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مشاهدة مباراة برشلونة و اشبيلية بث مباشر اليوم 13/3/2011 - Watch match Barcelona vs Sevilla online

2011-03-13T18:07:00.004Z

مشاهدة مباراة برشلونة و اشبيلية بث مباشر اليوم 13/3/2011 - Watch match Barcelona vs Sevilla online

مشاهدة مباراة برشلونة و اشبيلية بث مباشر اليوم مشاهدة مباراة برشلونة و اشبيلية مشاهدة مباراة برشلونة و اشبيلية اونلاين مشاهدة مباراة برشلونة و اشبيلية على الهواء بث مباشر اون لاين فى الدورى الاسبانى يمكنكم مشاهدة البث المباشر لمباراة برشلونة واشبيلية هنا بث مباشر اون لاين
موعد المبارة توقيت المباراة وقت المباراة
اليوم 13 مارس 2011
الساعة 20:00 بتوقيت جيرانتيش

يمكنم مشاهدة قنوات البث المباشر لمباراة برشلونة واشبيلية
من خلال هذا الرابط

http://www.araby-world.net/vb/showthread.php?t=277023

مشاهدة مباراة مصر واستراليا الودية,Watch match egypt vs australia

2010-11-16T05:17:00.001Z

مشاهدة مباراة مصر واستراليا الودية Watch match egypt vs australia live online justin tv 17/11/2010

مشاهدة مباراة مصر واستراليا الودية

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مشاهدة مباراة الاهلى وبتروجيت بث مباشر اليوم 27 اكتوبر Watch match Ahly vs PETROJET Live

2010-10-27T07:06:00.002+01:00

مشاهدة مباراة الاهلى وبتروجيت بث مباشر اليوم 27 اكتوبر Watch match Ahly vs PETROJET Live

Indian court splits holy site into three parts

2010-10-01T03:48:00.001+01:00

October 1, 2010 -- Updated 0214 GMT (1014 HKT)

Disupted holy site to be divided

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

NEW: India remains calm after ruling on site at center of 1992 violence
Muslims have said they will appeal to the Supreme Court
Hindus will be allowed to keep an idol at the site, the court rules
The northern town has been a religious flashpoint for more than 400 years

New Delhi, India (CNN) -- A disputed holy site in India will be divided in an attempt to satisfy competing religious claims to the site, the Allahabad High Court ruled Thursday.
Muslims, Hindus and a local sect all will get part of the land at Ayodhya, the court said.
Muslims have already said they will appeal to the Supreme Court.
Thousands of people have died in sectarian violence in India since Hindu extremists razed a Muslim mosque on the site in 1992. Many Hindus believe the site is the birthplace of one of their most revered deities.
They will be allowed to keep an idol in a makeshift temple under the central dome at the site, Judge S. U. Khan announced in his ruling. Khan is one of three judges on the high court.
"All three sets of parties, i.e., Muslims, Hindus and Nirmohi Akhara are declared joint title holders of the property," Khan wrote.

Video: Muslims, Hindus will divide Ayodhya

Video: Not just any land fight

RELATED TOPICS

India

He gave them three months to come up with proposals for which sections of the property they want, while awarding some specific areas to Nirmohi Akhara, a local Hindu sect.
India beefed up security across the country as it braced for the verdict, deploying hundreds of thousands of troops in anticipation of possible violence.
The destruction of Ayodhya's Babri mosque in 1992 sparked religious riots across India, in which more than 2,000 people died. It was some of the worst violence the country has seen since independence in 1947.
But India appeared to remain calm on Thursday. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged citizens not to let extremists stir up violence.
"Often it is only a few mischief makers who create divisions in our society. I would appeal to my countrymen to be vigilant and not let such people succeed in disrupting peace and harmony," he said in a statement after the ruling was announced.
"It is my hope that the response of the people of India to the judgement will be respectful, dignified and do our country proud," he said, adding that it was "correct" to maintain the status quo until the Supreme Court hears the case.
The Allahabad court was asked to rule on a number of issues in addition to the dispute over the ownership of the land, which has been going on for decades.
But it is not clear from their rulings if the judges were able to agree on points including whether the Hindu deity Lord Rama was actually born there and when the Babri Mosque was built.
Like India itself, they appear to have split on religious lines.
India is a majority Hindu country, but has more than 160 million Muslims. In fact, only two other countries, Indonesia and Pakistan, have more Muslims than India, although India is only about 13 percent Muslim, according to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
India's government was determined to prevent sectarian violence over the Ayodhya ruling.
Paramilitary forces were deployed in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Home Ministry spokesman Onkar Kedia said Thursday. In the rest of the country, paramilitary forces and air force aircraft are being kept on reserve.
About 190,000 forces are in place in Uttar Pradesh, Kedia said, without disclosing the total number of troops that have been deployed across India as a "precautionary measure."
India's Home Ministry also has temporarily banned bulk text messages and has urged the media to exercise restraint and to not sensationalize any possible violence.
The town of Ayodhya has been a religious flashpoint for more than 400 years. Hindus believe that Lord Rama, one of the religion's most revered deities, was born there.
The Babri Mosque was built on the site after the region became part of the Mughal Empire in the 1500s.
Two years after independence, in 1949, the gates to the site were locked after Muslims claimed Hindus had placed deities of Rama in their area.
Hindu groups have pushed to build a temple in Ayodhya, to replace the mosque torn down by Hindu extremists.

This month, Hindus and Muslims were urged to pray for peace after a judgment date was announced, and some Ayodhya residents fled to avoid potential violence.

Forex YouTube VideoTop Market Themes Sept 20 - Sept 26

2010-09-20T21:03:00.000+01:00

Forex YouTube VideoTop Market Themes Sept 20 - Sept 26

What the Fed Can Do to Tighten the Money Supply

2010-09-08T21:40:00.002+01:00

What the Fed Can Do to Tighten the Money Supply

Published: Wednesday, 8 Sep 2010 | 12:32 PM ET

Text Size

By: Reuters

The U.S. Federal Reserve Wednesday said it would conduct further term deposit facility auctions to prepare for an eventual exit from its ultra-easy monetary policy.

The Fed's announcement, which it said had no implications for current monetary policy, comes when markets are focused on whether the Fed—the U.S. central bank—will have to ease more to support a weakening recovery.

Below are some of the tools the Fed has at its disposal for eventually tightening monetary policy.

The Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington, DC. The Fed has many tools to tighten monetary policies.

Paying Interest on Excess Reserves

The interest rate the Fed pays on excess reserves will be the one to watch once the Fed begins to raise borrowing costs.

By raising the rate it pays on bank reserves, the Fed creates a magnet for banks to keep those reserves with the Fed rather than lend them out.

"By increasing the interest rate on reserves, the Federal Reserve will be able to put significant upward pressure on all short-term interest rates, as banks will not supply short-term funds to the money markets at rates significantly below what they can earn by holding reserves at the Federal Reserve Banks," Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers on March 25.

A number of central banks around the world have effectively used similar tools.

Large-Scale Reverse Repurchase Agreements

The Fed could arrange large-scale reverse repurchase agreements (reverse repos), with financial market participants.

This would temporarily drain reserves from the banking system and reduce excess liquidity at other institutions.

This would be one way the Fed could tighten the linkage between interest on reserves and other short-term market interest rates, Bernanke said on July 21.

Reverse repos involve the sale by the Fed of securities from its portfolio with an agreement to buy them back at a slightly higher price at a later date.

Term Deposit Facility

The Fed began testing its new term deposit facility for banks in June, using auctions to offer term deposits for banks that are akin to the certificates of deposit banks offer retail customers.

Obama slams GOP leadership, economic policies

2010-09-08T21:28:00.000+01:00

Obama slams GOP leadership, economic policies

By The CNN Wire Staff

September 8, 2010 -- Updated 1950 GMT (0350 HKT)

President Obama speaks to a group September 8 at Cuyahoga Community College in Parma, Ohio.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Obama highlights new economic growth plans
He accuses the GOP of putting politics ahead of the economic recovery
The president singles out House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio
He attacks Republicans in a speech outside Cleveland, Ohio

(CNN) -- President Obama opened the post-Labor Day stretch of the midterm campaign in the perennial swing state of Ohio on Wednesday, accusing the GOP of pushing bankrupt economic policies and putting politics ahead of national welfare.

He pushed a new $350 billion plan to lift the sagging economy, including $200 billion in tax cuts for businesses to purchase new equipment and write off 100 percent of new investments through the end of 2011.

The president also highlighted a $50 billion proposal for infrastructure investment, as well as $100 billion to permanently extend tax credits to businesses for research and development.

He stood by his plan to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire for people making over $250,000, while extending the cuts for those making less.

Obama refused to use the word "stimulus" to describe his new proposals. Republicans have repeatedly savaged the White House for the controversial $862 billion recovery stimulus plan passed last year, arguing that it ballooned the deficit while failing to revive the economy.

But Obama saved his strongest rhetoric for his GOP opponents, especially House Minority Leader John Boehner.

Video: Caught off guard

Video: Obama to push for tax cuts

RELATED TOPICS

The Ohio Republican -- in line to become House speaker if the GOP wins control of Congress -- has rejected new ideas and embraced "the same philosophy we already tried for the last decade -- the same philosophy that led to this mess in the first place," Obama told a crowd outside Cleveland.

Boehner and other Republicans are trying to ride a wave of "fear and anger all the way to Election Day," Obama said.

The election is about "fear versus hope (and) the past versus the future. It's still a choice between sliding backward and moving forward. That's what this election is about. That's the choice you'll face in November."

Obama spoke longingly of a proud Republican tradition of producing "serious leaders for serious times." Current GOP leaders, he said, are more interested in "playing games and scoring points."

Boehner immediately lashed back at Obama, declaring in a written statement that if the president "is serious about finally focusing on jobs, a good start would be taking the advice of his recently departed budget director and freezing all tax rates, coupled with cutting federal spending to where it was before all the bailouts, government takeovers, and 'stimulus' spending sprees."

Former White House Budget Director Peter Orszag recently offered an alternative to Obama's plan on the issue of whether the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy should be scrapped, asserting in a New York Times op-ed that failing to extend the tax cuts for the rich over the next couple of years would make an "already stagnating jobs market worse."

Orszag, however, proposed allowing all of the Bush tax cuts to expire after two more years.

Adult services censored on Craigslist

2010-09-04T22:22:00.001+01:00

Adult services censored on Craigslist

By the CNN Wire Staff

September 4, 2010 -- Updated 2117 GMT (0517 HKT)

The Craigslist website has been under fire for allegations that it promotes prostitution.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

NEW: Connecticut attorney general praises action
The word "censored" replaces the section where adult services used to be
The website has been accused of promoting prostitution in its adult services section
Seventeen attorneys general urge Craigslist to replace the section

(CNN) -- Online classified service Craigslist's decision to censor its adult services section could be a model for other websites, a leader in the fight against prostitution ads said Saturday.

"This step is very much in the right direction," said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who spearheaded a letter from 17 attorneys general who recently banded together to urge Craigslist to discontinue its adult services section.

The embattled website has been under fire for allegations that it promotes prostitution.

"These prostitution ads enable human trafficking and assaults on women," said Blumenthal. "They are flagrant and rampant. Craigslist has lacked the wherewithal or will to effectively screen them out."

The section that usually reads "adult services" on Craigslist was replaced by the word "censored."

It was not immediately clear whether Craigslist removed the adult services and replaced them with the "censored" section, which had a link that was not active. But for users who accessed the account outside the U.S., the erotic services link was still active.

Craigslist representatives did not return messages Saturday.

"The message here is put people over profits," said Blumenthal, who is running for the U.S. Senate from Connecticut as a Democrat. He said officials will continue monitoring Craigslist and other websites for such content.

"The increasingly sharp public criticism of Craigslist's Adult Services section reflects a growing recognition that ads for prostitution -- including ads trafficking children -- are rampant on it," the attorneys general had said in an Aug. 24 letter to Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster and Founder Craig Newmark.

A Craigslist spokeswoman said at the time that the site agreed with at least some of the letter.

"We strongly support the attorneys general desire to end trafficking in children and women, through the Internet or by any other means," said Susan MacTavish Best, who handles press inquiries for Craigslist.

"We hope to work closely with them, as we are with experts at nonprofits and in law enforcement, to prevent misuse of our site in facilitation of trafficking, and to combat such crimes wherever they appear, online or offline."

In their letter, the attorneys general highlighted an open letter, which appeared as a Washington Post ad, in which two girls said they were sold for sex on Craigslist.

When the ad came out, Buckmaster wrote a blog post in response that said, "Craigslist is anxious to know that the perpetrators in these girls' cases are behind bars."

The letter also highlighted a report in May by CNN's Amber Lyon, who posted a fake ad for a girl's services in the adult section. She received 15 calls soliciting sex in three hours.

Earlier this month, Lyon interviewed a woman named "Jessica" who sells sex on Craigslist. The woman said a Craigslist ad was "the fastest, quickest way you're for sure going to see somebody that day."

In a later blog post, Buckmaster said Craigslist implemented manual screening of adult services ads in May 2009. "Since that time, before being posted each individual ad is reviewed by an attorney," the post said.

He said the attorneys are trained to enforce Craigslist's posting guidelines, "which are stricter than those typically used by yellow pages, newspapers, or any other company that we are aware of."

Attorneys general from Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia made the request a week after accused "Craigslist killer" Philip Markoff committed suicide in jail.

Markoff was charged with the April 2009 killing of Julissa Brisman. Boston Police said that Brisman, a model, advertised as a masseuse on Craigslist, and Markoff might have met her through the website.

In 2008, under pressure from state prosecutors, the website raised the fees for posting adult services ads. In 2009, it started donating portions of the money generated by adult ads to charity.

A CNN investigation of Craigslist's adult services section, which replaced "erotic services ads" two years ago, counted more than 7,000 ads in a single day. Many offered thinly veiled "services" for anything from $50 for a half-hour to $400 an hour.

California gay marriage can resume next week: judge

2010-08-13T08:47:00.000+01:00

By Dan Levine

SAN FRANCISCO | Thu Aug 12, 2010 10:41pm EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A federal judge ruled on Thursday that gay marriages could resume next week in California while his landmark ruling last week that overturned a ban on same-sex matrimony is appealed.The order to allow gay marriage will take effect at 5 p.m. PDT on Wednesday.
That will give an appeals court time to consider "in an orderly manner" whether the voter-approved ban, known as Proposition 8, should be left intact while appellate judges weigh the merits of the overall case, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker ruled.
Late on Thursday, defenders of Proposition 8 filed papers asking the appellate court to block same-sex marriages for the duration of the broader appeal.
Both sides expect the case eventually to be appealed right up to the U.S. Supreme Court, giving the California legal battle national importance. The case against Prop 8 marks the first major challenge in federal court to a state law barring marriage between same-sex couples.
Gay rights advocates and civil libertarians have cast the legal battle as a fight for equal rights, while opponents, including many religious conservatives, see same-sex marriage as a threat to the traditional family.
Thirty-nine U.S. states have laws explicitly prohibiting gay marriage. Only five states -- Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire -- and the District of Columbia -- allow same-sex unions.
Thursday's ruling left neither side completely happy.
San Francisco City Hall's steps were lined with gay couples hoping for a green light from Walker to wed and their supporters.
"I think they should have lifted the stay today," said James Olivera, 58, a gay marriage supporter.
"God's holy law has been trampled on by one person," responded Viktor Choban, 27, a supporter of the ban.
Walker ruled last week that Prop 8 violated due-process and equal-protection rights under the U.S. Constitution.
On Thursday, he wrote that proponents of the ban had failed to show any irreparable harm that could arise from allowing gay weddings to go forward while the matter is under appeal.
"Proponents had a full opportunity to provide evidence in support of their position and nevertheless failed to present even one credible witness on the government interest in Proposition 8," he wrote.
NO SURPRISE
Walker's decision to delay his ruling did not come as a surprise, said Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Legal Rights.
"There's both a political dimension here, and there's a human dimension," Kendell said. "Walker certainly wants to avoid any sort of stutter step when it comes to the ability of people to marry and to do so with some certainty."
A three-judge panel including two leading progressive judges is likely to decide whether to keep the ban in place for the year or more the appeal takes.
Charles Cooper, the lead trial attorney for Protectmarriage.com, a supporter of Prop 8, said he expected the appeals court to support voters behind the ban.
"The decision whether to redefine the institution of marriage is for the people themselves to make, not a single district court judge, especially without appellate scrutiny," he said in a statement.

German Economy Surges, Biggest Gain in 23 Years

2010-08-13T08:43:00.000+01:00

German Economy Surges, Biggest Gain in 23 Years

Germany's economy grew 2.2 percent in the second quarter, well above forecast and its biggest gain in 23 years, boding well for a first estimate of euro zone numbers later on Friday.

The surge led Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle to say growth of well above 2 percent was possible for the full year — above the government's official forecast of 1.4 percent but in line with the more upbeat end of analysts' expectations.

Getty Images

The Victory Column in Berlin

The euro [EUR=X 1.2878 0.005 (+0.39%) ] gained ground after the data and European stock markets rose on opening.

But analysts remain cautious about the pace of growth going forward as budget cuts kick in across Europe in the second half of this year.

"Looking ahead, it is almost needless to say that the current growth momentum is hardly sustainable in the coming months," said Carsten Brzeski, economist at ING Financial Markets.

"With the one-off impact from the construction sector and normalizing of export growth, German growth will return to more ordinary growth numbers," he added.

The Federal Statistics Office's preliminary quarter-on-quarter reading compared to a Reuters consensus forecast for a 1.3-percent expansion.

First-quarter growth was revised up to show growth of 0.5 percent, after being previously reported at 0.2 percent.

Year-on-year, the economy grew by 4.1 percent in the second quarter, the data showed.

This followed a revised 2.1 percent expansion in the January-March period and beat expectations for 2.4 percent growth year on year.

"Positive impulses ... came both from the domestic economy as well as from abroad," the Statistics Office said in a statement.

"The dynamics of investments and of exports had the biggest part in the upswing; but expenditure in private and state consumption also contributed to the growth of the GDP."

In other positive news from Germany, steelmaker ThyssenKrupp raised its outlook for this year after its third-quarter earnings beat estimates on the back of robust demand from the automotive and engineering sectors.

Preliminary euro zone economic growth data, due at 0900 GMT, are expected to show the euro zone expanded a slower 0.7 percent in the second quarter after 0.2 percent growth in the first three months of the year.

Israeli, arrested at airport, is suspect in Michigan killings

2010-08-13T08:38:00.000+01:00

Israeli, arrested at airport, is suspect in Michigan killings

By the CNN Wire Staff

August 13, 2010 -- Updated 0104 GMT (0904 HKT)

Police: Abuelazam in Virginia at time of attacks

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Elias Abuelazam, 33, is in custody in Atlanta, Georgia, in connection with five killings
The suspect was trying to board a Delta flight to Tel Aviv, Israel, officials say
Police say a total of 18 stabbings in Michigan, Virginia and Ohio are linked
Five people died in the attacks in Michigan

Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- A 33-year-old Israeli citizen was charged with assault with intent to murder in Michigan Thursday in connection with 18 stabbings that left five people dead across three states, according to a Michigan prosecutor.
Elias Abuelazam was arrested Wednesday night at Hartsfield Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia. Abuelazam was trying to board a flight to Israel when he was taken into custody, police said Thursday.
The stabbings occurred in Michigan, Virginia and Ohio. Genesee County, Michigan. Prosecutor David Leyton said the lone charge filed against Abuelazam is related to a stabbing in Flint, Michigan on July 27.
With a manhunt on in connection to the stabbing spree, Michigan police received a tip that sent them Wednesday to a market where the suspect worked, Leyton said. After talking with employees, police watched surveillance video to determine if he matched the physical description of the attacker.
After tracking him to Louisville, Kentucky, authorities learned he had bought a $3,000 ticket from Atlanta to Tel Aviv, Israel, paid for by his uncle. Leyton said Abuelazam had flown from Detroit, Michigan, to Louisville and then on to Atlanta. It was not clear whether he was already en route to Atlanta when authorities identified him as a suspect in the killings.

Video: Authorities identify man arrested

Video: Survivors react to arrest

Video: Arrest linked to serial stabbings case

Video: Are stabbings racially motivated?

A federal law enforcement official involved in the investigation said the man was traveling on an expired Israeli passport but was in the United States legally.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said they arrested Abuelazam at 10 p.m. ET as he attempted to board Delta Flight 152 bound for Tel Aviv. A Homeland Security official told CNN that the National Targeting Center had found his name on the passenger list.
Upon confirmation of his identity, the man was placed in the custody of the FBI and the Atlanta Police Department.
Over the past week investigators from a Michigan task force; police departments in Leesburg, Virginia, and Toledo, Ohio; the FBI and numerous other law enforcement agencies have investigated leads and tips from the public.
Authorities have said the same person is responsible for three recent attacks in Leesburg, Virginia, the stabbing deaths of five people and wounds to nine others in the Flint, Michigan, area and a stabbing Saturday that wounded a man in Toledo, Ohio.
Fourteen of the 16 victims in Michigan were African-American, police said. Flint is a majority African-American community. In majority-white Leesburg, Virginia, two victims were black and one was Latino.
Leesburg Police Chief Joseph Price said he believed the suspect was targeting African-Americans.
"For our community... when you look at our demographics and you look at the victims here, my belief is he selected the victims in Leesburg based on the color of their skin," Price said.
The Michigan attacks began May 24, with the most recent taking place August 2. The three attacks in Virginia occurred Tuesday, Thursday and Friday of last week.
The Michigan victims ranged in age from 17 to 60, authorities said. All of the victims were men, and in two cases they were people with special needs.
The suspect is said to have approached victims who were on foot during the early morning hours, asking for directions or other assistance to lure them close to his car, police said. Sgt. Bill Wauford of the Toledo Police Department said the method of attack in the Ohio case matched that described in the Michigan incidents.
The five Michigan fatalities were identified as David Motley, Emmanuel Dent, Darwin Marshall, Frank Kellybrew and Arnold Miner.
Leyton said Abuelazam worked in Flint until August 2 and then told fellow workers he was going to Virginia. He said the suspect had lived in the Flint area since May in a home owned by his uncle. The suspect had a previous address in Florida.
Arlington, Virginia, police arrested the suspect on August 5 for failure to obey a highway sign. At the time, police learned he had an outstanding warrant for a prior assault and he was arrested and his 1996 Chevy Blazer was impounded. Police found a knife and hammer inside the car.
But he was released that day, and the circumstances of his release were not clear.
Also that day, a victim was stabbed in the area, but he told police the assailant was driving a different vehicle. The Blazer was returned to the suspect that night.
Abuelazam was in all three states at the time of the stabbings in those states, according to authorities. After police identified his vehicle, they tracked him near an airport in Louisville, Kentucky.
Leyton said the suspect was in Toledo at the time of the stabbing there.
Investigators continue to investigate and Leyton said more charges are expected.
Members of the Michigan task force were in Atlanta Thursday, and Leyton's office was preparing papers for extradition.
According to Tracy Flanagan of the Fulton County Sheriff's Office, Abuelazam was processed at the Fulton County Jail and is being held there for the 68th District Court of Flint, Michigan. Barring special circumstances, he should have an extradition hearing in the coming days.

"We ought to remember the victims in all of this," Leyton said. "You have real people who have died and real families who have been torn apart. Our heart goes out to them."

UN: Wartime rape no more inevitable, acceptable than mass murder

2010-08-13T08:36:00.002+01:00

UN: Wartime rape no more inevitable, acceptable than mass murder

From Gabriella Casanas, CNN

August 13, 2010 -- Updated 0522 GMT (1322 HKT)

Margot Wallstrom is the U.N. secretary-general's special representative on sexual violence in conflict.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Wartime rape is "the least condemned and most silenced war crime," U.N. official says
U.N. initiative aims to put sexual violence in conflicts on international policy map
U.N. is monitoring five countries because of sexual violence in conflicts
In Congo, more than 200,000 women have been raped in 12 years of fighting, U.N. says

United Nations (CNN) -- The United Nations is trying to put sexual violence on the international policy map, telling political and military leaders that wartime mass rape "is no more inevitable than, or acceptable than, mass murder."
Rape is being used by armed groups to reignite flames of conflict and to terrorize and humiliate communities in Africa, according to Letitia Anderson, women's rights specialist with the U.N.'s Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict initiative.
The U.N. is monitoring five countries closely because of sexual violence in conflicts. The five are the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), Liberia, the Darfur region in Sudan, Chad and Cote d'Ivoire (formerly Ivory Coast).
But it's not just Africa at which the U.N. is looking; it's cross-regional, Anderson told CNN.
She said armed groups are branding the bodies of women and children with signature patterns, as cattle are branded, in places such as Congo, leaving scars so that their families and community members know they are victims of aggravated sexual violence.
U.N. officials cite not just the mass scale of such crimes, but the horrific nature of the crimes as well.
"Many are child soldiers, and they maybe have to rape their mother or their siblings and then kill them afterwards," said Margot Wallstrom, the U.N. secretary-general's special representative on sexual violence in conflict.
There have been no reparations for survivors in Africa because of the complete collapse of the legal system during conflicts, Anderson said.
Wartime rape "is one of the great peace and security challenges of our time," she said, but added it "has been the least condemned and most silenced war crime."
Wallstrom told reporters recently that in modern war, "rape is not a side effect, but it is actually a new frontline."
U.N. action on that frontline has included a 2008 Security Council unanimous adoption of a resolution acknowledging rape as a tactic of war and an impediment to peace.
With the U.N.'s Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict initiative, U.N. representatives have tried to put sexual violence in the spotlight.
In May, Wallstrom took the U.N.'s message to the Democratic Republic of Congo where, she said, more than 200,000 women have been raped in the past 12 years of conflict
She visited Liberia in June and learned rape is still the No. 1 reported crime. One government survey in a Liberian county in 2005-2006 found that 92 percent of 1,600 women interviewed reported that they had experienced some form of sexual violence, including rape.
Tackling stereotypes about the crime of rape will help ease the shame many societies attach to rape, and initiating discourse is the first step "to break the silence," she said, repeating a well-known phrase among anti-rape advocates worldwide. Her message is motivated by the women and children she's met, Wallstrom said, adding, "Survivors are their own best advocates."
"The word 'woman' is not synonymous with 'victim' or 'vulnerable,' " Wallstrom added. "The women that I've met in the DRC, in Liberia, are agents of recovery and change."
As the U.N. initiative works to fight against wartime rape and to protect victims of that crime, Wallstrom sees her own U.N. role in a highly personal perspective.

"I'm responsible not only to the secretary-general and Security Council," she said, "but above all, to the survivors of this soul-shattering crime."

Fed U.S Looks to Spur Growth by Buying Government Debt

2010-08-10T21:15:00.000+01:00

Fed Looks to Spur Growth by Buying Government Debt

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Ben S Bernanke

Ben S Bernanke, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve. Photographer: Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg

By Scott Lanman - Aug 10, 2010 9:56 PM GMT+0300

Fed to Reinvest Mortgage Proceeds

Ben S Bernanke, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve. Photographer: Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg

Federal Reserve officials will maintain their holdings of securities to prevent money from being drained out of the financial system in their first attempt to bolster the economy in more than a year.

The central bank said it will reinvest principal payments on its mortgage holdings into long-term Treasury securities. The Fed retained a commitment to keep its benchmark interest rate close to zero for an “extended period.”

“The pace of economic recovery is likely to be more modest in the near term than had been anticipated,” the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement after meeting today in Washington. “To help support the economic recovery in a context of price stability, the Committee will keep constant the Federal Reserve’s holdings of securities at their current level.”

Stocks pared losses, the dollar weakened and Treasuries rallied. With growth slowing in the second quarter and company job gains in July falling short of estimates, today’s step signals that risks of a downturn have increased enough for the Fed to delay its exit from unprecedented stimulus. Chairman Ben S. Bernanke told Congress last month that the Fed was “prepared to take further policy actions as needed.”

“With the economy slowing and inflation low, it is too early to pull in the horns,” said John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina. “The last thing they want is a smaller balance sheet.”

Concentrating Purchases

The New York Fed, in a subsequent statement, said it aims to keep its holdings in the System Open Market Account at about $2.054 trillion, the amount it held on Aug. 4. The Fed plans to “concentrate its purchases” in two-year to 10-year Treasuries, the statement said.

The central bank will “continue to roll over” its holdings of Treasury securities as they mature, the FOMC said. The reinvestment policy applies to agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities held by the central bank.

The central bank left the overnight interbank lending rate target unchanged in a range of zero to 0.25 percent, where it’s been since December 2008. High unemployment, low inflation and stable price expectations “are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period,” the Fed said, repeating language from every policy meeting since March 2009.

“The pace of recovery in output and employment has slowed in recent months,” the FOMC said. The Fed will “continue to monitor the economic outlook and financial developments and will employ its policy tools as necessary to promote economic recovery and price stability.”

‘Subdued’ Inflation

U.S. central bankers repeated that inflation is “likely to be subdued for some time.” Prices in June rose 1.4 percent from a year earlier, the third straight month of slowing gains under the Fed’s preferred index, which excludes food and energy costs.

Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig dissented from the decision for the fifth straight meeting.

Fed policy makers, at their last meeting in June, judged that the central bank “would need to consider whether further policy stimulus might become appropriate if the outlook were to worsen appreciably,” according to minutes of the session. Records of today’s meeting will be released Aug. 31.

Bernanke said in an Aug. 2 speech that “we have a considerable way to go to achieve a full recovery in our economy.” Still, he avoided signaling that the central bank would reverse months of reductions in record stimulus and liquidity programs, including the end to $1.7 trillion in purchases of housing debt and Treasuries.

Bullard Comments

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said July 29 that while he expects a continued recovery, policy makers should be ready to buy Treasuries if the economy slows further.

The Fed’s last move in favor of easier policy came in March 2009, when policy makers agreed to buy $300 billion of Treasuries and more than double planned mortgage-debt purchases to $1.45 trillion while starting a pledge to keep the benchmark rate close to zero for an “extended period.”

This year the central bank stopped buying assets, raised the rate on direct loans to banks and shut emergency-lending programs for corporations, bond dealers and money-market mutual funds. It’s also developed tools for raising rates with a near- record $2.3 trillion balance sheet.

Today’s decision defied easy prediction after a report Aug. 6 showed U.S. private employers added 71,000 jobs in July, below the 90,000 median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.5 percent. Including government workers, the U.S. lost 131,000 jobs in July, compared with the median estimate of 65,000.

Consumer Spending

The weak job market has inhibited growth in consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy. Such expenditures rose at a 1.6 percent pace last quarter, down from a 1.9 percent rate in the previous three months that was smaller than previously estimated.

Aeropostale Inc., a retailer to teenagers whose sales rose in July at one-seventh the pace analysts predicted, said changing consumer preferences and a “challenging” retail environment hampered spending. Sales at J.C. Penney Co., a department-store chain, fell 0.6 percent last month.

Still, Bernanke and other officials in recent weeks had maintained their outlook for a pickup in the economy over the next year. Corporate spending on equipment and software jumped at a 22 percent annual rate last quarter.

While weakness in housing and commercial real estate will restrain the recovery, and the job market’s “slow recovery” weighs on consumers, “rising demand from households and businesses should help sustain growth,” Bernanke said in a speech last week in Charleston, South Carolina.

Profit Outlook

United Parcel Service Inc., the world’s largest package- delivery company, raised its annual profit forecast last month and posted second-quarter earnings that climbed more than analysts estimated on increased demand overseas.

The S&P 500 Index has rebounded 12 percent as of yesterday from its low this year on July 1.

Investors don’t expect the Fed to raise the federal funds rate until late 2011, based on futures contracts on the Chicago Board of Trade.

The housing market has faltered since a federal tax incentive for first-time homebuyers expired in April. Sales of previously owned homes fell 5.1 percent in June from May, housing starts slid to the lowest level in eight months and the 330,000 annual pace of new-home sales was the second-lowest in data going back to 1963 after May’s 267,000 rate.

The National Bureau of Economic Research, an academic group with a committee that marks the start and end of recessions, has yet to announce a date for the end of the downturn that started in December 2007, even after four straight quarters of growth. Some panel members including Stanford University’s Robert Hall and Jeffrey Frankel of Harvard University have said it’s clear the contraction has probably ended.By Scott Lanman - Aug 10, 2010 9:56 PM GMT+0300

Fed to Reinvest Mortgage Proceeds

Ben S Bernanke, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve. Photographer: Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg

Federal Reserve officials will maintain their holdings of securities to prevent money from being drained out of the financial system in their first attempt to bolster the economy in more than a year.

The central bank said it will reinvest principal payments on its mortgage holdings into long-term Treasury securities. The Fed retained a commitment to keep its benchmark interest rate close to zero for an “extended period.”

“The pace of economic recovery is likely to be more modest in the near term than had been anticipated,” the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement after meeting today in Washington. “To help support the economic recovery in a context of price stability, the Committee will keep constant the Federal Reserve’s holdings of securities at their current level.”

Stocks pared losses, the dollar weakened and Treasuries rallied. With growth slowing in the second quarter and company job gains in July falling short of estimates, today’s step signals that risks of a downturn have increased enough for the Fed to delay its exit from unprecedented stimulus. Chairman Ben S. Bernanke told Congress last month that the Fed was “prepared to take further policy actions as needed.”

“With the economy slowing and inflation low, it is too early to pull in the horns,” said John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina. “The last thing they want is a smaller balance sheet.”

Concentrating Purchases

The New York Fed, in a subsequent statement, said it aims to keep its holdings in the System Open Market Account at about $2.054 trillion, the amount it held on Aug. 4. The Fed plans to “concentrate its purchases” in two-year to 10-year Treasuries, the statement said.

The central bank will “continue to roll over” its holdings of Treasury securities as they mature, the FOMC said. The reinvestment policy applies to agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities held by the central bank.

The central bank left the overnight interbank lending rate target unchanged in a range of zero to 0.25 percent, where it’s been since December 2008. High unemployment, low inflation and stable price expectations “are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period,” the Fed said, repeating language from every policy meeting since March 2009.

“The pace of recovery in output and employment has slowed in recent months,” the FOMC said. The Fed will “continue to monitor the economic outlook and financial developments and will employ its policy tools as necessary to promote economic recovery and price stability.”

‘Subdued’ Inflation

U.S. central bankers repeated that inflation is “likely to be subdued for some time.” Prices in June rose 1.4 percent from a year earlier, the third straight month of slowing gains under the Fed’s preferred index, which excludes food and energy costs.

Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig dissented from the decision for the fifth straight meeting.

Fed policy makers, at their last meeting in June, judged that the central bank “would need to consider whether further policy stimulus might become appropriate if the outlook were to worsen appreciably,” according to minutes of the session. Records of today’s meeting will be released Aug. 31.

Bernanke said in an Aug. 2 speech that “we have a considerable way to go to achieve a full recovery in our economy.” Still, he avoided signaling that the central bank would reverse months of reductions in record stimulus and liquidity programs, including the end to $1.7 trillion in purchases of housing debt and Treasuries.

Bullard Comments

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said July 29 that while he expects a continued recovery, policy makers should be ready to buy Treasuries if the economy slows further.

The Fed’s last move in favor of easier policy came in March 2009, when policy makers agreed to buy $300 billion of Treasuries and more than double planned mortgage-debt purchases to $1.45 trillion while starting a pledge to keep the benchmark rate close to zero for an “extended period.”

This year the central bank stopped buying assets, raised the rate on direct loans to banks and shut emergency-lending programs for corporations, bond dealers and money-market mutual funds. It’s also developed tools for raising rates with a near- record $2.3 trillion balance sheet.

Today’s decision defied easy prediction after a report Aug. 6 showed U.S. private employers added 71,000 jobs in July, below the 90,000 median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.5 percent. Including government workers, the U.S. lost 131,000 jobs in July, compared with the median estimate of 65,000.

Consumer Spending

The weak job market has inhibited growth in consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy. Such expenditures rose at a 1.6 percent pace last quarter, down from a 1.9 percent rate in the previous three months that was smaller than previously estimated.

Aeropostale Inc., a retailer to teenagers whose sales rose in July at one-seventh the pace analysts predicted, said changing consumer preferences and a “challenging” retail environment hampered spending. Sales at J.C. Penney Co., a department-store chain, fell 0.6 percent last month.

Still, Bernanke and other officials in recent weeks had maintained their outlook for a pickup in the economy over the next year. Corporate spending on equipment and software jumped at a 22 percent annual rate last quarter.

While weakness in housing and commercial real estate will restrain the recovery, and the job market’s “slow recovery” weighs on consumers, “rising demand from households and businesses should help sustain growth,” Bernanke said in a speech last week in Charleston, South Carolina.

Profit Outlook

United Parcel Service Inc., the world’s largest package- delivery company, raised its annual profit forecast last month and posted second-quarter earnings that climbed more than analysts estimated on increased demand overseas.

The S&P 500 Index has rebounded 12 percent as of yesterday from its low this year on July 1.

Investors don’t expect the Fed to raise the federal funds rate until late 2011, based on futures contracts on the Chicago Board of Trade.

The housing market has faltered since a federal tax incentive for first-time homebuyers expired in April. Sales of previously owned homes fell 5.1 percent in June from May, housing starts slid to the lowest level in eight months and the 330,000 annual pace of new-home sales was the second-lowest in data going back to 1963 after May’s 267,000 rate.

The National Bureau of Economic Research, an academic group with a committee that marks the start and end of recessions, has yet to announce a date for the end of the downturn that started in December 2007, even after four straight quarters of growth. Some panel members including Stanford University’s Robert Hall and Jeffrey Frankel of Harvard University have said it’s clear the contraction has probably ended.

Brazil's president offers asylum to imprisoned Iranian woman

2010-08-01T08:37:00.000+01:00

Brazil's president offers asylum to imprisoned Iranian woman

By the CNN Wire Staff

August 1, 2010 -- Updated 0057 GMT (0857 HKT)

President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva's government recently participated in talks with Iran on its nuclear program.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Brazil's president offers asylum to Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani
Lawyer of woman says his wife is being unfairly held
Brazil's president has been involved in diplomatic talks with Iran in recent months
Iran says Ashtiani's stoning sentence was commuted, but no word on alternate sentence

(CNN) -- Brazil's president has offered asylum to an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning, state-run media reported Saturday.

President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva was quoted by Brazil's official state news agency EBC as saying "I want to make an appeal to my friend Ahmadinejad ... and to the government of Iran to allow Brazil to take in the woman."

Brazil recently participated in talks with Iran aimed at restarting negotiations about Iran's nuclear program.

In May, Brazil helped broker a deal with Iran that would provide Tehran with enriched uranium for medical research.

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani was convicted of adultery in 2006 and was originally sentenced to death by stoning. Iranian authorities say the sentence has been put on hold, but there have been no reports as to whether a new sentence has been imposed.

The 43-year-old mother of two is reportedly still being held held in Tabriz prison.

Video: Pleading for mother's life

Video: 'The Stoning of Soraya M.'

RELATED TOPICS

Iran's judiciary could reinstate her sentence of death by stoning, execute her by another means, or possibly even grant her a reprieve, according to human rights groups.

Ashtiani's attorney, Mohammad Mostafaei, told CNN earlier this month that his client confessed to the crime after being subjected to 99 lashes. He said she later recanted the confession and denied any wrongdoing.

Mostafaei has gone into hiding since last weekend after being interrogated by Iranian authorities, human rights groups say. Advocates and Mostafaei say his wife and brother-in-law are being held by Iranian authorities.

A letter believed to be written by Mostafaei was posted on the Internet on Saturday, calling for the release of his relatives. The lawyer says he has cooperated with interrogators, and says his wife and brother-in-law are victims of of "hostage taking."

Mostafaei said he and his family are innocent of any wrongdoing.

The Guardian newspaper previously reported that Mostafaei's wife was arrested when they were unable to find him.

Economic Indicator: Even Cheaper Knockoffs

2010-08-01T08:33:00.001+01:00

Economic Indicator: Even Cheaper Knockoffs

In this economy, even counterfeiters are trading down.

After years of knocking off luxury products like $2,800 Louis Vuitton handbags, criminals are discovering there is money to be made in faking the more ordinary — like $295 Kooba bags and $140 Ugg boots. In California, the authorities recently seized a shipment of counterfeit Angel Soft toilet paper.

The shift in the counterfeiting industry, which costs American businesses an estimated $200 billion a year plays to recession-weary customers looking for downmarket deals, the authorities say. And it has been fueled in part by factories sitting idle in China. Almost 80 percent of the seized counterfeit goods in the United States last year were produced in China, where the downturn in legitimate exports during the recession left many factories looking for goods — in some cases, any goods — to produce.

“If there is demand, there will be supply,” said John Spink, associate director of the Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection Program at Michigan State University. In China, he said, “It’s all of a sudden them saying, ‘We have low capacity. What can we make?’ ”

The answer is increasingly knockoffs of lesser-known brands, which are easy to sell on the Internet, can be priced higher than obvious fakes, and avoid the aggressive programs by the big luxury brands to protect their labels, retail companies and customs enforcement officials say.

The results: Faux Samantha Thavasa bags for $113 and Ed Hardy hoodie sweatshirts for $82.50. And, bizarrely, imitations that are more expensive than the real ones: In 2007, Anya Hindmarch sold canvas totes that said “I’m Not a Plastic Bag” for $15. Now fakes are available on the Web for $99.

“If it’s making money over here in the U.S., it’s going to be reverse-engineered or made overseas,” said Jonathan Erece, a trade enforcement coordinator for United States Customs and Border Protection in Long Beach, Calif. “It’s like a cat-and-mouse game.”

The traders in mid-price fakes are employing another new trick: by pricing the counterfeits close to retail prices — which they can do when the original product is not too expensive — they entice unsuspecting buyers. Any savvy shopper, for example, knows a Louis Vuitton bag selling for $100 cannot be the real thing. But when NeimanMarcus.com, an authorized retailer for Kooba bags, sells them for $295, and a small Web site sells them for $190, a deal-hunting consumer could think she has scored a bargain. (She hasn’t. The $190 bag is a fake.)

“If the price points are somewhat close, some consumers get duped into believing they’re getting a real product,” said Robert Barchiesi, president of the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition, a trade group. “They might be looking for a bargain, but a bargain to buy real goods.”

The counterfeiters are also lifting photos and text from legitimate Web sites, further fooling some shoppers.

“The consumer is blind as to the source of the product,” said Leah Evert-Burks, director of brand protection for Ugg Australia’s parent company, the Deckers Outdoor Corporation. “Counterfeit Web sites go up pretty easily, and counterfeiters will copy our stock photos, the text of our Web site, so it will look and feel like” the company site, she said.

While all of it is illegal, the authorities do not publish statistics on what brands’ products are being counterfeited. But designers and trade experts said the downmarket trend in counterfeiting became more noticeable over the last year, as counterfeiters got more inventive. The field is big: the total value of counterfeit goods seized by United States customs officials increased by more than 25 percent each year from 2005 to 2008, using the government’s fiscal calendar. In fiscal 2009, as imports over all dropped by 25 percent, the value of counterfeit products seized dropped by only 4 percent to $260.7 million.

“It’s just too frustrating. You can try to do something, but it’s so big and so fast.”

Anna Corinna Sellinger, Foley & Corinna

The official statistics capture only a piece of the problem, companies and experts say, because so many counterfeiters market directly to customers on the Internet and many of those sales go undetected by the authorities.

“Online is much harder” to patrol and enforce, said Todd Kahn, general counsel for Coach, the handbag and accessories company.

That is particularly true for smaller brands, as Anna Corinna Sellinger, co-founder and creative director of the New York clothing and accessories company Foley & Corinna, learned.

A couple of years ago, she began checking out which Foley & Corinna items were selling on eBay. Her city tote, which now retails for $485, was a popular item, but on some listings “there was something off — it’s a color I never did, or a leather I never did,” she said.

As other sites proliferated, and Ms. Corinna Sellinger noticed more and more Internet fakes, she stopped looking altogether. “It’s just too frustrating,” she said. “You can try to do something, but it’s so big and so fast.”

While Ms. Corinna Sellinger basically had herself and a computer to patrol for fakes, big companies use legal teams who train customs officials on the nuances of their product, monitor the Web, ask Internet service providers to take down copycat sites and file lawsuits against sellers. (The brands only go after sellers; the law in the United States does not prohibit consumers from buying counterfeit products.)

BP to try well kill Tuesday

2010-08-01T08:31:00.001+01:00

BP to try well kill Tuesday

1 / 8

By Leigh Coleman

BILOXI | Sat Jul 31, 2010 9:33am EDT

BILOXI Mississippi (Reuters) - BP said on Friday it could seal its ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well by next week as the House of Representatives voted to toughen regulation of offshore energy drilling.

Incoming BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley said the British energy giant would attempt a "static kill" operation on Tuesday to try to plug the blown-out deep-sea well that caused the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

This marks a slight delay. The U.S. official overseeing the spill response, retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, had said on Thursday he hoped the operation to pump mud and cement into the well could be performed as early as this weekend.

As BP moved ahead with its plans, U.S. government scientists said South Florida, the Florida Keys and the U.S. East Coast likely will be spared from oil pollution from the spill despite earlier dire warnings.

The House, by a vote of 209-193, passed reforms to offshore drilling practices in response to the spill, which caused an economic and environmental disaster along the U.S. Gulf Coast. President Barack Obama supports the bill.

Gulf Coast Democrats secured an amendment to the legislation to end Obama's moratorium on deepwater drilling for oil companies that meet new federal safety requirements. The current moratorium runs through the end of November.

By the time the full Congress completes action on the offshore drilling bill -- and it is uncertain that it will -- it could be November or later. The Senate has not yet acted on its version of the legislation.

Obama's fellow Democrats in the House rejected Republican warnings that the bill would slash U.S. oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico, a major supplier of domestic energy, and cut high-paying drilling jobs.

The "static kill" process will involve pumping drilling mud and cement into the well from the top to plug it. A relief well is intended to intersect the ruptured well deep under the seabed to allow mud and cement to be pumped from the bottom to provide a permanent fix.

No new oil has leaked since BP installed a tight-fitting containment cap atop the well on July 15 as a temporary fix.

"We want to absolutely kill this well. The static kill will be attempted on Tuesday. The relief well by the end of the month (August)," said Dudley, BP's top executive on the Gulf oil spill who will replace Tony Hayward as CEO on October 1.

At a briefing on Friday, Allen said "static kill" would be delayed until Tuesday to clean out debris and sediment found in the relief well, which has bored deep into the earth and is intended to plug the leak from the bottom.

Once cleaned out, BP can finish cementing the pipe into the relief well and move forward with a static kill, Allen said.

In his first news conference on the Gulf since being named to replace the much-criticized Hayward, Dudley stressed BP's commitment to restoring the coast.

"We are scaling back the number of vessels offshore but we are not stopping cleanup operations by any means," he said. "We are not complacent about this at all."

Millions of gallons (liters) of oil have poured into the Gulf since April, when a rig exploded and sank, killing 11 workers and triggering the leak from the BP-owned well.

Officials have expressed cautious optimism the oil already spilled into the ocean is dissipating. The spill has hurt the livelihoods of fishermen and other business owners along the Gulf Coast and presented a challenge to BP and to Obama.

HOUSE PASSAGE

The legislation passed by the House would eliminate the current $75 million liability cap for offshore operations. It also would prohibit oil companies with poor safety records from bidding for new offshore drilling leases, effectively barring BP from starting new U.S. offshore operations.

The measure would impose tighter requirements for well design and well cementing for offshore projects and on equipment known as blowout preventers intended to prevent well ruptures like the one that occurred at BP's well in April.

The Senate is considering a similar bill, but senators are unlikely to pass it before their summer recess on August 6. If the Senate passes a bill, the two chambers would have to resolve any differences between their versions and pass a compromise one before Obama could sign it into law.

Democrats said the bill would make offshore drilling safer for workers and protect the environment from future spills.

"If you want to apologize for Big Oil, go right ahead, but the American people are not on your side on this one," Democratic Representative Jim McGovern told his Republican colleagues.

Scientists had issued dire warnings that oil from the spill would float into the loop current in the gulf and ride the powerful Gulf Stream current around the fragile islands at the southern tip of Florida and up the Atlantic Coast as far as North Carolina. But the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that was now unlikely.

The oil that remains in the Gulf is hundreds of miles (km) from the loop current. That oil is in the process of breaking down and will not travel far, NOAA said.

(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan and Tom Doggett in Washington, Matthew Bigg in Atlanta and Kristen Hays in Houston; Writing by Ed Stoddard; Editing by Will Dunham.)

Goldman to settle with SEC for $550 million

2010-07-16T08:58:00.000+01:00

Goldman to settle with SEC for $550 million

Goldman Sachs

By Rachelle Younglai and Steve Eder

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK | Thu Jul 15, 2010 9:14pm EDT

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc agreed to pay $550 million to settle civil fraud charges over how it marketed a subprime mortgage product, ending months of negotiations that rattled the bank's clients and investors.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said the penalty was the largest ever for a financial institution, and leaves the door open for future civil suits.

But many investors viewed the $550 million settlement as just a slap on the wrist for a bank that earned more than $13 billion last year.

"They pay $550 million and they get an $800 million pop in their stock price ... they got off easy," said Kevin Caron, a market strategist at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co in Florham Park, New Jersey.

Goldman's shares rose more than 9 percent in late and after market trade to $152.20 on reports that the bank was close to settling and the actual announcement. The investment bank's market value had plunged by more than $25 billion since the SEC pressed charges on April 16.

The lawsuit shook Goldman's business to a much greater degree than executives at the firm had expected. Goldman executives have found themselves working harder than usual, meeting with clients and working to assure them that it is business as usual.

Major clients have generally stuck with Goldman, although some customers with large public profiles have been more cautious in working with the firm of late.

Investors and former employees have been speculating that Goldman Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein may have taken a big enough hit to his credibility that his days at the helm of the firm are numbered.

DOOR STILL OPEN FOR MORE LITIGATION

The settlement leaves the door open for additional enforcement actions by the SEC and further investigation by federal prosecutors. The Department of Justice could still pursue criminal charges, although lawyers said that was unlikely.

The SEC said it planned to continue its lawsuit against Fabrice Tourre, the vice president at Goldman accused of putting the deal in question together.

And after settling with the SEC, Goldman must now fend of lawsuits from shareholders and other interested parties. Earlier this month, the investment bank asked a judge to combine 18 shareholder lawsuits in the wake of the SEC's charges.

The settlement could spur additional shareholder lawsuits against Goldman, said Jeffrey Plotkin, a former SEC lawyer who now is an attorney at law firm Day Pitney LLP in Hartford, Connecticut.

The SEC accused Goldman of creating and marketing a debt product linked to subprime mortgage bonds without telling investors that hedge fund Paulson & Co helped choose the underlying securities and was betting against them.

The transaction in question, known as ABACUS 2007-AC1, yielded about $1 billion of profit for Paulson, which was not accused of wrongdoing. But investors on the other side of the deal -- including Germany bank IKB and Royal Bank of Scotland -- lost about $150 million and $840 million, respectively.

A RARE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Goldman acknowledged as part of the settlement that its marketing materials were incomplete, which lawyers said was unusual. But it did not admit or deny the allegations. The settlement only resolves the issue of this transaction in particular.

Annemarie McAvoy, a Fordham University School of Law professor and a former federal prosecutor, said Goldman's acknowledgement could expose it to lawsuits.

"There was some language in there that certainly can be used against them," McAvoy said. "If there are other suits that will be brought, that certainly will be mentioned."

The Wall Street Journal reported late on Wednesday that Goldman had pressed regulators to agree to a global settlement, which would effectively have ended any SEC investigations into other collateralized debt obligations underwritten or marketed by the Wall Street firm.

Of the $550 million settlement, $250 million will be returned to harmed investors, and $300 million will go to the U.S. Treasury. Of the $250 million, $150 million will go to Germany's IKB, and $100 million will go to the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The settlement is subject to approval by a federal judge, which independent legal experts said was likely.

"I think it will be approved, given that two of the five SEC commissioners didn't think the case should have been brought at all," said Jonathan Macey, a securities and corporate law professor at Yale University Law School.

The fact that the commission was split was evidence to many on Wall Street and even at the SEC itself that the government had a weak case.

The SEC announced the settlement during a news conference in Washington. It was announced the same day Wall Street reform cleared Congress and headed to President Barack Obama for his signature.

SEC staffers told Goldman Sachs' management last year that they may recommend a lawsuit against the firm, but senior bank executives were still surprised when the lawsuit was filed in April.

Goldman Sachs was defiant and refused to negotiate a settlement with the regulator. But about a month after the fraud charges were filed, top Goldman officials, including the bank's chief financial officer David Viniar, started talking to the SEC.

"At some point they shifted their attitude," said one source familiar with the negotiations.

The lawsuit hinged on the narrow issue of whether Goldman failed to disclose relevant information to a client. Many competitors on Wall Street viewed the case as unreasonable.