Sunday, February 12, 2012
Amistad
Sarah Margru Kinson: The Two Worlds of an Amistad Captive
© Oberlin Historical and Improvement Organization, 2003
Sarah Margru Kinson: The Two Worlds of an Amistad Captive,are available for purchase at MindFair/Ben Franklin in Oberlin, at the Oberlin Bookstore and at First Church. It may also be purchased by mail by sending a check for $4.95 plus $1.00 for shipping and handling to Oberlin Heritage Center/O.H.I.O., P. O. Box 0455, Oberlin, Ohio 44074. For more information, call the Oberlin Heritage Center/O.H.I.O. at 440-774-1700.
customers care more about a new iPhone than working conditions in China
According to the New York Times, workers at a factory in Shenzhen, China, owned by Foxconn (a company that manufactures iPhones, iPads and other devices for Apple) regularly work sixteen-hour, seven-day work weeks.
They stand until their legs swell and they can’t walk, and they perform repetitive motions on the production line for so long that some permanently lose the use of their hands. To cut costs, managers make workers use cheap chemicals that cause neurological damage. There has been a rash of suicides at the Foxconn plant, and 300 workers recently threatened to jump off the roof over a safety and pay dispute.
In short, as one former Apple executive told the New York Times, "Most people would be really disturbed if they saw where their iPhone comes from."
Mark Shields, a self-described member of the "cult of Mac," started a petition on Change.org demanding Apple exert its influence on its suppliers to improve working conditions for the factory workers that make iPhones, iPads and other Apple products. Click here to sign Mark’s petition right now.
Apple knows it can play an important role in ensuring safe and fair working conditions for the workers at its suppliers, like Foxconn. In 2005, the company released a supplier code of conduct, and it performs hundreds of audits each year in China and around the world to confirm its suppliers are meeting the code’s expectations.
But that’s where Apple’s commitment falters: the number of supplier violations has held steady year to year and Apple hasn’t consistently publicly stated which suppliers have problems or dropped offending suppliers.
The bottom line, Apple executives admit, is that they’re not being forced to change.
One current executive told the New York Times that there’s a trade-off: "You can either manufacture in comfortable, worker-friendly factories," he said, or you can "make it better and faster and cheaper, which requires factories that seem harsh by American standards. And right now, customers care more about a new iPhone than working conditions in China."
That means public pressure is the only thing that can force Apple to ensure its suppliers treat workers humanely. If enough people sign Mark’s petition -- and tell Apple they care more about human beings than they do about how fast the company can produce the next generation iPhone -- the company could be convinced to make real change for the workers at Foxconn and other factories.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Asia's two giants seek to head off new sanctions
BEIJING/HAMBURG (Reuters) - China said on Friday it would send a senior official to Tehran to discuss Iran's nuclear standoff with the West, and India indicated it would also weigh in, as Asia's two giants seek to head off new sanctions already playing havoc with trade.
New financial sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union are making it difficult for Iran to pay for staple food and other imports, causing hardship for its 74 million people with just weeks to go before an election.
Commodities traders revealed this week that Iran has resorted to barter trade - swapping gold bullion in overseas vaults or tankerloads of oil for food - to avoid payments problems in international banks over sanctions.
On the streets of Iran, prices for food in dollar terms have doubled or tripled in recent months.
In the latest evidence of trade disruption, metal traders said Iran's imports of steel for construction had collapsed because sanctions prevent buyers from obtaining the currency needed to purchase it.
The International Energy Agency, which monitors oil markets for developed countries, said on Friday EU oil sanctions and U.S. financial measures due to take effect over the course of the next several months were already hitting global trade flows.
In an analysis ominous for Tehran, the IEA also said there was enough oil supply worldwide to prevent a price shock if Iran is blockaded this year.
That makes it easier for Washington to impose harsh sanctions envisioned under a new law which requires President Barack Obama to assess the impact on energy markets before pressing ahead with its most draconian measures.
"The market in 2012 likely has sufficient supply-side flexibility" to adjust to any loss in Iranian volumes due to sanctions, its monthly report said. It cited softer demand growth, Saudi spare capacity and the resumption of supplies from Libya that were disrupted last year.
China's Foreign Ministry said on Friday Assistant Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu would head to Iran for talks on Sunday.
"We have consistently advocated dialogue as the only proper channel for resolving the Iran nuclear issue," ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told a regular news briefing. Ma will "have a further exchange of views with Iran over its nuclear program," he added.
China is one of six powers - along with Britain, France, Germany, Russia and the United States - negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program, which Western states say is aimed at building a weapon but Iran says is peaceful.
Those talks collapsed a year ago and show little sign of resuming. Iran refuses to negotiate over its uranium enrichment program and Western countries say there is no point in talking unless uranium enrichment is on the table.
China is also Iran's biggest trade partner, buying a fifth of Iran's oil exports last year.
If Iran is to endure sanctions without severe pain, it would need China to keep buying its oil and even increase its purchases to make up for lost sales to Europe. But China has been playing hardball with Iran, seeking steep discounts for oil, cutting its purchases this year by more than half and securing alternative supplies from Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Cuts in Chinese oil purchases make India the biggest buyer of Iranian oil this year. A payments system for trade between India and Iran was shut down last year under U.S. pressure. Under a new agreement, Iran is meant to accept 45 percent of the value of its oil in Indian rupees to buy Indian goods, but the system is not yet running while India decides how such transactions would be taxed. Indian traders have had difficulty receiving payment for rice and tea they send to Iran.
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, visiting India, said the EU also wanted Delhi to help press Iran to give up its nuclear program to end sanctions.
"In order to achieve that result, you need more pressure on Iran, more sanctions on Iran," he said.
India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh defended India's trade ties with Iran, and leant Delhi's backing to diplomacy.
"Iran is a close neighbor. It is an important source for our energy," he said. "There are problems with Iran's nuclear program. We sincerely believe that this issue can be and should be resolved by giving maximum scope to diplomacy."
HARDSHIP BEFORE VOTE
Iran is heavily dependent on imports to feed its people, buying 45 percent of its rice and most of its animal feed abroad. Trade problems caused by sanctions appear to be worsening inflation already high because of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's economic policies, which have replaced subsidies for basic goods with cash payments to families.
The result is severe hardship for many ordinary Iranians, with just three weeks to go before a parliamentary election that will pit Ahmadinejad's supporters against conservatives who oppose his economic reforms. Reformists - either barred or boycotting - are barely represented.
The election will be Iran's first since a presidential vote in 2009, when Ahamadinejad's disputed victory over reformist opponents triggered eight months of violent street protests. That uprising was put down by force, but since then the "Arab Spring" has shown the vulnerability of authoritarian governments in the region to public anger over economic hardship.
The latest disruptions in Iran's trade have been caused in part because agents in the United Arab Emirates were no longer permitted to act as middlemen and process payments for Iranian buyers of imported commodities.
Shipments of palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia - which represent 90 percent of the global supply of the vegetable oil staple - have been halted. Grain ships have been diverted.
Iran is one of the world's biggest importers of billet, or semi-finished steel bars, used in construction. A steel trader at a Swiss metals trading house said: "Now you can feel the effects of the sanctions imposed by the U.S. and Europe... It is very difficult to do any business with Iran at the moment."
Boris Krasnojenov, an analyst with Moscow-based Renaissance Capital, said the collapse in trade with Iran was a major problem for Russian steel plants. It has depressed international prices, knocking nearly 10 percent off the price of Russian and Ukrainian steel over the past month.
There are signs that Iran is quickly finding new ways to circumvent sanctions, but these could mean paying over the odds for imports and selling exports at a discount. Barter is particularly inefficient.
One European grains trader told Reuters: "Iran is a rich country but has been caught by surprise by the sanctions and the decision by the United Arab Emirates not to allow the type of sanctions busting via Dubai which was commonplace in the past.
"The big trading houses are believed to have received crude oil and gold bullion as payment for past deals. The big boys have the ability and financial knowhow to quickly sell this on without suffering carry losses.
"No one really wants barter payments, but the Iranians appear to be getting their act together and are offering more financial payments in currencies apart from dollars or euros. Yen and Brazilian reals are being mentioned a lot."
Another trader said: "There is talk that banks in Bahrain are playing ball with Iran and helping out with payments. There is also talk that payments are being made via Venezuela."
(Additional reporting by Manoj Kumar in New Delhi, Silvia Antonioli and Claire Milhench in London, Alfred Kueppers in Moscow; writing by Peter Graff; editing by Janet McBride)
New financial sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union are making it difficult for Iran to pay for staple food and other imports, causing hardship for its 74 million people with just weeks to go before an election.
Commodities traders revealed this week that Iran has resorted to barter trade - swapping gold bullion in overseas vaults or tankerloads of oil for food - to avoid payments problems in international banks over sanctions.
On the streets of Iran, prices for food in dollar terms have doubled or tripled in recent months.
In the latest evidence of trade disruption, metal traders said Iran's imports of steel for construction had collapsed because sanctions prevent buyers from obtaining the currency needed to purchase it.
The International Energy Agency, which monitors oil markets for developed countries, said on Friday EU oil sanctions and U.S. financial measures due to take effect over the course of the next several months were already hitting global trade flows.
In an analysis ominous for Tehran, the IEA also said there was enough oil supply worldwide to prevent a price shock if Iran is blockaded this year.
That makes it easier for Washington to impose harsh sanctions envisioned under a new law which requires President Barack Obama to assess the impact on energy markets before pressing ahead with its most draconian measures.
"The market in 2012 likely has sufficient supply-side flexibility" to adjust to any loss in Iranian volumes due to sanctions, its monthly report said. It cited softer demand growth, Saudi spare capacity and the resumption of supplies from Libya that were disrupted last year.
China's Foreign Ministry said on Friday Assistant Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu would head to Iran for talks on Sunday.
"We have consistently advocated dialogue as the only proper channel for resolving the Iran nuclear issue," ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told a regular news briefing. Ma will "have a further exchange of views with Iran over its nuclear program," he added.
China is one of six powers - along with Britain, France, Germany, Russia and the United States - negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program, which Western states say is aimed at building a weapon but Iran says is peaceful.
Those talks collapsed a year ago and show little sign of resuming. Iran refuses to negotiate over its uranium enrichment program and Western countries say there is no point in talking unless uranium enrichment is on the table.
China is also Iran's biggest trade partner, buying a fifth of Iran's oil exports last year.
If Iran is to endure sanctions without severe pain, it would need China to keep buying its oil and even increase its purchases to make up for lost sales to Europe. But China has been playing hardball with Iran, seeking steep discounts for oil, cutting its purchases this year by more than half and securing alternative supplies from Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Cuts in Chinese oil purchases make India the biggest buyer of Iranian oil this year. A payments system for trade between India and Iran was shut down last year under U.S. pressure. Under a new agreement, Iran is meant to accept 45 percent of the value of its oil in Indian rupees to buy Indian goods, but the system is not yet running while India decides how such transactions would be taxed. Indian traders have had difficulty receiving payment for rice and tea they send to Iran.
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, visiting India, said the EU also wanted Delhi to help press Iran to give up its nuclear program to end sanctions.
"In order to achieve that result, you need more pressure on Iran, more sanctions on Iran," he said.
India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh defended India's trade ties with Iran, and leant Delhi's backing to diplomacy.
"Iran is a close neighbor. It is an important source for our energy," he said. "There are problems with Iran's nuclear program. We sincerely believe that this issue can be and should be resolved by giving maximum scope to diplomacy."
HARDSHIP BEFORE VOTE
Iran is heavily dependent on imports to feed its people, buying 45 percent of its rice and most of its animal feed abroad. Trade problems caused by sanctions appear to be worsening inflation already high because of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's economic policies, which have replaced subsidies for basic goods with cash payments to families.
The result is severe hardship for many ordinary Iranians, with just three weeks to go before a parliamentary election that will pit Ahmadinejad's supporters against conservatives who oppose his economic reforms. Reformists - either barred or boycotting - are barely represented.
The election will be Iran's first since a presidential vote in 2009, when Ahamadinejad's disputed victory over reformist opponents triggered eight months of violent street protests. That uprising was put down by force, but since then the "Arab Spring" has shown the vulnerability of authoritarian governments in the region to public anger over economic hardship.
The latest disruptions in Iran's trade have been caused in part because agents in the United Arab Emirates were no longer permitted to act as middlemen and process payments for Iranian buyers of imported commodities.
Shipments of palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia - which represent 90 percent of the global supply of the vegetable oil staple - have been halted. Grain ships have been diverted.
Iran is one of the world's biggest importers of billet, or semi-finished steel bars, used in construction. A steel trader at a Swiss metals trading house said: "Now you can feel the effects of the sanctions imposed by the U.S. and Europe... It is very difficult to do any business with Iran at the moment."
Boris Krasnojenov, an analyst with Moscow-based Renaissance Capital, said the collapse in trade with Iran was a major problem for Russian steel plants. It has depressed international prices, knocking nearly 10 percent off the price of Russian and Ukrainian steel over the past month.
There are signs that Iran is quickly finding new ways to circumvent sanctions, but these could mean paying over the odds for imports and selling exports at a discount. Barter is particularly inefficient.
One European grains trader told Reuters: "Iran is a rich country but has been caught by surprise by the sanctions and the decision by the United Arab Emirates not to allow the type of sanctions busting via Dubai which was commonplace in the past.
"The big trading houses are believed to have received crude oil and gold bullion as payment for past deals. The big boys have the ability and financial knowhow to quickly sell this on without suffering carry losses.
"No one really wants barter payments, but the Iranians appear to be getting their act together and are offering more financial payments in currencies apart from dollars or euros. Yen and Brazilian reals are being mentioned a lot."
Another trader said: "There is talk that banks in Bahrain are playing ball with Iran and helping out with payments. There is also talk that payments are being made via Venezuela."
(Additional reporting by Manoj Kumar in New Delhi, Silvia Antonioli and Claire Milhench in London, Alfred Kueppers in Moscow; writing by Peter Graff; editing by Janet McBride)
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
serious disruptions to Iran's imports
KUALA LUMPUR/TEHRAN (Reuters) - More evidence emerged of the crippling impact of new sanctions on Iran, with international traders saying Tehran is having trouble buying rice, cooking oil and other staples to feed its 74 million people weeks before an election.
New U.S. financial sanctions imposed since the beginning of this year to punish Tehran over its nuclear program are playing havoc with Iran's ability to buy imports and receive payment for its oil exports, commodities traders said.
Iran denies that sanctions are causing serious harm to its economy, but Reuters investigations in recent days with commodities traders around the globe show serious disruptions to its imports. That is having a real impact on the streets of Iran, where prices for basic foodstuffs are soaring.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak was in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the latest leader of a major Asian oil importing country to visit the Middle East seeking alternative sources of oil as sanctions make it more difficult to import from Iran.
Danish shipping and oil company A.P. Moller-Maersk on Wednesday said it had suspended the transport of new Iranian oil-related cargoes and oil tanker deals due to European Union sanctions.
Traders in Asia told Reuters on Tuesday that Malaysian exporters of palm oil - the source of half of Iran's consumption of a food staple used to make margarine and confectionary - had halted sales to Iran because they could not get paid.
That followed news on Monday that Iran had defaulted on payments for rice from top supplier India, and news last week that Ukrainian shipments of maize had been cut nearly in half.
Rice is one of the main staples of the Iranian diet. With the rial currency plummeting, prices have more than doubled to $5 a kilo at bazaars in Iran from about $2 last year.
Maize is used primarily as animal feed, and the cost of meat has almost tripled to about $30 a kilo, beyond the budget of many middle class Iranian families.
The measures have had a dramatic impact on daily life in the country ahead of a March 2 parliamentary election that will pit supporters of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad against opponents seen as even more conservative.
Reformists are barely represented in the election, which is being seen as a referendum on Ahmadinejad's economic policies that have seen subsidies for basic goods cut and replaced with direct payments to families.
Next month's election will be Iran's first since a presidential vote in 2009, when a disputed victory for Ahmadinejad triggered eight months of violent protests. The authorities put that revolt down by force, but since then the Arab Spring has shown the vulnerability of governments in the region to popular anger fuelled by economic hardship.
PALM OIL "HALTED"
The sanctions have not shut the door on all international trade.
U.S. agribusiness giant Cargill said on Tuesday it planned to continue grain shipments to Iran, although its vice chairman Paul Conway said it was being "very careful" about how it financed its business there.
The company was still managing to find banks offering letters of credit, paid in currencies other than the dollar, Conway told Reuters.
But traders in Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur said palm oil shipments to Iran had largely been halted since late last year, after U.S. and European sanctions made it difficult for buyers to obtain letters of credit and make payments via middlemen in the United Arab Emirates.
"They keep asking in the spirit of Muslim brotherhood. The last I heard was an enquiry for 5,000 tonnes for February or March delivery, but no one wants to take that risk now," said one trader in Kuala Lumpur, speaking on condition of anonymity while discussing commercial contracts.
A margarine factory owner in Iran, who asked not to be identified, said there was a shortage in supply of the oils needed to make margarine that could halt production soon.
"The way things are going, I predict that over next three to four months our edible oil will run out because of sanctions. It is no longer being imported and Iran itself cannot produce that much."
A Tehran market wholesaler said: "There is a big shortage of margarine in the market, due to drop in imports. What is being sold now is our previous stockpiles."
A default by Iranian buyers on purchases of 200,000 tonnes of Indian rice is potentially more crippling. The average Iranian eats 40 kilos of rice a year, 45 percent of which is imported, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. India is the main supplier.
The president of the All India Rice Exporters' Association said it was advising exporters to stop selling rice to Iran with the customary 90 days credit for payment.
"As part of our efforts to minimize losses, we are asking our colleagues to avoid sending rice on credit," Vijay Setia said.
Exporters have also had difficulty in Pakistan, another of Iran's major sources of rice.
Javed Agha, head of the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan said: "We use lines of credit opened through agents in Dubai, but that too has become difficult because of sanctions and the resulting currency fluctuations."
Iranian buyers normally pay for Indian rice through middlemen in the UAE, but falls in Iran's rial means buyers have trouble covering the cost in hard currency.
HAMMER BLOW
The ultimate hammer blow to Iran's economy could come in the next few months if it becomes unable to sell the 2.6 million barrels of oil a day that it is accustomed to exporting, or is forced to offer such steep discounts that its revenue shrivels.
While Iran has a more diverse economy than other big oil exporters in the Gulf, energy exports are still its main source of earnings to buy food and other necessities.
Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia - long a regional rival of Iran - has promised to make up for lost supply for countries that stop buying Iranian crude.
South Korea's Lee became on Tuesday the latest Asian leader to visit Saudi Arabia in search of additional oil supplies to replace possible cuts of oil from Iran. The leaders of Japan and China visited in recent weeks.
"I believe Saudi can play a major role in stabilizing the global economy," Lee said in a speech. Korea bought 87 percent of its oil from the Middle East last year, including 9 percent from Iran.
Where Iran is still able to sell oil, it has difficulty getting paid, or exchanging payment from the buyer's domestic currency into dollars so that it can use the money for international trade.
South Korea owes Iran's central bank about $5 billion for crude oil imports, but the money is trapped in the Korean banking system because of U.S. sanctions.
The European Union, which bought about a fifth of Iran's oil exports last year, has announced a total embargo which will take force over the next six months.
China, which also bought about a fifth of Iran's oil last year, is demanding steep discounts to keep doing business with Tehran, and has cut its imports by more than half over the first three months of this year while pressing Iran to cut its price.
A senior executive of a U.S. oil company said Saudi exports have risen by 200,000 barrels a day, mostly to Asia, making up for most of the decline in China's imports of Iranian oil. China has also been increasing its purchases from Russia and West Africa, oil traders say.
Energy is not the only Iranian export that has been hurt. Traders said that China is likely to cut its purchases of Iranian iron ore as well, worth $2 billion a year.
"There is a huge risk ahead, and many haven't realized it yet," said a senior executive at a Shanghai-based trading firm that has a long-term partnership with an Iranian ore supplier.
"It is easy for the United States to freeze our business, forcing large Chinese Iran ore traders, which have large trading volumes with Iran, to be more cautious when making bookings. It's not worth taking the risk."
A Chinese iron ore buyer based in eastern China's Shandong province said some of his Iranian suppliers had rushed shipments, a sign that they too were worried about potential payment problems. Shipments booked in February had arrived early, and he expected imports to decline by March.
The new U.S. sanctions, which come into effect gradually by June, would make it impossible for countries to use the international financial system to pay for Iranian oil. Washington has said it will provide waivers to countries to prevent chaos on oil markets, but wants them to demonstrate that they are cutting imports in order to receive the permits.
The sanctions have been imposed to halt Iran's nuclear program, which the West believes is being used to develop a nuclear bomb. Iran's leadership says the nuclear program is peaceful, and it is willing to endure sanctions to maintain it as a national right.
Last month, Iran took the important step of beginning production of highly enriched uranium at a new facility hidden deep under a mountain, where it would be difficult for U.S. or Israeli warplanes to destroy it.
Israel and Western countries have accused Iran of working to develop a nuclear bomb, a charge dismissed by Tehran.
Talks between Iran and the West over the nuclear program broke down a year ago. Iran has repeatedly said it wants to restart the talks, but has refused Western demands to make clear first that its uranium enrichment would be up for negotiation.
As the sanctions have tightened, Iranian officials have made repeated threats of military strikes against Mid-East shipping and the United States, which protects the Mid-East oil trade with a giant flotilla based in the Gulf.
(Additional reporting by Ruby Lian in Shanghai, David Stanway and Judy Hua in Beijing, Cho Mee-young in Seoul, Marwa Rashad in Riyadh, Ratanajyoti Dutta and Mayank Bhardwaj in New Delhi, Qasim Nauman in Islamabad, Alex Lawler and Jonathan Saul in London, Emma Farge and Tom Miles in Geneva and Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Janet McBride and Andrew Heavens)
New U.S. financial sanctions imposed since the beginning of this year to punish Tehran over its nuclear program are playing havoc with Iran's ability to buy imports and receive payment for its oil exports, commodities traders said.
Iran denies that sanctions are causing serious harm to its economy, but Reuters investigations in recent days with commodities traders around the globe show serious disruptions to its imports. That is having a real impact on the streets of Iran, where prices for basic foodstuffs are soaring.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak was in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the latest leader of a major Asian oil importing country to visit the Middle East seeking alternative sources of oil as sanctions make it more difficult to import from Iran.
Danish shipping and oil company A.P. Moller-Maersk on Wednesday said it had suspended the transport of new Iranian oil-related cargoes and oil tanker deals due to European Union sanctions.
Traders in Asia told Reuters on Tuesday that Malaysian exporters of palm oil - the source of half of Iran's consumption of a food staple used to make margarine and confectionary - had halted sales to Iran because they could not get paid.
That followed news on Monday that Iran had defaulted on payments for rice from top supplier India, and news last week that Ukrainian shipments of maize had been cut nearly in half.
Rice is one of the main staples of the Iranian diet. With the rial currency plummeting, prices have more than doubled to $5 a kilo at bazaars in Iran from about $2 last year.
Maize is used primarily as animal feed, and the cost of meat has almost tripled to about $30 a kilo, beyond the budget of many middle class Iranian families.
The measures have had a dramatic impact on daily life in the country ahead of a March 2 parliamentary election that will pit supporters of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad against opponents seen as even more conservative.
Reformists are barely represented in the election, which is being seen as a referendum on Ahmadinejad's economic policies that have seen subsidies for basic goods cut and replaced with direct payments to families.
Next month's election will be Iran's first since a presidential vote in 2009, when a disputed victory for Ahmadinejad triggered eight months of violent protests. The authorities put that revolt down by force, but since then the Arab Spring has shown the vulnerability of governments in the region to popular anger fuelled by economic hardship.
PALM OIL "HALTED"
The sanctions have not shut the door on all international trade.
U.S. agribusiness giant Cargill said on Tuesday it planned to continue grain shipments to Iran, although its vice chairman Paul Conway said it was being "very careful" about how it financed its business there.
The company was still managing to find banks offering letters of credit, paid in currencies other than the dollar, Conway told Reuters.
But traders in Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur said palm oil shipments to Iran had largely been halted since late last year, after U.S. and European sanctions made it difficult for buyers to obtain letters of credit and make payments via middlemen in the United Arab Emirates.
"They keep asking in the spirit of Muslim brotherhood. The last I heard was an enquiry for 5,000 tonnes for February or March delivery, but no one wants to take that risk now," said one trader in Kuala Lumpur, speaking on condition of anonymity while discussing commercial contracts.
A margarine factory owner in Iran, who asked not to be identified, said there was a shortage in supply of the oils needed to make margarine that could halt production soon.
"The way things are going, I predict that over next three to four months our edible oil will run out because of sanctions. It is no longer being imported and Iran itself cannot produce that much."
A Tehran market wholesaler said: "There is a big shortage of margarine in the market, due to drop in imports. What is being sold now is our previous stockpiles."
A default by Iranian buyers on purchases of 200,000 tonnes of Indian rice is potentially more crippling. The average Iranian eats 40 kilos of rice a year, 45 percent of which is imported, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. India is the main supplier.
The president of the All India Rice Exporters' Association said it was advising exporters to stop selling rice to Iran with the customary 90 days credit for payment.
"As part of our efforts to minimize losses, we are asking our colleagues to avoid sending rice on credit," Vijay Setia said.
Exporters have also had difficulty in Pakistan, another of Iran's major sources of rice.
Javed Agha, head of the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan said: "We use lines of credit opened through agents in Dubai, but that too has become difficult because of sanctions and the resulting currency fluctuations."
Iranian buyers normally pay for Indian rice through middlemen in the UAE, but falls in Iran's rial means buyers have trouble covering the cost in hard currency.
HAMMER BLOW
The ultimate hammer blow to Iran's economy could come in the next few months if it becomes unable to sell the 2.6 million barrels of oil a day that it is accustomed to exporting, or is forced to offer such steep discounts that its revenue shrivels.
While Iran has a more diverse economy than other big oil exporters in the Gulf, energy exports are still its main source of earnings to buy food and other necessities.
Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia - long a regional rival of Iran - has promised to make up for lost supply for countries that stop buying Iranian crude.
South Korea's Lee became on Tuesday the latest Asian leader to visit Saudi Arabia in search of additional oil supplies to replace possible cuts of oil from Iran. The leaders of Japan and China visited in recent weeks.
"I believe Saudi can play a major role in stabilizing the global economy," Lee said in a speech. Korea bought 87 percent of its oil from the Middle East last year, including 9 percent from Iran.
Where Iran is still able to sell oil, it has difficulty getting paid, or exchanging payment from the buyer's domestic currency into dollars so that it can use the money for international trade.
South Korea owes Iran's central bank about $5 billion for crude oil imports, but the money is trapped in the Korean banking system because of U.S. sanctions.
The European Union, which bought about a fifth of Iran's oil exports last year, has announced a total embargo which will take force over the next six months.
China, which also bought about a fifth of Iran's oil last year, is demanding steep discounts to keep doing business with Tehran, and has cut its imports by more than half over the first three months of this year while pressing Iran to cut its price.
A senior executive of a U.S. oil company said Saudi exports have risen by 200,000 barrels a day, mostly to Asia, making up for most of the decline in China's imports of Iranian oil. China has also been increasing its purchases from Russia and West Africa, oil traders say.
Energy is not the only Iranian export that has been hurt. Traders said that China is likely to cut its purchases of Iranian iron ore as well, worth $2 billion a year.
"There is a huge risk ahead, and many haven't realized it yet," said a senior executive at a Shanghai-based trading firm that has a long-term partnership with an Iranian ore supplier.
"It is easy for the United States to freeze our business, forcing large Chinese Iran ore traders, which have large trading volumes with Iran, to be more cautious when making bookings. It's not worth taking the risk."
A Chinese iron ore buyer based in eastern China's Shandong province said some of his Iranian suppliers had rushed shipments, a sign that they too were worried about potential payment problems. Shipments booked in February had arrived early, and he expected imports to decline by March.
The new U.S. sanctions, which come into effect gradually by June, would make it impossible for countries to use the international financial system to pay for Iranian oil. Washington has said it will provide waivers to countries to prevent chaos on oil markets, but wants them to demonstrate that they are cutting imports in order to receive the permits.
The sanctions have been imposed to halt Iran's nuclear program, which the West believes is being used to develop a nuclear bomb. Iran's leadership says the nuclear program is peaceful, and it is willing to endure sanctions to maintain it as a national right.
Last month, Iran took the important step of beginning production of highly enriched uranium at a new facility hidden deep under a mountain, where it would be difficult for U.S. or Israeli warplanes to destroy it.
Israel and Western countries have accused Iran of working to develop a nuclear bomb, a charge dismissed by Tehran.
Talks between Iran and the West over the nuclear program broke down a year ago. Iran has repeatedly said it wants to restart the talks, but has refused Western demands to make clear first that its uranium enrichment would be up for negotiation.
As the sanctions have tightened, Iranian officials have made repeated threats of military strikes against Mid-East shipping and the United States, which protects the Mid-East oil trade with a giant flotilla based in the Gulf.
(Additional reporting by Ruby Lian in Shanghai, David Stanway and Judy Hua in Beijing, Cho Mee-young in Seoul, Marwa Rashad in Riyadh, Ratanajyoti Dutta and Mayank Bhardwaj in New Delhi, Qasim Nauman in Islamabad, Alex Lawler and Jonathan Saul in London, Emma Farge and Tom Miles in Geneva and Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Janet McBride and Andrew Heavens)
The US military focus is shifting to coastal areas of the Middle East
After a decade spent mostly fighting in deserts and mountain regions, the US military and its allies have been gearing up for future challenges by practising assaults on coastal areas.
A mythical nation is under attack by a belligerent neighbour. The US and its allies are deployed to save Amber from the invading forces of Garnet.
For the teams coming off the amphibious assault ship the USS Kearsage, the mission was to push the intruding forces out.
In reality they arrived on the beaches and grounds of Camp LeJeune, a sprawling Marine Corps base in North Carolina.
Searching the waterways nearby for Garnet-affiliated "pirates" were US Navy Riverine units, based on small boats often visually associated with the Vietnam War.
The scenario was part of Bold Alligator, an 11-nation training exercise involving upwards of 19,000 troops.
US Marines march to board two board helicopters aboard the USS Wasp during Bold Alligator The US military is beginning the process of changing its force structure to meet new threats
While the scenario may have been a fiction, the reality for all involved is a shifting military focus, as the US and other participating nations are increasingly watchful of coastal areas of the Middle East - in particular Iran - and countries like China and North Korea in the Pacific.
The Bold Alligator exercise involves scenarios of mine warfare, fighting in shallow water and fending off attacks from smaller boats; methods known to be familiar to the Iranian Navy.
Capt Dorian Jones, commander of the USS Kearsarge, was quick to point out other uses for the training, such as responding to the Haiti earthquake two years ago.
"Amphibious operations encompass a number of different operations - humanitarian assistance, disaster relief. Amphibious forces are flexible and capable, and they flex to a variety of missions."
'Back to basics'
Bold Alligator has been under way since the beginning of February, played out across Virginia and North Carolina in what US military officials say is the largest amphibious-focused training mission in over a decade.
The outline of the exercise is not far removed from the depiction in films like Saving Private Ryan, or even from the reality of the World War II Normandy beach landings.
Bold Alligator has taken months of planning and is a joint-forces operation between the US Navy and Marine Corps.
Participating in the exercise are 25 ships, including the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and the lead assault ship USS Wasp.
Troops include sailors and Marines from several "partnership" countries such as the UK, Canada, France, Australia and the Netherlands.
According to Adm John Harvey, commander of US Fleet Forces, the purpose of Bold Alligator is "to get back to basics" in terms of the ship-to-shore method of fighting that the recent missions in Iraq and Afghanistan rarely required.
Speaking in Washington as Bold Alligator was getting under way, he said: "It was really instructive to me when we opened this thing up to our coalition partners, they jumped on it.
"I've got a French big-deck under way out there now, with a lot of French Marines embarked who are taking this exercise with great seriousness.
"Gen Heljik's [a US Marine Corps commander] got a couple hundred Dutch Marines who came over here for this.
"We have 11 nations playing and playing hard, like the Canadian minesweepers, and they're making these decisions to participate at a time when their fiscally-constrained environment is far, far more significant than ours."
Marines watch over a Navy landing craft as it is unloaded during Bold Alligator The US military focus is shifting to coastal areas of the Middle East
From the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge, Marines from the US, UK and Canada were grouped together and then sent out in LCAC landing crafts and V-22 Osprey - a helicopter-plane hybrid - as one part of the 12-day exercise.
Before flying off on 6 February, the would-be D-Day of the war games, Maj Chris Samuel of the British Royal Marines said: "This is essentially restoring our amphibious credentials and it's a unique opportunity really, to participate in a multinational exercise with our closest allies.
"This is what we're good at," he added.
A mythical nation is under attack by a belligerent neighbour. The US and its allies are deployed to save Amber from the invading forces of Garnet.
For the teams coming off the amphibious assault ship the USS Kearsage, the mission was to push the intruding forces out.
In reality they arrived on the beaches and grounds of Camp LeJeune, a sprawling Marine Corps base in North Carolina.
Searching the waterways nearby for Garnet-affiliated "pirates" were US Navy Riverine units, based on small boats often visually associated with the Vietnam War.
The scenario was part of Bold Alligator, an 11-nation training exercise involving upwards of 19,000 troops.
US Marines march to board two board helicopters aboard the USS Wasp during Bold Alligator The US military is beginning the process of changing its force structure to meet new threats
While the scenario may have been a fiction, the reality for all involved is a shifting military focus, as the US and other participating nations are increasingly watchful of coastal areas of the Middle East - in particular Iran - and countries like China and North Korea in the Pacific.
The Bold Alligator exercise involves scenarios of mine warfare, fighting in shallow water and fending off attacks from smaller boats; methods known to be familiar to the Iranian Navy.
Capt Dorian Jones, commander of the USS Kearsarge, was quick to point out other uses for the training, such as responding to the Haiti earthquake two years ago.
"Amphibious operations encompass a number of different operations - humanitarian assistance, disaster relief. Amphibious forces are flexible and capable, and they flex to a variety of missions."
'Back to basics'
Bold Alligator has been under way since the beginning of February, played out across Virginia and North Carolina in what US military officials say is the largest amphibious-focused training mission in over a decade.
The outline of the exercise is not far removed from the depiction in films like Saving Private Ryan, or even from the reality of the World War II Normandy beach landings.
Bold Alligator has taken months of planning and is a joint-forces operation between the US Navy and Marine Corps.
Participating in the exercise are 25 ships, including the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and the lead assault ship USS Wasp.
Troops include sailors and Marines from several "partnership" countries such as the UK, Canada, France, Australia and the Netherlands.
According to Adm John Harvey, commander of US Fleet Forces, the purpose of Bold Alligator is "to get back to basics" in terms of the ship-to-shore method of fighting that the recent missions in Iraq and Afghanistan rarely required.
Speaking in Washington as Bold Alligator was getting under way, he said: "It was really instructive to me when we opened this thing up to our coalition partners, they jumped on it.
"I've got a French big-deck under way out there now, with a lot of French Marines embarked who are taking this exercise with great seriousness.
"Gen Heljik's [a US Marine Corps commander] got a couple hundred Dutch Marines who came over here for this.
"We have 11 nations playing and playing hard, like the Canadian minesweepers, and they're making these decisions to participate at a time when their fiscally-constrained environment is far, far more significant than ours."
Marines watch over a Navy landing craft as it is unloaded during Bold Alligator The US military focus is shifting to coastal areas of the Middle East
From the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge, Marines from the US, UK and Canada were grouped together and then sent out in LCAC landing crafts and V-22 Osprey - a helicopter-plane hybrid - as one part of the 12-day exercise.
Before flying off on 6 February, the would-be D-Day of the war games, Maj Chris Samuel of the British Royal Marines said: "This is essentially restoring our amphibious credentials and it's a unique opportunity really, to participate in a multinational exercise with our closest allies.
"This is what we're good at," he added.
Please stand in solidarity with those struggling for their rights in Honduras
URGENT ACTION: Honduran Journalist in Danger – Contact the U.S. embassy in Honduras NOW to demand immediate protection and to condemn the repression against journalists in Honduras.
Since the coup d’état in 2009 human rights violations have been rampant. Journalists are among those groups who have suffered severe repression. According to the Committee of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared of Honduras (COFADEH) since 2009, 18 journalists have been murdered, 25 have received death threats, 14 have suffered illegal detentions, 4 have been kidnapped and tortured and 37 other attacks and aggressions on journalists have been recorded.
As the repression worsens and impunity continues the United States supports militarization providing training and arms to the Honduran military and police. Since the coup d’état, the United States has given over $16.5 million in arms and training to the police and military and plans to give over $8 million more this year. U.S. backed militarization has not quelled the grave human rights situation for journalists or for anyone else.
Gilda Carolina Silvestrucchi is an independent journalist and Director of the radio program “In the Plaza.” She and her children have been the victims of numerous acts of intimidation and death threats throughout January, the most recent of which happened on January 23rd after holding an interview on her radio program on issues relating to the pending Honduran Mining law.
COFADEH has called for immediate action in this case. Please stand in solidarity with those struggling for their rights in Honduras. Contact the U.S. Honduran Embassy and the U.S. State Department and demand an end to impunity and an end to the repression of journalists. Demand protection for Gilda and her children.
Click to send a letter to the human rights official in the U.S. Embassy in Honduras, Nathan Anderson.
Since the coup d’état in 2009 human rights violations have been rampant. Journalists are among those groups who have suffered severe repression. According to the Committee of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared of Honduras (COFADEH) since 2009, 18 journalists have been murdered, 25 have received death threats, 14 have suffered illegal detentions, 4 have been kidnapped and tortured and 37 other attacks and aggressions on journalists have been recorded.
As the repression worsens and impunity continues the United States supports militarization providing training and arms to the Honduran military and police. Since the coup d’état, the United States has given over $16.5 million in arms and training to the police and military and plans to give over $8 million more this year. U.S. backed militarization has not quelled the grave human rights situation for journalists or for anyone else.
Gilda Carolina Silvestrucchi is an independent journalist and Director of the radio program “In the Plaza.” She and her children have been the victims of numerous acts of intimidation and death threats throughout January, the most recent of which happened on January 23rd after holding an interview on her radio program on issues relating to the pending Honduran Mining law.
COFADEH has called for immediate action in this case. Please stand in solidarity with those struggling for their rights in Honduras. Contact the U.S. Honduran Embassy and the U.S. State Department and demand an end to impunity and an end to the repression of journalists. Demand protection for Gilda and her children.
Click to send a letter to the human rights official in the U.S. Embassy in Honduras, Nathan Anderson.
Monday, February 6, 2012
because Jesus is undocumented UCSF Medical Center is refusing to perform surgery
Jesus Navarro could die without a kidney transplant. His wife is a match, she wants to donate her kidney to save her husband's life, and Jesus even has health insurance to cover the transplant.
But because Jesus is undocumented, the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center is refusing to perform surgery, essentially leaving Jesus to die.
Donald Kagan understands what Jesus is going through better than most. Donald immigrated from Nicaragua, and he needed (and received) a kidney transplant that saved his life. Donald is now a partner at a technology firm in Berkeley, CA -- and he has offered to pay Jesus's post-surgery medical bills. But UCSF Medical Center still says no.
Donald thinks it's unconscionable that UCSF Medical Center would deny Jesus medical treatment even though Jesus already has a willing kidney donor, insurance to pay for his surgery, and a benefactor to pay for his follow-up care. So Donald started a petition on Change.org asking UCSF Medical Center administrators to allow Jesus to get the kidney transplant that could save his life. Click here to sign Donald’s petition right now.
When doctors take the Hippocratic Oath, one of the things they swear is that, "I will remember that I remain a member of society with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm." The administrators at UCSF Medical Center are forgoing their obligations as caregivers only because Jesus is undocumented.
After waiting for years for this surgery, Jesus was devastated to learn that it still might not happen. "He's afraid he might die," Jesus's sister told NBC News. "He might not see his daughter grow up."
The UCSF Medical Center administrators don't want a public relations disaster on their hands -- but that's exactly what they'll have if thousands of people sign Donald's petition and they still refuse to provide Jesus with the surgery that could save his life.
Thanks for being a change-maker,
- Jackie and the Change.org team
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