Japan Stocks Plunge, Other Asia Markets Fall After US Losses

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25 December 2018, 14:16

Asian Stocks Fall After IMF Downgrades Economic Outlook — A man walks past an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in 2017 in Tokyo. Photo: Shuji Kajiyama / Associated Press

BEIJING — Japanese stocks plunged Tuesday and other Asian markets declined following heavy Wall Street losses triggered by President Donald Trump’s attack on the U.S. central bank.

The Nikkei 225 fell by an unusually wide margin of 4.8 percent to 19,189.00. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 2.3 percent to 2,469.28. Benchmarks in Thailand and Taiwan also declined.

Markets in Hong Kong, Australia and South Korea were closed for Christmas.

Wall Street indexes fell more than 2 percent on Monday after Trump said on Twitter the Federal Reserve was the U.S. economy’s “only problem.” Efforts by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to calm investor fears only seemed to make matters worse.

U.S. stocks are track for their worst December since 1931 during the Great Depression. Shanghai is down almost 25 percent this year, while Tokyo, Hong Kong and other markets are on track to end 2018 down more than 10 percent.

Markets have been roiled by concerns about a slowing global economy, the trade dispute with China and another interest rate increase by the Fed.

Trump’s Monday morning tweet heightened fears about the economy being destabilized by a president who wants control over the Fed. Its board members are nominated by the president but make decisions independently of the White House. The board’s chairman, Jerome Powell, was nominated by Trump last year.

“The only problem our economy has is the Fed,” the president said on Twitter. “They don’t have a feel for the Market, they don’t understand necessary Trade Wars or Strong Dollars or even Democrat Shutdowns over Borders. The Fed is like a powerful golfer who can’t score because he has no touch – he can’t putt!”

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slid 2.7 percent to 2,351.10. The benchmark index is down 19.8 percent from its peak on Sept. 20, close to the 20 percent drop that would officially mean the end of the longest bull market for stocks in modern history – a run of nearly 10 years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 2.9 percent to 21,792.20. The Nasdaq skidded 2.2 percent to 6,192.92.

On Sunday, Mnuchin made a round of calls to the heads of the six largest U.S. banks, but the move only raised new concerns about the economy.

Most economists expect U.S. economic growth to slow in 2019, not slide into a full-blown recession. But the president has voiced his anger over the Fed’s decision to raise its key short-term rate four times in 2018. That is intended to prevent the economy from overheating.

Technology stocks, health care companies and banks took some of the heaviest losses in Monday’s sell-off. Wells Fargo slid 3.4 percent, Microsoft 4.2 percent and Johnson & Johnson 4.1 percent.

U.S. markets reopen Wednesday.

In energy markets, Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost 9 cents to USD$50.68 per barrel in London. The contract plummeted $3.33 on Monday to close at $50.77.

In currency trading, the dollar declined to 110.13 yen from Monday’s 110.45 yen. The euro advanced to $1.1417 from $1.1405.

Story: Joe McDonald

Somber Christmas, Prayers in Tsunami-Hit Indonesian Region

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Associated Press

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25 December 2018, 14:03

People search for relatives Sunday among the bodies of tsunami victims in Carita, Indonesia. Photo: Fauzy Chaniago / Associated Press

SUMUR, Indonesia — The Christmas holiday was somber with prayers for tsunami victims in the Indonesian region hit by waves that struck without warning Saturday night.

Markus Taekz said his Rahmat Pentecostal Church in the hard-hit area of Carita did not celebrate with joyous music.

Instead, he said only about 100 people showed up for the Christmas Eve service, usually attended by double that number, because many people had left the area for the capital, Jakarta, or other areas away from the disaster zone.

“This is an unusual situation because we have a very bad disaster that killed hundreds of our sisters and brothers in Banten,” he said, referring to the Javanese province. “So our celebration is full of grief.”

Church leaders called on Christians across Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, to pray for victims of the tsunami.

The death toll had climbed to 373 late Monday with more than 1,400 people injured and at least 128 missing after the tsunami slammed into western Java and southern Sumatra without warning, smashing homes to pieces and sweeping people into the sea.

Military troops, government personnel and volunteers were searching along debris-strewn beaches. Where victims were found, yellow, orange and black body bags were laid out, and weeping relatives identified the dead.

The waves followed an eruption and apparent landslide on Anak Krakatau, or “Child of Krakatoa,” a volcanic island that formed in the early part of the 20th century near the site of the cataclysmic 1883 eruption of Krakatoa.

Hotels and hundreds of homes were heavily damaged by the waves. Chunks of broken concrete and splintered wood littered coastal areas.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who faces what promises to be a tough re-election campaign next year, vowed to have all tsunami-detection equipment replaced or repaired.

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for Indonesia Disaster Mitigation Agency, acknowledged on Twitter that the country’s network of detection buoys had been out of order since 2012 because of vandalism and budget shortfalls.

But the head of Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, Dwikorita Karnawati, said the tsunami was caused by Krakatau’s volcanic activity and so could not have been picked up by the agency’s sensors, which monitor the conventional earthquakes responsible for more than 90 percent of Indonesia’s tsunamis.

The tsunami was probably caused by the collapse of a big section of the volcano’s slope, said Gegar Prasetya, co-founder of the Tsunami Research Center Indonesia. Anak Krakatau been erupting since June and did so again 24 minutes before the tsunami, the geophysics agency said.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago of more than 17,000 islands and home to 260 million people, lies along the Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.

The eruption of Krakatoa in the 19th century killed more than 30,000 people and hurled so much ash that it turned day to night in the area and reduced global temperatures. Thousands were believed killed by a quake and tsunami that hit Sulawesi island in September, and an earlier quake on the island of Lombok killed 505 people in August.

Story: Niniek Karmini

California Governor Pardons 5 Cambodian Refugees

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Associated Press

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25 December 2018, 13:49

Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia gestures as he talks about his vision for the Mekong region in the World Economic Forum on ASEAN at the National Convention Center Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2018 in Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo: Bullit Marquez / Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, California — California Gov. Jerry Brown has pardoned five refugees from Cambodia and another immigrant from Honduras who faced the possibility of deportation because of their criminal convictions.

The pardons were among more than 250 clemency decisions announced by the governor on Christmas Eve.

According to Brown’s office, the five Cambodians entered the country when they were 5 or younger.

The pardons don’t automatically stop deportation proceedings, but they eliminate the state convictions on which federal authorities might base deportation decisions. That gives the men’s lawyers strong legal arguments before immigration judges to try to prevent their removal from the country.

Mexico: Helicopter Crash Claims Puebla Governor, Ex-Governor

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Associated Press

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25 December 2018, 12:42

Rafael Moreno Valle, candidate of the "Compromiso por Puebla" party coalition, flashes two thumbs up IN 2010 after casting his vote during state elections in Puebla, Mexico. Photo: Joel Merino / Associated Press

MEXICO CITY — A husband-and-wife political power couple who were the current and ex-governors of the central Mexican state of Puebla died in a Christmas Eve helicopter crash, officials announced.

Mexico’s political class was stunned by the deaths of Gov. Martha Erika Alonso and ex-Gov. Rafael Moreno Valle, a prominent figure in the opposition National Action Party who had vied unsuccessfully for the party’s presidential nomination and its internal leadership. He was currently a federal senator for the party.

Two pilots and a third passenger also died.

The Agusta 109 helicopter fell about 10 minutes after taking off from a heliport within the city of Puebla on a flight to Mexico City.

It crashed in the municipality of Santa Maria Coronango, which is about 3.5 miles (5.5 kilometers) north of the city’s main airport on the western outskirts, federal Public Security Secretary Alfonso Durazo told a news conference.

Images of the crash showed a shattered, still smoldering aircraft on the edge of a scorched patch of cornfield.

Both federal and state officials said they had opened investigations into the cause — a potentially sensitive case because President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s Morena party had challenged the validity of Alonso’s election in July. She was sworn in 10 days ago after independent electoral authorities dismissed the challenge.

State spokesman Maximiliano Cortazar demanded a “transparent, impartial and independent” investigation.

Lopez Obrador expressed his “deepest condolences” via Twitter to the family of on Monday evening.

Moreno Valle governed the central state from 2011 to 2017 and was currently a federal senator. Opponents alleged that he had manipulated the election to hand power to his wife.

Government agencies and scores of officials, including former President Enrique Pena Nieto, also expressed condolences via statements and social media.

Thai Tsunami Warning System Works Despite Damage: Minister

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Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

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25 December 2018, 12:29

Indonesian soldiers carry the bodies of tsunami victims Monday at a beach resort in Tanjung Lesung Indonesia. Photo: Achmad Ibrahim / Associated Press

BANGKOK — Thailand’s tsunami warning system is operational despite one of the two detection buoy lines on the Andaman sea having been recently damaged by a trawler, Interior Minister Gen. Anupong Paochinda said Tuesday.

Anupong reassured the public after a deadly tsunami hits Indonesia’s Sunda Strait without warning on Sunday, killing more than 280 people.

The Interior Minister said the line of detection buoys, which was accidentally damaged, will have to be reinstalled, adding that the government is ready to deploy it. He did not say when they’d be replaced, but added that warnings would be issued if there was a tsunami.

Anupong said there will be more frequent emergency evacuation drills and wanted to assured the local people and tourists that a timely evacuation will be made if there’s an incident.

Search for Missing Boy in Suphan Buri Field Enters 9th Day

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Chayanit Itthipongmaetee, Staff Reporter

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25 December 2018, 11:27

SUPHAN BURI — A search and rescue operation for a 2-year-old boy entered its ninth day Tuesday with more than 100 police officers and sniffing dogs.

Sului Piew’s whereabouts are still unknown since he went missing over a week ago while he was out playing with a friend near a sugarcane plantation in Suphan Buri province. Officials haven’t ruled whether the son of Burmese migrant workers may have gotten lost, had an accident or been abducted.

Since Wednesday, rescue workers, police and soldiers were deployed across an 80-acre field to find Sului. Divers also checked nearby ponds for signs of the boy. The latest to offer assistance to the search operation were mahouts and their elephants.

Sului’s 3-year-old friend, the last person who saw him, has been questioned by officers and child specialists, according to Lt. Gen. Sompong, chief of Border Patrol Police. The friend sounded the alarm, allegedly telling her parents she saw the 2-year-old being abducted.

Bangkok Bus Runs Over, Kills Passenger

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JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI

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25 December 2018, 10:46

A bus No.44 at the scene of a Monday incident in which a 77-year-old woman was killed on Lat Phrao road, Bangkok. Photo: Ruamkatanyu Foundation

BANGKOK — Police on Tuesday were looking for the driver of a bus that ran over and killed an elderly female passenger last night in the capital.

The victim, who was struck by a No. 44 bus at about 7:30pm on Lat Phrao road in Wang Thonglang district, died at the scene following the incident. Police said they charged 22-year-old driver Jatupol Imsook, who quickly fled, with fatal reckless driving.

Prajan Prompak, the bus conductor, said the 77-year-old victim was getting off the bus at Soi Lat Phrao 66 when she lost her balance, fell from the sidewalk and under the bus that was pulling out at the same moment. She sustained a fatal head injury.

The bus is privately owned and operated by Raavechoek Company.

Elephants Join Search for Missing 2-Year-Old Boy

By

Associated Press

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25 December 2018, 10:21

In this Sunday, Dec. 23, 2018, photo released by Suphan Buri City, four mahouts and their elephants attend a prayer session with rescue workers and officials before joining the search operation, in Suphan Buri, Thailand. Photo: Suphan Buri City via Associated Press

BANGKOK — Four elephants mounted by their mahouts have joined the search for a 2-year-old boy from Myanmar who has been missing in Thailand for a week, as hundreds of rescuers combed through a sugarcane field for traces of the missing child.

Sului Piew, a son of migrant workers from Myanmar, went missing Dec. 17 when he went out to play near the sugarcane plantation where his parents work. Nimit Wanchaithanawong, the governor of Suphan Buri province, said Sului’s family was alerted of his disappearance when his 3-year-old friend told her parents that she saw Sului being abducted.

“We set up a search operation center near the field and we will continue with the search in full steam,” Nimit, who is in charge of the search operation, said Monday. “It’s been more than a week and the child is so young. These few days will be very critical to all of us.”

The search for Sului officially began last Wednesday and has involved hundreds of volunteer rescue workers, police officers and soldiers who have been deployed to search an 80-acre field of around 2-meter-high (6.5-foot-high) sugarcane plants. A team of divers has also searched nearby ponds to find clues of the boy’s whereabouts.

The latest to offer assistance to the search operation are the mahouts and their elephants from a neighboring province.

Laithongrien Meepan, the elephants’ owner, said the animals would be able to scour the vast sugarcane plantation for signs of life because they can sense the presence of life.

“If we find a child, or dogs lying around, they know not to step on that,” Laithongrien said. “Mahouts can look out into the distance and elephants will raise their trunks to smell.”

Wife Fears Anti-Monarchist Forced to Disappear in Laos

By

Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

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24 December 2018, 17:45

Junta leader Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, left, poses with his Laotian counterpart in 2014 in Milan, Italy.

BANGKOK — The friends and wife of a prominent anti-monarchist exiled in Laos said they fear he might have been disappeared after they lost contact with him for two weeks.

Romchalee Yammy Sinseubpol, a political exile in Laos said she and an unspecified number of friends went to check Surachai Danwattananusorn’s resident Monday morning – more than two weeks after they lost contact with him – and found no one. She said all doors had been left open and that some documents appeared to be missing.

She posted on Facebook saying the place appeared to have been searched. She and her friends fear that he may have been “forced to disappear.”

“The last thing Yam and friends would like to ask from all of you is to remember this democratic hero… who dedicated himself to pro-people ideology,” wrote Romchalee.

When contacted Monday afternoon, Romchalee said she cannot disclose further information until having consulted with her peers, but confirmed that the situation remained the same as of press time Monday.

In a related development, Surachai’s wife, Pranee Dawattanasunorn pleaded that her husband and two male aides be safely released.

“I could only plead those involved to let them go,” said Pranee, who lives in Nakhon Si Thammarat province and lost contact with Surachai since Dec. 10.

Surachai, fled Thailand two days before the May 22, 2014 coup and has since been active on social media promoting his ideology.

Speaking on the phone, Pranee said Laotian authorities had asked friends to come and take away his valuables on Monday but that his gold, cash and gun had gone missing.

Pranee said Surachai is ailing from heart conditions, diabetes and high blood pressure and could be in serious danger without his heart medicine.

On Monday, Deputy Prime Minsiter Prawit Wongsuwan said he didn’t know where Surachai could have gone.

“I don’t know where he is and why he has disappeared now after four years,” adding that he had contacted the Laotian authorities, who had told him they were unaware of Surachai’s whereabouts.

Prayuth’s Ex-Deputy Says Junta Leader Shouldn’t Be PM Again

By

Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

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24 December 2018, 17:24

Prime Minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, left, and Deputy Prime Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula in 2014.

BANGKOK — A former Deputy Prime Minister under Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha’s first administration launched a scathing attack on the premier Monday detailing why he wouldn’t support his former boss to become PM again after elections.

Writing for Isranews Agency and Daily News in a long article, Pridiyathorn Devakula cited eight reasons for which he wouldn’t support Prayuth to become an elected prime minister. These included lack of fiscal discipline – particularly on military spending – close ties with China at the expense of Thailand, reinforcing military supremacy over civilians, nepotism and lack of will to do the right thing.

“What’s very ugly is that the state’s budget has been used to boost his popularity and political parties on his side,” Pridiyathorn wrote, adding that the so-called mobile cabinet meetings upcountry are nothing but another thinly-disguised political campaign.

Reacting to the criticism, Deputy Prime Minister Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan accused Pridiyathorn of having a “personal dislike” for Prayuth.

Pridiyathorn also criticized the military regime in which he once served for using state money in cash handouts to the poor just before the promised elections.

On military supremacy over civilian, Pridiyathorn said civilians became the governed under the military.

“Summoning people to have their ‘attitude adjusted’ by the military inside military compounds and their overseeing of officials’ work at the Interior and Agriculture ministries at a local level makes it feel as if the army is the ruler and civilians are under military rule,” the former deputy premier wrote.

Pridiyathorn cited the slow investigation by the National Anti Corruption Commission over the alleged irregularities in the construction of the controversial Ratchapak Park the military built in Hua Hin, Prachuab Khiri Khan province as another reason for his disapproval of Prayuth’s candidacy.

He also spoke of the lack of fiscal discipline as another reason for not supporting the junta leader. Pridiyathorn – who was in charge of the economy during the first year of the military regime – expressed concerns about excessive future budget commitments made for the purchase of arms. He referred to the 3 trillion baht pledged to buy submarines and added that the government’s expenditures are “growing faster than its income” and fiscal deficit.

He added that the future budget the military government committed to over the next five years, at 117 trillion baht, is the highest in history.

“If Gen. Prayuth is prime minister anew he would likely choose a person who would yield to him to become finance minister. There will be greater fiscal deficit… debt will grow to the point where the financial status of the country will weaken,” he said.

Pridiyathorn sad that another reason for which he does not support Prayuth for prime minister is his perceived “lack of decisiveness” due to the fear of losing popularity. He cited that the regime’s retreat from pushing for a coal-powered plant in Krabi province as an example. He said Prayuth would not be able to push for reforms if he became prime minister again due to his indecisiveness.

He also criticized Prayuth’s lack of appropriate behaviour when abroad. He added that Prayuth often strays from the main issues when addressing the public abroad to the point where foreign media stated that “Thailand’s military junta is led by a clown.”

Lastly, Pridiyathorn accused the junta leader of often speaking with “hostility” and “angry mood.”

“He has never been careful in speaking. He doesn’t even know how a person who is a prime minister should conduct himself or speak to be appropriate,” Pridiyathorn wrote.

In further reactions, Prawit also denied that Prayuth was trying to set up an oil company in an attempt to eventually establish a monopoly in the industry with his army friends as alleged in one of the eight reasons cited by Pridiyathorn for not supporting Prayuth.

“There’s none. What old company? There’s none… It’s just personal dislike,” Prawit said Monday.

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