1 Indonesia’s record $2bn Islamic bond issue
(Straits Times) Indonesia completed its largest-ever global sukuk offer,
selling $2 billion of the debt at the lowest yield in three years. The Finance
Ministry issued the dollar notes at 4.325 per cent, lower than its initial
indication of 4.55 per cent, Robert Pakpahan, director general at the budget
financing and risk management office at the ministry, said. That compares with
the 4.35 per cent rate paid on similar Shariah-compliant debt sold last year
and the record-low 3.3 per cent on 10-year sukuk issued in 2012.
Standard & Poor's, which ranks Indonesia at the
highest junk level, raised its outlook on the nation's credit rating to
positive from stable, citing policy framework improvements and enhanced
monetary and financial management. Hong Kong ended a roadshow for a planned
sale of Shariah-compliant dollar notes on Thursday, while PT Garuda Indonesia,
the country's state-controlled airline, is meeting investors to market an
upcoming greenback-denominated sukuk issue.
"Demand
for sukuk is increasing globally," Pakpahan said from Jakarta. "Our
gross issuance has also increased this year, compared to last year," so
the government decided to raise a larger amount from Islamic bonds, he said.
2 McDonald’s faces worker protests (BBC) Fast food
giant McDonald's is facing pressure from both workers and investors, who are
increasingly unhappy with the firm's business strategy. Hundreds of fast food
workers and supporters converged in front of McDonald's corporate headquarters
on Thursday before the company's annual shareholder meeting.
They demanded the fast food giant raise wages to $15
per hour, from $9. Separately, investors voted to change how board members are
elected. They are unhappy with the firm's slumping sales. McDonald's - the once
invincible-seeming US corporate food giant whose arches are seen across the
globe - is struggling, as health-conscious consumers eschew its food in the US
and workers stage day-long protests against the company.
That has made this shareholder meeting - the first
since British-born chief executive Steve Easterbrook took over the firm in
January - a crucial focus of both worker angst and investor frustration. McDonald's
banned media from attending the event, and has sought to dismiss both worker
complaints and investor efforts to change the management of the firm.
3 Fear over the fate of Palmyra (San Francisco
Chronicle) Fears mounted over the fate of one of the Mideast's most prominent
archaeological sites after Islamic State militants overran the historic Syrian
town of Palmyra, seizing control of its temples, tombs and colonnades within
hours.
The takeover also expanded the extremists' hold,
making them the single group controlling the most territory in Syria. "The
Syrian regime appears to be in terminal decline, and the Islamic State group in
its timing is capitalizing on recent losses by government forces in the north
and south," said Amr Al-Azm, an antiquities expert and professor at Shawnee
State University in Ohio.
The militants overran the famed archaeological site
early Thursday, just hours after seizing the nearby town in central Syria,
activists and officials said. They also captured Palmyra's airport and the
notorious Tadmur prison, delivering a startling new defeat for President Bashar
Assad, whose forces quickly retreated.
An oasis set in the Syrian desert, Palmyra is a
strategic crossroads linking the capital Damascus and cities to the east and
the west. Its capture raised alarm over some of the world's most important
ancient ruins, whose fate remained unknown. A UNESCO world heritage site,
Palymra boasts 2,000-year-old towering Roman-era colonnades, temples and
priceless artifacts that have earned it the affectionate name among Syrians of
the "Bride of the Desert."
They are the remnants of an Arab client state of the
Roman Empire that briefly rebelled and carved out its own kingdom in the 3rd
Century, led by Queen Zenobia, with Palmyra as its capital. Before the war, it
was Syria's top tourist attraction, drawing tens of thousands of visitors each
year. It includes a 3,000-seat amphitheater overlooking a colonnaded main
avenue where plays, concerts and youth festivals were staged.
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