuesday showed prices dropped in October from September in 19 of the 20 cities tracked.
The decline reflects the typical fall slowdown after the peak buying season. Prices had risen modestly in April through August in at least half of the cities tracked.
Still, home prices have fallen roughly 32 percent nationwide since the housing bubble burst five years ago and are back to 2003 levels, according to the index.
Prices are even lower in hard-hit areas, such as Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit, Phoenix and Las Vegas. Washington, New York, Los Angeles and San Diego have seen the smallest declines.
Home values remain depressed despite some modest progress in the housing market.
Residential construction is likely to add to U.S. economic growth in 2011, the first time that has happened in four years. That's mainly because apartments are being built almost twice as fast as two years ago ? reflecting a surge in renting and weaker home sales.
The Case-Shiller index measures prices for roughly half of all U.S. homes. Prices are compared with those in January 2000 and the index is based on a three-month moving average. The monthly data are not seasonally adjusted.
Atlanta, Detroit and Minneapolis posted the biggest monthly declines. Prices in Atlanta and Las Vegas fell to their lowest points since the housing crisis began. Prices rose in Phoenix after three straight monthly declines.
David M. Blitzer, chairman of S&P's index committee, said steep price drops in cities such as Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit and Minneapolis were particularly worrisome because their gains earlier this season were so strong.
"Atlanta and the Midwest are regions that really stand out in terms of recent relative weakness," Blitzer said. "These markets were some of the strongest during the spring/summer buying season."
Americans are reluctant to purchase a home more than two years after the recession officially ended. High unemployment and weak job growth have deterred many would-be buyers. Even the lowest mortgage rates in history haven't been enough to lift sales.
Some people can't qualify for loans or meet higher down payment requirements. Many with good credit and stable jobs are holding off because they fear that prices will keep falling.
Sales of previously occupied homes are barely ahead of 2008's dismal figures ? the worst in 13 years. And sales of new homes this year will likely be the worst since the government began keeping records a half century ago.
Prices are likely to fall further once banks resume millions of foreclosures. They have been delayed because of a yearlong government investigation into mortgage lending practices.
Foreclosures and short sales ? when a lender accepts less for a home than what is owed on a mortgage ? are selling at an average discount of 20 percent.
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By Kurt Schlosser
In case you missed it over the Christmas weekend, the NBA returned to action after a bit of a delayed start to the season.
Noel Vasquez / Getty Images
Still reading? Good.
The best part of this news, from the standpoint of those of us who like to gawk at celebrities, is that the Los Angeles Lakers were playing. The Staples Center is the premiere spot for courtside celeb viewing, and Sunday was no exception. But forget Jack Nicholson and Dyan Cannon.
The highlight for us was rappers?Lil Wayne and Kanye West, right, exchanging a shake and a hug. Wayne's camo shorts defied gravity in their ability to stay above his knees despite riding way below his waist. Perhaps even more baffling was the?addition of snowboard boots, below,?to the ensemble. Gotta love L.A.
Noel Vasquez / Getty Images
All of this makes for a good reason to watch this classic "Pants on the Ground" clip from "American Idol" (sorry, you'll have to go find the Brett Favre version on your own). Take it away, General:
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