Posted
11-20-08
NewsRoom
Shorts
NewsRoom Agency
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oil Drops Below US$50
The price of oil dropped below US$50 in trading in New York for the first time since May 2005 over continuing falling demand.
The price of US light sweet crude dropped to US$49.75, while London-traded Brent crude fell to US$48.90 a barrel.
The current prices are some two-thirds cheaper than the record prices oil hit in July, when it peaked above US$147 per barrel.
The falling prices will probably mean another output cut by the oil cartel Opec, whose members are to meet in Cairo on November 29. The organisation reduced output by 1.5 million barrels per day when it met last month.
On Wednesday, economists at Deutsche Bank predicted that oil could fall to as low as US$40 per barrel in 2009.
Cheney, Gonzales Indicted
A South Texas grand jury has indicted Vice President Cheney and former U.S.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on charges related to the alleged abuse of prisoners in Willacy County's federal detention centers.
In specific, the indictment hits Cheney over his investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers, reports said.
The indictment accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest and "at least misdemeanor assaults" on detainees by working through the prison companies.
Gonzales, meanwhile, is accused of using his power while in office to stop federal investigations into the detention centers.
Huckabee Won't Rule Out 2012 Prez Bid
Former Arkansas Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee, who lost a bid to become his party's presidential nominee this year to eventual pick Sen. John McCain, won't rule out another attempted run at the White House in 2012, he said Wednesday.
He did admit, however, that it would be difficult to win the spotlight from Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who energized the party's base this year when she was chosen by McCain to be his running mate.
"I'm not ruling out anything for the future, but I'm not making any specific plans," Huckabee told reporters in Washington, D.C., during a briefing to promote his new book, "Do the Right Thing."
"It's not something I'm sitting around thinking about," he said.
He also said he was not frustrated by Palin's meteoric rise to the top of the GOP charts but rather envious of it.
Huckabee ran a scrappy but underfunded campaign, staying in the GOP hunt until March, until McCain had secured enough delegate votes to become the party's nominee. All other Republican challengers dropped out of the race weeks before.
He'll remain on the national stage via shows he will host on ABC Radio and Fox News Channel.
Fed Sharply Lowers Economic Forecast Amid Rate Cut Rumors
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday sharply lowered its economic forecast for this year and next, and hinted additional rate cuts may be needed to spur the nation's economy out of its worst economic crisis in 80 years. The Fed said the economy could grind to a halt or even lose ground next year, and predicted unemployment would rise. The Associated Press reported that the Fed, facing the likelihood of "significant weakness" in the economy, some officials suggested "additional policy easing could well be appropriate at future meetings," according to documents from the Fed's most recent closed-door deliberations on interest rate policy at the end of October.
Israel Will Boycott UN Conference on Racism Israel plans to stay away from a United Nations' sponsored forum on racism, as Prime Minister Tzipi Livni urged other nations to avoid what she called an "anti-Israel tribunal." UN officials, in response, said the world organization regretted Israel's decision. The World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance will be held in Geneva in April. It is a follow-up to an earlier conference held in 2001 in Durban, South Africa. Then, both Israel and the U.S. walked out of the meeting over texts which branded Israel a racist and apartheid state, language that was later dropped. Livni said documents prepared for next year's forum showed it was "turning once again into an anti-Israeli tribunal, singling out and delegitimizing the State of Israel." Therefore, she said, "Israel will not participate and will not legitimize the Durban-2 conference."
Dow Plunges Below 8,000
The Dow Jones fell nearly 430 points Wednesday to pass below the 8,000 mark, as the fate of Detroit's Big 3 carmakers and further bad news on the economy soured investors' moods.
The Dow fell to 7,990 following news that the Federal Reserve lowered its economic forecast for the coming year.
Financial stocks were particularly hard hit.
Romney: 'Let Detroit Go Bankrupt'
Former GOP presidential contender and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, in an op-ed for The New York Times on Wednesday, said he opposes any government bailout of the Big 3 automakers, arguing that giving them a financial lifeline will only delay their inevitable collapse.
Romney, once his party's presidential frontrunner, said the automakers are currently on a "suicidal course" at present, caused by "declining market shares, insurmountable labor and retiree burdens, technology atrophy, product inferiority and never-ending job losses.
"Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check," he wrote.
Romney said one of the automakers' biggest financial drains is their cost of labor, driving higher by demands of the United Autoworkers Union, to which most workers belong.
"Companies in the 21st century cannot perpetuate the destructive labor relations of the 20th. This will mean a new direction for the U.A.W., profit sharing or stock grants to all employees and a change in Big Three management culture," he wrote.
That means workers must start by "accepting sanity in salaries and perks."
His criticism of the industry comes as executives for the Big 3 - Ford, GM and Chrysler - flew to Washington, D.C. Tuesday to beg lawmakers for as much as $25 billion in bailout funds.
Democratic leaders and members in Congress - long dependent upon union constituency - are arguing to use a portion of the $700 billion bailout package passed by Congress in October to shore up shaky financial institutions for the automakers. The Bush White House, meanwhile is opposing that measure, saying the bailout was never met to prop up private businesses.
Israeli Air Force Ready to Strike Iran Nuke Sites: Report
Israel's air force chief said Wednesday his forces are ready to strike suspected Iranian nuclear weapons sites if the political leadership should order it, according to a report in a German magazine.
IAF Maj. Gen. Ido Nehushtan told Der Speigel, "We are ready to do whatever is demanded of us" to stop Tehran from developing nukes.
Any strike against Iran's nuclear facilities "is a political decision," the IAF commander said, "but if I understand it correctly, all options are on the table. The Air Force is a very robust and flexible force. We are ready to do whatever is demanded of us."
When asked if the IAF could destroy Iran's nuclear sites, which are spread around the country with some located underground, Nehushtan refused to provide details but sounded a note of confidence.
"It is not a technical or logistical question," he said.
|
