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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Stocks rallied Tuesday and propelled the Dow above the psychologically important 13.000 level. It was the first time the Dow surpassed the mark since May 2008.

Buoying markets was news that eurozone finance ministers had inked a deal for a second Greek bailout. Industrials lead the broad-based rally

Chevron, Alcoa, McDonalds, Home Depot and Bank of America were among the movers. Just before noon, the Dow had given back some gains, but was still up some 35 points to 12,986.43

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and the NASDAQ also advanced, led by energy, materials and consumer staples.

European shares steadied after hitting seven-month highs in the previous session.

Global markets were cheering the Greek deal that staved off what would have been a messy and chaotic default.

With little on the economic calendar for Tuesday, investors traded off the overseas news.

Commodities also enjoyed gains. Oil was up $1.54 to $104.78. Gold soared $31 to $1,756 a troy ounce, platinum jumped $40, palladium gained $15 and silver was up 55 cents.

On Wednesday, traders will be looking at mortgage applications, existing homes sales and a five-year note auction. On Thursday market participants will weigh in on jobless claims, a report on the FHFA home price index. oil inventories and Apple’s shareholder meeting. On Friday, moving markets will be a report on consumer sentiments and new home sales.

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Mbabane, Swaziland (IRIN) – If caught, any Swazi engaged in a same-sex relationship will be arrested and jailed. But public health officials are using Valentine’s Day to urge gays to trust promises of confidentiality and test for HIV.

“February is known as the month of love, when couples express their love for each other through gifts, especially on Valentine’s Day. The purpose of our new campaign, called ‘The Love Test’, is to encourage couples to undergo HIV testing,” said Simon Zwane, deputy director of health.

He acknowledged that in Swazi society gay sex is taboo but said the health ministry was actively extending its reach to include gay couples in HIV counseling and testing.

“Couples need to be consistently aware of their HIV status. This will result in them making joint decisions on risk reduction in their relationships,” said Zwane.

Swaziland’s HIV prevalence has remained the world’s highest for years, with about a quarter of all adults living with HIV.

Several NGOs, including the Alliance of Mayors’ Initiative on Coordinated Action against AIDS at the Local Level (AMICAALL) and the family planning company, PSI International, are partners in the nationwide campaign, the first health initiative in the small impoverished country to acknowledge the existence of gays and welcome them to make use of HIV testing and counseling services.

“Just admitting that there are gays in Swaziland is a big step for a government ministry,” said Alicia Dlamini, a HIV testing counselor in Manzini, the country’s industrial hub.

Three months ago the minister of justice and constitutional affairs, Magwagwa Gamedze, a traditional chief appointed by King Mswati, dismissed a recommendation by a United Nations working group on human rights that Swaziland enact a law to protect gay members of society. Gamedze said so few, if any, gays live in Swaziland that the bother of drafting such a law was not worth the effort.

“It was difficult for government to formulate a policy on homosexuals or enact a law to recognize them because they actually formed a minority if ever they existed. Their numbers do not permit us to start processing a policy,” the justice minister said.

Very little information is available on same-sex couples in Swaziland and no gay organizations are involved in “The Love Test” campaign. The Gays and Lesbians Association of Swaziland (GALESWA), formed in the 1990s, has only one known member.

The constitution does not safeguard the rights of homosexuals, and sodomy laws dating from the early 20th century are still on the books. King Mswati has reportedly called same-sex relationships “satanic,” and Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini has called homosexuality “an abnormality and a sickness.”

Human rights groups regularly criticize Swaziland for its anti-gay laws, and note that discrimination against gays is routine and acceptable in the conservative society of this small country.

“AIDS is not a ‘gay disease’ in Swaziland. It is almost entirely spread by heterosexual relationships… No one blames gays for AIDS in Swaziland, they just blame gays for being alive and being gay, so it is hard for a gay person to risk exposure,” Alicia Dlamini pointed out.

Dlamini’s fellow HIV counselor, Thamie Shongwe, feels the health ministry’s Valentine’s campaign to test couples will fail to attract same-sex couples.

Lucky Gama (not his actual name), 24, a gay auto mechanic, agreed. “A lot of gays are afraid that if they go to get tested they will be found out and disgraced. Maybe the police will be called to arrest you, because this is Swaziland.”

There is a high level of mistrust. “I have heard of my gay friends say they are in fear because there is a test they give you without you knowing it that shows if you are gay,” Gama said. “I did get an HIV test but it was at school when all the students volunteered to take a test, so the testers were not on the lookout for gays.”

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Swaziland: “We may be oppressed but we are going to survive.”

Sabelo Simelane (not his real name), 21, has an easy smile, a quick laugh and gestures animatedly when he talks. If he feels he can take you into his confidence, he is forthright about his life as someone whose sexual preference makes him an outlaw and a social outcast in his country, Swaziland, where same-sex partnerships are a crime.

“As long as I can have my friends and do what I want, I don’t mind keeping my secret. If I want to live out in the open I can move to South Africa, which is only an hour away. But my mother needs me, not just financially because I support her but she likes me keeping her company. My father lives with his second wife. I may be a man now but he still beats me when he sees me, out of habit I guess. He doesn’t know who I love, no one does except Paul, my special friend.

I see on the Internet that… in America [people] blamed gays [for] bringing AIDS there, but in Swaziland nobody blames gays because government refuses to believe there are gay Swazis. Lots of my friends sleep with women – I do – but my heart isn’t in it. My heart is with Paul. He is like Paul in the Bible. He had his Damascus moment when he had to choose which path to take. He saw me on this path and he joined me, and we’ve been in love ever since.

I got HIV tested because I am responsible. They don’t ask if you are gay and I don’t tell – why would anyone do that and get discriminated against? People think they have a right to insult and even throw stones at gay people. We keep quiet. We are very knowledgeable about HIV – all my friends know to get tested and wear condoms. We may be oppressed but we are going to survive.”

jh/kn/he

– Provided by Integrated Regional Information Networks.

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Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), the first openly gay member of Congress, is engaged to his long-time partner. The wedding will be the first same-sex marriage for a U.S. congressman.

New England Cable News reported late Thursday night that the lawmaker plans to marry Jim Ready, a 42-year-old small business owner from Maine.

The 71-year-old Frank has not issued a statement but a spokesman, Hank Gural, told the Boston Globe the marriage will be held in Massachusetts, the first state to legalize gay marriage.

Same-sex marriage is legal only in six states and the District of Columbia.

Frank, former chair of the House Financial Services Committee and one of the most vocal liberals in Congress, has been partners with Ready since 2007. He announced his decision not to seek re-election in November. He retires at the end of his term next January after being in office since 1981.

Explaining his decision, Frank had cited his long-held plans to focus on writing, the increasingly partisan politics in Washington, and a redrawn congressional district that would require him to introduce himself to 325,000 new constituents.

Frank began his career in politics in 1967 as an aide for then-Boston Mayor Kevin White. A Harvard Law School graduate, he chaired the powerful Financial Services Committee from 2007 until 2010, when Republicans gained majority control of the House.

It was during his chairmanship of the panel that the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was passed to address the financial crisis. Conservative lawmakers have tried to repeal the landmark financial reform law, citing “job-killing” regulations and the continuing weak economy.

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Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – The U.S. economy grew at a meager 1.8 percent during the first quarter of the year, according to the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis report released Thursday.

That was down from the 3.1 percent growth in real gross domestic product (GDP) registered in the fourth quarter of 2010.

It was the Commerce Department’s second estimate of real GDP for the first quarter of 2011. The 1.8 percent annual growth rate in real GDP was unchanged from the advance report released last month. In addition, it was below the private-sector expectations for an upward revision, the Commerce Department said in a release.

The private sector had expected a 2 percent growth in GDP.

“Today’s report shows little change from the GDP estimates released last month,” said U.S. Commerce Department Chief Economist Mark Doms. “What today’s data does tell us is that corporate profits continue to grow and businesses continue to hire more workers. In the first four months of this year, the economy added 854,000 jobs, and that will help boost our economy further in the quarters ahead.”

Indeed, although unemployment remains high and hiring remains low, the initial estimate for corporate profits is that they grew by $21.9 billion in the first quarter of 2011 to reach $1,700.2 billion.

Real GDP is the output of goods and services produced by labor and property that is located in the U.S. It is expressed as an annualized figure based on what growth would be for the year if it continued at that pace.

A drop in consumer spending contributed to the slowdown in economic growth.

Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of GDP. Growth in consumer spending during the first three months of the year was revised downward from 2.7 percent to 2.2 percent.

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Berlin, Germany (AHN) – Germany inaugurated on Monday its first commercial offshore wind farm located in the country’s northeastern Baltic coast.

Chancellor Angela Merkel led the inauguration of the 21-turbine Baltic 1 in the coastal village of Zingst. The energy firm Energie Baden-Württemberg (EnBW) owns and operates the offshore wind farm which can generate 50 megawatts of electricity.

Baltic 1 has 21 turbines spread in three square miles of sea, about 10 miles from the Darss Peninsula. The 328-foot-long rotor of each turbine can produce 2.3 megawatts of power. Engineering firm Siemens built the turbines that can power about 50,000 homes.

EnBW is also building a second offshore wind farm called Baltic 2 off the island of Rügen. This wind farm will have 80 turbines to power 340,000 households.

Baltic 2 will cost $1.7 billion to construct and is targeted for completion by 2013.

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Revenue grew 27 percent but profit, which was up 18 percent, was held down by rising expenses. An unhappy stock market sent its shares down 5 percent in after hours trading.

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As the case moves into its second week of trial, the evidence so far is a curious and combustible mix of ingredients that should legal prognosticators unsure of what’s next.

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March 11 (Bloomberg) — Crude oil in New York fell, capping the first weekly drop in a month, after Japan’s strongest earthquake on record shut …

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Cairo, Egypt (IRIN) – Egyptian charities and international organizations have stepped up efforts to deliver aid to people affected by the growing humanitarian crisis in Libya, where violence has forced hundreds of thousands to flee to neighboring countries.

“The Libyans are facing their toughest test in years,” said Shawki al-Haddad, a member of the Cairo-based Arab Medical Association (AMA).

AMA has sent medicines and medical equipment valued at one million Egyptian pounds (US$179,000) into the eastern region of the crisis-torn north Africa country. Most of the medicines, al-Haddad told IRIN in Cairo, were for blood pressure, diabetes and heart problems.

It has also sent 30 Egyptian doctors to the eastern part of Libya, and has appealed for funds to do more. “We hope we can send yet more doctors in the future,” al-Haddad said. “A large number of our doctors expressed readiness to go and volunteer [in Libya].”

Egyptian authorities at the border town of Salloum, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), have been facilitating the entry of humanitarian personnel and relief supplies into Libya. Without naming any, it said most humanitarian organizations entering eastern Libya were Egyptian.

About 1.5 million Egyptians work and live in Libya, and send an estimated 1.5 billion Egyptian pounds (US$254 million) in remittances back home every year, according to the Egyptian Labour Ministry. The current political crisis in Libya has, however, forced thousands to return home.

As of 28 February, another 22,000 were at a reception and processing center at the Egypt-Libya border town of Salloum, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Some 7,000 were stranded in a compound in no-man’s land between the two countries without papers, food or water.

“We are working with the Egyptian government and the army to offer the necessary help to people coming back from Libya,” IOM development project manager Mathie Luciano told IRIN on the phone from Salloum. “When these people come, we offer them food and medicine and then provide them with the necessary transportation to take them home.”

Evolving situation

The Libyan situation, said the European Commission, was evolving fast. Announcing three million euros (US$4.15 million) in humanitarian aid, Kristalina Georgieva, commissioner for international cooperation and humanitarian aid, said: “So far, Libya’s neighbors have been coping very well with the influx of their returning citizens and refugees from Libya… It is crucial that we are ready for possible massive displacements within Libya and for the potential influx of tens of thousands of refugees to neighboring countries in the days and weeks to come.”

At least 110,000 people, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) have crossed from Libya into Egypt and Tunisia, and thousands more are arriving every hour. Most of these are Egyptian and Tunisian nationals, but there were also small numbers of Libyans and other nationalities.

“UNHCR is appealing to all neighboring governments in north Africa and Europe to maintain open land, air and sea borders for people forced to flee from Libya,” UNHCR head António Guterres said. “All people leaving Libya should be granted access to territory without discrimination, irrespective of their background.”

A handful of humanitarian agencies including Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and International Medical Corps have reached eastern Libya, and others are preparing to receive migrants and returnees in Tunisia, but access and insecurity have prevented major deployments so far, according to aid sources. “All information we receive points towards a critical situation in terms of medical care for the injured,” Arjan Hehenkamp, MSF’s director of operations, said.

“This crisis has been going on for 14 days,” said ICRC director-general Yves Daccord. “It is high time, and absolutely vital, that the needs of people affected are met. We call on everyone taking part in the violence to respect the right of the wounded and sick to seek medical care, and to ensure that humanitarian assistance is able to reach those in need.”

UN World Food Program (WFP) executive director Josette Sheeran was due to visit the Tunisia-Libya border on 1 March to meet people who have fled Libya. According to WFP, many of those arriving there say they had limited access to food during the journey from their homes and workplaces in Libya.

Hundreds feared dead

Protests have spread across Libya over the past two weeks, with demonstrators demanding an end to the 42-year rule of Col Muammar Gaddafi. In response, the government is reported to have deployed troops against the protesters, leaving several hundred dead, according to human rights organizations.

On 26 February, the Security Council imposed sanctions on Gaddafi’s regime, along with an arms embargo, travel bans and an asset freeze. It also referred the situation in Libya to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

Reports from government-controlled western Libya say the situation remains tense, unlike the east which is now controlled by anti-government groups. Describing reports of continued violence as “extremely alarming”, OCHA said civilians including women and children had been wounded, with estimates of these and the dead ranging from hundreds to thousands.

In New York, Valerie Amos, UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told reporters that security was a key challenge for civilians. “They are fleeing an extremely volatile and insecure situation,” she said on 28 February.

“What you have is different parts of the country now controlled by different elements.”

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Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) — South African bonds lured more foreign buyers in 2010 than shares for the first time after the fall of apartheid in 1994 as yields more than double those of 10-year U.S. Treasur

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