Category:

Saudi Royal Blasts U.S.’s Mideast Policy

A leading Saudi prince demanded a place for his country at talks with Iran, assailing the Obama administration for working behind Riyadh’s back and panning other recent U.S. steps in the Middle East. Prince Turki al-Faisal, an Arab royal and a brother of Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, said Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states were stunned by the secret American-Iranian diplomacy that led to the breakthrough deal between Iran and other world powers last month. His comments in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, rare in their bluntness, came on the sidelines of a security conference here at which he publicly blistered the U.S. for its role in Syria and in the region. The Arab royal said the failure by Washington and the United Nations to take decisive steps to end the violence in Syria—which has claimed over 130,000 lives—bordered on "criminal negligence." Last week, the State Department […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Saudi Prince Criticizes Obama Administration, Citing Indecision in Mideast

An influential Saudi prince blasted the Obama administration on Sunday for what he called indecision and a loss of credibility with allies in the Middle East, saying that American efforts to secure a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians would founder without a clear commitment from President Obama. “We’ve seen several red lines put forward by the president, which went along and became pinkish as time grew, and eventually ended up completely white,” said Prince Turki al-Faisal, the former intelligence chief of Saudi Arabia. “When that kind of assurance comes from a leader of a country like the United States, we expect him to stand by it.” He added, “There is an issue of confidence.” Mr. Obama has his problems, the prince said, but when a country has strong allies, “you should be able to give them the assurance that what you say is going to be […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Israel Says Soldier Killed by Lebanese Sniper

An Israeli soldier was killed by a Lebanese army sniper late Sunday as he drove along the border, the Israeli military said, drawing Israeli threats of retaliation. The shooting near Rosh Hanikra raised the possibility of renewed fighting in the volatile area, which has remained mostly quiet since a monthlong war in the summer of 2006. Hezbollah, the guerrilla group that waged the war seven years ago, didn’t appear to be involved in Sunday’s incident. Lebanon’s National News Agency confirmed the shooting by member of the Lebanese army. It wasn’t clear why the soldiers opened fire. The Lebanese army has opened fire in the past after saying Israeli soldiers had tried to infiltrate. Lebanese security officials didn’t immediately comment. Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israeli army spokesman, said Israel had protested "this outrageous breach of Israel’s sovereignty" with U.N. peacekeeping forces and heightened its state of preparedness. "We will […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Troops shot on Israel-Lebanon border

The border has witnessed sporadic violence since the war of 2006 The Israeli army has shot two Lebanese soldiers on the border, hours after an Israeli was killed by a Lebanese army sniper, the Israeli military has said. An Israeli army spokeswoman said Israeli troops opened fire after noticing "suspicious movement". There is no word on their condition and Lebanon has not yet commented. The shooting came hours after the 31-year-old Israeli soldier was shot dead after his vehicle was hit by up to 10 shots fired from the Lebanese side. The cross-border violence is the most serious since 2010, when an Israeli officer was shot dead by a Lebanese army sniper, sparking clashes in which three Lebanese soldiers were killed.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

North America to Drown in Oil as Mexico Ends Monopoly

The flood of North American crude oil is set to become a deluge as Mexico dismantles a 75-year-old barrier to foreign investment in its oilfields. Plagued by almost a decade of slumping output that has degraded Mexico’s take from a $100-a-barrel oil market, President Enrique Pena Nieto is seeking an end to the state monopoly over one of the biggest crude resources in the Western Hemisphere. The doubling in Mexican oil output that Citigroup Inc. said may result from inviting international explorers to drill would be equivalent to adding another Nigeria to world supply, or about 2.5 million barrels a day. That boom would augment a supply surge from U.S. and Canadian wells that Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) predicts will vault North American production ahead of every OPEC member except Saudi Arabia within two years. With U.S. refineries already choking on more oil than they can process, producers from […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Heavy gunfire heard in South Sudan capital

Sporadic gunfire rang out early Monday in the South Sudan capital, Juba, in what a senior military official said were clashes between factions of the country’s military. Some military installations in Juba had come under attack from armed soldiers who have since been repulsed, said Col. Philip Aguer, the South Sudan military spokesman. He offered no more details, saying an investigation was underway and that the situation was tense but not likely to deteriorate. "So far the army is in full control of Juba," he said. An Associated Press reporter saw heavily armed soldiers patrolling the streets of Juba early Monday amid sporadic gunfire emerging from Juba’s main army barracks. There has been political tension in the world’s youngest nation since South Sudan President Salva Kiir fired Riek Machar as his deputy in July. Machar, who has expressed a willingness to contest […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China's manufacturing PMI eases to 3-month low: HSBC

China’s manufacturing activity expanded in December, but growth slowed to a three-month low, according to HSBC’S preliminary purchasing managers’ index (PMI) released on Monday. The HSBC flash manufacturing PMI for December eased to 50.5, compared to 50.8 in November and 50.9 in October. However, the figure still remained above the boom-bust line of 50, HSBC said in a report. Growth in the new order and new export order sub-indices increased at a faster pace, while employment decreased at a faster rate compared with the preceding month, it said. According to Qu Hongbin, chief China economist with HSBC, the December HSBC flash manufacturing PMI reading slowed marginally from November’s final reading, but stands above the average reading for the third quarter, "implying that the recovering trend of the manufacturing sector starting from July still holds up." "We expect China’s GDP growth to stabilize at around […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China’s manufacturing PMI eases to 3-month low: HSBC

China’s manufacturing activity expanded in December, but growth slowed to a three-month low, according to HSBC’S preliminary purchasing managers’ index (PMI) released on Monday. The HSBC flash manufacturing PMI for December eased to 50.5, compared to 50.8 in November and 50.9 in October. However, the figure still remained above the boom-bust line of 50, HSBC said in a report. Growth in the new order and new export order sub-indices increased at a faster pace, while employment decreased at a faster rate compared with the preceding month, it said. According to Qu Hongbin, chief China economist with HSBC, the December HSBC flash manufacturing PMI reading slowed marginally from November’s final reading, but stands above the average reading for the third quarter, "implying that the recovering trend of the manufacturing sector starting from July still holds up." "We expect China’s GDP growth to stabilize at around […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

4 Reasons Why China Needs Chevron

On December 6, Chevron announced that it would delay its $6.4 billion Chuandongbei gas project in China due to disagreements with partner PetroChina on how to develop the field. The project is Chevron’s largest investment in China and is slated to produce around 7.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year.  For Chevron, China is a key market. China has the world’s largest population and, according to many economists, will have the world’s largest economy within a decade. Since electricity usage generally correlates with GDP growth, China’s energy demand is projected to increase significantly. As much as Chevron needs China, China also needs Chevron. Here are four reasons why.  Huge potential that only Western tech can unlock According to the Energy Information Agency, China has the world’s largest technically recoverable shale gas resource at around 1,115 trillion cubic feet. China’s shale gas is located in tougher, more foreboding geological formations than […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Pakistani Shi'ite cleric shot dead in reprisal attack

A prominent Pakistani Shi’ite Muslim cleric has been shot dead in an apparent reprisal attack following the murder this month of a Sunni Muslim leader, police said on Monday. Sectarian violence has been on the rise in Pakistan, adding to the list of concerns for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at a time when security forces are already stretched fighting an escalating Taliban insurgency in the northwest of the country. Allama Nasir Abbas, leader of Tehreek Nifaz Fiqah-e-Jafaria, a banned Shi’ite organisation, was shot by unknown gunmen on a motorbike as he drove home after addressing a religious gathering in the city of Lahore on Sunday evening. "It’s a targeted attack. The gunmen shot him from close range when he was driving home along with his driver and a friend," Lahore police chief Chaudhry Shafeeq told Reuters. "Abbas died on the way to hospital. His driver and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple