Khamis, 20 Jun 2013

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Posted: 20 Jun 2013 06:47 PM PDT

SINGAPORE/KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's state pension fund has hired Goldman Sachs to consider its options with the fund's 41 per cent stake in RHB Capital Bhd, according to people familiar with the matter, which include a plan to buy the rest of the bank.

RHB, Malaysia's fourth-largest bank, has a market capitalisation of US$6.8 billion. Its second-largest shareholder, Abu Dhabi's Aabar Investment, holds a 22 per cent stake.

Malaysia's Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Aabar were not immediately available to comment. A spokeswoman for Goldman Sachs declined to comment.-- Reuters

KL shares tumbles on global sell-off

Posted: 20 Jun 2013 06:52 PM PDT

Malaysia's benchmark stock index dropped in early trade as global equity markets continued to sell after the Federal Reserve said this week it was encouraged by the US economy's growth to begin slowing its stimulus.

The bond buying programme by the Fed had given support to the US economy and global financial markets by pushing interest rates to record lows.

The Kuala Lumpur stock index fell 1.4 per cent, led by losses in property developer UEM Sunrise and autos-to-oil and gas conglomerate UMW Holdings.

"Asian bourses will inevitably take a beating," Hwang DBS said in a research note to clients.

"Back home, the benchmark KLCI, which could test (and fall under) its immediate support level of 1,750 points, may revisit last week's intra-week low of 1,742.87 points."

HwangDBS also said investors will watch shares in the country's top lender, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), after its disposal of a nine per cent stake in Jakarta listed PT Bank Internasional Indonesia.

It also picked out MBM Resources as a key stock to watch, as the auto distributor is targeting to lift its revenue to RM4 billion by 2015 from RM2.3 billion in 2012.-- Reuters

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50 Years After Ich Bin ein Berliner, Obama Urges 'Peace With Justice' - The Atlantic

Posted: 20 Jun 2013 07:52 AM PDT

In a major speech at the Brandenburg Gate, the president called for a reduction in nuclear weapons.

U.S. President Barack Obama, left, stands in front of Brandenburg Gate at Pariser Platz in Berlin on June 19, 2013. (AP)

Over the centuries, it's been the site of grandiose military displays under the Kaisers, the symbol of East and West German division during the Cold War, and the setting for "Tear down this wall." And today, President Obama channeled Kennedy as he finally got his own chance to speak at Berlin's historic Brandenburg Gate.

In a wide-ranging speech, Obama called on Americans and Europeans to work together to solve the world's biggest challenges, including climate change, youth unemployment, and political oppression.

Echoing the words of JFK, who said he was "a citizen of Berlin" in the city 50 years ago on June 26, Obama implored the audience to remember those suffering from poverty and war.

"They are who you were," he said. "They deserve our support, for they too, in their own way, are citizens of Berlin. And we have to help them every day."

Obama used the event to call for reductions in deployed nuclear warheads, saying the world should aim to cut existing nukes by one-third. The New START treaty, signed in April 2010 between the U.S. and Russia, limited the number of deployed nuclear warheads to 1,550.

He also called for treaties that would ban nuclear tests and the production of fissile materials, and for reductions in U.S. and Russian tactical weapons in Europe.

"We may no longer live in fear of global annihilation, but so long as nuclear weapons exist, we are not truly safe," Obama said.

The president also echoed Kennedy's 1963 call to look "to the day of peace with justice, beyond yourselves and ourselves to all mankind." Obama said fostering "peace with justice" means promoting tolerance, investments in education, and meeting moral obligations on public health.

"The greatest tribute that we can pay to those who came before us," he said, "is by carrying on their work to pursue peace and justice not only in our countries but for all mankind."

Supreme Court strikes down anti-prostitution pledge as condition of AIDS funding - Washington Post

Posted: 20 Jun 2013 08:33 AM PDT

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday said the government cannot force private health organizations to denounce prostitution as a condition to get taxpayer money to fight AIDS around the world.

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the court, said the anti-prostitution pledge in a 2003 AIDS funding law improperly restricts the groups' First Amendment rights.

Four organizations that work in Africa, Asia and South America challenged the provision in the law, arguing their work has nothing to do with prostitution.

The Obama administration countered that it is reasonable for the government to give money only to groups that oppose prostitution and sex trafficking because they contribute to the spread of HIV and AIDS. It said that if groups were not held to a pledge to oppose prostitution and sex trafficking, they could spend private funds in a way that might undermine the government's mission.

But Roberts, in the 6-2 decision, wrote that the pledge "goes beyond preventing recipients from using private funds in a way that would undermine the federal government."

"It requires them to pledge allegiance to the government's policy of eradicating prostitution," he wrote. That, Roberts wrote, the government cannot do.

Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented. Scalia said the pledge "is nothing more than a means of selecting suitable agents to implement the government's chosen strategy to eradicate HIV/AIDS."

"That is perfectly permissible under the Constitution," Scalia wrote.

Roberts noted that Congress has made available billions of dollars for private groups to combat the spread of HIV and AIDS through the law, formally known as the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Act of 2003.

Another condition of funding that was not at issue in this case prohibits those groups from doing anything to promote the legalization of prostitution or sex trafficking.

A federal appeals court in New York struck down the pledge as an unacceptable intrusion on the groups' right to speak freely. Another appeals court, in Washington, upheld the provision against a similar challenge.

Two groups — Alliance for Open Society International Inc., which runs a program in Central Asia to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS by reducing drug use, and Pathfinder International, which provides family planning and reproductive health services in more than 20 countries — went to the courts after they adopted policy statements opposing prostitution in order to keep their eligibility for funding intact.

The other two groups are Global Health Council and Interaction.

The organizations "fear that adopting a policy explicitly opposing prostitution may alienate certain host governments, and may diminish the effectiveness of some of their programs by making it more difficult to work with prostitutes in the fight against HIV/AIDS," Roberts said.

The groups pointed out in court papers that the World Health Organization and other international organizations receive U.S funds to fight AIDS and do not have to comply with the anti-prostitution pledge. Indeed, some of the international agencies support lesser penalties for prostitution as part of their AIDS-fighting strategy.

Justice Elena Kagan did not take part in the case, presumably because she worked on it while serving in the Justice Department as the Obama administration's top Supreme Court lawyer.

The case is United States Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society International, 12-10.

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Khamis, 20 Jun 2013