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Brent crude futures climb on Libyan unrest (Reuters)

2011-02-24T09:24:00.000+05:00

LONDON (Reuters) – Brent crude futures rose on Wednesday as Libya's ongoing turmoil fueled fears the unrest could spread to other oil producing nations and choke supplies.

Brent crude futures were $1.30 up at $107.08 a barrel by 1000 GMT, having hit a 2-1/2-year high of $108.70 on Monday. U.S. crude futures firmed by 51 cents to $95.93 a barrel by the same time, the highest level since October 2008.

Repsol, Eni and BASF's Wintershall have all halted operations amid violent clashes in Libya, which pumps 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd), or nearly 2 percent of global supply.

The disruptions mark the first reduction in oil supply stemming from a wave of protests that have swept through the oil-producing Middle East and North Africa.

Investors fear for the potential impact on the flow of oil from top exporter Saudi Arabia if it suffers similar unrest.

"In total, some 300,000 barrels per day is now offline," MF Global analysts wrote in a note. "The numbers could rise as we still do not have a clear idea how much oil is being impacted by striking Libyan workers deep inside the country."

Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch said Brent prices were also supported after Saudi Arabia stopped short of announcing an increase in production.

Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Tuesday the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries led by Saudi Arabia was always ready to pump more oil, but only when needed.

OIL SUPPLIES EYED, U.S. STOCKS AWAITED

Although protests in Saudi Arabia have so far been low key, Shi'ites in neighboring Bahrain are protesting against the Sunni-led government, and there is concern this could spill over to the Shi'ite minority living in Saudi Arabia's oil-producing eastern province.

"The importance of Bahrain is perhaps being underplayed currently. While not a major oil producer, Bahrain's impact on the oil market reverberates through its importance in Saudi Arabia," said Barclays Capital analysts Helima Croft and Amrita Sen in a research note.

Libya's unrest has also affected natural gas supplies, with supplies to Italy on the Greenstream pipeline suspended. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has refused to step aside despite the growing revolt and threatened tougher action against protesters in a defiant speech on Tuesday.

International Energy Agency (IEA) executive director Nobuo Tanaka said that oil prices above $100 per barrel for the rest of the year could tip the global economy back into a repeat of the 2008 economic crisis.

"We are very much concerned about the situation, it's a risk to the stable supply of oil," Tanaka told Reuters at the International Energy Forum in Riyadh on Tuesday.

Brent crude has risen around 12.5 percent so far this year. U.S. crude is up just under 5 percent on the year, but is over $50 below its 2008 high of $147.27.

Analysts said U.S. light crude futures remained well supported following the roll of the contract, although a potential build-up of weekly U.S. crude oil stockpiles expected later could pressure prices.

"The fact that WTI has risen further is mainly related to the contractual rollover, as the new front month contract was two dollars higher than the expiring contract," Fritsch said.

A rise in Japanese crude oil stocks and an expected increase in U.S. inventories could however ease supply concerns, analysts said.

U.S. inventory data from both American Petroleum Institute and EIA are delayed a day this week due to the Presidents Day holiday on Monday, with the API report due at 2130 GMT and the EIA awaited on Thursday.

Analysts polled by Reuters expect crude inventories in the U.S. rose for the sixth consecutive time last week.

(Additional reporting by Francis Kan in Singapore; editing by James Jukwey)

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Kadhafi blamed for 'bloodbath,' loses province (AFP)

2011-02-24T07:31:00.000+05:00

TRIPOLI (AFP) – The regime of Libya's Moamer Kadhafi has perpetrated a "horrible bloodbath" as it lost control of an eastern province in the face of an insurrection, ex-colonial ruler Italy said on Wednesday.

"Cyrenaica (province) is no longer under the control of the Libya government and there are outbreaks of violence across the country," Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said, calling for an immediate end to the "horrible bloodbath."

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, the north African nation's top trading partner, on Tuesday phoned Kadhafi to urge the strongman to end a crackdown by his force against a nine-day-old popular uprising.

News of the call came after Kadhafi delivered a rambling speech on television, declaring he would die a martyr in Libya, and threatening to purge opponents "house by house" and "inch by inch."

His government said 300 people, including 111 soldiers, had been killed in the protests, which erupted on February 15 after the rulers of neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt were ousted in similar uprisings.

China, India, South Korea, France and the United States, among other countries, scrambled to evacuate their citizens from the turbulent nation, as the international community condemned the crackdown.

The UN Security Council "condemned the violence and use of force against civilians, deplored the repression against peaceful demonstrators and expressed deep regret at the deaths of hundreds of civilians."

UN chief Ban Ki-moon called for international efforts to ensure a "prompt and peaceful transition" as he cut short a trip over the Libyan crisis and returned to New York on Wednesday.

The UN Human Rights Council said meanwhile it would hold a special session on Friday to discuss the crisis following a request by European Union.

The announcement came a day after Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said, "widespread and systematic attacks against the civilian population may amount to crimes against humanity."

In his defiant speech on Tuesday, Kadhafi vowed to remain as leader, saying he would die as a martyr in the land of his ancestors and fight to the "last drop" of his blood.

Proclaiming the support of the people, Kadhafi ordered the army and police to crush the revolt against his iron-fisted rule that has already left hundreds dead.

"The Libyan people are with me," he said, calling on them to demonstrate from Wednesday. "Capture the rats," he said of anti-regime demonstrators. "Go out of your homes and storm them" wherever they are.

Kadhafi's son Seif al-Islam was expected to hold a news conference, as reports emerged the strongman's family was feuding over the vast business empire his regime has built up since coming to power in 1969.

Britain's The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that Kadhafi's children were fighting over some of the assets, citing communications between US officials obtained by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks.

Another British daily, The Times, said it had footage of severely wounded and dead protesters in a hospital in the eastern city of Benghazi proving heavy weapons were being used to crush the revolt.

Army, police and militias have killed unarmed demonstrators indiscriminately, even to the point where air force planes strafed civilians, according to widespread reports.

In response, Peru suspended diplomatic ties with the country over the bloody crackdown, becoming the first nation to take such a measure.

But the 68-year-old Kadhafi, a former army colonel, showed no signs of relenting in his nationwide address.

"Moamer Kadhafi is the leader of a revolution; Moamer Kadhafi has no official position in order for him to resign. He is the leader of the revolution forever," he said.

The president of the country's parliament said calm "has been restored in most of the large cities," adding that "security forces and the army have re-established their positions."

Mohamed Zwei, president of the General People's Congress, also said a commission of inquiry had been set up to investigate the nine-day revolt.

But despite his defiance, Kadhafi's grip on Libya appeared to be slipping as his interior minister Abdel Fatah Yunes resigned and called on the armed forces to back the week-long rebellion against the veteran leader.

Numerous high level Libyan officials, including ministers, diplomats and military officers, have abandoned the regime and announced their support for the rebellion.

One of the latest to resign in protest was Salaheddin M. El Bishari, the Libyan ambassador to Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei, Indonesia's foreign ministry said Wednesday.

The turmoil in Libya, Africa's fourth largest oil producer, sent crude prices soaring with Brent North Sea crude costing $108.57 per barrel at one stage, the highest level since September 2008.

In Asian trading Wednesday, Brent stood at $106.47 a barrel.

French energy giant Total said it was "starting to suspend" part of its oil production in Libya.

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France called Wednesday for the European Union to adopt "swift and concrete sanctions" and suspend economic and financial relations with the north African country.

Sarkozy repeated his condemnation of the "brutal and bloody repression" of those protesting against Kadhafi's rule and said the international community could not "remain a spectator when faced with these massive human rights violations."

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No easy solution to impasse over jailed CIA man (AP)

2011-02-24T06:09:00.000+05:00

WASHINGTON – The standoff between Pakistan and the United States over the detention of an American CIA contractor held in the fatal shooting of two Pakistanis is posing a growing diplomatic quandary for both countries.

Some members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike, are threatening to cut off funds to Pakistan if Raymond Allen Davis is kept much longer in a Pakistani jail. But turning him over to the U.S. could unleash a torrent of anti-American sentiment across Pakistan, threatening to undercut that country's fragile civilian government.

With anti-government protests sweeping the Middle East, public restlessness and anger could ripple as far as Pakistan, probably making the timing less than ideal for a government in an Islamic country to make a public show of cooperation with the United States.

The U.S. maintains that Davis, 36, is exempt from criminal prosecution under the principle of diplomatic immunity and should be turned over to American authorities. The U.S. also claims Davis acted in self-defense when he shot the two men he says tried to rob him.

Does the U.S. still maintain that position despite the disclosures that Davis was working as a CIA security contractor? "Yes," insisted State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley on Tuesday.

Crowley said U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter met Tuesday in Pakistan with that country's foreign affairs minister, "continuing our work with Pakistani authorities to resolve the issue."

But no easy face-saving resolution for either side appeared in sight.

Pakistan's government thus far has not offered a formal position on the issue of diplomatic immunity, despite efforts to try to ease tensions by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., who visited Pakistan last week at the request of President Barack Obama.

A judge last week put off ruling on the case until mid-March to give the government more time to formulate an official position.

Kerry later said that there were still "very difficult issues" surrounding Davis' legal situation but that several options remained. The senator expressed hope that things will be worked out.

If the dispute continues to fester, it could set back gains the U.S. has claimed in rebuilding trust for Pakistan's military and in winning that country's cooperation in going after al-Qaida and other militants inside the country. The standoff could also threaten billions in U.S. aid.

Also hovering in the background: the security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, given the apparent lack of influence of the fledgling central government.

The controversy is the latest in a series of recent setbacks in U.S-Pakistani relations and underscores growing friction between the CIA and its Pakistani counterpart, the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, commonly known as ISI.

"It certainly complicates relations between the U.S. and Pakistan," said Mark Quarterman, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. "This is an issue that has dominated the headlines and political discourse in Pakistan since the shootings."

In particular, U.S. drone strikes inside Pakistan, which have claimed civilian casualties, are "very unpopular among the Pakistani people," who generally think the government has already acquiesced too much in cooperating with the U.S., he said.

"A relationship that has been strained at times anyway was just sent into a tailspin by the Raymond Davis incident," said Quarterman, who headed a United Nations technical team that helped investigate the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Analysts in both the United States and Pakistan said that the ruling Pakistan People's Party is weak to begin with and that the shooting raises new questions about its ties to Washington and its very stability.

It has only been three years since the party's electoral victories restored civilian democracy after nearly a decade of military rule, and the government is still struggling to get its footing.

"On the one hand, the government wants to please the Americans and bow down to their wishes," said Talat Masood, a Pakistani political and military expert. "On the other hand, it wants to tell the Pakistani people it is not giving in to U.S. pressure."

Previously, the administration had identified Davis as simply "a diplomat." U.S. officials have said he was in Pakistan on a diplomatic passport.

The Associated Press and several other news organizations learned about Davis working for the CIA last month, immediately after the shootings, but withheld publication of the information because it could endanger his life while he was jailed overseas.

The AP had intended to report Davis' CIA employment after he was out of harm's way, but the story was broken Sunday by The Guardian newspaper of London.

He was working as a CIA security contractor — essentially a bodyguard — and living in a safe house in Lahore, according to former and current U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk publicly about the incident.

There are hundreds of CIA employees on the ground in Pakistan, which is one of the agency's biggest stations. Davis' arrest raised concerns about their safety.

Davis, a former Special Forces soldier who left the military in 2003, was arrested Jan. 27 in connection with the fatal shooting of two armed men. Davis said he was defending himself against what he described as an attempted armed robbery as the men approached him on a motorcycle. A third Pakistani, a bystander, died when he was struck by an American consulate vehicle rushing to rescue Davis.

The two men in the response car have since left the country in what has been described by the Pakistanis as a concession to the U.S. Davis was carrying a Glock handgun, a pocket telescope and papers with different identifications.

The State Department maintains that Davis is an accredited member of the technical and administrative staff of the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad. U.S. officials said that the Pakistani government had been informed of his status in January 2010 and that Pakistan is violating its international obligations by continuing to hold him.

Under international law, diplomats are extended a degree of immunity from criminal prosecution in the countries where they are posted.

U.S. lawmakers have raised the possibility of cutting off U.S. aid to Pakistan if it continues to hold Davis. Earlier this month, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., and Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., bluntly told senior Pakistani officials during a trip to the country about the ramifications of their actions.

"I think it is imperative that they release him," Kline told reporters at a news conference, adding there is certainly the possibility that there would be repercussions if they don't.

___

Associated Press writers Adam Goldman and Donna Cassata in Washington and Nahal Toosi in Islamabad contributed to this report.

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Tips lead to teen's arrest in Fla. cop killing (AP)

2011-02-24T04:44:00.000+05:00

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – A daylong manhunt that covered a swath of the city ended when tips led to the arrest of a 16-year-old who faces a murder charge in the shooting of a St. Petersburg police officer, the third killed in the line of duty in the past month.

Officer David Crawford was shot multiple times Monday night while investigating a report of a prowler in a neighborhood just south of Tropicana Field where the Tampa Bay Rays play baseball. About 24 hours later, officials gathered near police headquarters to announce that the teen was in custody facing a juvenile charge of first-degree murder.

The Associated Press does not routinely release the names of those under 18 years old charged with juvenile crimes.

"When he did make the admission on tape for us at the end of the day, it was quite apparent that he was remorseful in his actions," Police Chief Chuck Harmon said during a late night news conference. "He cried."

Helicopters, SWAT teams, dozens of law enforcement and dogs searched for the gunman and a chunk of the city of about 245,000 was closed to traffic for parts of Monday and into Tuesday. The FBI, the St. Petersburg Police and other groups also were offering a reward of $100,000 for information leading to the identification and arrest of the suspect.

Harmon said three tips led officers to the teen and that police were still looking for the gun. The teen had a prior juvenile criminal record but Harmon did not give details. Prosecutors will decide whether the teen will be charged as an adult. The chief said because of the seriousness of the charge and the teen's prior record that he would expect him to face adult charges.

Two officers were checking out the prowler call and Crawford, 46, spotted the suspect and got out of his car. At 10:37 p.m., another officer, Donald J. Ziglar, reported an exchange of gunfire and told dispatchers an officer was down, police said.

Ziglar found Crawford lying on the pavement near his cruiser, shot at close range, police said. Crawford was not wearing a bullet proof vest.

The suspect was taken to a juvenile lockup and his parents were cooperating, the chief said. Police did not have a motive except that there was some exchange between the teen and officer, Harmon said.

"It breaks my heart," he said. "When you have something like this happen, you don't expect this type of confrontation between a 16-year-old and a police officer to end like this."

The suspect is a student in the Pinellas County Schools, but Harmon wouldn't say which school. It wasn't clear how the boy obtained the gun, Harmon said.

Crawford, who was married, eligible for retirement and the father of an adult daughter, was pronounced dead at a hospital. Officers saluted the van that carried his body to the medical examiner's office Tuesday morning. Crawford, who loved horses, lived in a rural community north of St. Petersburg.

On Jan. 24, two St. Petersburg officers — Jeffrey A. Yaslowitz and Thomas Baitinger — were killed as they helped serve a warrant on a man with a long criminal history. Their killer died in the siege. Prior to that, the St. Petersburg Police department hadn't had an officer killed in the line of duty in more than 30 years.

"We're not even done healing from the first tragedy, then boom, we have a second one," said St. Petersburg Detective Mark Marland, who is also the police union president.

St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster said the city will now be able to bury officer Crawford and have some closure — but residents, officers and parents must also learn why a teenager was carrying a handgun.

"We as a community need to stand up and do a better job," Foster said.

___

Associated Press writer David Fischer in Miami contributed to this report.

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Knicks land Anthony, certain he's worth the price (AP)

2011-02-24T03:42:00.000+05:00

GREENBURGH, N.Y. – Players like Carmelo Anthony don't come cheap, and many times they don't come around at all.

So even though it cost much of their core, the New York Knicks couldn't pass up a chance to pair him with Amare Stoudemire.

"I think this puts us in a way ahead of everything, because these are the kind of guys that are really hard to get," Knicks president Donnie Walsh said. "Whether it's in the free agent market or whether they're in a trade, they're very difficult to get. And they're guys that can go out there and get 30 to 40 points in a playoff game."

Yes, the Knicks are talking about the playoffs.

And they think the three-team, 13-player deal they completed Tuesday with Denver and Minnesota will make them better when they get there.

"When you go out hunting, would you rather have a bigger gun or a little gun?" coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We got a bigger gun."

Anthony, who signed a three-year, $65 million extension before the deal was finalized, will join fellow All-Star Stoudemire in the frontcourt, giving the Knicks the potent duo they hoped they could assemble last summer in free agency.

"We liked the way our team played this year and I looked at it and I thought we had one piece that was at the high level of the league. We always wanted two pieces at least," Walsh said.

Stoudemire has led the Knicks to a 28-26 record this season, but said they will be even more dangerous with Anthony bringing his 25.2 points per game to join his 26.1 average.

"Every team needs a 1, 1A punch," Stoudemire said. "And so with the ways that we both can score .... we're very versatile, so it's hard to guard us."

Stoudemire said he had "no doubt" the All-Star forwards and longtime friends could play together, and said Anthony would handle the move to New York as well as he has.

"It's what he wants. It's what I wanted, to come to New York and play on the big stage," Stoudemire said. "He has the same type of swag. This is what he wants and he can handle it. We're going to do it together."

The Knicks also got guards Chauncey Billups and Anthony Carter, and forwards Renaldo Balkman and Shelden Williams from Denver. New York dealt forwards Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari, guard Raymond Felton and center Timofey Mozgov to the Nuggets.

New York also shipped centers Eddy Curry and Anthony Randolph to Minnesota for forward Corey Brewer. Denver acquired center Kosta Koufos from Minnesota, plus New York's first-round draft pick in 2014, second-round picks in 2012 and 2013 and cash.

The Knicks haven't made the playoffs since 2004, but are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference in their first season since acquiring Stoudemire from Phoenix last summer. He thinks the blockbuster deal could make them better equipped to face teams such as Boston or Miami, which already have multiple All-Stars, in the postseason.

"They're pretty good. That's a heck of a trade," Boston coach Doc Rivers said. "Really, it's nice to see. It's a good trade for both teams. I thought Denver got everything it could possibly get in the deal, and I thought the Knicks did everything they could as well. They ended up with Carmelo, Corey Brewer and Chauncey Billups. They have a heck of a basketball team. It just makes the East more interesting."

Miami's LeBron James said he was happy his friend's uncertainty was finally over.

"I think it's great for the NBA," James said. "The fact that the Knicks are back, the Celtics have been back for the last few years and all the other teams are trying to compete, I think it's great."

It was Anthony's refusal to take the extension when the Nuggets offered it to him last summer that forced them to explore trading their leading scorer. The Knicks hoped they could sign him next summer in free agency, but felt they couldn't wait because Anthony wanted the extension this season, before a new collective bargaining agreement next summer could severely restrict salaries, and that could have forced him to lock in long term with whatever team Denver traded him to.

So the Knicks agreed to trade four of their top six players, realizing there were few chances to add a player of Anthony's caliber.

"Now we've got two guys in our stable," D'Antoni said.

The Knicks hope Anthony will be able to play Wednesday when they host Milwaukee. All the players in the deal must pass physicals before any of them can play.

Nuggets president Josh Kroenke said in a statement the Nuggets enjoyed watching Anthony grow during his seven seasons with the team.

"However, Carmelo made it very clear early in the season that he wasn't willing to recommit to the organization and wanted to pursue other opportunities in basketball and life," Kroenke said. "At that point, we decided it was imperative that we do what was in the best interest of the Denver Nuggets and our fans. We wish Carmelo the best in his career and sincerely thank him for what he's helped us accomplish."

New York's once-passionate fan base was turned off by the team's poor play on the court and embarrassing press off it for most of the decade under Isiah Thomas' reign as president and coach. But in the third season under Walsh and D'Antoni, the buzz has come back, and it's only going to get louder once Anthony takes the court.

"New York City was on fire even before this trade happened with Carmelo, thanks to (the traded players) and I think with the help of Carmelo and Chauncey and the rest of the guys, we have a great shot at it," Stoudemire said.

Though Anthony was the focus, the Knicks are excited about the acquisition of Billups, a former NBA finals MVP and five-time All-Star who remains one of the league's top point guards and will orchestrate D'Antoni's pick-and-roll offense.

The Anthony trade saga lasted all season and often overshadowed the Knicks' improved play. During a chaotic final week, the Nuggets entertained offers from the Knicks and New Jersey Nets, with both owners meeting with Anthony during the All-Star weekend in Los Angeles.

Walsh repeated the Knicks' previous denials that Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan — with advice from Thomas — had taken the Anthony pursuit out of his hands and paid more than Walsh would have.

"I'm the one who knows basketball, so my job is to advise him, 'This is good for your franchise,' and I did that," Walsh said.

The Knicks are probably too far back to make a big move in the standings over the final portion of the regular season. But they believe they have enough time to fit in the new players and be a threat if they finally get back to the playoffs.

"It'll be up to the players and I'm sure Carmelo wants to come in and win. He didn't come here just to go to Broadway, he wants to win," D'Antoni said. "Amare I know wants to win, I talked to him. I know Chauncey wants to win, so let's sit down and figure it out. And there's a lot of talent there to figure it out."

___

AP Sports Writers Tim Reynolds in Miami and Antonio Gonzalez in Oakland, Calif. contributed to this report.

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New Zealand quake toll at 75, damage seen at $12 billion (Reuters)

2011-02-24T01:59:00.000+05:00

CHRISTCHURCH (Reuters) – New Zealand rescue teams combed rubble for earthquake survivors late into Wednesday night, but hopes of finding more survivors in some areas was fading and the search in central Christchurch was disrupted by fears badly damaged buildings could collapse.

Police said the number of confirmed dead remained at 75, although that was expected to rise with more than 300 people still missing after Tuesday's 6.3-magnitude earthquake leveled large parts of the country's second-biggest city.

Search teams gave up hope of finding survivors in a flattened television building that was home also to a language school for foreign students, many of them Japanese, while a 26-storey hotel also teetered near collapse.

"If the Hotel Grand Chancellor falls, and three engineers say it is a significant risk, that will be dramatic, a domino effect in the central city of other unstable buildings. It will be a major disaster," police Superintendent Dave Cliff said.

To avoid more deaths and curb crime, police placed an overnight curfew on the CBD, with soldiers patrolling in armored personnel carriers to keep people away as more aftershocks continued to rattle the dangerously unstable center.

Rescue teams had to perform amputations to free some of the 120 survivors so far pulled from the wreckage of the tremor, which was the second to hit the historic tourist city in five months. It was New Zealand's most deadly natural disaster for 80 years, and one estimate said the damage could cost $12 billion.

Early in the afternoon a woman, Ann Bodkin, was rescued from a destroyed finance company building, having spent a day trapped under a desk. Amid cheers, Bodkin, wrapped in blankets, was put into an ambulance suffering from only cuts and scratches.

"Getting her out is just stupendous. I'm a very happy man," her husband told reporters.

But rescuers abandoned the search at the collapsed Canterbury Television building to focus on buildings more likely to still have buried survivors. Among those still unaccounted for were 10 Japanese language students at the school.

"We have had no confirmation that there is any life still present in that space. It's a finite resource. There are other areas of active rescues where we have confirmation of living people," said fire search and rescue head Jim Stuart-Black.

Cliff said as many as 100 bodies could be under the television building, while scores more could lie beneath the city's shattered cathedral and other nearby buildings.

Rescuers, he said, had largely left bodies lying in the rubble to concentrate on the search for survivors.

"There is a deep emotion there, they were touching some of the deceased and having to walk away," he said. A temporary mortuary was being set up at an army base near the city to hold bodies until they could be formally identified.

MASSIVE ECONOMIC IMPACT

Indications of the massive economic impact of the quake are starting to emerge. J.P. Morgan estimated insured losses from the disaster could be $12 billion, according to a source who had seen the research note.

When asked about possible costs, Prime minister John Key told reporters: "No one's in a position to actually assess that." He said he hoped Christchurch could still host rugby World Cup matches later this year as planned.

Key said the country could afford to rebuild Christchurch, but reinsurance risk would probably worsen.

In the city center, roads were buckled, buildings toppled and large pools of water welled up from broken pipes and sewers.

In places, roads had collapsed into a milky, sand-colored lake beneath the surface, the result of Christchurch's sandy foundations mixing with subterranean water under the force of the quake. Officials call it "liquefaction" of the ground.

Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide Estimates said the insurance industry faces damage claims of between NZ$5 billion ($3.5 billion) and NZ$11.5 billion ($8 billion).

Reinsurers Munich Re, Swiss Re and Hannover Re, who help insurers cover big losses, took many weeks to provide damage estimates from the September quake due to complexities of assessing structural damage to buildings.

STATE OF EMERGENCY

A national state of emergency has been declared, and soldiers patrolled Christchurch city. Police imposed a curfew from 6.30 p.m. local time in the badly hit CBD area, while around 300 extra police were called from neighboring Australia.

It is the country's worst natural disaster since a 1931 quake in the North Island city of Napier which killed 256. Christchurch Hospital received an influx of injured residents, with broken limbs, crush injuries and lacerations.

"Some had to have their limbs amputated to get them out, and others have had amputation from the injury itself," said Mike Ardagh, head of Christchurch hospital's emergency department.

Thousands of people were facing a second night in emergency shelters in local schools, community halls and at a racecourse.

Fresh water supplies were railed into the city and distributed from schools and portable toilets set up around the city as services were disrupted. Power was still out in about 80 percent of the city.

Rescuers from the United States, Britain, Taiwan and Japan were en route to New Zealand, with the first of 148 Australian specialists already on the streets. Over 1,000 were expected to comb though shattered Christchurch buildings on Thursday.

The disaster fueled talk that the central bank might cut interest rates in coming weeks to shore up confidence in the already-fragile national economy, but the bank did not mention monetary policy on Wednesday when it commented on the quake.

Seeing the quake as a further blow to the economy, Standard Chartered bank is revising down its 2011 GDP growth forecast for New Zealand to 1.4 percent and 2.7 percent for 2012 -- from 2.0 percent and 3.0 percent respectively, because of a double-dip in the housing market, tightening budget and sluggish local demand.

The local dollar briefly firmed against the U.S. dollar after the central bank omitted any reference to rates. It had sunk to an eight-week low on Monday on the talk of a cut.

The quake's timing was far worse than last year's tremor, which struck at night when streets were empty. Still, that first quake caused damage estimated at up to around $3.7 billion.

($1 = 1.339 New Zealand Dollars)

(Additional reporting by Mantik Kusjanto and Gyles Beckford in Wellington, Denny Thomas in Hong Kong and Jonathan Gould in Frankfurt; Writing by Rob Taylor and Ed Davies; Editing by)

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Barclays beats Lehman in $11 billion "windfall" suit (Reuters)

2011-02-24T00:13:00.000+05:00

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc's hurried sale of much of its U.S. operations to Barclays Plc at the height of the financial crisis was fair, and its bankruptcy estate is not entitled to recover an $11 billion "windfall," a federal judge ruled.

The long-awaited ruling by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Peck followed a trial in which Lehman argued that Barclays got a sweetheart deal in acquiring its U.S. investment banking and brokerage operations.

Lehman agreed to sell that business for about $1.85 billion on September 20, 2008, just five days after the company's Chapter 11 filing became what many consider the seminal event of the global financial crisis.

"The court was not deceived in a manner that should now be permitted to upset the integrity of the sale order," Peck wrote in a 103-page opinion issued late Tuesday. "The sale process may have been imperfect, but it was still adequate under the exceptional circumstances of Lehman Week."

Peck said any disclosure lapses did not affect the "fairness" or outcome of the sale hearing. He said there was an "undeniably correct" perception at the time that the sale "mitigated systemic risk," helped avert "an even greater economic calamity," and benefited all interested parties.

"The court still would have entered the very same sale order because there was no better alternative and, perhaps most importantly, because the sale to Barclays was the means both to avoid a potentially disastrous piecemeal liquidation and to save thousands of jobs in the troubled financial services industry," he said.

Peck's ruling is a setback for Lehman, which last month projected it would have $60.1 billion to pay out to creditors, who believe they are owed six times that amount.

Kimberly Macleod, a Lehman spokeswoman, declined immediate comment, saying the company is reviewing Peck's decision.

Barclays spokesman Michael O'Looney said the British bank is pleased the court found the transaction "the product of arm's length negotiations," and that Barclays acted in good faith.

Lehman has also sued other banks including Bank of America Corp, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, JPMorgan Chase & Co to recover assets for creditors.

The trial over the Barclays transaction lasted 34 days stretching from April to October of last year, Peck wrote.

The case is In re: Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 08-13555.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Gary Hill)

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NZ earthquake toll at 75 dead, 300 missing (AP)

2011-02-23T22:26:00.000+05:00

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand – The siblings sat huddled together Wednesday on sodden grass, staring at smoldering remains of the office tower that collapsed with their mother inside when a powerful earthquake tore apart one of New Zealand's largest cities.

There had been no word from Donna Manning since her workplace came crumbling down Tuesday during a magnitude-6.3 quake that has killed at least 75 people and left some 300 missing. But she was tough, her 18-year-old daughter Lizzy insisted through tears, a "Superwoman" who would do anything to survive.

Then a police officer approached. She knelt before Lizzy and her 15-year-old brother Kent in the rain. And she began to speak: "I have some horrible news ..."

The teens' faces crumpled, and their father wrapped them in an embrace. There was no hope left for anyone trapped inside the building, the officer said gently. Donna, a television presenter — their Superwoman — was gone.

It was one of the darkest moments of Wednesday's desperate hunt for any signs of life in the twisted rubble in the city of Christchurch, as Prime Minister John Key declared the quake a national disaster and analysts estimated its cost at up to $12 billion.

Hundreds of troops, police and emergency workers raced against time and aftershocks that threatened to collapse more buildings. They picked gingerly through the ruins, poking heat-seeking cameras into gaps between tumbles of bricks and sending sniffer dogs over concrete slabs.

More teams rushed in from Australia, Asia, the United States and Britain, along with a military field hospital and teams to help repair power, water and phone lines that were damaged in all corners of the city of some 350,000 people.

The news was grim at the Canterbury Television building, a seven-story concrete-and-glass structure that housed the regional TV network where Manning was a morning presenter and other businesses, including an English language school used by young visitors from Japan and South Korea.

The heavy concrete floors lay piled atop one another Wednesday, its central stairwell tower still standing, but leaning precariously.

"We don't believe this site is now survivable," police operations commander Inspector Dave Lawry told reporters, announcing that rescuers were shifting to sites that were less dangerous and where there was more hope for survivors.

Canterbury TV chairman Nick Smith said 15 of his employees were still missing and assumed inside the collapsed building. Ten Japanese language students were still missing from a group of at least 23 students and teachers who were believed in the building, said Teppei Asano, an Japanese official monitoring the situation.

Not far away, cheers erupted Wednesday as rescuers pulled a woman from another crumpled office tower. Ann Bodkin was reunited with her husband after a painstaking rescue from the twisted metal and concrete remains of the Pyne Gould Guinness building. Coincidentally, giant sunbeams burst through the city's grey, drizzly weather as she emerged.

"They got Ann out of the building and God turned on the lights," Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said.

Many sections of the city of 350,000 people lay in ruins, and police announced a nighttime curfew in a cordoned-off area of downtown to keep people away from dangerous buildings and to prevent opportunistic crime.

Six people had been arrested since the quake for burglary and theft, said police Superintendent Dave Cliff, announcing that anyone on the streets after 6:30 p.m. without a valid reason could be arrested.

One of the city's tallest buildings, the 27-floor Hotel Grand Chancellor, was showing signs of buckling and was in imminent danger of collapsing, Fire Service commander Mike Hall said. Authorities emptied the building and evacuated a two-block radius.

Parker said 120 people were rescued overnight Tuesday, while more bodies were also recovered. About 300 people were still unaccounted for, but this did not mean they were all still trapped, he said.

Key, the prime minister, said early Wednesday that the death toll stood at 75 and was expected to rise. The figure had not been updated by nightfall.

The true toll in life and treasure was still unknown, but the earthquake already was shaping as one of the country's worst disasters.

JP Morgan analyst Michael Huttner conservatively estimated the insurance losses at US$12 billion. That would be the most from a natural disaster since Hurricane Ike in 2008 at $19 billion, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

Rescuers who rushed into buildings immediately after the quake found horrific scenes.

A construction manager described using sledgehammers and chainsaws to cut into the Pyne Gould Guinness building from the roof, hacking downward through layers of sandwiched offices and finding bodies crushed and pulverized under concrete slabs.

One severely trapped man passed away after talking awhile with rescuers, Fred Haering said.

Another had a leg pinned under concrete, and a doctor administered medicine to deaden the pain. A fireman asked Haering for a hacksaw. Haering handed it over and averted his eyes as the man's leg was sawed off, saving him from certain death.

"It's a necessity of the game," Haering said Wednesday. "How are you gonna get out?"

The quake struck just before 1 p.m. local time on Tuesday, when the city was bustling with commerce and tourism. It was was less powerful than a 7.1 temblor that struck before dawn on Sept. 4 that damaged buildings but killed no one. Experts said Tuesday's quake was deadlier because it was closer to the city and because more people were about.

Christchurch's airport reopened Wednesday, and military planes were brought in to fly tourists to other cities.

Officials told people to avoid showering or even flushing toilets, saying the damaged sewer system was at risk of failing. School classes in the city were suspended, and residents advised to stay home.

Christchurch's main hospital was inundated with people suffering head and chest injuries, said spokeswoman Amy Milne. But officials said the health system was coping, with some patients moved to other cities.

Tanker trucks were stationed at 14 spots throughout the city where residents could come to fill buckets and bottles, civil defense officials said, and people asked to catch and save rainwater.

___

Associated Press writers Steve McMorran and Ray Lilley in Wellington, New Zealand and Kelly Doherty in Sydney contributed to this report.

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Rahm Emanuel powers to victory in Chicago mayoral race (Reuters)

2011-02-23T21:08:00.000+05:00

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel was elected mayor of Chicago on Tuesday, powering to a strong majority of the vote to avoid a run-off.

Emanuel will take over as head of the nation's third-largest city in May after the retirement of Richard M. Daley, who has been in office for 22 years.

In his acceptance speech, Emanuel thanked the city for the "humbling victory."

"I am determined with your help to meet our challenges head on and to make a great city even greater," Emanuel said.

His victory ends a chapter in Chicago history. A member of the formidable Daley family has been mayor of Chicago for 43 of the past 56 years. The current mayor's father, Richard J. Daley, was mayor for 21 years, from 1955 until his death in 1976.

Emanuel will face a formidable task as Chicago's finances, like those of many U.S. cities and states, were devastated by the recession.

"Obviously there are lots of problems facing the city and the first task is to get all of the stakeholders of the city together," David Axelrod, former senior adviser to President Barack Obama and Emanuel's close associate on the White House staff, told Reuters at the victory celebration.

"The great thing about the victory he has put together tonight is that he has a strong foundation on which to build. This was not a factional win. It wasn't one part of the city that elected this mayor, it was a city-wide victory. Having been through many, many mayor's races in this city over the last four decades, it's a really refreshing thing to see."

A STYLE FIT FOR CITY OF BIG SHOULDERS?

Known for his hard-driving style and language sometimes laced with profanity, Democrat Emanuel, 51, led opinion polls throughout the campaign. He won endorsements from the city's two major newspapers, the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune, and built a $12 million campaign war chest. He blanketed local television with ads lavishing praise on him from Obama and former President Bill Clinton.

But Emanuel's campaign was not trouble-free. He spent weeks this winter fighting claims that he did not meet residency requirements because of his time working at the White House. A state appeals court threw him off the ballot in late January, but the state's Supreme Court reinstated him.

Emanuel's five rivals, who included former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun and former Chicago public schools president Gery Chico, mostly focused their attacks on him rather than on each other. In the end, none polled over 25 percent of the vote.

He received about 55 percent, comfortably over the majority needed to avoid a runoff with the second place finisher.

"As a Chicagoan and a friend, I couldn't be prouder. Rahm will be a terrific mayor for all the people of Chicago," Obama, who called Emanuel with congratulations, said in a statement.

Emanuel will have to make unpopular choices. Chicago is staggering under fiscal problems, with a $500 million deficit and shortfalls in its public worker pensions.

"The next mayor will face enormously difficult decisions," said Laurence Msall, president of The Civic Federation, a nonpartisan research group.

Emanuel will also have a new, less pliable city council than Daley enjoyed, with 20 of its 50 wards or districts getting new representatives known locally as aldermen, said Dick Simpson, head of the political science at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a former Chicago alderman.

"The new council will not be as rubber stamp as the old one," said Simpson.

Emanuel's reputation as a take-no-prisoners politician may have played well with Chicago voters. "They think he's a strong person," said Simpson, interviewed before the election. "We do tend to like that in our mayors."

Andy Shaw, head of the Better Government Association, a government watchdog group, said the city needs a government that is more efficient, accountable and transparent.

"Chicago's a mess and the voters are looking for someone who is tough and smart -- not likable," Shaw said.

Emanuel supporter Karletta Kelly, 42, said she believes Emanuel will bring "fresh ideas" and challenge the political and the business environment.

"Chicago is a tough city, but I think he will be able to handle it," Kelly said.

(Writing by Mary Wisniewski; Additional reporting by Eric Johnson; Editing by Greg McCune and Peter Bohan)

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Libya live report (AFP)

2011-02-23T19:51:00.000+05:00

1121 GMT: Spain's government says it has sent a plane to Libya to evacuate its citizens, and also plans new economic measures to cope with a hike in oil prices due to the escalating unrest in the country.

The foreign ministry says between 60 and 90 Spaniards still want to leave the country, following the departure of about 50 people.

The government also plans on Friday to discuss whether to pass a new energy law if the tension in Libya, from which it imports 13 percent of its oil, leads to a new hike in the price of oil.

1116 GMT: Some 15,000 Chinese nationals trapped in Libya's insurrection against strongman Moamer Kadhafi will be evacuated by four ferries chartered from Greece, a Greek government source says.

The four vessels -- the Venizelos, Express Santorini, Hellenic Spirit and Olympic Champion -- should reach the Libyan coast by Wednesday night, the official tells AFP.

1114 GMT: Sources tells AFP the charter plane hired by Britain's Foreign Office is still waiting for an answer from the Libyan authorities as to whether they can fly to Tripoli to rescue British nationals.

1100 GMT: The Guardian's Martin Chulov is filing by Twitter from Benghazi. Here are some of his tweets today:

Mass defection of the military here. Beyond a critical mass.... Air force major tells me of witnessing 4k african mercenaries arriving from feb 14 'that's why we turned against them'... Looted weapons still arriving... 3 african mercenaries being held prisoner upstairs... Amazing scenes in yard of ransacked police hq in benghazi... Massive armoury looted from barracks by defecting troops... Camp site set up at benghazi... Large anti-ghadaffi demo here... Effigies of him hanging from looted govt buildings...

1052 GMT: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad expresses outrage at what he says is "unimaginable" repression in Libya, urging world leaders to listen to their people.

"It is unimaginable that someone is killing his citizens, bombarding his citizens," Ahmadinejad says on state television when asked about the situation in Libya.

"How can officers be ordered to use bullets from machine guns, tanks and guns against their own citizens?"

1048 GMT: Jordan's Islamists and other parties say Friday's planned demonstration will also seek "to denounce violence," in which eight people were hurt last week when a mob wielding batons waded into a pro-reform march in Amman.

"Our protest will be a response to the thugs who attacked the protesters and to pressure the government to implement promised reforms," IAF's Bani Rsheid says.

"If the government or its supporters commit acts similar to last Friday's, we will demand the downfall of the government."

Supporters of leftist parties told AFP that they plan to spend the night on Thursday outside Al-Husseini Mosque, in the city centre where they were attacked last Friday.

1044 GMT: Saudi King Abdullah has boosted social benefits for civil servants, students and others ahead of his return to Riyadh after three months of absence, the Saudi Press Agency says.

The king ordered the implementation of a 15 percent pay rise for state employees as well as an increase in the cash available for Saudi housing loans, according to SPA, the official news agency.

The 86-year-old monarch also granted pardon to some prisoners indicted in financial crimes and announced plans to tackle unemployment.

Abdullah is heading home from Morocco, where he had been recuperating after back surgery in the United States, returning to a Middle East rocked by anti-regime uprisings.

1042 GMT: Jordan's powerful Islamist opposition says it plans to stage a "day of anger" demonstration with other parties on Friday to demand reforms, in what they hope will be the largest protest since January.

"Around 10,000 members of the Islamist movement as well as supporters of 19 political parties will take part in the march to call for reforms," Zaki Bani Rsheid of the Islamic Action Front (IAF) executive committee announced.

1037 GMT: Reports today that large parts of Libya are no longer under Kadhafi's control contradict claims overnight by the president of the country's parliament that the army have re-established their positions.

Calm "has been restored in most of the large cities" in Libya, Mohamed Zwei, president of the General People's Congress, said late last night, adding that "security forces and the army have re-established their positions."

Zwei also told a press conference that a commission of enquiry has been set up to investigate the eight-day revolt against Kadhafi.

At the same time, he said "current conditions do not permit holding a meeting of parliament to discuss the reforms" announced earlier this week by Seif al-Islam.

Meanwhile, Jebril el-Kadiki, deputy air force chief of staff, said that arms and ammunitions depots had been bombed in Rajma, near the eastern city of Al-Baida; in Ajdabia and Al-Gueriet in the south and near Zenten and Mezda in the southwest.

Kadiki said all of the facilities are located in desert areas, away from any inhabitation.

1032 GMT: Kadhafi's son Saif al-Islam is expected to hold a news conference today.

1030 GMT: The Financial Times reports that the strongman's family is feuding over the vast business empire his regime has built up since coming to power in 1969. It cites communications between US officials obtained by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks.

Another British daily, The Times, says it has footage of severely wounded and dead protesters in a hospital in the eastern city of Benghazi proving heavy weapons were being used to crush the revolt.

1026 GMT: China's State Council has "decided to immediately deploy chartered civil aircraft, COSCO cargo ships in nearby waters, and Chinese fishing vessels carrying needed living and medical supplies", the foreign ministry says.

China will also look to hire "large-scale passenger cruise ships and buses" to get Chinese works out of Libya, it adds.

1024 GMT: Asian nations are preparing "mammoth" evacuation plans for more than 100,000 migrants trapped in Libya, many of them low-paid labourers toiling on construction sites.

Arrangements to use passenger ships, planes and land routes to Egypt are being considered as governments try to secure their citizens' safety despite poor communication links and growing violence.

The majority of expatriates are contract workers, with 60,000 Bangladeshis, 30,000 Filipinos, 23,000 Thais and 18,000 Indians among those living under Khadafi's tottering regime.

"This is going to be quite a mammoth operation," India's foreign secretary Nirupama Rao tells reporters. "We will have to not only put in place arrangements for aircraft or ships, but also obtain permission from Libyan authorities for our aircraft to land there."

1021 GMT: French President Nicolas Sarkozy has called for the EU to adopt "swift and concrete sanctions" and suspend economic and financial relations with Libya.

"I call on the foreign ministry to propose to our European Union partners the swift adoption of concrete sanctions so that all those involved in the ongoing violence know that they must assume the consequences of their actions," Sarkozy told a cabinet meeting.

"These measures concern notably the possibility of bringing them to face justice, barring them from the Union's territory and surveillance of financial movements," Sarkozy said, according to a text published by his office.

"I would also like to be examined the suspension until further notice of economic, commercial and financial relations with Libya," he adds.

1017 GMT: AFP's Sylvie Lanteaume has looked up the London School of Economics thesis written by Khadhafi's son Saif al-Islam. It's title is: "THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE DEMOCRATISATION OF GLOBAL GOVERNANCE INSTITUTIONS"

As Sylvie says: "You couldn't make it up."

1013 GMT: Saudi king boosts social benefits for citizens: news agency

1007 GMT: In Manama's Pearl Square one woman shouts:"We shall never be humiliated," evoking a traditional Shiite slogan that blares out of megaphones across the square, now renamed "Martyrs' Roundabout" by demonstrators to honour those killed in a deadly police raid.

1004 GMT: In Bahrain, protesters are vowing not to budge from Pearl Square, epicentre of anti-regime demonstrations, despite the release of leading Shiite opposition activists and renewed calls by the king for talks.

One day after a mass demonstration clogged the main roads of Manama, Shiite protesters have again crowded Pearl Square, chanting: "We are brothers, Sunnis and Shiites. We shall not abandon this country."

1000 GMT: Italy's Frattini says: "Cyrenaica is no longer under the control of the Libya government and there are outbreaks of violence across the country."

The Italian government is calling for an immediate end to "this horrible bloodbath" that "the Kadhafi government has announced and is continuing to carry out," Frattini added.

0957 GMT: Oil company BP tells AFP that all families and dependants of its Libya-based expatriate employees have arrived safely at various European locations.

The remainder of the company?s employees in Libya will leave the country in due course and in accordance with enforced curfews, a spokeswoman says.

0952 GMT: Libya's eastern province of Cyrenaica is no longer under the control of Moamer Kadhafi, Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini announces.

0951 GMT: Sarkozy calls for EU sanctions against Libya

0947 GMT: Alessandro Marra, an official at the UN human rights office, tells AFP: "We received the request for a special session this morning, filed by the European Union."

"Forty seven states are supporting the request, not all of them are members of the human rights council," he says. The meeting and debate is due to begin at 10.00 am (0900 GMT) in Geneva on Friday.

0945 GMT: UN rights council to hold special session on Libya on Friday: official

0943 GMT: Libya's eastern Cyrenaica province no longer under Kadhafi control: Italy

0940 GMT: "We have started to suspend some of our production capacity in Libya," a Total spokesman tells AFP, asking not to be named and without providing further details.

Total produced an average of 55,000 barrels per day from its Libyan wells in 2010 or 2.3 percent of the giant's production.

0936 GMT: French energy giant Total says it is "starting to suspend" part of its oil production in Libya where protests against Moamer Kadhafi's rule have killed hundreds.

Follow this live report for a minute-by-minute update of events as they happen in Libya, North Africa and the Middle East. We'll bring you events as they develop after Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's dramatic call for his supporters to confront the protesters today.

Here's a reminder of some of Kadhafi's statements yesterday:

"If I were a president I would have resigned but I have no position to resign from."

"I will die a martyr in the land of my ancestors" and "I will fight to the last drop of my blood."

"The Libyan people are with me. Capture the rats. Go out of your homes and storm them" wherever they are.

"Do you want Libya to be like Somalia? It will lead to civil war if you do not apprehend them."

"Libyan oil should be distributed to all the people. You can take it and do whatever you want to do."

"A small group of people are circulating money and drugs to young people and trying to push them" to rebel.

"We have fought the might of America and Britain and all the nuclear countries. We have fought the might of NATO. We will not surrender."

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Lohan due back in court for jewelry theft case (AP)

2011-02-23T18:16:00.000+05:00

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY, AP Entertainment Writer Anthony Mccartney, Ap Entertainment Writer – 1 hr 19 mins ago

LOS ANGELES – Lindsay Lohan was expected to appear in court Wednesday, where a judge could decide whether an allegation that the actress stole a $2,500 necklace can be resolved without going to trial.

The "Mean Girls" star has pleaded not guilty to a count of felony grand theft over the necklace, which was taken an upscale jewelry store in the beachside community of Venice.

During her arraignment Feb. 9, Lohan's attorney indicated the actress may be willing to take a plea deal if the terms are right.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Keith Schwartz was expected to get reports on Lohan's probation and decide whether the case can be resolved before trial. He has indicated that he thinks Lohan violated her probation on a 2007 drunken driving case, but has not indicated how he will handle the matter.

He also has threatened to jail the actress if she encountered any other problems.

"Everybody else has to follow the law," Schwartz told Lohan this month. "You're no different than anyone else. So please, don't push your luck."

The necklace case has become the latest courthouse issue for Lohan, who was sent to jail twice and rehab twice last year for violating her probation.

She spent three months in rehab at the Betty Ford Center and was accused by a rehab worker there of misdemeanor battery during a December argument. Prosecutors in Riverside County have not yet decided whether to pursue charges in that case.

Roughly three weeks after her release, Lohan was accused of taking the necklace from Kamofie & Co., a jewelry store near Lohan's new home in Venice. The necklace was turned over to detectives before they could serve a warrant to search Lohan's home.

Her career has been stalled for months, with Lohan losing her part in a biopic of porn star Linda Lovelace while she was receiving treatment at Betty Ford.

Lohan's attorney, Shawn Holley, has denied the actress stole the necklace and said that the 24-year-old has passed all drug testing.

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Kadhafi blamed for 'bloodbath,' loses province (AFP)

2011-02-23T16:44:00.001+05:00