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Freeport Indonesia ramping up output at world's No.2 copper mine

Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc ( id="symbol_FCX.N_0"> FCX.N ) was ramping up production at its Indonesian unit on Monday, a company spokeswoman said, six weeks after a deadly tunnel collapse at the world's No.2 copper mine halted operations. Trade union workers at the Grasberg mine in remote West Papua were also returning to production work, while postponed pay talks with the Arizona-based firm have been resumed, a union official added. Freeport Indonesia employs about 24,000 workers, of which three-quarters belong to the union. Freeport stopped production at Grasberg on May 15, a day after a training area in a tunnel caved in, killing 28 people. Planned pay talks were also put on hold last month. On Saturday, the company said it had slowly resumed open-pit mining after receiving approval from the Indonesian government, although underground production remained closed.   "We herewith confirm that we have started to ramp up production since Saturday,&qu

China cash squeeze eases, but bank shares take big hit

China's cash crunch eased further on Monday after the central bank moved to prevent the money market from seizing up, but bank stocks tanked as the authorities made clear that the days of unlimited cheap official funds are over. Chinese shares suffered their biggest daily loss in nearly four years, with financial stocks dropping more than 7 percent after the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said banks needed to do a better job of managing their cash and lending.   Money market rates had soared last week when the central bank, relied on as a source of cheap cash used to finance China's vast "shadow banking" system, stood pat, letting a sharp drop in fund inflows into China and cash hoarding by some banks do the rest. The sudden tightening of cash markets, which saw some banks paying a 25 percent interest rate for cash, fanned fears that Beijing's latest attempt to steer the world's second-biggest economy to more balanced growth less reliant on credit-dr

Dollar gains, shares fall on Fed, China worries

The U.S. central bank's plans to scale back its stimulus and fears Chinese policy may be tightening sent the dollar sharply higher on Monday, while world shares extended last week's dismal performance. The sell-off in stocks, bonds and commodities since the Federal Reserve signaled an end to the era of cheap money that has fuelled record rises in asset prices is seen having further to run. "The prospect for a disorderly transition is there," said Josh Raymond, market strategist for City Index. Fears of further market turmoil have been exacerbated by worries over China's growth outlook and the health of its banks after the country's central bank said liquidity in its financial system is "reasonable", despite high short term rates. Amid the selling, yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes, a benchmark for global rates, hit a two-year high of 2.57 percent on Monday, supporting the dollar which added 0.4 percent against a basket major currencies to

Suntory Beverage prices $4 billion IPO near bottom of range

Japan's Suntory Beverage and Food Ltd will raise 388 billion yen ($4 billion) after it set its IPO price near the bottom of its marketing range, hurt by concerns about its valuation and weak appetite amid market volatility. The food and soft drinks unit of Suntory Holdings Ltd set the price of its initial public offering at 3,100 yen per share, compared with its 3,000-3,800 yen indicative range, it said in a regulatory filing on Monday.   The maker of Boss canned coffee had been seeking as much as 470 billion yen in Asia's biggest IPO so far this year, to bolster its war chest for acquisitions in emerging markets like Southeast Asia and boost its competitiveness against rivals like Kirin Holdings Co Ltd ( id="symbol_2503.T_0"> 2503.T ). "It's obviously a sign that the stock is not popular among institutional investors," said a hedge fund manager based in Singapore, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. "Given its valuation

Vodafone agrees $10 billion Kabel Deutschland deal

Vodafone ( id="symbol_VOD.L_0"> VOD.L ) has agreed to buy Germany's largest cable operator Kabel Deutschland ( id="symbol_KD8Gn.DE KD8Gn.DE ) for 7.7 billion euros ($10 billion), betting on TV and fixed-line services in its biggest deal since 2007. _1"> Announcing its second major acquisition for a European fixed-line network in 12 months, Vodafone said it would pay 87 euros ($110) per share for the group to enable it to offer more competitive packages with TV, fixed-line and broadband services to its mobile customers. The world's second-largest mobile operator, following up its acquisition of Cable & Wireless Worldwide, is however paying a rich price for the German firm and its 8.5 million homes, which it considered buying before it went public in March 2010 at 22 euros per share. One trader who asked not to be named said the offer, Vodafone's biggest since a 2007 Indian acquisition, valued Kabel Deutschland at 12 times enterprise value a

Book Talk: The dark doubts in the heart of a Mormon missionary

They're a familiar sight around the world, whether in northern Japan or southern Argentina : a pair of men in dark suits, with nameplates, often riding bicycles as they go about their job preaching the Mormon religion. "Elders", Ryan McIlvain's debut novel, illuminates the lives of one such pair, American Elder McLeod and his Brazilian counterpart Elder Passos, through their frustrating daily round of knocking on doors and missionary work, the service that all adult Mormons must perform.   McIlvain, a former Mormon who went to Brazil on his mission, spoke about his book and basing fiction on his own life. Q: How did this book get going? A: It's something I know a lot about just by virtue of the fact that I was a Mormon missionary. More broadly, I thought it would be interesting to pay very close attention to the interior lives of two Mormon missionaries, people that we see almost exclusively from the outside ... They're so lonely, the pressures they fac

Merkel tells Putin Germany wants looted art returned

Chancellor Angela Merkel told President Vladimir Putin on Friday that German art seized by the Soviets in the wake of World War Two should be repatriated to Germany , a claim the Russian leader swiftly rejected. The tense exchange took place as they opened an exhibition at the Hermitage museum in St Petersburg during a trip by Merkel to Russia . The exhibition about the Bronze Age includes 600 items carried off by the Soviet Union as war reparations, according to the German government.   Merkel said it was an important step that the works were now going on public display for the first time. "It's our opinion that these exhibition pieces should be returned to Germany," she said. Putin replied that it was time to stop making repatriation claims against each other, otherwise Turkey could also demand the return of art from Germany. He said it didn't matter to the average citizen if art is displayed in Berlin, St Petersburg, Moscow or in Turkey. According to Berlin