September 4th, 2010 | 
Author: SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Chile’s Codelco, the world’sNo.1 copper producer, will offer up to 15 percent of itsworkforce retirement in a bid to shed as many as 3,000 jobs bythe year-end to boost efficiency, new CEO Diego Hernandez saidin a newspaper interview published Saturday.
Codelco is restructuring its staff andmanagement to help increase productivity and enable it tobetter compete with leaner private sector rivals.
While seen unlikely for now, any labor action could hurtsupply of the red metal.
“We have a special situation compared to our miningcompetition,” Hernandez told newspaper La Tercera, saying theaverage age of the company’s staff was 48. He added that 21percent of the workforce is either on sick leave or chronicallyill.
“That clearly affects productivity … That means Codelcocan’t definitely count on a fifth of its workforce,” he added.”We are talking about offering (retirement) to 10-15 percent ofCodelco’s workforce.”
Despite using state help to increase waning output, whileother miners cut production during the global economicdownturn, Codelco is challenged with cutting costs.
Industry experts often compare Codelco’s productivity tothat of Escondida, the world’s biggest copper mine operated byBHP Billiton <BHP.AX><BLT.L> and Rio Tinto <RIO.L><RIO.AX>,which out-produces Codelco’s giant Chuquicamata mine with fewerthan half the workers.
Some of Codelco’s workers are already past retirement age,and Hernandez wants to implement generational change in theworkforce.
Hernandez said he wasn’t personally in favor of retirementplans, that said the restructuring needed to be done in thenext 3-4 months.
“We can’t wait, we don’t have time,” he said. “They shouldbe finished by Dec.31, and during that time we will also makenew hires. So the workforce will fall, but we don’t know by howmuch.”
Hernandez has reorganized the company’s mining divisionsand scrapped two vice-presidencies in a bid to boostefficiency. For more, see [ID:nN02240332]
The company’s Federation of Copper Workers stopped short ofthreatening protests following the management restructuring,but called on its 15,000 members to be on a “state of alert forany calls from our organization to defend our rights.”
The federation says the new divisions could take awayresources from aging units, which could trigger layoffs andhamper operations.
Unions have also threatened to take action if PresidentSebastian Pinera moves on campaign pledges to sell part of thecompany. Pinera, a billionaire businessman, has since scrappedplans to allow private investors into the company.
Hernandez added Codelco had no plans to liquidate futurescontract hedges given current high copper prices.
“Today we have hedges in place, and the price of copper hasremained relatively high. So I don’t think this is the time toclose those positions,” he said.
(Writing by Simon Gardner, Editing by Sandra Maler)
* Trichet calls for common EU position on IMF issues (Adds ECB’s Trichet)
By Yoo Choonsik and Rachel Armstrong
GWANGJU, South Korea, Sept 4 (Reuters) – G20 delegatesagreed on Saturday global economic recovery would endurealthough the speed of expansion may slow, a South Koreanofficial said.
Kim Jae-chun, deputy governor of South Korea’s central bankwho co-chaired the meeting of G20 finance and central bankdeputies, also told reporters they thought market reaction toconcerns about economic slowdown was overblown.
“There was an agreement that the (global) recovery willcontinue even though the speed may slow from the level wethought of two to three months ago,” Kim said after theirmeeting in the country’s southwestern city of Gwangju.
Another official from a member country, who spoke oncondition of anonymity, said there was discussion about theissue of readjusting representation on the InternationalMonetary Fund’s executive board but declined to elaborate.
John Lipsky, the IMF’s first deputy managing director, declined to comment when asked if the issue would be resolvedsoon.
The G20 members have pledged to reach an agreement on theissue by the leaders’ summit in Seoul in November but Europe hasbeen reluctant to accept the proposals as it would diminish itsvoting rights on the board.
“Everybody is working very hard on it,” said Jean-PierreLandau, deputy governor of the Bank of France.
A European Union diplomat said on Friday that EU financeministers would hold substantive talks on a U.S. push to cutEurope’s representation at the IMF at an informal meeting at theend of this month. [ID:nLDE68219R]
Speaking at a conference in Cernobbio, Italy, EuropeanCentral Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said Europe needed toagree common positions on international issues at the IMF.
“I call on Europe to have a unified position,” he said,adding that that was his personal opinion and the central bankhad no official position on the issue.
The United States, frustrated at Europe’s refusal to sharemore IMF power with emerging economies, took unprecedentedaction last month to block plans that would have kept Europe’slong-running dominance over the 24-member board. [ID:nN19220411]
The officials from the Group of 20 developed and majoremerging economies and from international organisations willmeet again on Sunday to discuss issues including reform in theglobal financial regulatory framework. (Additional reporting by Francesca Landini in Cernobbio,editing by Mike Peacock)
EU trade commissioner accused of antisemitism after saying Jewish intransigence dooms Middle East talks in Washington
A top European official was accused of antisemitism tonight after declaring that there was little point in engaging in rational argument with Jews and suggesting that the latest Middle East peace talks were doomed because of the power of the Jewish lobby in Washington.
Karel De Gucht, the European commissioner for trade, and a former Belgian foreign minister, sparked outrage after voicing his scepticism about the prospects for the negotiations which opened in the US this week. He told a Belgian radio station that most Jews always believed they were right, and questioned the point of talking to them about the Middle East.
De Gucht, who negotiates for Europe on trade with the rest of the world, and is one of the most powerful officials in Brussels, was forced today to issue a statement declaring that the views he expressed were personal.
"Don't underestimate the opinion … of the average Jew outside Israel," he told the radio station. "There is indeed a belief – it's difficult to describe it otherwise – among most Jews that they are right. And a belief is something that's difficult to counter with rational arguments. And it's not so much whether these are religious Jews or not. Lay Jews also share the same belief that they are right. So it is not easy to have, even with moderate Jews, a rational discussion about what is actually happening in the Middle East."
Explaining why he thought the peace talks were probably doomed, he added: "Do not underestimate the Jewish lobby on Capitol Hill. That is the best organised lobby, you shouldn't underestimate the grip it has on American politics – no matter whether it's Republicans or Democrats."
Jewish leaders were incandescent. "This is part of a dangerous trend of incitement against Jews and Israel in Europe that needs to be stamped out immediately," said Moshe Kantor, the head of the European Jewish Congress. "What sort of environment allows such remarks to be made openly by a senior politician? Once again we hear outrageous antisemitism from a senior European official. The libel of Jewish power is apparently acceptable at the highest levels of the EU."
Officials in Brussels stressed the remarks did not represent EU views or policies. De Gucht was forced to issue a statement clarifying his remarks.
"I gave an interview … I gave my personal point of view," he said. "I regret that the comments that I made have been interpreted in a sense that I did not intend.
"I did not mean in any possible way to cause offence or stigmatise the Jewish community. I want to make clear that antisemitism has no place in today's world."
Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, today attacked the "doomed" Middle East peace talks and urged Palestinians to continue armed resistance to Israel. Ahmadinejad used the annual al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day rally in Tehran to scorn the Obama administration's efforts in launching the first Arab-Israeli negotiations in nearly two years.
"The people of Palestine and the people of the region will not allow them to sell even an inch of Palestinian soil to the enemy," he said.
Iran supports Hamas, the Islamist Palestinian movement that controls the Gaza Strip and opposes talks involving Mahmoud Abbas, the western-backed PLO leader who is based in the West Bank.
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Tags: European Union, Israel, Judaism, Middle East, News, Palestinian territories, The Guardian, United States | 
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* IMF representation issues also discussed (Updates with quotes, details)
By Yoo Choonsik and Rachel Armstrong
GWANGJU, South Korea, Sept 4 (Reuters) – G20 delegatesagreed on Saturday global economic recovery would endurealthough the speed of expansion may slow, a South Koreanofficial said.
Kim Jae-chun, deputy governor of South Korea’s central bankwho co-chaired the meeting of G20 finance and central bankdeputies, also told reporters they thought market reaction toconcerns about economic slowdown was overblown.
“There was an agreement that the (global) recovery willcontinue even though the speed may slow from the level wethought of two to three months ago,” Kim said after theirmeeting in the country’s southwestern city of Gwangju.
Another official from a member country, who spoke oncondition of anonymity, said there was discussion about theissue of readjusting representation on the InternationalMonetary Fund’s executive board but declined to elaborate.
John Lipsky, the IMF’s first deputy managing director, declined to comment when asked if the issue would be resolvedsoon.
The G20 members have pledged to reach an agreement on theissue by the leaders’ summit in Seoul in November but Europe hasbeen reluctant to accept the proposals as it would diminish itsvoting rights on the board.
“Everybody is working very hard on it,” said Jean-PierreLandau, deputy governor of the Bank of France.
A European Union diplomat said on Friday that EU financeministers would hold substantive talks on a U.S. push to cutEurope’s representation at the IMF at an informal meeting at theend of this month. [ID:nLDE68219R]
The United States, frustrated at Europe’s refusal to sharemore IMF power with emerging economies, took unprecedentedaction last month to block plans that would have kept Europe’slong-running dominance over the 24-member board. [ID:nN19220411]
The officials from the Group of 20 developed and majoremerging economies and from international organisations willmeet again on Sunday to discuss issues including reform in theglobal financial regulatory framework. (Editing by Mike Peacock)
By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama,previewing a big push on the U.S. economy next week,Saturday defended policies that he said “have stopped thebleeding” and put the middle class on the road to recovery.
Obama, struggling to bring down the 9.6 percent joblessrate, is to spend next week talking up proposals on improvingthe economy.
He hopes to gain some traction with impatient voters asthey ponder whether to toss out his Democrats in the Nov. 2congressional elections.
In his weekly radio and Web address, Obama pointed tomeasures funded by the Democrats’ $814 billion economicstimulus as responsible for halting the economic slide he facedwhen taking office in January 2009.
This includes spending on roads and bridges and money givento local governments to avert layoffs of teachers, firefightersand police officers.
“The steps we have taken to date have stopped thebleeding,” Obama said. “But strengthening our economy meansmore than that.”
Other steps, he said, were aimed at helping the middleclass, citing a portion of his U.S. healthcare overhaul thatstopped insurance companies from refusing to cover people withpre-existing health conditions.
Obama is trying to convince Americans that Democraticpolicies offer the best economic future for them as he seeks toturn back a strong challenge from Republicans for control ofthe House and possibly the Senate.
NO SECOND STIMULUS
Obama is to visit a labor rally in Milwaukee Monday, theLabor Day holiday, and then is to lay out targeted proposals toboost job growth when he visits Cleveland Wednesday. Apresidential news conference is planned Friday at the WhiteHouse.
A number of options are likely, such as extending middleclass tax cuts, investing in clean energy, spending more oninfrastructure, and delivering more tax cuts to businesses toencourage hiring.
The White House is careful to say these proposals do notadd up to a second stimulus package, given voters’ anxietyabout the country’s record budget deficit.
Democrats are to kick off their autumn effort to hang on toCongress Wednesday when Democratic Party Chairman Tim Kainedelivers a speech in Philadelphia that the party said willframe the choice for voters.
Kaine will “explain the choice the American people have infront of them — a choice between Democrats, who are movingAmerica forward and Republicans, who want to take us back tothe failed policies of the past that brought our economy to thebrink of collapse,” a party statement said.
Republicans said Democratic policies are responsible forthe sagging economy.
“This administration claimed its economic policies wouldkeep unemployment under 8 percent, cut the deficit and turn oureconomy around. Instead, the unemployment rate is nearing 10percent, the debt is exploding and we’ve lost hundreds ofthousands of jobs over the summer months,” said SenateRepublican leader Mitch McConnell. (Editing by Xavier Briand)
(For more stories on the Japanese economy, click)
TOKYO, Sept 4 (Reuters) – Japanese Finance MinisterYoshihiko Noda said on Saturday Tokyo would take decisive stepsto stem the yen’s rise when needed, while suggesting thatcoordinated currency market intervention was a difficultoption.
Traders are getting cautious about bidding the yen up toomuch after Japanese ministers kept up warnings against thecurrency’s surge to 15-year high versus the dollar.Policymakers have repeatedly said they could take decisiveaction on the yen — normally a code phrase for currencyintervention.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan and ruling party powerbrokerIchiro Ozawa are facing off in a ruling party leadership voteon Sept. 14 that is distracting policymakers as Japan confrontsa strong yen and weak economy. The winner will likely be primeminister by virtue of the party’s majority in the powerfullower house.
Kan and Noda have said Japan would take decisive action oncurrencies without using the word intervention. But Ozawa hasmore specifically threatened to intervene in the currencymarket.
“What they (Kan and Ozawa) have been saying means the samething. The issue is whether we would actually decide tointervene at the end,” Noda said on a Tokyo televisionprogramme.
“Our statement that we would take decisive steps whenneeded says it all,” he added.
Despite repeated warnings, traders have doubts over whetherTokyo will step into the forex market now because it could havetrouble convincing leaders of other major economies about theneed to intervene at a time when they are calling on China tomake the yuan more flexible to ease global imbalances.
They say the United States and European countries seem tohave no interest in helping Japan by jointly intervening in themarket to curb the yen’s rise as they want to benefit fromfalls in their currencies, which boost exports.
Asked about the perception that coordination with othercountries on the yen’s rise seem to be tough, Noda said, “It’sabout what we can do while coordination is difficult.” ($1=84.38 Yen) (Reporting by Yoko Nishikawa; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
SHANGHAI, Sept 4 (Reuters) – China may record a smallertrade surplus of $150 billion in 2010 as imports will likelyrise in the next few months while exports growth slows, theofficial China Securities Journal reported on Saturday.
The rebound in imports is due mainly to rising demand forraw materials as the destocking cycle comes to an end, WangZixian, deputy director of the policy research office of theMinistry of Commerce, was quoted by the Securities Journal assaying.
China recorded a trade surplus of $196 billion in 2009.
(Reporting by Soo Ai Peng; Editing by David Fox) (aipeng.soo@thomsonreuters.com; +86 21 6104 1763; ReutersMessaging: aipeng.soo@thomsonreuters.com@thomsonreuters.net) (If you have a query or comment on this story, send an emailto news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks could start nextweek with investors feeling a bit more optimistic about theeconomy, thanks to a stronger-than-expected jobs report, makingfurther market gains more likely.
The government’s nonfarm payrolls report on Friday was thelatest of the week’s data to suggest the economy may not beheaded for another severe downturn, as many investors havefeared.
All three major U.S. stock indexes rallied more than 1percent on Friday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Indexscored a gain of 3.8 percent for the week, marking its bestweek in eight, and starting September — typically the weakestmonth for the market — on a strong note. In contrast, for themonth of August, the S&P 500 fell 4.7 percent.
“The data forces a re-evaluation of the underlying thesisof the economy, and how the stock market is priced,” saidCharles Lieberman, chief investment officer of Advisors CapitalManagement, LLC in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey.
“The employment report is really the keystone. If theeconomy is producing jobs, the thesis of a decline in theeconomy goes out the window,” he said.
Next week, the economic calendar will be light, especiallysince it will be a holiday-shortened week with the U.S. stockmarket closed for Labor Day on Monday. But the agenda willinclude the international trade deficit data, which investorswill scrutinize for clues on spending, as well as the latestweekly jobless claims numbers.
High unemployment and weak consumer spending have beenamong the toughest hurdles to sustaining the economy’s recoveryfrom the worst downturn since the 1930s.
Though the stock market ended this week with gains, the S&P500 was unable to break out of a trading range of between 1,040and 1,130, and some analysts see that range-bound trendcontinuing.
“I think we’re in rally mode. In no way do I see us goingthrough new highs or breaking through the trading range, but Isee strength after the holiday,” said Alan Lancz, president ofAlan B. Lancz & Associates Inc. in Toledo, Ohio.
“We still see this as a two-steps-forward, one-step-backtype market … but we’ll take what we can get.”
SEPTEMBER’S BAGGAGE
For the week, the Dow Jones industrial average rose2.9 percent, while the S&P 500 advanced 3.8 percent and theNasdaq gained 3.7 percent.
That’s a promising start, but history shows that this monthisn’t one that Wall Street’s denizens will “Try to Remember,” ala the iconic song from “The Fantasticks” of Off-Broadwayfame.
September is typically the weakest month for stock marketperformance, according to the Stock Trader’s Almanac. The S&P500 has declined 0.7 percent on average during September in theyears since 1950, the Almanac says.
However, on the day after Labor Day, the Dow has risen in12 of the last 15 times, the Almanac notes.
Friday’s jobs report was the catalyst for a bullish end tothe week for stocks because it showed that although overallpayrolls shed jobs for the month of August, the decline wasmuch less than expected. And providing a bright spot, privatepayrolls rose more than expected.
Analysts said the news gave a ray of hope for the recovery.Other data this week showed an unexpected rise in the Institutefor Supply Management index on U.S. manufacturing,stronger-than-expected pending homes sales in July, and asecond consecutive week of lower claims for initial joblessbenefits.
The data means “we are probably not looking at a doubledip,” said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at CantorFitzgerald & Co. in San Francisco.
Next week’s data includes reports on international trade onThursday and wholesale inventories on Friday.
A surge in imports dampened growth in the second quarter.
U.S. government data next week is expected to show the international trade deficit narrowed somewhat to $47.2 billionin July, according to economists polled by Reuters, afterrising to $49.9 billion in June, the highest since October2008.
Analysts believe sluggish domestic demand should cause amoderation in the growth of imports in coming months, whilethey expect U.S. exports to strengthen. As a result, the tradegap should be less of a drag on the economy.
Initial jobless claims, also expected Thursday, are seendipping to a seasonally adjusted 470,000 for the week from472,000 previously.
Wholesale inventories for July, due on Friday, are forecastto rise 0.4 percent, the Reuters poll showed, following June’sgain of just 0.1 percent. That report also will shed light onwholesale sales, seen up 0.3 percent in July, following June’sdecline of 0.7 percent.
(Wall St Week Ahead runs every Friday. Any questions orcomments on this column can be e-mailed to:caroline.valetkevitch(at)reuters.com) (Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Additional reporting byLucia Mutikani and Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Jan Paschal)
We have an anaemic recovery at best. And the housing market, where this crisis began, remains in terrible shape
Back in January, US vice-president Joe Biden offered up a huge hostage to fortune. Talking to fellow Democrats about the Obama plan for the economy, he promised: "You're going to see, come the spring, net increase in jobs every month." Yesterday figures showed that a net total of 54,000 workers lost their jobs in August, taking the official unemployment rate to 9.6%. A big dollop of gloomy news just in time for Labour Day weekend.
Not that you would have taken it as bad news, going by the immediate reaction. The Dow enjoyed a modest bounce, while Mr Obama described the non-farm payrolls report as "positive news". Which is true, if what you really mean by positive is "not as awful as it might have been". Oh sure, optimists can point out that the job losses were below analysts' estimates. And they can also take heart from the report's scaling down of job losses over June and July – so that a net total of 229,000 posts were lost, rather than the 352,000 previously reported. But consider this: over two and a half years after America's recession officially began in December 2007 (according to the National Bureau of Economic Research), the economy is still only limping along. By this stage, one would normally expect the US to be surging ahead, with companies producing much more, bosses taking on droves of recruits and even the housing market picking up. Instead, we have an anaemic recovery at best. And the housing market, where this crisis began, remains in terrible shape. Sales of new and existing homes are cratering, and the numbers of foreclosures and borrowers falling way behind on their repayments are as bad as they were last summer.
Some economists, such as Carmen Reinhart and Ken Rogoff, pointed out years ago that this downturn was always going to be worse than a normal recession, simply because banking crises are more crippling and have worse aftermaths. But the White House underestimated the scale of this crash – which is why Christina Romer, the outgoing chair of Mr Obama's council of economic advisers, admitted this week that she and her colleagues "failed to anticipate just how violent the recession would be".
Mr Obama promised yesterday that he would unveil "a broader package of ideas" next week. Let us hope they are more action than ideas. Before November's midterms, the president must bring in big measures to encourage job creation and stop the freefall in the housing market. That makes political as well as economic sense. Politicians tend not to win elections by pointing out that things are not as terrible as they might have been. If Mr Obama wants proof of that, he should ask Gordon Brown.
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Beating the stars of Mad Men to an Emmy for her role in The Good Wife was a 'well-received shock', British actor Archie Panjabi says
When Hugh Laurie went home from last Sunday's Emmy awards empty handed, there seemed to be a mass slumping of shoulders among the British press. Laurie has found spectacular success with his portrayal of a grumpy doctor in the TV drama House, but perhaps it's time for him to let another – younger, better-looking – Brit steal the spotlight in America. She may not yet be a household name in Britain, but Archie Panjabi is a big deal in America; the 38-year-old from Edgware, London, picked up her first Emmy on Sunday.
Panjabi's dazzling portrayal of a law firm's in-house private investigator in the hit CBS show The Good Wife swept aside Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss and Christina Hendricks, who were surely odds-on to win. Even with months of wildly supportive press in the US, did Panjabi have a clue that she would win best supporting actress in a drama series? She roars with laughter. "No! It was a complete shock. I was up against five very talented and established actresses ... but it was a well-received shock. The best way to describe it is to compare it to a child's first trip to Disneyland."
Panjabi was asked to audition for the show after the writers saw her performances in the films A Mighty Heart and A Good Year – Ridley Scott, director of the latter, was an executive producer. There's even a quote from him on her website, saying that she is "smart and sensitive enough as an actress to make anything fly, comedy or drama, an unusual talent ... she's a beautiful girl".
The great thing about Panjabi is that she doesn't rely on her considerable beauty. She can do comedy – she had fun with roles in East is East and Bend It Like Beckham - but is a serious character actor. She is able to lose herself in different roles yet is always commanding on screen - even alongside Angelina Jolie in A Mighty Heart. In the critically acclaimed 2004 film Yasmin, in which she played a bold, modern young woman who agrees to enter into an arranged marriage to please her traditional Pakistani family and whose world is rocked by 9/11, she gave her character dignity, depth and a very real sense of suppressed anger.
The role of Kalinda in The Good Wife is perfect for Panjabi: she is totally fearless in her figure-hugging clothes, stiletto boots and soft, expensive leather jackets. She wears her hair up, stands very straight and scares most of the people who come into contact with her. She is contained, emotionally remote and sexually ambiguous.
How did the writers first describe Kalinda? "As an East Indian – which is what Americans say to differentiate from American Indian – Erin Brockovich who uses her sexuality to get what she wants. In the pilot I wore jeans and then came the high boots. The costume designer had this idea of making her wear tight clothes and really short skirts. We were trying to make her look sexy without it being obvious she'd made a big effort. It was a challenge, but we got there in the end. I love roles where I have to transform myself."
Panjabi enjoys the spiky boots; they help her get into character, get her walking in a totally different way. Off screen, Panjabi is a little shy and learning slowly to shed her British modesty whereas Kalinda is feisty as hell. But there's a steeliness and a determination to succeed that they share. When I ask if she is ambitious, Panjabi repeats the question to herself. "I knew what I wanted to do for my entire life, from nursery to university. I've always been geared towards wanting to act. I've stuck with it, dedicated time to it. So if that makes me ambitious, then the answer is yes."
Her parents emigrated to London from India before she was born and in previous interviews she has mentioned family arguments about acting; as Yasmin compromises by agreeing to an arranged marriage, so Panjabi agreed to study management studies at Brunel before pursuing acting full-time. If anything, having to fight for her freedom to act has given her focus. She worked so hard on the first series of The Good Wife that she barely managed to do any sightseeing in New York (where the drama is filmed because Julianna Margulies, as the wife of Chris Noth's disgraced politician, wanted to stay close to home).
Panjabi thinks nothing of waking up at 2am and doing some work on her character but dismisses suggestions of being a workaholic; she insists extra-curricular research helps her to relax. She hasn't even had time to watch Mad Men, Nurse Jackie, 30 Rock, Modern Family or any of the other American TV shows of the last few years. These shows, great though they are, tend to be dominated by white faces and I wonder if Panjabi has ever felt thwarted by her ethnicity. "Sometimes my ethnicity is relevant, other times not. I definitely get the best of both worlds. The great thing about Kalinda is that her ambiguous sexuality is more important than her background."
There are times when Panjabi desperately misses family and friends in London, but she is committed to staying in New York until April, when series two of The Good Wife finishes filming. And what then? "I honestly don't know. I'd love to work with Ken Loach and maybe even Quentin Tarantino." As one of his tough chicks? She laughs. "Yeah! Please! I'd love to do a romantic comedy. And perhaps, if the character was right and I had a good gut instinct, a Bollywood movie." The words are now tumbling out. "And I'd love to direct. One day. I'm learning a lot on the set of The Good Wife."
So, apart from being totally focused on her work and, it's probably fair to say, consumed by Kalinda, what makes Panjabi so good at her job? "Oh no! I'm too British to tell you that. Maybe it's always telling myself that I can do better. Remembering never to learn lines and then just recite them. Thank you for thinking I'm good." She tails off, embarrassed.
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Fears remain as downgraded storm moves northwards from North Carolina
Thousands of people abandoned their homes and drilling on oil rigs was suspended today as Hurricane Earl moved along America's Atlantic coastline, but the worst fears were avoided as it was downgraded to a category two storm.
North Carolina, the first state in the firing line, escaped all but minor damage, although as the storm moved northwards there were fears it might swipe New England early tomorrow.
The US president, Barack Obama, declared North Carolina and Massachusetts as disaster areas, and the Massachusetts governor, Deval Patrick, declared a state of emergency, but this was essentially a precaution.
About 35,000 people were advised by the federal government to evacuate North Carolina's Outer Banks. While some holidaymakers cut short their trips and some residents abandoned their homes, many opted to sit it out, armed with generators in case of power cuts. They were joined by surfers making the most of the big waves.
The national weather downgraded the storm today from a category four to category two, and it was weakening as it moved north, hitting New Jersey this morning, before heading towards New York's Long Island, Cape Cod, Maine, and Canada's Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. The storm was offshore but weather forecasters warned there was a risk of a landfall at Cape Cod or further north.
Winds of more than 100mph had been predicted, with gusts of 145mph, but the weather forecasts predicted that, as the storm moved north, it would drop to 80mph and gradually down to around 40mph.
Authorities in Massachusetts advised people to leave their homes along the coast but it was not mandatory. Today storm shelters were being opened, shops were putting up shutters and some yacht owners lifted their boats out of the water. There were lines of cars at some popular island holiday spots in New England as holidaymakers and residents headed for safer locations. Others said they were determined to stay, looking forward to seeing the high waves.
Storm warnings are commonplace in the summer in the Gulf of Mexico and Florida but are more unusual along the US north-east. In 1999 Hurricane Floyd killed 50 people.
The energy company Encana said it had suspended drilling and taken its workers off a Nova Scotia rig. Exxon Mobil also took non-essential staff off its Sable field in Nova Scotia.
Beverly Perdue, the governor of North Carolina, said there had been no serious damage. Mark Van Sciver, a spokesman for the North Carolina Emergency Operations Centre, said: "Swiping the coast was always better than coming ashore. We're very grateful that the brunt of the storm passed us by."
Washington was among the locations at risk of being hit by the outer edges of Hurricane Earl, but today life appeared to carry on as normal, with temperatures above 90C, no rain, wind of around 5mph and residents going to work as usual.
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