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(CNN) — Samsung’s flagship smartphone could be getting twice as fast.

The South Korean electronics company plans to release a quicker version of the Galaxy S4, says CEO J.K. Shin. He told Reuters it will be for sale in South Korea later this month.

The phones, which will be powered by a new Qualcomm processor, use what’s being called LTE-advanced technology, which will reportedly deliver data at speeds up to twice those of current 4G LTE connections.

Some downloads could be even quicker. A movie that takes three minutes to download on the current Galaxy S4 would take one minute on the new phone, Samsung told Reuters

Shin said Samsung is in talks with carriers in other countries about the phone. He did not specify which countries, or carriers.

The Galaxy S4 has been Samsung’s most popular smartphone yet. It passed 10 million sales in its first month — a clip that outpaced its predecessor, the S3, which emerged as the Android system’s most successful rival to the iPhone.

Recently, though, both Apple and Samsung have seen a slowdown in sales of top-end smartphones, as that market has shown signs of becoming saturated. An even faster S4, obviously, would be an effort to appeal to that upper-tier buyer who’s willing to fork over cash for the fanciest and fastest new models.

Shin told Reuters the new model would be “slightly more expensive” than the current S4, which sells for $199 and up, depending on the carrier and which service plan the customer signs up for.

Last month, Samsung announced that it will be making a smaller version of the S4. That phone will be unveiled at an event Thursday.

There also have been unconfirmed reports that Apple will release a cheaper version of its iPhone. As the high-end market tightens up, Apple, Samsung and other phone makers are eyeing developing countries, where interest in smartphones is still growing.

Article source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_business/~3/iA81Z-Uaq40/index.html

Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) — After clashes between police and protesters, Indonesia’s parliament Monday night voted to revise the national budget and allow an increase of up to 44% in the prices of subsidized gas and diesel fuel.

Earlier Monday, protesters who rejected the increase clashed with police outside the parliament building in Jakarta. Police fired tear gas and water cannons at thousands of them before legislators began voting on the budget revisions.

There were smaller protests in other parts of the country. Violence was reported in Malang in East Java province, Ternate in the Maluku Islands and Jambi province.

The vote was delayed for hours as political parties lobbied, behind closed doors, for and against the fuel price increase. As the final vote was announced, university students, who were seated at the parliament’s gallery, locked arms and shouted slogans.

The revised budget will allow gas prices to increase from 4,500 to 6,500 rupiah (46 U.S. cents to 66 U.S. cents) and diesel from 4,500 to 5,000 rupiah. The World Bank has long pushed for a cut in subsidies, which it says benefit mostly rich private car owners, to help ease pressure on the budget. The increased prices will not affect the public transport sector.

Indonesia is an oil-producing country. It became a net oil importer in 2008 and suspended its OPEC membership in 2009. It still enjoys some of the world’s lowest fuel prices.

In 2012, Indonesia spent about $20 billion on fuel subsidies. In previous years, more funds were spent on the hefty subsidies than on education and infrastructure development, the World Bank and the International Institute for Sustainable Development have said.

The revised budget includes some 9 trillion rupiah in compensation to the poor to help lessen the initial effect of the increased fuel prices.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono delayed the increase for months and later insisted that parliament make the funds available for a cash handout program that would benefit the country’s 15.5 million poorest households.

Monday’s violent clashes were reminiscent of similar protests In May 2012, when the president failed to get parliament’s approval for a price increase. Fuel price increases are politically sensitive in the world’s fourth-most populous nation. In 1998, President Suharto was forced to resign after widespread protests and rioting followed an increase in petrol prices. The last price increase was in 2008.

After months of uncertainty, Yudhoyono said in a news conference last week, “We must unite to protect our economy, we must unite to face our problems, and we must unite when the fuel price increases.”

Analysts say that cutting the subsidies will ease investor concerns about Indonesia’s financial stability. The country’s trade and budget deficits are ballooning, and its currency is one of Asia’s worst-performing.

Article source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_business/~3/lvfrhkifbzE/index.html

Macau (CNN) — Triad attacks. Prostitute calling cards. Illicit money flows.

This is the dark underbelly of Macau — Asia’s gambling capital. The only Chinese territory where casinos are permitted, the city has transformed itself in little more than a decade from a sleepy backwater to a neon-lit monument to China’s passion for gambling.

Gambling revenues in the city surpassed Las Vegas in 2006 and are now six times greater. But the former Portuguese colony’s dramatic rise has come at a cost, with many in Macau questioning whether growth has been too fast and furious.

“You really don’t know whether society as a whole has benefited,” said Samuel Huang, an associate professor in gambling studies at the Macau Polytechnic Institute.

Portuguese lawyer Jorge Menezes, 47, has experienced first hand the city’s more brutal side.

Last month, he was attacked in broad daylight by two men as he walked his five-year-old son to pre-school in what he believes was an intimidation attempt linked to his work as a gaming industry lawyer.

“I was walking with my son and suddenly I felt a huge blow on the back of my head,” he told CNN from his office just a block away from where the attack took place.

“I turned around, already bleeding, and he threw another blow toward my head and then a second guy came at me from behind.

“I couldn’t run away because my son was there. I needed to protect him.”

Menezes, who injured his wrist and required stitches to his head, said the two assailants each had a brick tied to one of their hands.

“I was told it’s a technique used by mafioso in mainland China, because they can carry it without being seen as a weapon.”

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A spokesman for Macau’s Public Security Police, confirmed that the lawyer was attacked by two Chinese men brandishing hard objects who later fled. They added the case was under investigation.

In the run-up to the city’s return to China, gang violence was commonplace, claiming the lives of some 37 people in 1999 alone — though violent crime became rarer as the city’s gaming market boomed.

However, some recent cases have unsettled residents. In 2012, a longtime operator of VIP casino junkets, Ng Man-sun, was beaten by six men in his hotel in what was reportedly a dispute with his ex-lover.

The city also feared a return to violence after the release of a notorious gangster known as Wan Kuok-kio or “Broken Tooth” in December after 15 years in prison.

WATCH: ‘Broken Tooth’ released from prison

Menezes says he rarely goes out to socialize and he cannot think of a personal motive for the attack: “I have no doubt that it’s linked to work. It is definitely an attempt to intimidate me or put me out of action for a few months.

“I was working on cases that could bring direct or collateral damage — collateral in the sense that there are third parties that are affected by what I am doing,” he said, declining to say who he thought was behind the attack.

As a precaution his family has left Macau and he has recruited a security guard cum secretary, but Menezes says he intends to stay put and continue representing his clients.

Steve Vickers, a former intelligence officer with the Hong Kong police and a specialist in triad activities, claimed Macau’s gaming sector retains deep ties to organized crime.

“The scene has changed over the past 10 years as the pie has vastly increased,” said Vickers, who now runs a specialist risk mitigation and corporate intelligence consultancy SVA. “It’s not the cowboy town it was when Broken Tooth was running around.

“The big boys have moved in … and they do not want visible street fights, with people being beaten up because it’s bad for business and brings attention.”

By and large, Macau remains a safe place with 182 violent crimes reported in the first three months of this year, up one from the same period a year earlier, according to figures from the Secretary for Security. The city is home to 500,000 people, while Macau’s three dozen casinos attract more than 28 million visitors a year.

Vickers says that while the city’s big casinos, some owned by U.S. tycoons Steve Wynn and Sheldon Adelson, operate correctly and legally, they work in a “messy environment.”

They are reliant on income from high rollers and these VIPs are usually brought in from China by junket operators.

“The junkets are an integral part of the gaming scene and they facilitate the transfer of funds, the finding of the high rollers and they facilitate the breaching of Chinese capital controls.

“You won’t find their names on the front (door) but the hard reality is that Chinese junkets are largely controlled by triad societies.”

China tightly controls the amount of money individuals can take out of the country, with a limit of 20,000 yuan ($3,262) per day and citizens traveling to Macau, which is considered a special administrative region, are subject to these limits.

However, China has turned a blind eye to the abuse of capital controls, said Vickers although he added, this could change as the country’s new leaders look to crack down on corruption amid worries about officials funneling money through the city.

Macau government officials did not immediately respond to a request from CNN for comment.

READ: Insider Guide: Best of Macau

The triads are also said to be involved in prostitution rings, another bone of contention for local Macau residents — although prostitution is not illegal.

Macau is on a U.S. State Department watch list for human trafficking and according to the 2012 report, criminal syndicates are involved in recruitment.

It says many women fall prey to false advertisements for casino jobs but upon arrival are forced into prostitution.

Many of the city’s sidewalks and underpasses are littered with prostitutes’ calling cards and fliers for saunas and pole dancing clubs.

“I don’t know how to explain this to my children,” said Huang at the Macau Polytechnic Institute.

Authorities are keen to diversify Macau’s appeal and turn the city into a broader entertainment destination that attracts families and not just casino goers.

New resorts boast attractions like wave pools, fake beaches and high-class dining but there’s little evidence that sales of spa treatments and slap-up meals will ever begin to approach revenue from the gambling tables.

“I don’t think promoting a more family-friendly environment will be easy,” said Huang.

Article source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_business/~3/BScBJZ-9uSQ/index.html

Athens, Greece (CNN) — Greece’s top court ordered the government Monday to restart state broadcaster ERT, but only until it can set up a new media entity.

The order partially overturns the government’s controversial decision last week to take ERT off the air while it creates a smaller broadcaster with fewer staff as a budget-cutting move.

The court ruled a “minimum transmission” must be restored at ERT in order to serve the public interest until the new broadcaster is ready.

There was no immediate response from the coalition government, whose leaders are still holding talks on ERT’s future.

Off air, out of work for Greece’s ERT TV

The government’s decision to suspend ERT led to protests and prompted the European Broadcast Union president to urge Greece to reconsider.

ERT’s TV channels and radio services were pulled off the air early Wednesday, although some employees have continued to broadcast via the Internet. ERT said the decision meant 2,656 employees would lose their jobs.

Greek unions also vowed to fight the decision, which comes as the country struggles with a mountain of debt, soaring unemployment and a lengthy recession.

To meet its commitments to its creditors — the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund — the Greek government must dismiss 2,000 people from the wider public sector by the end of the year and 15,000 by the end of 2014.

Journalist Elinda Labropoulou reported from Athens and CNN’s Melissa Gray from Atlanta.

Article source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_business/~3/GDSryr7Po20/index.html

(CNN) — At every international airshow, there’s a race to garner the most headlines, the most orders, the best visuals and the best sound bites.

Usually, however, Europe’s Airbus comes up the winner.

This is particularly true at the Paris Airshow (which starts Monday and runs till Friday), where Airbus always makes a special push to win the headlines war.

Airbus, of course, is headquartered in Toulouse, France, an hour’s flight south of Paris.

Government pressure

Aside from the aggressive competitiveness of Airbus Chief Operating Officer John Leahy, who can’t tolerate being second at any time and who rarely misses any opportunity to tweak Boeing, the French government is also known to pressure Airbus to make a great showing.

Boeing conceded the point long ago.

“We know Airbus sees this as a competition on their home turf. In terms of orders, we see this as one week out of 52,” admits Boeing’s Vice President of Marketing Randy Tinseth, the company’s most visible communications counterpart to Leahy. (Leahy’s actual counterpart, Ray Conner, CEO of Boeing Commercial Aircraft, tends to keep a low profile.)

“Despite the wave of orders our competition rolls out at airshows, the market has still been roughly split down the middle over the past decade,” says Tinseth.

How do you pick up a ‘superjumbo’ A380?

High expectations

Leahy declined in a recent interview to predict how many orders he’ll have to announce at the airshow, but skipped the Airbus Innovation Days international media briefings on June 5 and 6 — an unusual absence — to go globe-trotting for orders in time for the show.

He’s expected to announce hundreds.

The A350 XWB — the new, composite rival to the Boeing 787 and aging 777 — is widely anticipated to make a flyover at this year’s event.

Some question the wisdom of even a flyby, as the A350 will have few test flights under its wing at that point.

Airbus sends first A350 XWB into the sky

But the French government wants to showcase the plane and so does Airbus.

Boeing strikes back

Boeing won’t leave all its pizzazz at home.

The formal program launch of its 787-10 is expected (although Boeing won’t officially say so) and scores of orders are expected to accompany the announcement.

Singapore Airlines has already said it will take 30 of the airplanes.

British Airways is also presumed to be a launch customer.

Boeing is also expected to announce several customers who have signed up for “commitments” for the 777X, although the program launch is considered likely for the Dubai Airshow slated for November 17-21.

Emirates Airlines (headquartered in Dubai) is assumed to be a launch customer for as many as 100 of the new version of the venerable airplane.

Thus, with two new airplane programs and hundreds of orders and commitments anticipated, Boeing could conceivably “win” this year’s show.

But video footage and pictures of the flyby of the A350 will be hard for Boeing to beat with artist renderings and sound bites.

How will we travel 10 years from now?

Other competitors

Embraer, which makes the popular E-Jet in the 70-122 seat market, is expected to formally launch its re-engined design of the E-175/190/195. (The 170 appears on its way out.)

The upgraded E-Jet will feature new wings, new systems, geared turbo fan engines by Pratt Whitney and room for an additional eight to 12 passengers.

Embraer has been working diligently to line up solid orders to announce at the show.

Bombardier, on the other hand, doesn’t traditionally do well at airshows.

Orders for its CSeries have been few and far between at these events, in part because Canadian securities laws require announcements within 24 hours of the signing of even letters of intent, making it virtually impossible for Bombardier to cluster announcements.

The first flight of the CSeries will almost certainly miss the airshow, but is expected the next week.

Bombardier will have to be content talking about tests leading up to the first flight, revealing an unidentified customer’s identify (possibly Odyssey Airlines, based on an executive’s slip of the tongue at an industry event) and perhaps some small order announcements.

So, with all this activity, maneuvering and posturing, who will “win” the Paris Airshow?

Airbus, of course.

Scott Hamilton is an aviation writer and managing director of Leeham Co., which provides consulting services to the aerospace industry.

Article source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_business/~3/I78w1rekoKA/index.html

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The first completed A350 XWB from Airbus, “MSN1,” was unveiled at the Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France on May 13, 2013. “XWB” means “extra wide body.”

This photo taken on March 26, 2013 shows the A350-900 Airbus plane during its assembly at the European aircraft maker’s production plant in Toulouse. There are three members in the A350 family: The A350-800, the A350-900 and the A350-1000, which seat 270, 314 and 350 passengers, respectively, in three-class seating.

Technicians look at a Rolls-Royce jet engine, provided by UTC Aerospace Systems (formerly known as Goodrich), as they work on an A350-900 Airbus plane at the European aircraft maker’s production plant in Toulouse.

Technicians work on an A350-900 Airbus plane. Over 70% of the A350 XWB’s airframe is made from advanced materials that combine composites (53%), titanium and advanced aluminum alloys.

The next-generation A350 plane from Airbus takes off from Toulouse-Blagnac airport, southwestern France, on its first test flight on June 14, 2013. It was regarded as a milestone for an airliner that the firm hopes will challenge Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner in the lucrative long-haul market.

The A350 was crewed for its maiden flight by a British and a French test pilot assisted by a flight engineer and three other engineers at the back.

“I knew it was going to be impressive, but I was blown away,” Airbus Chief Operating Officer John Leahy said after the A350 XWB takeoff.

Aviation enthusiasts around the world had their eyes on France on Friday, eager to catch the long-awaited inaugural flight of the Airbus A350 XWB.

As for the likelihood of an A350 XWB visit in Paris next week, Airbus said the plane will be too busy carrying out flight tests to attend. However industry experts said there’s an outside chance it may still be spotted in the skies at the airshow.

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(CNN) — Airbus test pilots and managers celebrated Friday after the long-awaited inaugural flight of the Airbus A350 XWB went off without a hitch.

Aviation enthusiasts around the world had their eyes on France as the aircraft took off from Toulouse-Blagnac airport around 10 a.m. local time and landed safely about four hours later.

The test crew waved an Airbus flag from a hatch above the cockpit as the aircraft taxied after its successful maiden journey.

The crew, who emerged to applause from waiting friends and family, said the aircraft proved easy to handle and performed well throughout the test program.

Airbus A350 XWB makes first flight

“After the first few minutes, it didn’t feel like we were doing a first test flight,” said Peter Chandler, chief test pilot for Airbus. “It was so relaxed and so predictable.”

“It’s a great day for all people who have a passion for aerospace,” said Airbus Chief Executive Officer Fabrice Bregier.

Airbus hopes to have the new aircraft fully certified for commercial flight within 12 to 13 months, he said.

“This is about going fast but never rushing, and I am very confident that after this first flight … we will deliver this aircraft by 2014 to our first customers,” he said. Airbus hopes to capture more than half the global market of 6,000 long-range aircraft over the next 20 years, he added.

“I knew it was going to be impressive, but I was blown away,” Airbus Chief Operating Officer John Leahy said immediately after the A350 XWB takeoff.

“Did you hear how quiet it was? Did you hear what you didn’t hear? We’re going to set new standards. Not just for comfort, not just for performance. But for environmental friendliness. People living around airports won’t even know we’re taking off,” he said to the attending press.

The flight followed many hours of training in a simulator for the six international test flight crew members.

Bregier said he had set a target nine months ago of completing the first test flight before the upcoming Paris Air Show.

However, the company has not confirmed speculation that Airbus is planning to show off its new plane to aviation enthusiasts at the show, which runs June 17 to 23.

Frank Chapman, an Airbus test pilot who watched from the ground, said the decision had not yet been made but would depend on the data from the test flight and safety checks over the next few days.

Paris Air Show 2013: On your marks, jet set, go!

The A350 XWB is the first in a family of super-efficient passenger planes Airbus designed to go head-to-head with rival Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner and 777s.

“XWB” means “extra wide body.” There are three members in the A350 family: the A350-800, the A350-900 and the A350-1000, which seat 270, 314 and 350 passengers, respectively, in three-class seating.

The first test plane, “MSN1,” was unveiled on May 13 at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France.

Turbulent production history

Friday’s first test flight was the latest achievement in what has been a turbulent production history for the A350 program since it was first announced in 2006.

“Airbus’s initial A350 design wasn’t an entirely new aircraft, but a knee-jerk reaction to the 787,” aviation journalist David Kaminski-Morrow, air transport editor of Flightglobal.com, told CNN in an earlier report.

“The company, which was hip-deep in sorting out A380 development, simply hadn’t foreseen the huge pent-up demand for a more efficient 250-seat airliner, and tried to take the easy way out by offering a re-engined version of its A330.” 

While the A330 is incredibly popular, the airlines were more interested in the potential efficiency offered by a clean-sheet design, he added.

Airbus rolls out new A350 XWB

Being publicly lambasted by some of its largest customers — one aviation executive called it a Band-Aid reaction to the 787 Dreamliner, while the CEO of Singapore Airlines said the plane just didn’t go far enough — the pressure was on for Airbus to come up with a plane that would genuinely advance the global aviation scene.

This year, there were cancellations. Abu Dhabi-based airline Etihad Airways axed seven orders for A350-1000s, saying they still weren’t happy with the design, criticizing its range, performance and fuel burn.

“Airbus belatedly woke up and countered with a completely new version of the A350, and managed to tap into the market,” said Kaminski-Morrow. 

On the technical side, the big appeal for airlines is that over 70% of the A350 XWB’s airframe is made from advanced materials that combine composites (53%), titanium and advanced aluminum alloys. 

The A350 XWB is the first Airbus passenger jet to use both fuselage and wing structures made primarily of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer, resulting in lower fuel burn as well as easier maintenance, according to the company. 

Its rival, the 787, is one of the most advanced airliners launched in recent years, and is made up of 50% composites and uses 20% less fuel than other aircraft in the same category.

Airbus A350 time crunch

Paris Air Show hopes

Industry experts said ahead of the test flight that there was an outside chance the A350 XWB might be spotted in the skies at the air show, even though Airbus had said the plane would be too busy carrying out flight tests to attend.

“We’re still waiting to find out whether the A350 will put in an appearance,” said Murdo Morrison, editor of aerospace industry magazine Flight International.

“That certainly would be a highlight — it’s one of the newest and most exciting aircraft, but it and Bombardier’s C-Series are at a critical point in their development.

“It becomes a bit of a fight between the marketing people, the publicists, who want the company to get all the best headlines, and the engineers who are working to critical deadlines to get the plane ready to fly as soon as possible,” he explained.

“What may happen is they pop in for one day — fly in and then fly out again — or even, in the case of the A350, that they do a flypast, without even landing.”

Follow all the action at the 2013 Paris Air Show via our Twitter list

CNN’s Bryony Jones contributed to this report.

Article source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_business/~3/dlCK-CcrOyM/index.html

(CNN) — In a recent Fortune magazine essay, Warren Buffett — one of the world’s wealthiest people — explains why women are key to America’s prosperity. CNN’s Poppy Harlow sat down with the Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO to talk about girls education, his sisters, his family and how, as he says, “If I had been born a female, I would have been very unhappy about the Constitution.”

Watch the full interview in Part 1 and 2 of the videos.

Buffett: Companies should invest in women

More: Jennifer Buffett — Make schools safe for girls everywhere

More: CNN’s “Girl Rising”

Photos: The girls’ stories from “Girl Rising”

How to help

Article source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_business/~3/FrH20qNucs0/index.html

Are you there? Share your story on CNN iReport, but please remember to stay safe.

Istanbul (CNN) — Turkish trade unions put fresh pressure on the country’s prime minister Monday by holding a nationwide strike after a weekend of violent unrest in major cities.

Describing Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government as “despotic,” two main union blocs marched in Istanbul. Crowds headed toward the city’s Taksim Square, which has been at the heart of more than two weeks of protests. But demonstrators dispersed after riot police armed with water cannons blocked their path.

Protesters read statements criticizing Erdogan and decrying what they called police brutality.

Small clashes between protesters and riot police erupted on side streets near the square, but for the most part demonstrators quickly left the area.

Thousands of union members also marched in the capital, Ankara.

Monday marked the second time unions have called a strike to support the protest movement.

Police and anti-government demonstrators had faced off once again around Taksim Square on Sunday, a day after authorities had cleared the adjacent Gezi Park by force.

iReport: Wedding in the midst of teargas

Thousands of protesters calling for Erdogan’s resignation attempted to return to the square and park, only to be pushed back by police. The neighborhood south of the park was filled with a burning smell as police swept through the area, firing tear gas at knots of protesters in the streets.

Some groups of demonstrators have shifted to protesting in their local neighborhoods in the city, putting up barricades. Meanwhile, the atmosphere in confrontations between police and protesters is turning uglier.

People carry the coffin of Ethem Sarisuluk, who was killed during recent protests in Turkey, on Sunday, June 16, in Ankara. Protests that began as a demonstration against the planned demolition of a park have grown into general anti-government dissent across the nation.

Tens of thousands attend a rally to hear Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan speak in Istanbul on June 16, a day after he ordered a crackdown on anti-government protesters at Gezi Park.

A protester faces water cannons during a clash with police at an anti-government demonstration in Ankara on June 16.

Police walk through tear gas during protests at Kizilay Square in central Ankara on June 16.

Police detain protesters after a crackdown on a demonstration at Istanbul’s Gezi Park on June 16.

A protester runs during clashes between riot police and demonstrators in the streets adjacent to Taksim Square in Istanbul on Sunday, June 16.

A protester throws a tear gas canister back at riot police during clashes near Taksim Square on June 16.

Trash containers burn in front of riot police forces in Ankara, Turkey, on June 16.

Protesters gather in the main shopping street near Taksim Square in the early morning hours of June 16 as riot police clear Gezi Park in Istanbul.

Turkish riot police officers use rubber bullets on June 15 to disperse demonstrators in Gezi Park in Istanbul on June 15.

Protesters scramble for safety as Turkish riot police officers push them out of Gezi Park using tear gas and rubber bullets.

Protesters run for cover as riot police spray them with a water cannon on June 15.

A protester throws rocks at police during clashes at the entrance of Gezi Park on June 15.

A protester on June 15, reacts in pain to a salvo of tear gas fired by Turkish riot police chasing out demonstrators in order to dismantle their tent camp in Gezi Park in Istanbul.

Riot police move in a line through the tent camp on June 15.

Protesters escape from tear gas during the crackdown at Gezi Park on June 15

Protestors fire fireworks as police drive them out of Gezi Park on June 15.

Protesters sleep in Gezi Park in Istanbul’s Taksim Square early Thursday, June 13. Turkey’s prime minister on Thursday called on protesters camped out in the park to pack up and leave.

A man plays piano for hundreds of protesters in Taksim Square on Wednesday, June 12, in Istanbul.

A man waves a flag in Taksim Square on June 12.

A man sleeps in Gezi Park in Istanbul’s Taksim Square early on June 12, hours after riot police moved into the square in an attempt to push demonstrators out.

Municipal workers clean up a street in Taksim Square early on June 12, after police moved in to disperse protesters.

A protester prepares to throw a tear gas canister back toward police in Taksim Square on Tuesday, June 11.

Riot police fire tear gas canisters at protesters in Taksim Square on June 11.

People run from a tear gas cloud in Taksim Square on June 11.

People flee as riot police fire tear gas on Taksim Square on June 11.

Protesters run behind a barricade during clashes with police on June 11.

A protester throws a tear gas canister back toward police on June 11.

Photographers crowd around a protester posing in front of a riot police vehicle at Taksim Square on June 11.

Protesters seek shelter behind a barricade on June 11.

Protesters try to run from riot police on June 11.

Riot police aim a water cannon at a protester as others take cover behind a makeshift shelter in Taksim Square on June 11.

Police enter Taksim Square during clashes with protesters on June 11.

Protesters take cover behind a barricade in Gezi Park in Istanbul on June 11.

A protester uses a slingshot to throw stones at riot police on June 11.

Protesters take cover behind a barricade in Taksim Square on June 11.

A protester holds fireworks during clashes with riot police in Istabul on June 11.

Riot police use water cannons and tear gas to disperse a crowd near Istabul’s Taksim Square on June 11.

A protester throws a tear gas canister back toward police on June 11.

Riot police fire tear gas at demonstrators in Taksim Square on June 11.

Police fire a water cannon at protesters on June 11.

Protesters hold molotov cocktails in Taksim Square on June 11.

A protester throws a stone during clashes with riot police on June 11.

Protesters run from smoke as they clash with police in Istanbul on June 11.

Protesters take cover behind a barricade as fireworks go off nearby on June 11.

Medics carry Yasin Ayhan, 23, a protester who broke his leg in a raid early Monday, June 10, in Kugulu Park. Riot police doused thousands of protesters in Ankara with tear gas and jets of water for a second straight night.

Protesters sleep at Taksim Square in central Istanbul on June 10. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned protesters who have taken to the streets demanding his resignation that his patience has its limits and compared the unrest with an army attempt six years ago to curb his power.

A demonstrator is detained by police officers as protests resumed in Kizilay Square in Ankara on Sunday, June 9.

A demonstrator covers his face with a makeshift gas mask during protests in Kizilay Square in Ankara on June 9.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, and his wife, Emine, wave to supporters upon their arrival in Ankara on June 9. Erdogan told supporters that “even patience has an end” as he went on the offensive against mass protests that have consumed Ankara and Istanbul.

Erdogan addresses supporters from the top of a bus as police stand guard at Esenboga International Airport in Ankara on June 9.

Protesters gather during a demonstration at Taksim Square in Istanbul, on June 9.

A demonstrator runs toward police during clashes with riot police in Istanbul, on Saturday, June 8.

Demonstrators shout slogans as they gather at Kizilay Square in Ankara, Turkey, on June 8.

Women sing as people gather at Kizilay Square in Ankara on June 8.

Protesters rest in Gezi Park next to Taksim Square during a demonstration in Istanbul on Friday, June 7.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the opening session of the Ministry for European Union Affairs Conference on June 7 in Istanbul. Erdogan said today his Islamic-rooted government was open to “democratic demands” and hit back at EU criticism of his government’s handling of a week of unrest.

Supporters of Erdogan wave the Turkish flag upon the prime minister’s arrival in Istanbul, on June 7.

Protestors dance at Gezi Park in Taksim Square on Thursday, June 6.

A man walks past damaged buses near Taksim Square on Thursday, June 6, in Istanbul, Turkey.

A mother and her daughter read notes placed by protestors on a destroyed car in Taksim Square on June 6. Thousands of striking union members joined the anti-government protests on June 5, marching in Istanbul and Ankara in a sea of red and white union flags, drumming and yelling for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to resign.

Protestors spend their day at Gezi Park on June 6.

Protestors demonstrate near the office building of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul early on June 6.

A municipal worker collects garbage set on fire by Turkish protesters in a restaurant district of Ankara on June 5.

A woman is wheeled away by paramedics during clashes on Kizilay Square in Ankara on Wednesday, June 5.

Protesters confront police forces during riots in a restaurant district of Ankara, on June 5.

Demonstrators run for cover as police use water cannons and tear gas on the crowd in Ankara on June 5.

Protesters gather in Taksim Square as they shout slogans while protesting on Tuesday, June 4, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Riot police fire tear gas at demonstrators in Istanbul on June 4.

Paramedics carry a woman injured during clashes between demonstrators and riot police in Istanbul on June 4.

Turkish police detain a demonstrator during clashes in Istanbul on June 4.

A protester looks on during clashes with Turkish police outside of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office, near Taksim Square in Istanbul on Tuesday, June 4.

Demonstrators wave their national flag on June 4, during a protest in Ankara.

Protesters cover their faces with plastic. After chaotic scenes in the streets Monday that continued late into the night and sent tear gas wafting through the air, the situation was relatively calm on Tuesday morning in Istanbul’s central Taksim Square, near the park where the movement began.

A demonstrator takes cover at a road block between Taksim and Besiktas in Istanbul on June 4.

Protesters clash with riot police between Taksim and Besiktas in Istanbul on Monday, June 3.

Protestors pass bricks for building barricades during clashes with riot police in Istanbul on June 3.

Riot policemen unload tear gas during clashes in Istanbul on June 3.

Protesters throw riot police’s tear gas back at them in Istanbul on June 3.

Protester wounds are treated during clashes in Istanbul on June 3.

Demonstrators set up road blocks between Taksim and Besiktas. Barricades remain up around the square, and Erdogan’s opponents appear determined to continue the demonstrations despite the prime minister’s comment on June 3 that he expects the situation to return to normal “within a few days.”

A medical team tends to a protester. The Turkish Medical Association claimed that at least 3,195 people had been injured in clashes on June 1 and June 2. Only 26 of them were in serious or critical condition, it said.

Protesters stand atop a pile of rubble during clashes with Turkish police on Monday, June 3.

Turkish riot police fire tear gas canisters to disperse protesters near Taksim Square on June 3.

Police officers tend to a demonstrator during the violent clashes in Istanbul on June 3.

A protester waves the Turkish flag from a rooftop at Taksim Square on June 3 as large crowds continue to demonstrate below.

A protester wears a gas mask as smoke from a burned car fills the air at Taksim Square on June 3.

Despite Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s call for calm on Monday, June 3, protests continued in Istanbul. Protesters carry the Turkish flag and shout against the government in Gezi Park near central Istanbul.

After protests that lasted until the early morning, a protester sleeps in a damaged and vandalized vehicle in Taksim Square on June 3. Protests showed no sign of letting up on Monday, almost a week after a peaceful sit-in was met with a police crackdown, igniting the biggest anti-government riots the city has seen in a decade.

A tired protester rests in front of the graffiti-sprayed wall of an information booth at Taksim Square in central Istanbul on June 3.

Turkish protesters clash with riot police near the prime minister’s office between Taksim and Besiktas early June 3.

Protesters drive an excavator toward Turkish riot police as they make their way to Erdogan’s office on June 3.

During the clashes, volunteer doctors helped injured protesters in a mosque on June 3.

A protester is silhouetted by a burning car at Taksim Square during clashes in the early morning of June 3.

A protester covers his face on June 3 near Erdogan’s office in Istanbul.

Protesters clash with riot police in Istanbul on June 3.

Protesters gather in Taksim Square in Istanbul on Sunday, June 2.

Riot police fire tear gas during a protest against Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling AK Party in central Ankara on June 2. Sparked by the events in Istanbul, general anti-government protests have sprung up in Ankara.

Demonstrators hide behind makeshift shields during clashes with Turkish riot police in Ankara on June 2.

Police use a water cannon to disperse protesters outside Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s working office in Istanbul on June 2.

Protesters cling to a police vehicle mounted with a water canon in Istanbul on June 2.

Turkish police detain a protester during demonstrations in Ankara on June 2.

A protester flashes a victory sign as he takes part in a demonstration in Ankara on Saturday, June 1 in support of the protests in Istanbul against government plans to demolish a park.

Protesters clash with riot police in Istanbul, Turkey, on Saturday, June 1.

Protesters clash with riot police near Gezi Park on June 1. Earlier this week, several dozen activists tried to stage a sit-in at the park, the last bit of green space left in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, the city’s transit and commercial hub.

Turkish protesters wearing gas masks face off against riot police near Istanbul’s Taksim Square on June 1.

Riot police use tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowd of demonstrators on June 1.

A man flees the clashes between Turkish protestors and riot police on June 1. On Friday, May 31, riot police stormed the growing camp in Gezi Park with water cannons and tear gas, pushing protesters into surrounding streets and triggering the clashes that have continued for more than 24 hours.

The clashes damaged surrounding businesses in Istanbul and forced them to close on June 1.

A man catches his breath behind the line where clashes are taking place on June 1.

A pair of tourists gasp for air as riot police use tear gas and water cannons the fend off the demonstrators. Turkish security forces allowed small groups of pedestrians to travel through the square.

Protesters buy gas masks from a local shop near the square on June 1.

Riot police fire tear gas into the crowd of protesters overnight on Friday, May 31.

Demonstrators set up barricades and build a fire as they clash with Turkish officers on May 31.

Friends carry an injured protester on May 31. More than a dozen people have been injured in the clashes.

Riot police use tear gas and water cannons to disperse a crowd at Taksim Square on May 31.

An activist wearing a gas mask is enveloped in a cloud of tear gas on May 31.

A crowd scatters during clashes on May 31, as one demonstrator throws back the tear gas canister that was launched by riot police.

Protestors brace themselves as they are fired upon with a water canon by Turkish police forces.

A large group of demonstrators gather to protest the demolition of Gezi Park in Taksim Square on May 31.

A Turkish riot policeman uses tear gas in Taksim Square on May 28.

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Photos: Demonstrations in Turkey

Riot police evict protesters in Istanbul

A drone’s view of riot zone

Negotiated end to unrest in Turkey?

“Now it feels like there is a level of desperation,” said Clare Murray, who was vacationing in Istanbul from New York for the past week. “The police seem more comfortable with using aggression.”

Rallies and counter-rallies

Since Saturday night, 116 people have been detained during protests in Ankara and 242 people have been detained in Istanbul demonstrations, said Huseyin Aslan, general secretary of the Progressive Lawyers Association.

The protests started at the end of May over authorities’ plans to turn Gezi Park into a mall. They quickly turned into large anti-government demonstrations that included calls for political reforms.

While the protests are unlikely to threaten the rule of Erdogan, who has been one of Turkey’s most popular leaders and is credited with overseeing a decade of economic growth, they are raising questions about what critics say is an increasingly authoritarian style of governing.

For his part, Erdogan remains defiant, accusing outsiders of taking advantage of the protests over the park.

On Sunday, thousands of Erdogan’s supporters gathered at a rally a few miles from Taksim Square. They waved flags and sang songs at a rally that was widely viewed as a re-election rally for the prime minister.

Erdogan sought to contrast his supporters with the protesters. “Hundreds of thousands in here are not like the vandals with petrol-bombs in their hands,” he said.

In Ankara, authorities had warned against a gathering to honor Ethem Sarisuluk, who was shot during protests two weeks ago.

The gathering took place under a heavy police presence around Kizilay Square, in a different part of the city from where Sarisuluk’s funeral was taking place.

At one point, Sarisuluk’s brother knelt in the middle of the road in an attempt to stop oncoming traffic, while police fired tear gas and water cannons at demonstrators. The protesters, in turn, threw rocks at police and put up makeshift barricades to block off streets.

What young Turks think of protests

A grieving mother pleads for justice

Erdogan supporters dismiss protesters

Why are Turks protesting Erdogan?

One-day strike

After the weekend tumult, the trade unions added their clout to the demonstrations with their one-day strike.

The unions involved have hundreds of thousands of members across sectors that include public services and utilities such as electricity and water supply. They don’t, however, have enough members to shut those industries down altogether.

Under the Erdogan government, Turkish workers have been “domesticated like animals by being kept hungry,” one worker at a union office in Istanbul said.

“Gezi Park made us realize we are not animals in a herd we are individuals,” said the worker, who didn’t provide his name.

The previous strike during the anti-government demonstrations took place near the start of this month.

Erdogan complained Saturday that demonstrators were not meeting him halfway.

“We have reached out with our hands,” he said. “However, some people returned their fists in response. Can you shake hands with those who reach out with a fist?”

He also ridiculed the protesters’ assertions that they are environmentalists, calling them “thugs” and citing their honking of horns as evidence of “noise pollution.”

He accused demonstrators of inciting sectarian violence by attacking a woman in a headscarf, kicking her, dragging her on the ground and snatching her head cover.

Erdogan praised his government’s performance over the past 10 years, citing a rising standard of living, a quintupling of the central bank’s reserves and plans to build an airport.

Root of protests

The unrest began in Istanbul roughly three weeks ago, when a small group of people turned out to protest government plans to bulldoze Gezi Park and replace it with a shopping mall housed inside a replica of 19th century Ottoman barracks.

Protesters said the plans represented a creeping infringement on their rights in a secular society.

Turkey was founded after secularists defeated Islamic Ottoman forces in the early 20th century, and many modern-day secularists frown on Ottoman symbols.

The protests broadened into an outpouring in the square and throughout the country as security forces cracked down on demonstrators.

The unrest also brought political risks for Erdogan, a populist and democratically elected politician serving his third term in office.

Journalist Karl Penhaul and CNN’s Gul Tuysuz reported from Istanbul, and journalist Ian Lee reported from Ankara. CNN’s Salma Abdelaziz, Arwa Damon and Joe Duran in Istanbul and Antonia Mortensen in Ankara contributed to this report.

Article source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_business/~3/UzTVlmzmVdA/index.html

Simon Hooper has worked as a journalist covering international news, politics and sports for websites and publications including CNN, Al Jazeera, the New Statesman and Sports Illustrated.

(CNN) — British Prime Minister David Cameron will make the call at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland for international action to curb the activities of tax havens, which campaigners say cost governments trillions in lost revenues. Journalist Simon Hooper points out what he calls the hypocrisy of the UK’s position, itself sitting at the center of the world’s most powerful offshore empire.

Walking up London’s Strand in the direction of St. Paul’s Cathedral does not feel like crossing one of the major financial fault lines in the global economy.

Few tourists would perhaps even notice the stone dragon stranded between buses in the middle of the road that marks the boundary of the City of London, the British capital’s financial district and one of global capitalism’s most dynamic engines.

Yet to step into the City is to enter what has been described by Nicholas Shaxson, author of “Treasure Islands: Tax Havens and the Men Who Stole the World,” as “an offshore island inside Britain.”

Britain’s role at the center of an empire of tax havens is under scrutiny this week, ironically, because British Prime Minister David Cameron has made tax evasion the central theme of this week’s G8 meeting in Northern Ireland.

“Tax evasion and avoidance are issues whose time has come. After years of abuse people across the planet are rightly calling for action,” says a British government briefing released ahead of the summit.

Cameron’s initiative has thrust the spotlight on the UK’s overseas territories and crown dependencies, an odd collection of colonial offcuts including the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda and Jersey. All are considered offshore hubs, and all benefit from close ties to the UK finance industry, pouring money into the City.

Economic boost for G8 summit host

Merkel: Europe has lost competitiveness

North Korea high on G8 agenda

On Saturday, Cameron announced that 10 territories and dependencies had agreed to sign up to an existing convention on corporate transparency promoted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), saying: “It is important we are getting our house in order.”

But campaigners, such as the Tax Justice Network’s John Christensen, remain skeptical whether Cameron can accomplish anything that will meaningfully challenge the power of the tax havens.

He says measures such as greater transparency in company ownership, though welcome and necessary, do not go far enough in opening up other offshore structures, including trusts, to scrutiny.

Britain is far from alone among G8 countries in the promotion and provision of offshore-style facilities. The U.S. provides parallel structures offering low taxes and corporate secrecy with the New York Times reporting last year on how legitimate businesses and criminal enterprises were flocking to Delaware “in hopes of minimizing taxes, skirting regulations, plying friendly courts or, when needed, covering their tracks.”

Japan and several European Union countries also featured on the last Financial Secrecy Index, published in 2011 and topped by Switzerland. Of the UK though, the index said: “If the entire British network of secrecy jurisdictions were considered, it would easily be ranked number one.”

Legal tax avoidance, which involves shifting profits to jurisdictions that do not levy corporate tax via offshore subsidiaries, and tax evasion, its criminal cousin, have long been among the perks of wealth. As Leona Helmsley, the New York hotelier and so-called “Queen of Mean,” is quoted as saying : “We don’t pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes.” Helmsley, who was convicted of tax evasion, denied having said this, but the words followed her for the rest of her life.

Yet the consequences of this industry are borne by those who can least afford it. Aid charity ActionAid estimated last month that almost half of all investment into developing countries was funneled through tax havens; this means the profits from that investment remain offshore, depriving the world’s poorest countries of much-needed revenues.

It cited one transaction alone conducted through UK-linked havens that would have netted the Indian government $2.2 billion in tax; enough to provide a lunchtime meal to every Indian primary schoolchild for a year.

A report last month by Kofi Annan’s Africa Progress Panel highlighted mining deals in the DR Congo which had cost the country an estimated $1.36 billion in revenues, enough to double the country’s health and education budgets.

Yet attempting to estimate exactly how much money is concealed offshore is largely futile, with most experts willing to venture only that the figure runs into many trillions. An investigation last year conducted for the Tax Justice Network estimated that $21 to $32 trillion was hidden offshore by super-rich individuals alone.

Campaigners such as TJN’s John Christensen are skeptical whether the G8 can accomplish anything that will meaningfully challenge the power of the tax havens. He says proposed measures, though welcome and necessary such as greater transparency in company ownership, do not go far enough in opening up other offshore structures, including trusts, to scrutiny.

Starbucks makes UK tax U-turn

Companies dodging taxes in the UK?

UK tax ‘outrage’ over U.S. companies

History also suggests the City of London and its allies will defend their own interests. The City’s origins are lost in the distant past, with the corporation’s own website describing the area as “a prime location for trade since before Roman times.”

Its tradition of self-governance predates the consolidation of the modern British state, and the City’s powerbrokers have fiercely defended their ancient privileges ever since, using their role as lenders to crown and government as leverage.

Should Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s head of state, feel the urge to cross the City’s boundaries to visit the Starbucks on Fleet Street for a low-tax latte, ceremony dictates that she should still seek the permission of the City’s Lord Mayor to do so. (Starbucks in December 2012 offered to pay additional taxes in the UK in response to public pressure there to collect more taxes from multinational companies.)

And since 1571, an official known as the Remembrancer has maintained a seat in the House of Commons to protect and promote the City’s interests in parliament, even as a turbo-charged 21st century financial infrastructure has been bolted onto this medieval statelet.

But the use of the offshore sector has long been virtually endemic among a wealthy elite in the UK, even beyond the City’s boundaries.

British governments once attempted to curb the power and independence of the financial sector, hamstrung only by their borrowing dependency on the same source.

Yet since the 1980s, the era of Margaret Thatcher’s so-called “Big Bang” of markets deregulation, governments have enjoyed a cosier relationship with corporate finance, summed up by Peter Mandelson, a close ally of Tony Blair, who once said the once-socialist Labour Party was “intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich.”

The rest of that quote — “… as long as they pay their taxes” — is less well remembered.

In 2011, Cameron’s coalition passed legislation exempting UK-based corporations from income tax on overseas earnings; a move described by commentator George Monbiot as a “corporate coup d’etat.”

Research published by ActionAid showed that 98 out of 100 companies on the FTSE 100 index used offshore subsidiaries, with more registered in Jersey and the Cayman Islands than in India and China.

And it has long been a rite of passage for newly-minted Britons, from Formula One drivers to musicians to self-made millionaires, to shift their riches to Switzerland, Monaco or Jersey with the public raising little more than an eyebrow in reproach. Research by the Guardian newspaper last year revealed how Cameron’s own father had built a considerable family fortune by running a legal network of offshore investment funds. Cameron and other members of his family declined to comment on the report.

Yet that situation may be changing, with campaign groups such as UK Uncut stirring up populist anger against corporate tax avoidance and politicians now scrambling to get on the bandwagon, while celebrity tax-dodging schemes have joined sex and drugs scandals as tabloid staples.

Recent exposure of the legal tax avoidance strategies of Google and Amazon saw executives from both companies summoned for scrutiny by the UK’s parliamentary public accounts committee where lawmaker Margaret Hodge told Google Vice President Matt Brittin: “You are a company that says you do no evil. And I think that you do do evil.”

In the U.S., meanwhile, Apple CEO Tim Cook was summoned to appear on Capitol Hill after a Senate investigation found the company paid taxes in the U.S. of 2% on worldwide income of $74 billion.

Accusing the head of one of the world’s biggest companies of “exploiting an absurdity,” committee chairman Sen. Carl Levin made the connection between tax avoidance and efforts to cut the US deficit, and delivered a message that ought to resonate with taxpayers anywhere in the world.

“Because of those cuts, children across the country won’t get early education. Needy seniors will go without meals. Fighter jets sit idle on tarmacs because our military lacks the funding to keep pilots trained,” said Levin.

“The question each of us should ask today is this: Shouldn’t we close unjustified tax loopholes, and dedicate the revenue to educating our children, protecting our nation and building its future?”

READ: Just because tax avoidance is legal doesn’t mean it is right

READ: U.K. should probe Google’s tax affairs: report

READ: 6-step guide to dodging taxes just like Apple

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Simon Hooper.

Article source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_business/~3/jbTQDGOm_Jo/index.html

Editor’s note: CNN’s John Defterios is reporting from the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum from June 20. Watch his show, Global Exchange, Sunday to Thursday 1900 UAE and follow him on Twitter. CNN’s Irene Chapple will also be in St. Petersburg reporting from the forum. Follow her on Twitter.

London (CNN) — The BRIC nations were the ones tagged to drag the globe out of economic despair. But, as the world struggles to recover from the credit boom and bust, they too are stumbling.

Ahead of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum June 20 to June 22, CNN is hosting a tweet chat with authors and representatives from Google, the United Nations and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development to debate which economies might emerge strongest out of the financial crisis.

The tweet chat will take place on June 18, 1400 BST/1300 GMT using the hastag #emergeCNN.

Join CNN Global Exchange anchor John Defterios, on @jDefteriosCNN, CNN’s Irene Chapple on @IreneCNN and Lauren Said-Moorhouse on @LaurenMoorhouse to discuss the issues with participating experts:

Emerging market upgrades

BRICs living up to their potential?

South African aviation business takes off

Turkey’s economic outlook

Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and former prime minister of New Zealand, on @HelenClarkUNDP

Mohammad Gawdat, vice president of emerging markets for SEEMEA at Google, on @googlearabia

OECD economists, on @OECDeconomy

Shaun Rein, founder and MD of China Market Research Group and author of The End of Cheap China on @shaunrein

Ronaldo Lemos, founder of the Center for Technology and Society at the Law School of the Getuli Vargas Foundation, on @lemos_ronaldo

The discussion will center around the BRICs and their claim to be the world’s future powerhouses. We will discuss if they still deserve to hold that title as they slump while other markets show resilience.

China, the globe’s second largest economy, was tipped to overtake the U.S. as the world’s economic leader by 2016, but its growth outlook has been downgraded by forecasters including the International Monetary Fund.

The IMF pointed to the country’s rapid expansion in credit, which some analysts worry is reaching a growth-sapping scale.

The ease of credit is also raising concerns in Brazil, and there is a debate over whether it even deserves to be a BRIC nation. Brazil grew by less than 1% in 2012, the lowest of the BRIC countries.

Growth in Russia and India, the other two members of the BRIC club, are also slowing as investments fall and commodity prices drop.

In the West, the U.S. and Europe are emerging from the crisis at two speeds: Slow in the U.S., but even slower in Europe.

Meanwhile focus is turning to economic brights lights elsewhere in the world. Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy, for one, is expected to grow by 5.6% this year, well ahead of the global average.

At the forum, John Defterios will discuss the potential for other emerging players such as Indonesia and Vietnam.

So which economies will emerge from the crisis as winners, and which will be left behind? Join our chat to have your say.

Article source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_business/~3/B23FdmrXVok/index.html