The European Union has agreed sanctions against Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi, including an arms embargo, asset freeze and visa ban.
Monday’s decision was made by the EU ambassadors meeting to assess the rapidly deteriorating situation in the north African nation, said Hungarian Energy Minister Tamas Fellegi.
The EU “imposed an arms embargo on Libya and sanctions on those responsible for the violent crackdown on the civilian population,” Fellegi said. The asset freeze and visa ban was targeted against Gadhafi and some two dozen of his closest family and government associates free credit report and score.
The move came after days of increasing protest against the hundreds of deaths caused by Gadhafi military resistance against the popular uprising in his country.
The measures are aimed at reinforcing Saturday’s U.N. Security Council measures. The EU also includes measures to ban sale of any equipment that might be used for repression by Gadhafi.
Amid the reams of census data released Thursday showing an unexpected population loss in St. Louis, perhaps no detail was more striking than this:
In a belt of neighborhoods across the near south side, places around Tower Grove Park and Benton Park that have seen countless homes rehabbed and new businesses open in the last decade, the number of actual residents declined by at least 10 percent.
In Tower Grove East and Shaw, Fox Park and McKinley Heights, population fell faster than the city as a whole. The south side contributed almost as much to St. Louis’ 8 percent population drop as did the continuing exodus up north.
The difference is that while people have flowed out of north St. Louis for decades, many of these south city neighborhoods have in recent years seemed to rebound, acquiring the trappings of urban revitalization, from coffee shops to kickball leagues to parents pushing strollers.
It’s a reminder that progress and population growth don’t always move as one and also that the challenges facing a city still struggling to grow again
South Korea’s current-account surplus narrowed to an 11-month low in January as imports surged amid an economic recovery and rising energy demand.
The surplus was $229 million, compared with $2.11 billion in December, the Bank of Korea said in a statement in Seoul today. The current account is the broadest measure of trade, tracking goods, services and investment income.
South Korea has stepped up measures to limit won gains driven by foreign capital inflows, helping keep exports competitive. Overseas shipments contributed to the fastest economic expansion last year since 2002, stoking price pressures and prompting the Bank of Korea to raise interest rates.
“The surplus may narrow sharply this year if oil prices keep rising, hurting the global economy,” Lee Sang Jae, an economist at Hyundai Securities Co. in Seoul, said before the release. “The BOK will likely delay the next rate hike expected in March due to rising global uncertainties surrounding the Middle East crisis.”
The won fell 0.6 percent to close at 1,131.05 per dollar yesterday. The benchmark Kospi stock index lost 0.6 percent. The currency has weakened about 0.7 percent against the dollar this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Total exports on a customs-cleared basis rose 45.4 percent last month from a year earlier, compared with a 22.6 percent gain in December. Imports climbed 32.4 percent after rising 21.7 percent in December.
Earnings Boost
Overseas shipments have boosted earnings last year at companies including Samsung Electronics Co., Asia’s biggest maker of semiconductors, flat screens and mobile phones.
The Bank of Korea unexpectedly left the nation’s benchmark interest rate at 2.75 percent this month after raising it in January, July and November from a record-low 2 percent. Inflation quickened to 4.1 percent in January from 3.5 percent in December, exceeding the bank’s target of 2 percent to 4 percent through 2012.
The surplus on traded goods narrowed to $1.63 billion last month from $3.68 billion in December, today’s report showed. The services deficit, which measures the flow of travel, transport costs and royalties, was $1.64 billion in January, compared with $1.15 billion in December.
Stocks fell for a second straight day Wednesday after clashes in Libya sent oil prices to two-year highs and technology giant Hewlett-Packard said its revenue growth was slowing.
Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi continued to attack anti-government demonstrators, leading to widespread chaos and shooting in the streets of the Libyan capital, Tripoli. Nearly 300 people have been killed, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch.
The unrest sent oil up 3 percent to $98 a barrel, its highest price since October 2008. Libya is the world’s 15th largest exporter of crude, accounting for 2 percent of global daily output. Traders are worried the revolt could threaten Libya’s oil production and spread to other oil-producing countries in the region.
Oil companies benefited from the higher crude prices. Chevron Corp. was the biggest gainer in the Dow average, rising 3.2 percent. Exxon Mobil Corp gained 2.1 percent. Energy companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 2.4 percent, the largest change among its 10 company groups payday loan.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 70 points, or 0.6 percent, to 12,144 in midday trading. The S&P 500 fell 7, or 0.6 percent, to 1,307. The Nasdaq composite fell 31, 1.1 percent, to 2,725.
Technology stocks fell after Hewlett-Packard Co., often considered a bellwether for the group, gave a disappointing revenue forecast for the current fiscal year. The company fell 10 percent, the most out of the 30 companies that make up the Dow average.
Government bonds and other safer assets rose for the second day in a row. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.44 percent from 3.46 percent late Tuesday. Bond yields fall when their prices rise.
DirecTV Group Inc. rose 2.7 percent after the satellite TV provider said it attracted more new subscribers in the fourth quarter than it has in a decade. Washington Post Co. fell 4 percent after its fourth-quarter net income fell 3 percent on flat revenue.
Chinese officials say Volvo Car Corp. plans a manufacturing base in the western Chinese city of Chengdu as it aims for expansion in the world’s biggest auto market following its buyout by independent automaker Geely.
An official with the city’s Automotive Industry Investment Bureau confirmed a report Tuesday that the Swedish carmaker has chosen Chengdu as a manufacturing base, but would not give further details.
The Volvo factory reportedly will be focused on making compact and economy cars on a large scale. Shanghai and the northern city of Daqing also had been vying for new Volvo factories following the acquisition last year by Geely.
Volvo plans a news conference to announce its strategy in China later this week in Beijing, the Chengdu Overseas Media Service, a local, nongovernmental media group, reported, citing officials from the city’s trade development zone.
Ning Shuyong, a Geely spokesman, would not confirm the report but said a decision was pending.
Chengdu, capital of populous Sichuan province, is among many Chinese cities aspiring to become major automobile manufacturing hubs and is one of the country’s biggest inland markets. While overall sales of autos are forecast to slow slightly from their torrid growth in recent years, sales in the provinces are surging as increasingly affluent families buy their first cars or trade up.
Chinese media reports say the factory in Chengdu is already under construction and is due to begin production by 2013, with an initial capacity of 125,000.
Privately-owned Geely Holding Group agreed in March 2010 to buy Volvo Car from Ford Motor Co. for $1.8 billion, the biggest acquisition by a major Chinese automaker so far.
The buyout gave small but ambitious Geely access to a prestigious brand and top-tier technology and enabled Ford to unload the loss-making automaker to raise cash and focus on its core Ford and Lincoln brands.
Industry analysts have expressed doubts over 13-year-old Geely’s ability to make a success of Volvo, an older, perennially money-losing manufacturer on another continent. Geely, based in the eastern city of Hangzhou, has built a business selling cars, motorcycles and scooters with little government support.
Volvo recently set up a new China headquarters in Shanghai.
Geely has said it plans to keep its production arrangements in Europe and contracts for assembling 15,000 cars a year by a Ford joint venture, Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Co., in Chongqing. The longest of those contracts runs until 2018.
The Swedish automaker sold 22,400 vehicles in China in 2009, up 80 percent from the year before, but has trailed behind rivals like BMW and Audi.
Israel’s prime minister on Sunday accused Iran of trying to exploit the recent instability in Egypt by sending two warships through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean, saying he views the move “with gravity.”
The Iranian ships were expected to make a rare crossing through the canal on Sunday or Monday en route to Syria _ an Iranian ally and Israel’s enemy to the north. Egypt confirmed the ships would be allowed through the strategic passage.
“Israel views this Iranian step with gravity,” Benjamin Netanyahu told the weekly meeting of his Cabinet. He did not suggest there would be an Israeli response. The ships would not enter Israeli territorial waters.
Protests in Egypt toppled the country’s autocratic ruler, Hosni Mubarak, on Feb. 11 and Egypt is currently being run by the military. Israel has expressed concern that Islamic groups could increase their clout in Egypt and harm the three-decade-old peace agreement between the two countries.
Egypt, a longtime U.S. ally, has been at odds with Iran for decades, and Israel fears a weakening of Egypt could give Iran room to increase its reach. The Gaza Strip, sandwiched between Israel and Egypt, is ruled by the Iranian-backed Hamas militant group.
“I think we see today what kind of unstable area we live in _ an area where Iran is trying to exploit the situation that’s been created to try to expand its influence by sending two warships through the Suez Canal,” Netanyahu said payday advance.
Last week, Suez Canal officials identified the two Iranian vessels as the Alvand, a frigate, and the Kharq, a supply ship. Canal authorities can deny passage only if they decide ships pose a safety risk.
Israeli warships have traversed the canal in the past, and in at least one case, an Israeli Dolphin-class submarine also passed through in what appeared to be a message to Iran. Some foreign media reports say that Dolphins can fire nuclear-tipped cruise missiles.
Israel considers Iran an existential threat because of its nuclear program, calls for Israel’s destruction and support for Hamas and Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon along Israel’s northern border.
Israel, the U.S. and other countries have pressed for international sanctions to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, but both Israel and the U.S. have not ruled out a military strike if sanctions fail.
Iran says its nuclear program aims only to produce electricity.
Drivers, check your mailboxes.
Toronto will be mailing out refund cheques to anyone who paid the now-scrapped personal vehicle tax in advance for 2011.
The first batch of cheques will be sent out Friday, the city says.
The much-hated tax was axed by city council Dec. 16, 2010, after Ford promised to do away with the fee during his campaign. But the end of the tax didn
After many delays, ARCO Construction Co. Inc. will finally build at 820-922 North Rock Hill Road. The company will construct two smaller buildings where it once planned a three-story, 60,000-square-foot building, the Rock Hill Board of Aldermen was told Tuesday.
The latest plan calls for a two-story, 26,100-square-foot building that will house ARCO’s headquarters and a one-story, 8,000-square-foot building that will be a day care center run by Goddard School for Early Childhood Development, said Jennifer Yackley, assistant to the city administrator. The city’s planning and zoning commission approved the amended development plan by an 8-0 vote, she said unsecured personal loans. Barring weather delays, the project will be completed by November, she added.
In 2008, the board approved a plan by 900 North Rock Hill Partners (aka ARCO Construction) for the three-story building on the site, but the company put those plans on hold when the economy soured, Yackley said. Last year, the board gave the company its third six-month extension on the 2.8-acre development.
Businesses added to their stockpiles for a 12th consecutive month in December, suggesting further growth at U.S. factories that could lead to more hiring.
Inventories rose 0.8 percent in December, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Businesses also saw another solid increase in demand with total business sales rising 1.1 percent in December.
A full year of increases pushed the value of businesses’ stockpiles to $1.44 trillion in December. That’s a level that economists consider to be healthy. It was 8.7 percent higher than the recent low of $1.32 trillion reached in September 2009.
Economists believe inventories will keep rising as long as sales remain strong and businesses have confidence that the demand will continue. That should boost demand at U.S. factories, and ultimately lead to more jobs.
For December, manufacturing inventories grew 1.1 percent, wholesale business stockpiles rose 1 percent, and retail inventories increased 0.4 percent.
The biggest increases at the retail level came at specialty clothing stores and general merchandise stores, a category that includes department stores and big chains such as Wal-Mart and Target.
Sales during December were up for all levels of business. They were led by a 2 percent surge in sales by manufacturers. A separate report Tuesday said that retail sales rose again in January.
General Electric says its oil and gas business has reached a deal to buy the John Wood Group’s well support division for about $2.8 billion.
GE says in a statement Sunday that the deal must be approved by Wood Group’s shareholders. It’s expected to close later this year.
The well support division makes electric submersible pumps, wellhead pressure control systems and information logging systems.
It has 3,800 employees and more than 20 factories and service centers across the world. Last year it reported $947 million in revenue.
GE says the deal makes it a key player in the oil recovery business by adding submersible pumps.
Powered by WordPress -- XHTML 1.0