Trade Crude Oil

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.”

ae/eo/cb

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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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Moscow, Russian Federation (AHN) – In an effort to combat the spread of nuclear arms to rogue states like Iran and North Korea, Russia on Wednesday unveiled the world’s first atomic fuel bank. State-run energy firm Rosatom said that the Siberian fuel reserve was capable of refueling two civilian nuclear power plants.

Ex-Foreign Intelligence Service Chief Gennady Yevstafyev said that the facility had been created to reduce risk from countries, which process their own uranium, adding that this would improve their control over n-weapons’ proliferation.

The Angarsk bank stores nearly 120 tons of low-enriched uranium between 2 and 4.95 percent, which is sufficient to meet the electricity demands of 12 million people for one year. Scientists consider this kind of uranium enrichment safe since 90 percent enrichment is required to make nuclear weapons.

Yevstafyev further said that the Russian fuel bank was in line with international law since the International Atomic Energy Agency had approved this historic creation during a meeting last month.

Former chief added that most of civilian nuclear power plants today store similar type of fuel, which is being stored in Angarsk.

Russia proposed the idea of creating such a reserve three years ago in the wake of possible supply cutoffs by Western nations against Russia.

“This bank was created under the Russian president’s initiative to form a global nuclear energy infrastructure (that would ensure) reliable compliance with the nuclear weapons non-proliferation regime,” Rosatom said in a statement.

Former President Vladimir Putin had approved the proposal of nuclear fuel bank in 2006 at a time when the United States agreed to resume nuclear talks with Russia.

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SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–First Republic Bank (“First Republic”) (NYSE:FRC), a private bank and wealth management company, today announced the launch of its initial public offering of 11.0 million shares of common stock in the tentative price range of $24.00 to $27.00 per share. The shares will be offered by First Republic and certain selling shareholders. First Republic Bank’s common stock is expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “FRC” on the bus

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The Woodlands, TX, United States (AHN) – The Ryder Cup is over and done, now Corey Pavin can get back to the business of playing golf.

Pavin played and played well Friday at the Woodlands’ tournament course in the first round of the Administaff Classic. The Ryder Cup captain used only 24 putts on his way to a six-under par 66 and a two-shot lead over Mark Wiebe.

Pavin shot nines of 33-33 and had just a single bogey. Wiebe had a bogey-free round with five birdies en route to his 67.

Russ Cochran, winner twice this season, was alone at 69, three-under and three back of Pavin.

After that it got really crowded. Ten players were tied at two-under par 70 including Jay Haas, Jay Don Blake and Hal Sutton.

Fred Couples and Tom Lehman finished their first round with one-under par 71s.

Some big name players found the going tough during the first round. Bernhard Langer, leading contender for Player of the Year honors on the Champions Tour, struggled with one of his worst days of the season and soared to a 79.

Kenny Perry, making his Champions Tour debut shot 78 and managed only one birdie all day.

He had double bogeys at the ninth and 17th holes and at one point starting at the 11th hole, made four straight bogeys.

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Brussels meeting paves way for improved diplomatic ties in wake of marine collision near disputed islands

Japanese and Chinese leaders said last night they wanted to improve strained ties, but both sides reiterated their claims to islands at the heart of a bitter diplomatic row, suggesting tensions between Asia’s top two economies were far from over.

The prime ministers of Japan and China met yesterday for the first time since a feud over a collision near disputed islands in the East China Sea last month, and agreed to start high-level talks.

Sino-Japanese relations dived after Japan’s coast guard detained the skipper whose boat collided with two Japanese patrol ships near the uninhabited islands, which are near potentially huge oil and gas reserves.

Four Japanese citizens employed by construction firm Fujita were detained in China on suspicion of illegally entering a military zone, but three were subsequently released.

“We both said the current situation is not desirable, and we confirmed a return to the starting point of improving our strategic mutually beneficial relations,” the Japanese prime minister, Naoto Kan, told reporters in Brussels after meeting the Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, on the sidelines of an Asia-Europe summit.

“We agreed to hold individual high-level talks on a suitable basis,” Kan said, adding that he saw the islands as Japanese territory.

Kan, under heavy domestic fire for appearing to cave in to Chinese demands in the row, did not say who would take part in the talks or when they would be held.

The two leaders met for 25 minutes after a working dinner at the summit in Brussels, their first face-to-face contact since the trawler incident. Wen told Kan the islands – called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China – belonged to China but also said the two nations must deepen their ties for the benefit of the people of the two countries, state media said.

“The Diaoyu Islands have been Chinese territory since ancient times,” Wen said during the conversation with Kan, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The row has hit supplies to Japan of rare earth minerals, for which China accounts for about 97% of global total production .

Japan buys about half of China’s rare earth, which is vital for electronics and auto parts manufacturing, but Beijing imposed a de facto ban on exports after the trawler incident.

Today, Japan’s trade minister, Akihito Ohata, said he would approach China about improving rare earth imports to Japan, citing a survey that showed more than 30 importers reported problems. The Japanese chief cabinet secretary, Yoshito Sengoku, praise the talks in Brussels but said the prospect of improved ties depended on both sides.

On the question of the remaining detained Japanese national in China, he said: “I cannot predict now, but I don’t think things are moving in a negative direction.”

The Brussels meeting may have sought to improve ties before the Chinese president Hu Jintao’s planned attendance in November at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit to be hosted by Japan in the port of Yokohama, a Japanese source said.

Analysts said, however, that it would not be easy to repair relations long plagued by China’s bitter memories of Japan’s wartime aggression and present rivalry over resources, as well as mutual military suspicions.

“If it were just a territorial row it would be a bit easier, but because of the energy and strategic implications, it’s worse,” said Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University in Tokyo. “And there are always historical issues to amplify the ill will generated by contemporary issues.” China Japan guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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