Osborne calls on EU to helu banks' recovery
Australian floods to hit coal production for months
I
T will be "some months" until coal mines affected by floods in Queensland are fully operation, the state's mining minister, Mr. Stephen Robertson has said. Operators of about 40 mines have been affected by the floods, according to a British Broadcasting Corporation report on Thursday. Queensland produces mostly coking coal used for steel making, but also
U
produces thermal coal used in power stations. And there are concerns
and economists in Paris on
NITED Kingdom's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. George Osborne, . has called on European leaders to bolster
banks' capital reserves and
take tougher steps to reduce government deficits to help aid economic recovery. The financial crisis that
struck Ireland toward the end of last year is proof that Europe lacks credible plans to strengthen its banks, Osborne will tell politicians Friday. That uncertainty is acting as a brake on the region's economic recovery, he will
the floods will see the price of coal rising - pushing up the cost of steel and electricity.
say, according to a Bloomberg report on Thursday. "On deficits, growth and 路"banks, 2011 is the year
However, Robertson tried
to play down those concerns. "You'll see a jump in spot
Europe must put its own house in order," Osborne will say, according to comments
prices but for our major
market predominately longterm contracts are in existence
Google's
at fixed prices," he told the BBC's World Business News. "So one would not expect
to see significant long-term price impacts, but there will be a spike in the short term, one would expect."
I
NTERNET competition heated up in December but this time between web browsers as Firefox knocked Internet Explorer off the top
Coal worth about 100m Australian dollars (拢64m; $99.7ml was usually shipped out of Queensland
spot for the first time in a major market.
ports every day, he said. "It never rains but it pours - at least if you use coal to
used internet browser in
fuel your power station"
the web analytics firm StatCounter, Sky News reported on Thursday. The Microsoft browser's popularity fell to 37.5 per cent from nearly 45 per cent
"Every day that those ports are not working to capacity
it's not just a hit on the coal companies themselves but on
the
economy
of
Queensland more generally because we extract significant
royalties from the mining of coal," he said. "It's going to take some months to come back fully
Mozilla's open-source application became the most
market share, according to
40 mines are affected and, whilst they have
was more contemporary
Top five browsers in the United Kingdom are Internet Explorer, 50.4 per cent; Firefox, 23.3 per cent; Chrome 16.5 per cent; Safari 7.6 per cent; Opera 1. 1 per
looking and cluttered.
download it, once they see
cent;
it's better they keep it."
newcomer's success has been
two-pronged with a good product backed by effective marketing. He said, "I used to use Internet Explorer as it was the
default search engine at home and at work but then Google launched a new kind of browser that loaded quicker,
a year ago. However the change in consumer attitudes was more
a reflection on Google
G
LOBAL food prices rose to a fresh high in
and
start
and
minerals in the next few
weeks but of course if it keeps raining that might be
2008 that saw prices spark riots in several countries. Soaring sugar, cereal and
oil prices had driven the rise, the report said. The index, which
extended."
measures monthly price
The Queensland floods have led to the temporary
changes for a food basket composed of dairy, meat and
closure of mines that account
sugar, cereals and oilseeds,
for eight per cent of global thermal coal exports, ANZ Bank analyst Mark Pervan has said. Mines with an annual
capacity of 57.3 million tonnes of thermal coal have either declared force majeure or have reduced production because of the rains, he
added. Sites operated by Rio Tinto, Xstrata and Vale are among those to have been affected.
losing
some
popularity worldwide, Internet Explorer has stayed in the top spot overall and in the UK. It seems that because there hasn't been more competition there before the
early pioneers offering browsers had quite a large uptake and a legacy of that still lingers on but I am convinced that Google is going to close the gap further," Holloman said.
that weather"
raise additional capital. Now, amid a widening European
debt crisis, regulators from 27 nations are searching for ways to improve the tests,
which will be repeated this year.
Osborne will also urge tougher steps to reduce government deficits amid high market interest rates in countries such as Greece,
Portugal and Spain. Writing in the Financial
Times on Thursday, Osborne
"comprehensive package early this year" to address "continuing market concern"
This is because wildfires last year in Russia, which
institutions, Maximo Torero,
told the BBe. The recent floods in Australia, which also accounts for 11 per cent of global exports, has compounded the problem, he said.
European
leaders
about sovereign debt. "The
eurozone
must
follow the logic of the single currency and stand more
convincingly behind the euro," Osborne wrote in the newspaper.
Sudan needs clearer oil-sharing deal - Report from wells in the south but
current revenue distribution system has been
the infrastructure remains in
implemented fairly," the
Most of Sudan's oil comes
the north. The current oil-sharing accord between the two
report said. "Mistrust over revenue
sharing was one of the
shares the revenues roughly
primary reasons for the
50:50. In its report, Global
south's temporary pullout
Cameroon, Haiti and Egypt.
Witness says the two sides need to agree a more
arrangement in 2007. Evid~nce suggests that such
There were further riots over food prices in
transparent deal to replace
concerns are not unfounded."
the existing one, which is due
Mozambique in September last year. However, despite high prices, FAO economist
to expire at the end of the m路imth. "There has been much mistrust over whether the
The report also said the Sudanese gove~nment and
averaged 214.7 points last month, up from 206 points in November.
It stood at 213.5 points at the high of June 2008 sparking violent protests in countries
two biggest lenders, both of which passed the tests, to
export ban, the institute's
International Food Policy Research Institute. The price of wheat in particular has risen sharply.
coals
Despite
director of markets, trade and
above the previous record of
recover
banks was underscored last year when Ireland directed its
needed to put in place a
increases in the cost of sugar and, more importantly, cereals, according to the
producing
is prompted to actually
said
December, according to the
will
Union stress tests to restore confidence in the region's
global exports, resulted in an
UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation. Its Food Price Index went
before those mines get back to full production. "It's hoped those mines
"But then because everyone keeps seeing it, and
accounts for 11 per cent of
start
nearby rivers and creeks, it's going to take some time
less
the difficult issues holding back confidence and growth." The failure of European
"a concern".
pumping some water out into
to
was
prices at fresh high - UN The current spike in prices is being caused primarily by
authorisation
''This means confronting
Windows software.
Sky News technology blogger, Mr. Christer Holloman, who made the switch to Chrome himself, said the reason for the
Europe with 38.1 per cent
online.
"At the present time about
released by a Treasury official.
ousts Microsoft from top spot
including
report comes ahead Sunday's referendum on
southern independence.
from
the
power-sharing
adequately accounted for discrepancies in published production figures.
It addsed "Under the current circumstances Sudanese citizens cannot be sure how much oil their country produces and therefore cannot be sure that
the
oil
wealth-sharing
agreement is being implemented fairly. "It is critical that these issues
the region's main oil company
are addressed. A new oil deal between north and south is
- China National Petroleum
essential to prevent a return
Corporation - have
to full-scale war."
not
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