Euro Recovers as Greece Accepts Austerity

The euro rose a little against the dollar and the yen today after the Greek parliament agreed on the austerity measures required to get the bailout, easing tensions around Greece and its debt problems.

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos won vote in the parliament for austerity that the troika demands from the country. Sacha Tihanyi, a senior currency strategist at Scotiabank, said about the vote:

It certainly was helpful and positive for the currency. It probably induced some short-covering.

Aussie Advances on Growing Number of Home Loans

The Australian dollar gained today after a report showed that the number of home loans in Australia last month rose more than was predicted, while positive news from Greece also bolstered the currency.

The number of commitments for owner occupied housing finance rose 2.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in December from November. The median forecast was 1.9 percent, near the November figure of 1.8 percent. The agreement of Greece to take the austerity measures needed to secure aid from the European Union had a positive effect on market sentiment, also contributing to the gains of Australia’s currency.

US Dollar Falls on Greek Vote

US dollar is lower as the Greek parliament votes to accept austerity measures requested by Eurogroup leaders as a condition for receiving bailout funds. US dollar weakness is a product of renewed optimism in Forex traders, and expectations for a stronger euro.

Risk appetite is back on as Forex traders find new optimism regarding Greece. Lucas Papademos won parliamentary support for the tougher austerity measures the Eurogroup leaders wanted, and that is providing support for the euro. The US dollar is falling back as a result.

With Forex traders interested in higher yields, it is little surprise that the greenback is pulling back. Recently, Ben Bernanke expressed his thoughts that interest rates would remain low until 2014, and the low yields are not attractive to those looking for higher returns.

UK Pound Gains on Economic Forecast

UK pound is gaining against the US dollar and the Japanese yen today as an economic forecast expects growth to pick up in 2012. The Confederation of British Industry believes that Great Britain will avoid a technical recession this year, and that things will pick up. As a result, UK pound is heading higher against low beta currencies.

Also helping the pound in Forex trading is the general risk appetite today. Equities in Europe and the United States are higher, and that is providing some support to the pound. The news that Greek parliament has agreed to accept tougher austerity measures from the Eurogroup is providing risk appetite to the market in general.

Yen Gains After Moody’s Downgrades European Countries

The Japanese yen gained today after Moody’s Investor Service downgraded credit ratings of several countries, including Italy, Spain and Portugal. This action hurt market sentiment that was positive after the good news from Greece.

Moody’s cut ratings of several European countries yesterday. The rating agency reduced Spain to A3 from A1, Italy to A3 from A2 and Portugal to Ba3 from Ba2. Moody’s also changed outlook to negative for France, Austria and the United Kingdom.

The agency named such reasons for its decision:

Intern who helped save Gabby Giffords’ life to throw out first pitch tonight

Daniel Hernandez, the intern whose calm courage helped to save the life of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at tonight’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Phoenix, the New York Post reports.

Hernandez, 21, was hailed as a hero after his quick thinking was credited with keeping Rep. Giffords (D-Ariz.) alive until paramedics arrived after she was shot in the head outside a Tucson-area grocery store in January.

After hearing the gunfire, Hernandez ran to Giffords and held her upright so she could breathe and applied pressure to her head wound. He had been hired by Giffords less than a week before the Jan. 8 attack.

Among those killed in the shootings, in which six people died and 12 others were wounded, was Christina Taylor Green, the daughter of Los Angeles Dodgers scout John Green and granddaughter of former Major League Baseball manager Dallas Green.

MLB commissioner Bud Selig invited the families of all of the victims to participate in the pre-game ceremony, KTAR.com reported.

Hernandez’ part in the tragic Giffords’ story has always impressed me, perhaps because I know just how terrified I would have been in the same situation, how tempted to run as far and as fast as possible. Perhaps such a terrifically human gesture as to immediately attempt to alleviate the suffering of another ought to be the norm — but is it? Certainly it’s more likely to be if, when someone does display loyalty and bravery, he receives recognition and gratitude. The chance to throw out a ceremonial pitch at an All-Star game seems in line with that.

Cambodians cheer Pacquiao victory

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By Leila Salaverria
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 15:55:00 11/15/2009

MANILA, Philippines -- It's not only Filipinos who are shouting in jubilation over Manny Pacquiao's victory.

Cambodians are also cheering for the Filipino boxer, who has gained a following in the Southeast Asian country, according to journalist Ung Chamroeun.

Chamroeun said in a live chat with this reporter, that the match between Pacquiao and Puerto Rican Manuel Cotto was broadcast live on free TV on the Cambodian Television Network (CTN). The airing was also uninterrupted by commercials. The match was also shown on two cable channels.

Chamroeun said Cambodians had gathered in coffee shops to watch the much-awaited match.

ScienceShot: Is Venus Slowing Down?

Venus, our closest planetary neighbor, has the slowest rotational period of any world in our solar system—and according to data recently gathered by the European Space Agency's Venus Express orbiter, it's getting slower. In the 1990s, NASA's Magellan probe measured the Venusian day, the length of time needed for the planet to complete one rotation, to be 243.0185 Earth days. But new measurements by Venus Express (artist's concept above), which has been orbiting the cloud-shrouded planet since 2006, reveal the current rotational period to be about 6.5 minutes slower, researchers report this month in Icarus. Although that difference seems minor, it places some features on Venus about 20 kilometers away from where scientists were expecting—a big deal for future missions looking to set a lander or rover down at a particular site. Reasons for the rotational slowdown aren't clear. Friction caused by fierce weather systems may be slowing the planet's rotation, just as weather and tides cause Earth's day to vary. Or, gravitational interactions between Earth and Venus when the planets pass near each other in orbit may be sapping our neighbor of its angular momentum. Finally, the researchers suggest, Magellan's 4-year mission may simply have occurred at a time when the Venusian rate of rotation was temporarily faster than normal, because the new data actually match long-term measurements made by radar from Earth.

ScienceShot: Solar Wind Stifles Mercury's Magnetic Field

Ever since NASA's Mariner 10 spacecraft zipped past Mercury in 1974, scientists have wondered why the planet's magnetic field is so much wimpier than expected. Now, a new study led by researchers at Braunschweig University of Technology in Germany suggests that the solar wind—the incessant flow of charged particles boiling off the sun's surface—suppresses the field generated by the flow of molten iron in the planet's outer core. On the sunward side of Mercury, the magnetopause—the protective shield created by the planet's magnetic field—sits just 1200 kilometers above the planet's surface. That's so close, the team's computer models indicate, that magnetic fields created by particles flowing along the magnetopause reach deep into Mercury itself, counteracting the internally-generated field. Without the external fields generated by the solar wind, Mercury's magnetic field might be about 30 times stronger than it actually is, the researchers report today in Science. NASA's MESSENGER probe (artist's concept above) has been orbiting Mercury since mid-March and will provide unprecedented measurements of the strength and direction of the planet's magnetic field, revealing more about how such fields are generated in the first place.

Thailand and Canada to Talk Free Trade

CHIANGRAI TIMES – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is heading to Asia for the second time in as many months, underscoring his government’s increasing focus on diversifying exports to the fast-growing region.

He will leave Thursday for a four-day visit Thailand, Japan and South Korea, according to China’s Xinhua news agency on Wednesday.

Harper arrives in Bangkok on Thursday on the first leg of the tour, marking his first visit to Thailand since he became Prime Minister in 2006.

Thailand to Strengthen Trade with Canada

CHIANGRAI TIMES – Thailand is planning a major pitch to open free trade talks with Canada this week, as Prime Minister Stephen Harper begins his second Asia trip in three months.

Thailand will sweeten its offer by positioning itself as a comfortable and safe entry point from which Canada could make further inroads throughout South Asia — raising the potential of a broader trade deal with the region’s emerging, 10-country bloc, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).