News Archive - 22 February 2011

> "Senegal is outraged to note that Iranian weapons brought about the death of Senegalese soldiers. Consequently, Senegal has decided to severe its diplomatic ties with the republic of Iran, starting this day," a foreign ministry announcement on state TV said around midnight. (Reporting by Diadie Ba; Writing by Tim...

>ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters) - Two Iranian naval ships passed through Egypt's Suez Canal into the Mediterranean on Tuesday heading for Syria, a source at the canal authority said, a move certain to anger Israel. Iran appears to be testing the state of affairs in the Middle East after the fall...

> The source said the ships were expected to return through the canal on March 3. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said he would take a "grave view" of the passage of the ships, the first Iranian naval vessels to go through the canal since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.

>* denotes new or updated item.COUNTRIES:* BULGARIA:-- A Bulgarian government airplane took off for the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and a second plane will depart later on Tuesday to evacuate Bulgarian citizens there, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday. About 1,500 Bulgarians live and work in Libya, some in Libya's...

>MANAMA (Reuters) - A Bahraini opposition figure was set to return to the Gulf Arab country on Tuesday after a week of unprecedented protests by majority Shi'ite Muslims against the Sunni monarchy. Hassan Mushaimaa, leader of the opposition Haq movement, said on his Facebook page on Monday that he wanted...

> "Last night security forces entered the house of Ali Karoubi and arrested him and his wife, Nafiseh Panahi" the report said. Panahi was later released but there was no further news of Ali Karoubi, it added. Tweet this Share this Link this Digg this Email Reprints...

>SINGAPORE (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures hit a 2-1/2 year high on Tuesday on concern that violence in Libya could cut more of the OPEC-member's output and that a similar story could play out in other top oil producers in North Africa and the Middle East. As deadly clashes...

While Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi proclaimed his defiance of opponents to his regime, political leaders around the world condemned the violence he is using to quell the populist revolt.

Surging oil prices due to political turmoil in the Middle East spell "very, very big challenges" for airlines, International Air Transport Association chief Giovanni Bisignani said on Wednesday.

The world economy can withstand the surge in oil prices sparked by unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, as long as the increase proves short-lived, analysts say.

CAIRO - A defiant Moammar Gadhafi vowed to fight to his "last drop of blood" and roared at supporter ...

TOKYO: Japanese shares fell 0.20 percent in the morning on Wednesday amid concerns over the chaos in Libya and other oil-producing nations and following big falls on Wall Street.The benchmark Nikkei index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange dropped 20.90 points to 10,643.80 by the break and...

NEW YORK -- Stocks had their worst drop this year and oil prices surged Tuesday after Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi clung to power in the face of mounting protests.

BAHRAIN: Thousands flood streets as calls for concessions mount.

MANILA, Feb. 23 (PNA) -- While saying that the present unrest in the Middle East and North Africa is not seen to disrupt the local oil industry since the affected nations are not oil supply sources of the country, the Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared an Oil Contingency Plan...

Senegal declared Wednesday it would sever diplomatic ties with Iran, accusing Tehran of supplying weapons to anti-government rebels. The West African country's foreign ministry announced the decision on state TV around midnight.

CAIRO, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- Israeli officials said the presence of two Iranian warships Tuesday in Egypt's Suez Canal is a provocation as tensions in the Arab world worsened.

Emanuel will be Chicago's next mayor, winning more votes than he had to and overcoming suspicions. Because he won so decisively, limiting the well known black candidate, Carol Moseley Braun, to a weak third place showing, he can reasonably make the claim of being mayor of all Chicago.

In the weeks since the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings, many other protests have arisen in other countries, including Iran and Libya. Many hope that Tunisia will be the beginning of sweeping democratic reforms and that repressive regime after repressive regime will fall.

Political protests caught on by Egypt have also moved N.C. State. In just 17 days, 30 consecutive years of political reign came crumbling down, leaving Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak as ex-president and the country under military rule.

Panaji, Feb 22 : The lone Goan sailor onboard cargo vessel MV Sinin, which was hijacked earlier this month off Oman, is safe, Rajya Sabha MP Shantaram Naik said Tuesday.

Saudi oil minister tries to calm fears as prices hit 2-year-high; Dow, S&P, Nasdaq fall sharply

A trader is seen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for April delivery, rose four cents to $95.46 per barrel.

Maxime Dufour-Lapointe won her first career Nor-Am Cup gold medal Tuesday, finishing first in women’s dual moguls.

Again and again, Anthony Gose has heard it — even from his own boss — and he does not like it one bit.

With fewer than 48 hours to go before the NBA’s trade deadline, the Toronto Raptors swung a minor deal Tuesday, acquiring forward James Johnson from the Chicago Bulls for a first-round draft pick in this year’s draft.

For the Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team, their road to the 2011 Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship in Waterloo begins tonight in Montreal against the McGill Martlets.

Defenceman Erik Karlsson represented the Ottawa Senators at last month’s NHL All-Star Game.

Oil traded near the highest in more than two years in New York after intensifying violence in Libya stoked concern that crude supplies will be disrupted as turmoil spreads through the Middle East and North Africa.

WASHINGTON -- Oil prices spiked around the globe Tuesday as traders reacted to the spreading chaos in oil-rich Libya and fretted that a winter of discontent for tyrants also could threaten global oil supplies and the fragile U.S. economic recovery.

In the wake of the Feb. 14 Iranian protests for greater freedom, which took place throughout that country, Iranian Americans of various religious backgrounds in Southern California have been closely monitoring the developments and voicing support for those seeking democracy.

On Tuesday, The Lede is following protest movements in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Morocco, Iran and Egypt.

The Brazilian futsal team is in Iran to play a few friendly matches against the Iranian national squad and an Iranian futsal club.

Rachel Homan received her first reminder Tuesday that it’s not supposed to come easy for first-year skips at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Molson Canadian is poised to become The Official Beer of the National Hockey League, but the incumbent will not go quietly.

TWITTER users are joining forces in a bid to lure the company here — a move that would boost Ireland’s profile and create jobs.

> Financials Tweet this Share this Link this Digg this Email Reprints...

Oil prices soared to the highest level in more than two years as Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi urged his supporters to attack protesters who are violently challenging his 42-year rule.

The social contract with foundations is that they are relatively unfettered by government or outside influences. To maintain that contract, they have to contribute substantively by doing things government and private enterprise can't or won't do.

Both the Middle East and the Gulf of Mexico stand to jack up crude prices.

Iranian officials on Tuesday hailed the passage of two warships through Egypt's Suez Canal as a milestone in Iran's effort to play a greater role in maritime affairs.

TEHRAN - A top Iranian judiciary official warned on Tuesday that anybody who follows the opposition leaders will now be treated as an "anti-revolutionary".

NEW YORK -- Stocks had their worst drop this year and oil prices surged Tuesday after Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi clung to power in the face of mounting protests.    The capital of the oil-rich country has plunged into chaos. That's causing to concerns that the unrest that has already...

The geopolitical landscape will continue to make for volatile trading conditions in most major asset classes. Commodities are up sharply on Middle East violence and the Kiwi was

Tunisia? Not much. Egypt?  Bahrain? Almost. It took Libya to really get a rise out of the markets, or a fall, depending on what asset class you’re looking at today.

Professor Matthew Jacobs said the events could be a transformational moment on the scale of 20th-century revolutions in Russia, China and Iran.

The neighborhood has emerged as a launching pad for all kinds of immigrants, not just Chinese, who are seeking a foothold on the economy’s bottom rung.

LONDON (AP) — Real Madrid was frustrated again by Lyon in the Champions League on Tuesday but Chelsea put aside its domestic troubles to comfortably win at FC Copenhagen and move closer to the quarterfinals.

StocksStocks see biggest drop of year: Stocks had their worst drop this year and oil prices surged Tuesday after Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi clung to power in the face of mounting protests.

CAIRO -- A defiant Moammar Gadhafi vowed to fight to his "last drop of blood" and roared at supporters to strike back against Libyan protesters to defend his embattled regime Tuesday, signaling an escalation of the crackdown that has thrown the capital into scenes of mayhem, wild shooting and bodies...

Oil prices soared to the highest level in more than two years Tuesday as Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi urged his supporters to attack protesters who are violently challenging his 42-year rule.

  A defiant Moammar Gadhafi vowed to fight to his “last drop of blood” and roared at supporters to strike back against Libyan protesters to defend his embattled regime Tuesday, signaling an escalation of the a crackdown that has thrown the capital into scenes of mayhem, wild shooting and bodies...

An Intraday CAD/JPY Ascending Channel is Creating Scalping Environment

Margarita Gorbounova of Kanata Nordic is making the most of an historic situation at the Canada Winter Games.For the first time in Games’ history, cross-country skiers with disabilities are competing for medals and Gorbounova is capitalizing on the opportunity.

The U.S stocks witnesses' further losses throughout the closing session...

JERUSALEM — Two Iranian warships sailed from the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean on Tuesday, the first such trip in at least three decades, eliciting Israeli charges that Tehran is seeking to dominate the Middle East. The vessels headed toward Syria, but were expected to remain in international waters...

Reuters/Tehran Iranian security forces have arrested a son of opposition leader Mehdi Karoubi, his website reported yesterday, one week after his supporters took to the streets in their first demonstrations in more than a year.

angry tapir writes with this excerpt from TechWorld: "The pro-Iran hacktivist group that defaced the Baidu and Twitter Web sites a year ago has hit another target: the US Government's Voice of America news site. Voice of America was knocked offline temporarily after hackers were able to change the organization's...

Background: Alan Dershowitz, 72, is a legendary American lawyer. The Harvard professor is one of the most prominent criminal lawyers in the U.S. and has represented high-profile clients such as O.J. Simpson and Mike Tyson.

AFP/Washington Social media, cellphone cameras, satellite television, restive youth and years of pent-up anger are proving to be a toxic mix for authoritarian regimes in the Middle East.

The VIX, as the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index is known, rose 27 percent to 20.80 at 4:15 p.m. in New York . That’s the highest level since Dec. 1. The index measures the cost of using options as insurance against declines in the Standard & Poor’s 500...

A judge has thrown out all charges against two Winnipeg police officers accused of lying under oath to Manitoba justice officials because the Crown failed to have witnesses identify the accused in court.

A defiant Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi vowed Tuesday not to resign and denounced the anti-government protesters who have challenged his regime as "greasy rats" and "drug-fueled mice" who deserve to be executed

India has urged the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to act to calm oil prices that have surged above $100 a barrel, minister of petroleum and natural gas Jaipal Reddy said on Tuesday.

JERUSALEM -- Two Iranian warships sailed from the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean on Tuesday, the first such trip in at least three decades, eliciting Israeli charges that Tehran is seeking to dominate the Middle East.

Russia will seek restrictions on a Nato missile defence system if the Cold War foes cannot agree on an integrated European missile shield, Moscow ’s envoy to the Western alliance said yesterday.

TRIPOLI (AFP) - 1604 GMT: Kadhafi says: "A small group of people are circulating money and drugs to young people and trying to push them" to rebel.

The intensifying turmoil in Libya drove oil prices sharply higher again on Tuesday.

Iran is wasting no time exploiting the dizzying sea changes roiling the Middle East and North Africa in order to solidify its power and expand its influence. Iranian warships armed with Chinese-made missiles are heading into the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal to Syria. Iran is sending a powerful...

If political unrest in Libya spreads to other oil-rich countries and the ensuing chaos disrupts crude oil production, gas prices could hit $5 a gallon by peak summer driving season, industry analysts say.

Tripoli/Manama/Rabat, Feb 22 : Intense unrest continued to rock the Arab world Tuesday as teeming protesters in the Libyan capital stood firm despite aerial bombing, fresh pro-democracy protests broke out in Morocco, and the Bahrain king attempted to quell the upheaval by agreeing to pardon political prisoners.

Israel is concerned about its position in the region after the Egyptian revolution toppled President Hosni Mubarak, says Iran's ambassador to the United Nations.

CAIRO — Egypt's stock exchange postponed its already long-delayed reopening until next week and markets in the Gulf Arab region posted their third consecutive day of declines as unrest in Libya and elsewhere in the region battered already fragile investor confidence in the Mideast.

REUTERS - Here are details of some of the major protests against authoritarian leaders which have already deposed the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt and shaken the Arab world.

UNITED NATIONS — The sands of time may finally have run out on Col. Moammar Gadhafi, Libya’s longtime dictator, as his country is buffeted by the political tsunami sweeping parts of the Arab world.

The world economy can withstand the surge in oil prices sparked by unrest in the Middle East and North Africa so long as the increase proves short-lived, said the International Monetary Fund’s No. 2 official, echoing Deutsche Bank AG and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Alaguri Anti-regime placards and images are placed in front of the courthouse in Benghazi, Libya in the early hours of Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011. Writing on poster of Libyan Leader Moammar Gadhafi in arabic reads "A flood of freedom, topple the idols of oppression, 42 years of repression and darkness,...

A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world

Time: Uprisings across the Arab world. Bearings askew. Sands shifting like nobody's business. And into this disorienting world of new uncertainties, the Islamic Republic of Iran sends a pair of warships toward the Suez Canal, bless its heart. It's the diplomatic equivalent of comfort food, like coming across mashed...

Disjunctions between public statements and actions of government officials are the stuff that provides material for commentators and comedians. Rarely, however, has there been such a gap as we have witnessed coming out of Tehran in recent days. First came Ayatollah Khamenei's declaration hailing the triumph of the protesters...

The Department of Energy has crafted an Oil Contingency Plan to prepare the country for possible disruptions in oil supply due to the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa.

Going nuclear would be sheer short-sightedness for a country blessed with abundant renewable sources of clean power, writes Ken Yeong. Before the Malaysian government takes the country down the path towards nuclear energy, every citizen must decide if nuclear power is the right choice for the nation. For some, the...

Gasoline and heating oil surged to the highest levels in more than 28 months as heightened violence in Libya stirred concern that Middle East unrest will disrupt shipments and production of fuel supplies.

According to local officials, two Iranian warships have entered the Suez Canal, heading for the Mediterranean Sea. The officials (who preferred to stay anonymous) at the Suez Canal detailed the two ships were a frigate and a supply vessel. The entered the waterway early on today. “They entered the canal...

The Hu Jintao administration has attempted to divert public attention by focusing on the speed and efficiency with which Beijing dispatched chartered flights to send home a thousand-odd Chinese (including tourists from Hong Kong) stranded in various Egyptian cities.

Despite indications that the US would attempt to forcefully box the Iranian warships in the Red Sea, first observed here , this strategy, if that was indeed the consideration, has failed, and according to Egypt's state-run MENA agency, the Suez crossing for one (very old) Iranian frigate and one (very...

Quebec has passed legislation ordering its striking Crown prosecutors and other government lawyers back to work.

1343 GMT: Israeli President Shimon Peres says the anti-government protests sweeping the Arab world that have toppled the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt are an "opportunity for peace" in the Middle East.

LONDON — Oil prices soared to more than $93 a barrel Tuesday as Libya's uprising spawned violence and chaos that threatened to affect crude production and even spread to other larger OPEC nations in the region.

MOSCOW (AP) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday predicted decades of instability in the Arab world if protesters whom he called fanatics come to power, adding no such scenario will be permitted at home.

Canadian scientists appear to have proven that you can, in fact, run away from old age.

With the upcoming collapse of one MidEast regime after another, the very doing of the US elites , the neocons are working hard, frothing at the mouth, to drive their base into another anti-Russian delirium.

TORONTO - The Toronto stock market appeared headed for a flat open after a holiday Monday as fears of escalated revolts in the Arab world pushed

Wall Street is preparing for a rocky open after civil unrest in the Middle East intensified, sending investors scurrying for cover.

> "Considering the mounting political pressure in Libya, all the oil activities of the National Iranian Drilling Company have been stopped," Mehr reported. (Editing by Keiron Henderson) Tweet this Share this Link this Digg this Email Reprints...

Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council says continued American backing of despotic regimes will further immerse Washington in a quagmire.

Menthol and thymol prices rose by 5 per kg in the local chemical market today.

The dollar soared against most major currencies in early trading on Tuesday due to its safe-haven appeal as protests in the Middle East continued to rage.

With shares around the world falling and the oil price leaping, analysts and investors give their reaction to the escalating Middle East tensions which have spooked markets.

1123 GMT: Westfield Securities oil industry analyst David Hart says: "As events in Libya have turned more violent, the impact on the country's output is beginning to be affected, as producers there begin pulling out staff due to safety concerns."