PR Resource – Muarateweh.net

CANBERRA – The execution of three militants for the 2002 Bali bombings should have been more tightly controlled to avoid becoming a public spectacle, Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said.

The three men from the militant Islamist group Jemaah Islamiah — Imam Samudra, Mukhlas, and Amrozi — were executed by firing squad on Sunday for the 2002 nightclub attacks that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians and Ȇ Indonesians.

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CANBERRA – The world’s major economies must not use global financial turmoil as an excuse to retreat into protectionist trade, Australia and Indonesia said in a coordinated message ahead of a crisis summit in Washington. (continue reading…)

Source: ChinaStakes

At a time when China’s exporters are screaming for help and factories for export goods are shutting down, it is astonishing that the highest monthly trade surplus in China’s history, $35.239 billion, occurred just last month.

According to statistics from China Customs, China’s October exports reached $128.327 billion while imports totaled $93.088 billion, growth of 19.2% and 15.6% year on year, respectively. The trade surplus during the first ten months of 2008 totaled $215.99 billion.

According to a report from Moody’s, issued yesterday, China’s imports are falling more quickly than exports, so in recent months China’s trade surplus is still very high. But the recent economic stimulation package put out by the State Council to promote infrastructure construction will likely boost demand for imported goods, so imports may rebound in the near future. (continue reading…)

JAKARTA — (Xinhua) — Indonesia’s tin export in October slid by 59.64 percent to 4,439 tons from that of the previous month, due to a fall of global commodity prices following the weakening demand, local newspaper reported here Wednesday.

Director of the mining products export of the Trade Ministry Agus Tjahyono was quoted by Bisnis Indonesia daily as saying that the prices of most of mining products had declined.

Tin price has decreased to 18,000 U.S. dollars per metric ton from previous price of 23,000 dollars per metric ton, according to Hutomo Dharmo Sutomo, the secretary of the Indonesian tin association.

White House Opposes Use Of Financial Rescue Funds

The Bush administration signaled yesterday that it would reject a proposal by congressional Democrats to immediately advance $25 billion in government loans to ailing Detroit automakers.

The White House and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. made clear that while they are open to helping the auto industry, they are strongly opposed to Democrats’ plans to carve cash out of the government’s $700 billion financial rescue program. Despite those warnings, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said he would move ahead and draft legislation, setting up a final showdown with the Bush administration.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Bush administration on Wednesday largely abandoned its plan to buy up toxic mortgage assets and said it will focus its $700 billion financial bailout fund on making direct investments in financial institutions and shoring up consumer credit markets.

The U.S. Treasury Department initially promoted the financial rescue package approved by Congress last month as a vehicle to buy illiquid mortgage assets from banks and other institutions to spur fresh lending.

However, that plan never got off the ground and U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told a news conference asset purchases were not the most effective use of the funds.

“This is not going to be the focus,” he said. Paulson added, however, that the Treasury would continue to examine the usefulness of “targeted” purchases.
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