Vice President Harris Delivers Remarks at the Munich Security Conference

Today's European Issues on President's Mind-plus a Jim Kelly update

On the eve of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Europe by the D-Day invasion,the President of the United States reflected on a number of controversies in Europe today,and also on the release of a US soldier,Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl,by Taliban militants in Afghanistan.We are at a point where Mr.Putin has a chance to get back in the lane of international law,said President Barack Obama at a Thursday press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron in Brussels,Begium.If Mr.Putin takes those steps,it is possible for us to begin to rebuild trust.The fact that some Russian troops have withdrawn from the Ukrainian border does not mean we can afford three or four or six months of drift.
I have no doubt I'll be seeing President Putin at the D-Day observances.He and I have always had a businesslike relationship.I will be delivering the same message:Russia has a legitimate interest,but it's up to the people of Ukraine to make its own decision.The destabilising actions we now see,funded and encouraged by Russia,are unacceptable.If he continues undermining the sovereignty and integrity of Ukraine,we will have no choice but to impose more sanctions,Mr.Obama indicated.*
On the issue of Scotland possibly leaving the United Kingdom,he noted that,from the outside at least,it looks as if the UK-Scotland union has worked pretty well,but ultimately that is for the people of Scotland to decide.As to Britain possibly leaving the European Union,it's important for us to know that Great Britain has a seat at the table of the larger European project.It's hard for me to imagine that project would go well without Great Britain.I'm sure the people of Great Britain will make the right decision.*
I'm never surprised by controversies that are whipped up in Washington,the President continued.We had a prisoner of war whose health had deteriorated,and we had an opportunity and we seized it,and I make no apologies for that.This basic principle that we don't leave anybody behind dates back to the beginning of the Republic.As Commander in Chief,I am responsible for these kids.I write too many letters to folks who don't get to see their children again.We don't condition whether we make the effort to get someone back,the President explained.*
Jim Kelly update:A large crowd of Buffalo Bills great Jim Kelly's friends and former NFL colleagues gathered in the Buffalo suburb of Batavia,New York Tuesday for the 28th Jim Kelly Celebrity Classic,the annual charity golf tournament of the Kelly for Kids Foundation.Jim is still in a Buffalo hospital recovering from six weeks of chemotherapy and radiation treatments for his recurrent oral cancer that has spread into his sinus area.
Jim's pain has subsided,older brother Dan Kelly said,but he will still need 6-8 weeks more rest after about another week in hospital,before he can be tested to determine how successful his treatment has been.
This year's tournament should raise more than 250,000 dollars,according to Dan.The Foundation has donated more than five million to regional charities since its inception.

Monday Newsline:Hit Shows Canceled by China;Indian Elections End

Gold miner stocks fell in Asia today along with the price of gold on a perceived lessening of tension in Ukraine.Unofficial voting on independence for Eastern Ukraine went ahead,although clashes with Ukrainian troops were reported.There were some long lines at the polls,but voters were seen voting twice.The provisional government in Kiev and Western countries reject the vote as illegitimate and illegal.
The separatists are claiming the voters showed massive support for independence.*
The MSCI Asia Pacific index was down 0.30%.Basic materials declined 1.0% in Australia,with industrial metals falling 2.17%.Basic materials also fell in the Hang Seng Index.*
Four popular American TV shows on webcaster Sohu have been canceled by the Chinese authorities,including "Big Bang Theory." No specific reason was given.China is in transition,said Sohu founder and CEO Charles Zhang.China is in reform.It's very hard to define what is legal and what is illegal.We fight piracy and we get American TV shows into China.Look at how far we've come along,so I am still satisfied,Mr.Charles explained.China is currently drafting rules for streaming video.*
India's month-long national elections are ending today.The fiscal challenges such as inflation must be met after the euphoria of the elections,said Radhika Rao of DBS.The fiscal budget has to be tabled before July.The budget must be based on realistic expectations.
Inflation will be a risk,fueled by unfavourable weather.Rates will be hard to cut with inflation.There are also stalled infrastructure projects and the current accounts deficit.To maintain momentum,the new government must be formed and tackle the issues pretty soon,Ms.Rao pointed out.*
In sport,Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain won the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona Sunday,increasing his lead in the overall standings.It was his fourth straight victory.His teammate Nico Rosberg of Germany came in second,and Australia's Daniel Ricciardo took third on the podium.
Another German,golfer Martin Kaymer,won The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach,Florida.It was the second biggest win for Kaymer,who has also won the PGA Championship,a major.American Jim Furyk came in second,and Sergio Garcia of Spain took third place on the leader board.

Monday Newsline:Portugal's Better;China PMI;Langer Wins

Portugal will end its three-year,78 billion euro bailout from the EU and IMF on May 17,as it says it has financial reserves for one year and no longer needs an emergency line of credit.Portugal's exports and austerity measures have strengthened the economy to this level.The country's unemployment rate is at 15.3% and its debt to GDP is 129%.*
Australian bank Westpac showed a profit increase of 8%,while ANZ Bank's profit rose 11%.Westpac said the improvement was due to loan growth and wealth management fees.*
China National Nuclear Corporation is to be publicly listed in Shanghai.The IPO aims to raise 2.6 billion dollars.CNNC is China's second largest nuclear plant operator.*
The HSBC China Manufacturing PMI came in at 48.1,the fourth straight monthly decline.Below 50 indicates contraction in the sector.Deflationary pressure is still there in China,said Yao Wei,China economist at Societe Generale.We think the economy will remain relatively weak.A hard landing for China would be 5% growth.It's all about reform at the end of the day,Ms.Wei noted.*
Most Asian markets were lower Monday on the contraction of Chinese manufacturing.US stock futures were also lower on fears that the Ukraine crisis is getting out of hand,with large demonstrations and a deadly fire in Odessa,while the price of safe haven gold rose.*
In Champions Tour golf,German Bernhard Langer won the Insperity Invitational at The Woodlands,Texas by one stroke.It was his third win at the tournament,and with it he consolidated his lead in the Charles Schwab Cup standings.American Fred Couples took second,and Colin Montgomerie of Scotland came in third.

Monday Newsline:Ukraine Crimps Markets;MH-370 Changes;The Masters

US stock futures were down early Monday on the deteriorating situation in Eastern Ukraine.At the same time,the price of the safe haven gold as well as oil were rising as this crisis in Eastern Europe seems to be careening off a cliff,and a contentious emergency session of the UN Security Council to discuss the matter provided little basis for optimism.
Asian stocks were also chagrined by Ukraine's violent unrest,and by how the rising yen is weighing on Japanese shares.The MSCI Asia-Pacific index was virtually flat,up just 0.02%.*
London home prices have hit a record high as the supply of homes dwindles.London job vacancies in the financial sector rose 10% in March.*
The Chinese company Minmetals Group is buying a Glencore copper project in Peru for 5.85 billion dollars.A survey shows China's Q1 GDP was up 7.3% on the year.*
Retired Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston,head of the Joint Agency Coordination Centre,held a news conference in Perth,Australia to sum up where we are in the hunt for the lost flight MH-370 on day 38 of the search,which is eight days beyond the guaranteed battery life of the airliner's flight data recorder.The experts have determined that the Ocean Shield will cease attempting the detection of further signals from the missing plane's black boxes later today,and will start missions with the Blue Fin 21 autonomous underwater vehicle,which generates a 3D,high resolution map of the ocean floor.The first of the 24 hour missions will cover 40 square kilometers with the vehicle's sidescan sonar.Use of this vehicle may not result in detection of the aircraft's wreckage.
Also,the Ocean Shield detected an oil slick 5500 meters downwind of the site of the underwater search.Two litres of the oil has been collected.It will be a number of days before it can be returned and definitively identified.
The chance of recovering any floating material has greatly diminished,and it will be necessary to consult with our partners to determine the way ahead.The air and surface search will be concluded in the next two days.
It looks like the Blue Fin 21 is more than adequate to the task.It's reallly up to the people on the spot to determine where we go next.We start with the four locations,and then we go outward from there.It's really important to give flexibility to the people who are doing the search.They're the experts.The first mission will be a quite intensive search.I would not term it as a long shot,but as a promising lead that needs to be investigated.That's how it's done,believe me.That's the business of search and recovery,search and rescue.
This area we're in is under the seventh aircraft ping detected by Inmarsat.This is an area that is unknown to man.It's almost flat and rolling,with a lot of silt on the bottom.The layers of silt can complicate the search.We're actually gathering information on the search environment all the time,and that goes into the calculation of where to go next
The oil slick is very close to where the transmissions are coming from.We don't think its from the ships,so it's something that must be investigated.It can't be tested at sea.
The Air France wreckage of five years ago was at 3,000 meters;we're talking about 4,500 meters.Don't be over-optimistic;be realistic,ACM Houston advised.*
American Bubba Watson,35,donned his second green jacket in three years as winner of The Masters major golf tournament in Augusta,Georgia.His compatriot Jordan Spieth,20,and Sweden's Jonas Blixt,29,tied for second,and Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain,54,the oldest man in the field,finished fourth.

Voices and Visions:Ukraine Crisis Update

Both the Standard&Poor's and Fitch credit rating agencies have put Russia on credit watch negative,while keeping the credit rating itself at the second lowest level of BBB.Russia's annexation of Crimea and the resultant threat of Western sanctions may cause companies to avoid investing in Russia,and those already invested there may withdraw,S&P said.Banks may also be reluctant to lend to Russian companies,causing the economy to slow further,Fitch pointed out.Russia's growth slowed to 1.3% in 2013 and investment is contracting.*
The EU has imposed asset freezes and visa bans on 33 prominent Russians in response to Russia's move in Crimea,while the US has done the same to 31 leading Russians.Russia's stock market has fallen more on the news of the imposition of sanctions,and the ruble has declined in value as well.*
Although some impact of Western disapproval of Russia's actions is being felt,the next phase,economic sanctions,will be more difficult to impose.Slovakia's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister,Miroslav Lajcak,said he is wondering whether the EU and US are willing to share the pain of more sanctions.Sanctions are painful;but they cannot be painful for Russia only.Are we willing to bear the burden?Mr.Lajcak asked.
Russia is not the enemy,in Slovakia's view,but it has violated the rules,Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak explained.Slovakia borders Ukraine,but Slovaks watch Russian TV,and so hear Russia's point of view,he pointed out.*
I expressed my very strong,grave concerns about what is going on,said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon of his visit to Moscow, where he met with Russian leaders.The political emotions have hardened,he observed.
Meanwhile,President Barack Obama added that Russia has positioned its forces in such a way that it can move into Eastern and Southern Ukraine as well.In consequence,he has signed an executive order enabling him to impose sanctions on key economic sectors,should Russia invade those regions as well.*
Russian troops continued their takeover of Ukrainian military bases in Crimea,seizing Ukraine's Black Sea warships.Shots were fired,but no one was injured.The Ukrainian naval commander had been detained earlier when naval headquarters was seized,but was released unharmed.About 25,000 Ukrainian troops and their families must be evacuated from Crimea and reassigned.

Monday Newsline:Ukraine and Market Risk

Overnight,the Asian markets reflected anxiety over the Ukraine crisis as shares dropped in Japan and Hong Kong,along with US stock futures,and gold crested to a six month high.Oil rose as well.Now the vote for Crimea's annexation by Russia-totally dismissed by the West as a charade-has gone Moscow's way,unresolved issues both within Crimea itself and in Eastern Ukraine could rivet the attention of global markets in the days ahead.
The Crimean vote went 95% for seceding from Ukraine and joining Russia in an atmosphere of haste and armed intimidation by Russian troops,who were posted in armoured personnel carriers outside polling places.Anti-Putin activists and even some journalists were harassed,beaten and branded as traitors in the days leading up to the election.It was only safe for peaceful protestors on the outskirts of town,fearful of club-wielding toughs inspired by the Kremlin.
Largely unreported on TV news,the tension between Ukraine and Russia over Eastern and Southern Ukraine could make Crimea look like a picnic,with concentrations of troops on both sides mobilising in recent days.In Southern Ukraine,80 Russian troops occupied a village with a natural gas station over the weekend.The Eastern cities of Donetsk,Kharkiv and Lugansk are also potential flashpoints,threatening to become the biggest challenge to market sentiment since the dark days of the Eurozone crisis,as Nicholas Spiro of Spiro Sovereign Strategists put it.
A Russian invasion of Eastern Ukraine could raise geopolitical strife to a new high and ripple strongly through the global markets.
With worries around certain emerging markets,notably China and Ukraine at present-2014 is already shaping up as a more volatile year for shares,said Shane Oliver,head of investment strategy and chief economist at AMP Capital.
Investors may be looking over their shoulders at these exogenous events for the foreseeable future.

Resilient Markets Recover From Ukraine Drop

World markets turned positive in Asia and Europe Tuesday,convinced there won't be military clashes anytime soon over the Ukraine crisis.The Nikkei went up 0.47 and the Hong Seng rose 0.70,optimistic that a standoff in Crimea will not escalate today as Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops to halt their exercises in Western Russia and return to base,although there is no sign of an end to the crisis,either.
US Secretary of State John Kerry departed for Kiev talks with Ukraine's interim government Monday night,raising hopes of diplomatic progress.
US stock futures followed suit,recovering most of Monday's losses,as did European indexes.The FTSE was up 1.05 as of time of publication,and the CAC rose 1.15,while the DAX climbed 0.75.The underlying sentiment in markets is bullish,and they are not going to let Ukraine end the trend unless there are further developments.
At the same time,gold and oil prices declined as traders' fears of a shooting war eased-at least momentarily.Gold was near a four month high at close of trading Monday.