| Asia life: Private equity struggles to shed its 'locust' image in ...
The "locusts" are going global. It's not only in Europe that a storm has broken over the practices of the private equity industry. You can almost hear Asia's lobbying firms rubbing their hands in anticipation, as across the continent, politicians and public unite to decry the growing influence of the world's largest buyout shops. Wherever you look, the picture appears the same. Carlyle, for example, has fought a takeover battle which seems almost as long as the history of China itself with its attempt to take control of Xugong, a manufacturer of heavy machinery. After finding its efforts to take a majority stake of varying degrees thwarted by the Chinese regulators, Carlyle has settled on acquiring a large minority stake. .
Bank of Japan's Conundrum
How many more times will the Bank of Japan (BOJ) raise interest rates before its governor, Toshihiko Fukui, almost certainly steps down in a year's time?
The 71-year-old Japanese central bank chief's five-year term of office expires next March. He has said he "does not bear in mind" his possible reappointment. Many analysts predict that the BOJ will raise rates twice by next March -- each time by a quarter percentage point -- to 1 percent from the current 0.5 percent.
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The solitary search for Uncle John
SHOREVIEW, Minn. - In the crystal blue waters off the South Pacific island of Yap, Patrick Ranfranz swims with the manta rays and speaks to the dead.
Hovering beneath the surface, Ranfranz scans the depths for a B-24 bomber that crashed into the sea and fell to the white, sandy ocean floor below, entombing 10 men, including his uncle - South Dakota farm boy John McCullough - 63 years ago this June.
Sometimes he feels so near to the man he knows only from pictures and others' memories that Ranfranz calls to him through his mask. "Hi, John," he will say. "I know I'm close to you. ... and the others. I hope you're proud of the work I'm doing."
"Work" doesn't begin to describe what this 40-year-old suburban St. Paul man has spent years doing.
China-Venezuela: The Real Drama
TOKYO (ResourceInvestor.com) -- At the end of March, China and Venezuela formed a joint investment fund. The Chinese are to contribute $4 billion while Venezuela is to participate with $2 billion. President Hugo Chavez announced proudly to the nation how the money is to be invested. There is to be a new railway line, a ship building facility, improved communication systems and expanded oil production. The oil is to be directed to the Chinese market; and the Chinese are to build three new refineries to process the anticipated 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) of heavy sour crude. .
Picture of growth in Japan
When Ichiro Suzuki steps in against Daisuke Matsuzaka April 11, the country might come to a standstill. Everyone will be parked in front of a television. Baseball has been relevant in Japan from sometime in the 19th century, but the exact beginning is subject to dispute. It is fashionable in many quarters to cite a Tokyo-based American professor named Horace Wilson as the de facto Father of Japanese baseball. If true, this means baseball was introduced to Japan sometime during the Meiji Era (1868-1912, with the application taking place closer to the beginning of the period than the conclusion). As one might suspect, the idea of a foreign game taking hold in an essentially xenophobic country did not meet with universal appeal. Yes, Robert Whiting, the preeminent American expert on Japanese baseball, tells us that "the Japanese found the one-on-one battle between pitcher and batter similar in psychology to their native sumo and martial arts," and that it "involved split-second timing and a special harmony of mental and physical strength." However .
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