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Iraqi PM to ask Obama for more aid to stop attacks

AP Photo WASHINGTON (AP) — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (NOO’-ree ahl-MAHL’-ih-kee) is expected to appeal to President Barack Obama for more U.S. assistance in beating back the bloody insurgency consuming his country. Obama and al-Maliki will meet at the White House Friday. The Iraqi prime minister’s new aid requests come nearly two years after his government refused to let American forces stay in Iraq with legal immunity after the nine-year war formally ended. Violence started rising in Iraq within months of the U.S. troop departure at the end of 2011. The State Department says at least 6,000 Iraqis have been killed in attacks so far this year. The White House says Obama will raise concerns about the violence in Iraq and ways to reduce it during his meeting with al-Maliki. © 2013 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or […]

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Marathon makes oil, gas find in Kurdish Iraq

HOUSTON, Oct. 31 (UPI) — U.S. energy company Marathon Oil Corp. said it made a discovery of oil and natural gas reserves while working in the Kurdish north of Iraq. Marathon said it made the discovery while working in the Harir block, located 40 miles northeast of Erbil, administrative center for the semiautonomous regional Kurdish government. The company, which has headquarters in Texas, said its initial testing yielded more than 11,000 barrels per day of “high quality oil” and approximately 72 million cubic feet per day of non-associated natural gas. Lee Tillman, chief executive officer for Marathon Oil, said in a statement the Kurdish north of Iraq has proved itself a major regional producer. “As the first large U.S. publicly traded company to enter in October 2010, Marathon Oil is pleased to have a strong presence in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq,” he said Wednesday. The semiautonomous Kurdish government […]

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Israel launches attacks on military sites in Syria

Israel’s air force attacked two military sites inside Syria on Wednesday evening, US military sources confirmed, marking the latest of several such covert strikes on the country’s northeastern neighbour this year. The sites are near the port city of Latakia and the capital Damascus, according to a person briefed on the matter, who said the US military believed that it was Israel that attacked. Confirmation of the attack late on Thursday followed earlier reports of sightings of Israeli jets in Lebanon and at least one explosion in Syria. Israel’s military, which has struck targets in Syria several times this year, declined to confirm or deny that it carried out the strikes. “We never comment on foreign reports,” an Israel Defence Forces spokeswoman said. Nagham Ghadri, a member of the Syrian National Coalition, the Turkey-based opposition group, said that activists in Latakia had reported hearing a huge explosion coming from […]

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Islamist Rebels Take Fight to Suburbs of Syrian Capital

DAMASCUS, Syria—Islamist rebels, including some with links to al Qaeda, are fast gaining strength in suburbs encircling the Syrian capital, despite a chemical-weapons attack two months ago on one of their strongholds. Since early September these groups have claimed responsibility for several suicide-bomb attacks against regime targets in and around Damascus. They have dramatically increased mortar and rocket attacks on regime-held residential neighborhoods within the capital and have raided nearby towns and villages inhabited by minorities, including Christians. Last week, these rebels blew up a gas pipeline feeding a power plant on the outskirts of Damascus, causing a complete blackout in the capital and most of Syria for several hours before the damage was repaired, according to government officials and residents. While riven by leadership rivalries and competing agendas, the Islamist rebels share the goal of toppling President Bashar al-Assad and establishing Islamic rule. Their strengthening around Damascus further […]

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Largest camp for Syrian refugees becoming a city

AP Photo ZAATARI CAMP, Jordan (AP) — The manager of the region’s largest camp for Syrian refugees arranges toy figures, trucks and houses on a map in his office trailer to illustrate his ambitious vision. In a year, he wants to turn the chaotic shantytown of 100,000 into a temporary city with local councils, paved streets, parks, an electricity grid and sewage pipes. Zaatari, a desert camp near Jordan’s border with Syria, is far from that ideal. Life is tough here. The strong often take from the weak, women fear going to communal bathrooms after dark, sewage runs between pre-fab trailers and boys hustle for pennies carting goods in wheelbarrows instead of going to school. But with Syria’s civil war in its third year, the more than 2 million Syrians who fled their country need long-term solutions, said Kilian Kleinschmidt, who runs Zaatari for the U.N. refugee agency. “We […]

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Petrobras pegs success to Libra oil field

RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 31 (UPI) — Production from the offshore Libra area in Brazil is expected to help Petrobras reach its long-term objectives, the company’s president said. State-controlled Petroleo Brasileiro, known also as Petrobras, said it expects the first oil to be extracted from the Libra area in 2020. Company President Maria das Gracas Silva Foster said investments in Libra will be more significant as 2020 draws nearer. Oil workers with Petrobras staged a strike in mid-October to protest the auction for Libra. They wanted better wages and opposed a congressional measure for outsourcing of workers. Royal Dutch Shell, French energy company Total, China National Petroleum Corp., China National Offshore Oil Corp., and Petrobras, won a 35-year production sharing contract last week for the Libra field in the Santos Basin off the coast of Brazil. Foster said in a statement Wednesday the terms of the auction were “clear, […]

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Eike Batista's Empire Soared, Then Melted Into Bankruptcy

RIO DE JANEIRO—In 2006, Eike Batista strode into Rio’s opulent Copacabana Palace hotel for cocktails with a Canadian pension fund looking to play Brazil’s rise. The Brazilian entrepreneur captivated his hosts with a brazen pitch: He aimed to be the world’s richest man, and investors along for the ride would prosper, too. “The way he says it, it doesn’t sound crazy,” says Brian Gibson, then a senior vice president with the Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan, which organized the reception. “As an investor, you are looking for someone who is hungry,” Mr. Gibson says. “I didn’t know if he was going to be the richest or not, and I didn’t care.” Mr. Batista didn’t make it. Instead, he presided over one of the most breathtaking rise-and-fall stories in the history of business. Starting in 2006, Mr. Batista publicly listed five startups in five years, creating a Brazilian commodities empire from […]

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Eike Batista’s Empire Soared, Then Melted Into Bankruptcy

RIO DE JANEIRO—In 2006, Eike Batista strode into Rio’s opulent Copacabana Palace hotel for cocktails with a Canadian pension fund looking to play Brazil’s rise. The Brazilian entrepreneur captivated his hosts with a brazen pitch: He aimed to be the world’s richest man, and investors along for the ride would prosper, too. “The way he says it, it doesn’t sound crazy,” says Brian Gibson, then a senior vice president with the Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan, which organized the reception. “As an investor, you are looking for someone who is hungry,” Mr. Gibson says. “I didn’t know if he was going to be the richest or not, and I didn’t care.” Mr. Batista didn’t make it. Instead, he presided over one of the most breathtaking rise-and-fall stories in the history of business. Starting in 2006, Mr. Batista publicly listed five startups in five years, creating a Brazilian commodities empire from […]

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China factory activity picks up in October, recovery seen gradual

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s giant manufacturing sector strengthened further in October, two surveys showed on Friday, though mixed signals in important areas including export orders suggest any recovery in the world’s second-largest economy will be gradual. The overall message of stabilization is good news for the government as it readies a series of economic reforms at the Communist Party’s third plenary meeting from November 9-12. China’s official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) reached an 18-month high of 51.4 in October, beating a forecast of 51.2 in a Reuters poll [ID:nL3N0IJ3MW]. A separate HSBC/Markit final PMI rose to a seven-month high of 50.9. Both surveys were above the 50 line separating growth from contraction, but gave differing readings on new orders and new export orders — falling in the official PMI and rising in the HSBC/Markit PMI. "The PMI data for October shows a continued increase, indicating a preliminary stabilization in […]

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China manufacturing data surges to strongest in 18 months

A worker assembles car doors for the Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. Emgrand EC7 sedan on the production line at the company’s factory in Cixi, Zhejiang Province, China China’s manufacturing sector accelerated in October to its strongest reading in 18 months, suggesting continued expansion in the world’s most important manufacturing sector. The improved headline official purchasing manager’s index is likely to boost market sentiment towards China and China-dependent assets such as the Australian dollar, but sub-indices for new orders and new export orders dipped last month, raising concerns that momentum might not be sustained for the rest of the fourth quarter. The official PMI came in at 51.4 in October, compared with 51.1 in September, according to the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the manufacturing sector, while a reading below 50 indicates contraction. The closely watched index has been positive for more […]

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