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Third child dies in Thai protest violence

Third child dies in Thai protest violence (AFP) / 24 February 2014 The girl died from wounds after a grenade attack on Sunday afternoon on a busy Bangkok shopping district, near a rally by demonstrators trying to oust Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra Anti-government protesters pray near the site of a bomb blast. -Reuters A six-year-old girl on Monday became the third child to die in recent days in Thailand’s political unrest, as the army chief warned the country could collapse if violence continues. The girl died from wounds after a grenade attack on Sunday afternoon on a busy Bangkok shopping district, near a rally by demonstrators trying to oust Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Her four-year-old brother and a women also died in the blast, which left blood splattered on a main road lined by street stalls, several top-end hotels and a major shopping mall. Police said the grenade was fired into the crowd by unknown attackers from an M79 shoulder-held launcher. They said an officer also died on Monday, nearly a week after being shot in the head in a gunbattle with protesters. Six people — including two officers — were killed in that incident in Bangkok’s historic heart, a stone’s throw from the city’s backpacker zone. Twenty-one people have now been killed and more than 700 wounded in violence linked to almost four months of anti-government demonstrations. Attacks have mainly been mounted in Bangkok, although a drive-by shooting late Saturday on a protest rally in the eastern province of Trat killed a five-year-old girl. The current unrest is the worst in the bitterly divided kingdom since protests by “Red Shirts” — allied to Yingluck’s older brother Thaksin — against a previous government in 2010 sparked clashes and a military crackdown that left more than 90 people dead. “As days go by, there will be more violence until it cannot be controlled,” army chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha warned in a rare televised live speech. “If losses continue, the country will collapse for sure and nobody will win or lose,” he said. Prayut urged reconciliation and talks. He said troops are “ready to do their duty” but “do not want to use force and weapons to unnecessarily fight with the Thai people”. He did not elaborate. The army has staged numerous coups — with the most recent one ousting Thaksin from office in 2006 — and the army chief’s comments are closely scrutinised for signs of possible intervention. The head of the government’s security response to the protests also predicted more unrest. “From now on violence will keep happening, for sure, so anyone who is not involved in the protests should not go to them,” said Labour Minister Chalerm Yubamrung. “I accept that it is hard to control.” The government says it has been hamstrung by a court ruling last week banning it from using force to disperse peaceful protesters. Authorities say high-calibre weapons fired at them last week indicate the protesters have heavily armed support, while television footage has shown apparent protesters firing handguns in clashes. The shocking death of the three children earned swift condemnation from UN chief Ban Ki-Moon. Prime Minister Yingluck labelled them “terrorist acts”. The UN children’s fund UNICEF called on protesters to keep children away from the rallies, which have for many weeks been treated as boisterous family occasions. Yingluck spent Monday inspecting local produce in a province 150 kilometres (90 miles) east of Bangkok, in a move seized on by her opponents as a sign she is on the run. But a government spokeswoman told AFP she would return to Bangkok by the evening. Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, who as deputy premier at the time oversaw the 2010 crackdown on the Red Shirts, said the government bore responsibility for the weekend violence. “We use peaceful tactics, we are empty-handed. In past four months, we have never created any violence,” he told a rally. Hatred for Thaksin, who lives in exile to avoid prison over graft charges, is at the heart of the anti-government movement. Protesters allege he still runs the government through Yingluck and has fostered widespread corruption. But Thaksin and his sister enjoy strong support in the rural north and northeast.  For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading

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Emerging Market Investors Hide Out in ‘Korexico’

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7bb3efaa-1c85-11e3-a8a3-00144feab7de.html#ixzz2f3XJ2xx3 By Paul J Davies Markets are awash with buzzwords. Ever since Brics was coined we have recoiled from PIIGS, grappled with Chimerica and been sceptical about both Abenomics and Liconomics. So here is an aide memoire for where to invest when the US Federal Reserve threatens to taper its ultra-loose monetary policy and emerging markets sag with a draining of vital liquidity. When the markets correct, go “Korexico”. South Korea and Mexico have been two of the best defensive stories around in emerging markets in recent months for a handful of simple reasons: their exports are geared towards a US recovery, they did not suck in the hot money unleashed by central banks and they have not seen credit booms in the past two years. Stock markets in both countries suffered with the rest after Fed chairman Ben Bernanke first talked of “tapering” on May 22. However, they did not fall as far and they recovered more strongly. Stocks in Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines fell deeply into late June and have not enjoyed a big bounce from the recent weaker US economic data that may have put off the end of “quantitative easing”. Korea’s Kospi index fell 11 per cent at worst by the last week of June and is now back to where it was in late May. Mexico did not even drop that far, losing only about 6 per cent at most. Now it is up 1.5 per cent. The other four were down between 15 and 24 per cent at worst. Brazil’s Bovespa is still 5.5 per cent lower since late May, while Bangkok’s SET, Jakarta’s JCI and the PCOMP in Manila are all down about 17 per cent. Part of the story is in fund flows. Both Korea and Mexico suffered outflows from equity markets at first, but not for long. Mexican markets saw almost $4bn of foreign cash leave stock markets in June, but more than $2bn return in July and August. In Korea, where data are published daily, inflows of more than $7bn since the end of June have more than replaced the outflows of $6.6bn during June. What is more, according to Freya Beamish at Lombard Street Research in Hong Kong, money that came out of Korean equities did not leave the country. “When the taper hysteria first hit, foreigners pulled out of Korean equities in the same way as they did across Asia,” she says. “But they went into Korean bonds. Then when the taper concerns eased foreigners went back into equities.” So what has kept these markets attractive and is the defensive story justified? Both have avoided the hot money problem of other emerging markets to a great degree. On the credit side, bank lending to GDP in Korea may look high at 86.5 per cent, but it is lower than many Asian neighbours and has declined a few points since 2009. Other Asian markets have seen explosive credit growth. In Mexico, the ratio has barely moved, remaining at about 20 per cent of GDP. Their stock markets attracted less hot cash, too, especially compared with the dizzying highs reached by the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia. Korea and Mexico are both exposed to a US recovery via exports. More than two-thirds of Mexico’s exports head north across the border, but only about 10 per cent of Korea’s go to the US. But while Korea is much more dependent on China in general for exports, its key industries of electronics and cars are more influenced by US buying than Chinese. A boon for Korea has been Japan. The yen’s recent depreciation was meant to hit Korea’s competitiveness – but that has not happened. Oddly, a boon for Korea has been Japan. The yen’s recent depreciation was meant to hit Korea’s competitiveness – but that has not happened. “At the corporate level, there had been a concern about renewed competition from Japan benefiting from a weaker yen, but Japanese companies have focused on restoring profitability not boosting sales,” says Jeff Shen, head of emerging markets at BlackRock. But it is not entirely rosy. For a start, first-half earnings were a big disappointment. According to Citigroup, almost half of Korean companies missed analyst estimates and less than 20 per cent beat them – the worst in Asia. In Mexico, again half of companies missed forecasts, but fewer than one-in-ten beat them, the worst in Latin America. In Korea, investors were not expecting great things. The Kospi trades on 8-times forward earnings, one of the cheapest in Asia and below its average over the past 10 years, according to JPMorgan. Mexico, however, is one of the most expensive markets in the world on 17 times forward earnings, a good way above its average. This could well prove a dangerous place to be. For both countries, a sustained US recovery is what will really help – and that is far from certain. Their key attraction in the months ahead is more likely to be as a short-term haven from bouts of taper-hysteria in other emerging markets. Korexico is less a destination than a hide-out. paul.j.davies@ft.com Continue reading

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Dubai apartment rents rose in Q1, report shows

The incredible demand for luxurious apartments in Dubai enabled landlords in most parts of the city to increase their rents in the first quarter of 2013.A new report by Bayt.com suggested that people are falling over themselves to rent out plush apartments in exclusive areas and this is playing right into the hands of savvy property investors.Downtown Dubai is still one of the most popular regions and landlords have had no trouble finding long-term tenants who are willing to pay a premium to live in such a nice part of the sheikhdom.Indeed, the average rent on a studio apartment in Downtown Dubai rose by 2.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2013, while the asking price for one and two-bedroom properties went up by 4.2 per cent and 4.7 per cent respectively.Unsurprisingly, the Palm Jumeirah has also proven to be a hotspot for property investment in recent months and this latest report explains why this is the case.Rental prices soared by an astonishing 27 per cent year-on-year and this was mainly attributed to the strong demand coming from high-earning expatriates.The Dubai Marina is also as popular as ever, although rent increases have plateaued slightly due to the sheer number of beautiful new buildings being erected in the area. That said, demand is still robust and investors can expect to see rental rates go up again in the near future.According to Bayt.com, the villa market also performed very well in the first quarter of 2013, with sale and rental prices on the up.As such, it is no real shock that Knight Frank recently included Dubai among its top five real estate markets on the planet.It stated that only Jakarta, Bangkok and Miami could compete with the emirate when it came to property price hikes, as the value of luxurious buildings in Dubai rose by an impressive 18.3 per cent between March 2012 and the same month this year.The First Group can help you find apartments for sale in Dubai Continue reading

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