A B C D E F G H I J K
  TOP NEWS, EVENTS, AND EVENT CATEGORIES: 1-JAN-11 - 31-DEC-11    
From 01-Jan-11 Copyright © 2011 by Macroknow inc. All Rights Reserved.
To 31-Dec-11  
Days 365  
News Items 2076
Date News Categories Authors Title X World Event Source/Link Item
1-Jan-11 VIO REL Edward Yeranian Blast at Egyptian Christian Church Kills 21 Egypt: Coptic Christian church bombing killed ≥21 people VOA News 1
1-Jan-11 POL LAW Pakistanis rally over blasphemy law  Pakistanis protest at proposed changes to blasphemy laws Al Jazeera: Agencies 2
1-Jan-11 MIL VIO US Drones Kill 15 in Northwestern Pakistan Pakistan: U.S. drone killed ≥15 people VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 3
2-Jan-11 AOG WEATH Australian flooding at 'biblical proportions' 1-Jan-11: Australia: hit by a flood of 'biblical proportions' (half of Queensland's 1.8 million square kilometres) CBC News 4
2-Jan-11 MIL Iran claims it shot down 'Western spy planes' Iran shot down "Western spy planes" [drones] CNN World 5
2-Jan-11 ACC Russia grounds all Tu-154Bs after fatal fire Russia: Tu-154 plane hit by fire; 3 people were killed BBC News 6
2-Jan-11 FIN Susanne Craig; Andrew Ross Sorkin Goldman Offering Clients a Chance to Invest in Facebook Goldman Sachs and a Russian investor invest $500 million in Facebook which is valued at $50 billion NYT-Dealbook 7
2-Jan-11 AOG QUAK Magnitude 7.1 - ARAUCANIA, CHILE Chile: Magnitude 7.1 quake USGS 8
2-Jan-11 FIN DEBT Reporting by Cho Mee-young; Editing by Nick Macfie S.Korea KAMCO to Buy $4.4 Billion Bad Loans In 2011: Report Korea Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO) to buy ~$4.38 billion worth of bad loans NYT: Reuters 9
3-Jan-11 VIO FIN ECON Consumer Bankruptcy Filings Increase 9 Percent In 2010 American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI): U.S. consumer bankruptcy filings increased from 1,407,788 in 2009 to 1,530,078 in 2010 (up 9% YOY) [data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center (NBKRC)] ABI 10
4-Jan-11 VIO POL Salman Masood; Carlotta Gall; (Waqar Gillani; Mark Landler; Eric Schmitt) Killing of Governor Deepens Crisis in Pakistan Pakistan: Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab Province, is assasinated for his campaign to amend blasphemy laws NYT 11
4-Jan-11 FIN LAW Professional Liability Lawsuits 14-Dec-10: the FDIC has authorized suits against 109 individuals for Director & Officer (D&O) liability with damage claims of $2.49 billion FDIC 12
4-Jan-11 FIN ENER China's CNOOC Plans Up to $151 Billion Investment In 2011 - 15 China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) plans to invest $121-$151 billion over 5 years NYT: Reuters 13
4-Jan-11 MKT GOLD Claudia Assis Gold suffers steepest single-day slide since July NYMEX-Comex: gold for Feb-11 delivery fell 3.1% settling at $1,378.80/oz. MarketWatch 14
4-Jan-11 MIL Jeremy Page (Adam Entous) A Chinese Stealth Challenge? China: J-20, Chinese stealth fighter prototype to rival the U.S. F-25 WSJ 15
4-Jan-11 MKT NIKKEI 225 gained 169.18 points (1.65%), closing at 10,398.10 Yahoo! Finance: Nikkei 16
5-Jan-11 BANK DEBT Sapna Maheshwari Europe Banks Race Sovereigns to Bond Investors: Credit Markets 4-Jan-11: European banks offered $7.25 billion of bonds (Deutsche Bank AG, $1 billion; Rabobank Nederland, $2.75 billion); EY countries need to raise $1.1 trillion in 2014 Bloomberg 17
5-Jan-11 VIO POL ECON Israel pushed Gaza to 'brink of collapse': WikiLeaks Wikileaks: Israeli blockade targeted Gaza economy with the intention of pushing it "to the brink of collapse" MSNBC-News Service Reports 18
5-Jan-11 POL Anti-American Shi'ite Cleric Al-Sadr Returns to Iraq Iraq: anti-U.S. Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr returned to Iraq VOA News-Reuters 19
5-Jan-11 ACC CHEM Chemical plant blaze at Moerdijk sparks Dutch alert The Netherlands: state of alert after explosions at a chemical plant holding carcinogenic material BBC News 20
5-Jan-11 VIO BANK ECON Vikas Bajaj Microlenders, Honored With Nobel, Are Struggling Sheik Hasina Wazed, prime minister of Bangladesh: microlenders were “sucking blood from the poor in the name of poverty alleviation”; hostility against microcredit reported in India, Bangladesh, Nicaragua; microloans totaled >$70 billion at yearend 2012 NYT 21
6-Jan-11 BANK LAW Linda Sandler; David E. Rovella (ed.) JPMorgan Legal Bills Soar in 2010, Menacing Profits Top U.S. banks are "besieged by lawsuits stemming from the credit crisis"; JPMorgan's legal costs during Jan-Sep 2010: $5.2 billion Bloomberg 22
6-Jan-11 ACC OIL Commission Releases Chapter on BP Well Blowout Investigation in Advance of Full Report National Commission Oil Spill Commission: "most of the mistakes and oversights at Macondo can be traced back to . . . a failure of management. Better management by BP, Halliburton, and Transocean would almost certainly have prevented the blowout by improving the ability of individuals involved to identify the risks they faced, and to properly evaluate, communicate, and address them.” National Commission Oil Spill Commission 23
6-Jan-11 REL Christian-Muslim tension reported in India, Iran, Egypt CatholicCulture.org 24
6-Jan-11 MIL FIN Thom Shanker; Christopher Drew Pentagon Seeks Biggest Military Cuts Since Before 9/11 Pentagon military cuts: $78 billion NYT 25
6-Jan-11 VIO Maria Glod; Ovetta Wiggins; John Wagner Packages sent to Gov. O'Malley, Md. agency flash and smoke Incendiary devices mailed to Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley Washington Post 26
7-Jan-11 VIO Suicide Bomber Kills 17 at Afghan Bathhouse Afghanistan: suicide bomber targeting a high-ranking police commander killed 17; foreign troops in Afghanistan: 97,000 (U.S.), ~45,000 (other) VOA News 27
7-Jan-11 ACC CHEM HEAL Frederik Pleitgen Charges filed as farm quarantines grow in German tainted egg scandal
 Germany: tainted egg scandal; 4,709 pig/poultry farms quarantined CNN International 28
7-Jan-11 SEC UK terrorism security threat level raised at airports UK: terrorist threat level at major transport hubs raised from substantial to severe BBC News 29
7-Jan-11 POL REL Cleric Urges Iraqis to Resist U.S. Iraq: thousands cheer Muqtada al-Sadr; al-Sadr: "Let the whole world hear that we reject America. . . We target only the occupier with all the means of resistance." NYT: AP 30
7-Jan-11 POL FIN Bob Herbert Misery With Plenty of Company Bob Herbert on Misery: "With the tax cuts for the rich saved and William Daley coming on board, the atmosphere is being readied for Obama & Co. to tap the fat cats for the zillions necessary for next year’s re-election run." NYT: Op-Ed 31
7-Jan-11 VIO Paul Duggan; Theola Labbe-DeBose; Spencer S. Hsu; Ed O'Keefe; Mary Pat Flaherty (contributors) Package ignites at D.C. post office Incendiary devices reported in DC Washington Post 32
8-Jan-11 VIO POL US congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords shot in Arizona US congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head; 6 other people, including a judge and a young girl, were killed BBC News 33
8-Jan-11 PRO FOOD JOBS Overnight PRO in Algeria leave two dead Algeria: sporadic protest against food price increases and unemployment; 2 killed BBC News 34
8-Jan-11 MIL TECH Elisabeth Bumiller U.S. Will Counter Chinese Arms Buildup Pentagon to investment in new weapons/technology to counter Chinese military buildup in the Pacific NYT 35
8-Jan-11 REL Verlyn Klinkenborg The King James Bible at 400 Verlyn Klinkenborg: The King James Bible at 403 NYT-Opinion 36
9-Jan-11 GOV POL Robert Berger East Jerusalem Hotel Razed to Clear Ground for Settlement Israel to build new Jewish homes on Palestinian territory it grabbed in 1970 VOA News 37
9-Jan-11 PRO 30,000 Thai Red Shirts Join Anti-Government Rally in Bangkok Thailand: ~30,000 red shirts join anti-government protest VOA News 38
9-Jan-11 PRO ECON JOBS Tunisian Government: 14 Killed as PROing Continues Tunisia: protest against unemployment and high food prices; 14 killed VOA News 39
9-Jan-11 M&A DuPont to Acquire Danisco for $6.3 Billion DuPont to acquire Danisco for $6.3 billion Dupont 40
10-Jan-11 ACC Yan (ed.) 77 killed, 27 injured in air crash in northwest Iran 9-Jan-11: Iran: Ira-Air passenger plane crashed; 77 killed Xinhua 41
10-Jan-11 ECON AUTO Owen Fletcher; Yajun Zhang Growth in Chinese Auto Sales to Slow China: auto sales in 2010: 18.06 million (up 32%) WSJ 42
10-Jan-11 PRO MKT Clash in Bangladesh as stocks dive Bangladesh: thousands protest at record 9.25% plunge in stocks Al Jazeera-Agencies 43
10-Jan-11 M&A OIL Duke Energy and Progress Energy to Merge Duke Energy Corp. to buy Progress Energy Inc. for $13.7 billion and create America's largest utility  Duke Energy Corp. 44
10-Jan-11 MIL NATO: 3 Afghan police officers killed in mistaken-identity strike Afghanistan: NATO troops mistakenly killed 3 Afghan police officers CNN International 45
10-Jan-11 FIN Groupon Raises, Like, A Billion Dollars Groupon completed a $950 million round of financing Groupon: Business Wire 46
10-Jan-11 FIN BANK GOV Reserve Bank income and expense data and transfers to the Treasury for 2010  Federal Reserve Board: unaudited 2010 net income: $80.9 billion Federal Reserve Board 47
10-Jan-11 AOG WEATH Flood situation remains grim in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka: floods and mudslide killed ≥8 Times of India 48
11-Jan-11 AOG WEATH More Deaths Likely in Australian Flooding Disaster Australia: flash flood hit the town of Toowomba; 9 killed; 66 missing VOA News 49
11-Jan-11 PRO VIO JOBS Dozens killed' in Tunisia protests Tunisia: violent protests over unemployment; ≥35 killed BBC News 50
11-Jan-11 VIO Deadly violence as Ivory Coast standoff persists Ivory Coast: violent post-election clashes; ≥5 killed CNN International 51
11-Jan-11 FIN LAW SEC Charges Schwab Entities and Two Executives With Making Misleading Statements SEC charges Schwab entities of making misleading statements regarding the Schwab YieldPlus Fund; Schwab to pay ~$119 million to settle the charges (without admitting or denying guilt) SEC 52
11-Jan-11 VIO Edward Yeranian Iran’s Spy Chief Denounces Alleged Israeli Plot Against Nuclear Scientists Iran: Intelligence Minister: attacks on Iranian nuclear physicists part of assassination plot; plot allegedly involves Iranian opposition groups and Israel and NATO spy organizations VOA News 53
11-Jan-11 FIN BANK GOV Pedro da Costa; Ann Saphir Could the U.S. central bank go broke? Pedro da Costa; Ann Saphir: " . . . could the vaunted Fed . . .  become insolvent? Almost by definition, the answer is no. . . the central bank is the master of the printing press. It can literally conjure up money at will, and arguably did exactly that when it bought about $2 trillion of mortgage-backed securities and U.S. Treasuries . . . " Reuters 54
12-Jan-11 AOG WEATH Jamie Walker; Michael McKenna Deadly wave heads for Brisbane Australia: massive flood heading for Brisbane: 30 killed; 78 missing The Australian-AAP 55
12-Jan-11 POL Heather Murdock Lebanese Government Collapses As Hezbollah Exits Lebanon: Hezbollah ministers resigned; the government collapsed VOA News 56
12-Jan-11 ELITE POL ECON New Report Warns Current Global Governance Systems Lack Capacity to Deal with Global Risks World Economic Forum’s Global Risks 2011, 6th Edition: "The financial crisis has drained the world’s capacity for dealing with shocks. The frequency and severity of risks to global stability have amplified, while the ability of global governance systems to deal with them has not" World Economic Forum 57
12-Jan-11 ELITE FIN ECON Kristel Van der Elst; Nicholas Davis (Co-Editors) Global Risks  2011, Sixth Edition Report published in cooperation with Marsh & McLennan Companies, Swiss Reinsurance Company, the Wharton Center for Risk Management and Zurich Financial Services World Economic Forum 58
12-Jan-11 AOG WEATH Pedro Fonseca; Rodrigo Viga Gaier At least 257 dead as rains pummel Brazil
 Brazil: floods and landslides killed ≥257 Reuters 59
12-Jan-11 POL TECH Michael Holden WikiLeaks' Assange: China is our real enemy WikiLeaks' Assange on China's censorship of the Internet Reuters 60
12-Jan-11 ECON LAW Scheherazade Daneshkhu; Peggy Hollinger; Patti Waldmeir  Spying is a ‘reality’ in China, says EADS chief Allegations of spying in China FT 61
13-Jan-11 BUS LAW David Jolly Renault Files Criminal Complaint of Industrial Espionage Renault filed a criminal complaint re an “organized industrial espionage, corruption, breach of trust, theft and concealment"  NYT 62
13-Jan-11 SCIE S. Jay Olson; Timothy C. Ralph Extraction of timelike entanglement from the quantum vacuum S. Jay Olson and Timothy C. Ralph, University of Queensland, on "teleportation in time": "Extraction of timelike entanglement from the quantum vacuum"; time correlation required for extraction: "e.g. if the past detector was active at a quarter to 12:00, then the future detector must wait to become active at precisely a quarter past 12:00 in order to achieve entanglement" Cornell University Library 63
13-Jan-11 GOV BANK DEBT 13 January 2011 - Monetary policy decisions The Governing Council of the ECB to keep the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility at 1.00%, 1.75% and 0.25% respectively European Central Bank 64
13-Jan-11 GOV BANK DEBT Bank of England Maintains Bank Rate at 0.5% and the Size of the Asset Purchase Programme at £200 Billion The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee to maintain (1) the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5% and (2) the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £200 billion Bank of England 65
14-Jan-11 AOG WEATH Jeff Fick; Paulo Prada  Nearly 500 Are Dead in Brazil Flooding Brazil: floods and landslides killed ≥470 WSJ 66
14-Jan-11 MKT GOLD Myra P. Saefong Gold futures drop as much as $26 an ounce Comex: Gold for February delivery: $1359.2/oz. (down $27.8) [10:11:07 AM CST]
 MarketWatch 67
14-Jan-11 BANK FIN JPMorgan Chase Reports Fourth-Quarter 2010 Net Income of $4.8 Billion, up 47% over Prior Year, on Revenue1 of $26.7 Billion; $1.12 Earnings Per Share JPMorgan Chase, 2010: revenue, $104.8 billion; profit, $17.4 billion (up 48%) JPMorgan Chase-Business Wire 68
14-Jan-11 VIO POL LAW Illegal acts by Israeli authorities on the rise in the occupied West Bank – UN human rights expert UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk expressed concern over a “series of illegal acts by Israeli authorities” in the occupied territories, including the killing by IDF of 4 Palestinians in the West Bank, "demolition of the historic Shepherd Hotel in East Jerusalem, a Palestinian landmark, to make way for the construction of more Israeli settlements" United Nations Human Rights 69
14-Jan-11 PRO ECON JOBS Lisa Bryant Tunisian President Leaves Country Amid Unrest Tunisia: protesting over unemployment and high food prices; dozens of people killed; state of emergency declared  VOA News 70
14-Jan-11 BANK GOV ECON Kevin Yao; Koh Gui Qing; Jacqueline Wong (ed.); Alex Richardson (ed.) China raises bank reserves again China's central bank raised lenders' reserves requirement to counter inflation; China's foreign exchange reserves surged to $2.85 trillion; China's inflation rate: 5.1% in Nov-2010 Reuters 71
14-Jan-11 M&A OIL Major Arctic Projects and Share Swap BP and Rosneft share swap agreement: Rosneft to hold 5% of BP’s ordinary voting shares in exchange for ~9.5% of Rosneft’s shares; BP and Rosneft to explore and develop three license blocks on the Russian Arctic continental shelf BP 72
14-Jan-11 PRO GOV LAW Stefan Bos Thousands Demonstrate Against Hungary's Media Law Hungary: ~10,000 people demonstrated against new media law VOA News 73
15-Jan-11 MIL VIO ECON Gunmen Set NATO Fuel Tankers on Fire in Pakistan Pakistan: gunmen torch ≥18 NATO fuel tankers  VOA News 74
15-Jan-11 GOV FIN BANK Donal O'Donovan Central Bank steps up its cash support to Irish banks financed by institution printing own money "The Irish Independent learnt last night that the Central Bank of Ireland is financing €51bn of an emergency loan programme by printing its own money. . . News that money is being created in Ireland will feed fears already voiced this week by ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet that inflation is a potential concern for the eurozone" Irish Independent 75
15-Jan-11 PRO GOV Edward Cody; Joby Warrick Unrest continues in Tunisia as President Ben Ali flees country 14-Jan-11: Tunisia: President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia Washington Post 76
15-Jan-11 MIL VIO US soldiers killed while training Iraqis Iraq: Iraqi trooper killed 2 U.S. soldiers AP 77
15-Jan-11 POL Southern Sudan Votes on Final Day of Historic Referendum Sudan: Independence referundum VOA News 78
16-Jan-11 VIO POL ECON Marius Schattner Israël poursuit la colonisation massive Israel: massive colonization projects on Palestinian territory conducted since 1967 – despite increasing international opposition; >200,000 Israelis inhabit these projects Cyberpresse.ca: AFP 79
16-Jan-11 MIL VIO Laura King 17 Afghan civilians killed by roadside bombs in 24 hours Afghanistan: roadside bombs killed ≥17 civilians within a 24-hour period Los Angeles Times 80
16-Jan-11 MIL TECH Thom Shanker; Matt Richtel In New Military, Data Overload Can Be Deadly Art Kramer, neuroscientist: “There is information overload at every level of the military — from the general to the soldier on the ground" NYT 81
16-Jan-11 FIN BANK They Could Be Subtler Editorial: "the financial system pockets the rewards from the risks it takes and taxpayers cover the bets when they go bad. . . finance captures 29 percent of the profits of the entire American private sector, up from 19 percent 30 years ago" NYT-Editorial 82
17-Jan-11 VIO Riaz Khan (contributor) Minibus bombing in NW Pakistan kills 19 Pakistan: bus bombing killed 19 AP 83
17-Jan-11 LAW BANK Paul Day; Robert Hetz; Tracy Rucinski; Sarah Morris and Hans Peters (eds.) UPDATE 1-Court bars Santander CEO from banking-paper Spain: El Mundo report: Supreme Court barred Alfredo Saenz, Santander CEO, from working as a banker Reuters 84
17-Jan-11 BANK FIN Andrew Ross Sorkin; Peter Lattman and Michael J. de la Merced  (contributors) Goldman Limits Facebook Investment to Foreign Clients Goldman Sachs to limit investments in Facebook to offshore investors NYT-DealBook 85
17-Jan-11 BANK FIN LAW Ravi Somaiya; Julia Werdigier Ex-Banker Gives Data on Taxes to WikiLeaks Rudolf M. Elmer, a former bank executive at Swiss bank Julius Baer, gave Wikileaks data on >2,000 individuals and companies (including "pillars of society") alleged to have engaged in "tax evasion and other possible criminal activity" NYT 86
17-Jan-11 MKT The Shanghai Composite Index (SSE) lost 84.68 points (-3.03%), closing at 2,706.66 Yahoo!Finance 87
18-Jan-11 VIO Suicide bomb kills 50 at Iraqi police centre in Tikrit Iraq: a suicide bomber targeted a police recruitment center; killed ≥60 people  BBC News 88
18-Jan-11 MIL TECH Aries Poon; Fanny Liu Taiwan Missiles Miss Targets in Test Taiwan: 6 out of 19 missiles tested missed their targets WSJ 89
18-Jan-11 AOG WEATH Death Toll Rises in Philippine Weather Disaster Philippines: floods and landslides killed 53 people; >12 are missing VOA News 90
18-Jan-11 BANK FIN Citigroup Reports Full Year 2010 Net Income of $10.6 Billion or $0.35 Per Share Compared to a Net Loss of $1.6 Billion or $0.80 Per Share in 2009 Citigroup, 2010: net income, $10.6 billion (up from a net loss of $1.6 billion in 2009); revenues,$86.6 billion (down 5% YOY) Business Wire: Citigroup 91
18-Jan-11 ELITE FIN DEBT Over US$ 100 Trillion Additional Credit Needed to Support Global Growth More Credit with Fewer Crises: Responsibly Meeting the World’s Growing Demand for Credit, a report released by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with McKinsey & Company: "Credit levels will need to double over the next 10 years, growing by US$ 103 trillion, to support consensus-projected economic growth" World Economic Forum 92
18-Jan-11 AOG QUAK Magnitude 7.2 - SOUTHWESTERN PAKISTAN Pakistan: magnitude 7.2 quake USGS 93
18-Jan-11 BUS FIN Apple Reports First Quarter Results Apple, 2011Q1: record revenue, $26.74 billion; record net profit, $6 billion Apple 94
18-Jan-11 BUS FIN IBM Reports 2010 Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results IBM, 2010Q4: record revenue, $29.0 billion (up 7%); record net income, $5.3 billion (up 9%) IBM 95
18-Jan-11 ECO RES Alexandra Giese 2010 Hits Top of Temperature Chart Earth Policy Institute: "2010 experienced a global average temperature of 14.63 degrees Celsius (58.3 degrees Fahrenheit), tying 2005 as the hottest year in 131 years of recordkeeping. . . The human cost of these events was not small: the Russian heat wave and forest fires claimed 56,000 lives, while the Pakistan floods took 1,760" Earth Policy Institute 96
18-Jan-11 GOV FIN DEBT Ian Talley; Min Zeng; Tom Barkley 3rd UPDATE: China Is Net Seller Of Treasurys In Nov; Japan Buys Total reserves (U.S. Treasurys) at the end of 2010: China, $2.85 trillion; Japan, $877.2 billion; U.K., $511.8 billion in Nov-2010 WSJ-Dow Jones Newswires 97
18-Jan-11 GOV FIN DEBT Paul R. La Monica China: The new landlord of the U.S. Paul R. La Monica: China is "alarmed since the Fed's bond buying should lead to a weaker dollar and higher interest rates, thus reducing the value of China's Treasury stake" CNN Money 98
19-Jan-11 BANK FIN Goldman Sachs Reports Earnings Per Common Share Of $13.18 For 2010 Goldman Sachs, 2010: net earnings, $8.354 billion (down 38% YOY); net revenue, $39.16 billion (down 13% YOY) Goldman Sachs 99
19-Jan-11 ELITE FIN ECON World Economic Forum Annual Meeting to Focus on Shared Norms for the New Reality 41st World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 26-30-Jan-11: theme of the Meeting: “Shared Norms for the New Reality” World Economic Forum 100
19-Jan-11 GOV ECON Patricia Zengerle; Caren Bohan; Paul Eckert; Chris Buckley Factbox: Details of Hu's U.S. visit Chinese President Hu Jintao U.S. visit Reuters 101
19-Jan-11 AOG WEATH Reporting: Rodrigo Viga Gair; Stuart Grudgings; Writing: Stuart Grudgings; Editing: Bill Trott; Sandra Maler UPDATE 1-At least 207 missing in Brazil floods, 741 dead Brazil: floods and landslides around 14-Jan-11 killed 741 people; 207 are missing Reuters 102
19-Jan-11 GOV ECON China's Q4 GDP expands faster-than-expected 9.8% China, 2010: GDP up 10.3% MarketWatch 103
19-Jan-11 BANK FIN Wells Fargo Reports Record Quarterly And Full Year Net Income: Q4 Net Income Of $3.4 Billion; Q4 Revenue Of $21.5 Billion Wells Fargo, 2010: net income, $12.36 billion (up 1%); revenue, $85.21 billion (down 4%) Wells fargo 104
20-Jan-11 ELITE FIN ECON New Report Identifies Most Important Global Issues for 2011 The Outlook on the Global Agenda 2011 report:Most Important Global Issues for 2011: Global Power Shifts; Economic uncertainty; Resource scarcity; Institutional weakness World Economic Forum 105
20-Jan-11 BANK FIN Morgan Stanley Reports Full-Year and Fourth Quarter 2010 Morgan Stanley, 2010: income, $4.5 billion; net revenues, $31.6 billion Morgan Stanley 106
20-Jan-11 GOV FIN Aileen Wang; Koh Gui Qing; Simon Rabinovitch (ed.) China 2010 fiscal deficit dips to 1.6 percent of GDP
 China: budget deficit, 2010, ~650 billion yuan ($99 billion), or 1.6% of GDP Reuters 107
20-Jan-11 VIO Dozens Killed in Karbala Bombings Iraq: 2 suicide bombings targeting Shia pilgrims killed ≥50 people VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters 108
20-Jan-11 LAW Mafia Takedown: Largest Coordinated Arrest in FBI History FBI: "FBI agents and partner law enforcement officers began arresting nearly 130 members of the Mafia in New York City and other East Coast cities charged in the largest nationally coordinated organized crime takedown in the Bureau’s history. Members of New York’s infamous Five Families—the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Luchese crime organizations—were rounded up . . . to face charges including murder, drug trafficking, arson, loan sharking, illegal gambling, witness tampering, labor racketeering, and extortion" FBI 109
20-Jan-11 BUS FIN Google Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2010 Results and Management Changes  Google, 2010: revenues, $29.321 billion (up 24%); net income, $8,505 billion (up 30.4%) Google 110
20-Jan-11 REL Rick Westhead Some Christians in Pakistan convert fear into safety Pakistan: ≥20 to 25 former Christians are converting to Islam each week  Toronto Star 111
21-Jan-11 BANK FIN Bank of America Reports Fourth-Quarter and 2010 Financial Results Bank of America, 2010: net loss, $2.238 billion;total revenue net of interest expense (FTE basis), $111.39 billion Business Wire: Bank of America 112
21-Jan-11 BUS FIN GE Reports 4Q ’10 EPS of $0.36, up 33%; FY ’10 EPS of $1.15, up 15%; Revenues Total $41.4B for Quarter; $150.2B for Year; Industrial Organic Growth of 6%; Infrastructure Orders up 12%; Industrial CFOA of $4.6B in 4Q and $14.7B for Year General Electric, 2010: net earnings,$11.6 billion (up 5.5%); revenues $150.2 billion (down 3%) GE 113
21-Jan-11 GOV POL Southern Sudan referendum 2011 Southern Sudan Referendum: 98.6% for secession; 1.4% against [via BBC News] Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC) in conjunction with the Southern Sudan Referendum Bureau (SSRB) 114
21-Jan-11 MKT NIKKEI 225 lost 162.79 points (-1.56%), closing at 10,274.52 (Nikkei; Yahoo! Finance). Yahoo! Finance: Nikkei 115
22-Jan-11 PRO VIO Stefan Bos International Community Expresses Concern Over Deadly Protests in Albania 21-Jan-11: Albania: anti-government protests; ≥3 killed VOA News 116
22-Jan-11 PRO FOOD JOBS Tunisian PM Mohamed Ghannouchi under pressure to quit Tunisia: thousands protest against the government BBC News 117
22-Jan-11 PRO FOOD JOBS Police, Demonstrators Clash in Algeria Algeria: protest over high unemployment and food prices VOA News-AFP-Reuters 118
22-Jan-11 ACC Russian shopping mall blaze kills at least two, injures five (Update 1) Russia: shopping mall fire killed ≥2 RIA Novosti 119
22-Jan-11 BUS FIN Geoffrey A. Fowler; Liz Rappaport; Anupreeta Das (contributor) Facebook Limits Deal, Still Raises $1 Billion Facebook raised $1 billion via Goldman Sachs Group Inc.; Facebook was valued at $50 billion WSJ 120
22-Jan-11 VIO Lara Jakes (contributor) Iraq: Car bombs targeting Shiite pilgrims kill 18
 Iraq: car bombs targeting Shia pilgrims in Karbala killed ≥18 AP 121
22-Jan-11 VIO Mu Xuequan (ed.) Nine killed in clashes with Shiite rebels in north Yemen Yemen: pro-government tribesmen clashed with Shia rebels; ≥9 killed Xinhua 122
23-Jan-11 SCIE H-II rocket launched to refresh ISS 22-Jan-11: Japan: successful launch of H-IIB rocket carrying the HTV2 cargo transporter to the International Space Station (ISS) The Japan Times: Kyodo-AP 123
23-Jan-11 PRO Mu Xuequan (ed.) Thousand protesters attempt to oust Yemeni president Yemen: ~1,000 protest against the government Xinhua 124
23-Jan-11 AOG WEATH Brazil flood deaths top 800 with 400 still missing Brazil: floods and landslides killed >800 in Jan-11; >400 are still missing BBC News 125
23-Jan-11 ELITE FIN ECON Jack Ewing At Davos, Long List of Problems Awaits World Leaders "Leaders in business, politics and academia from around the world will gather in Davos, Switzerland, this week to try to rescue the planet. It’s a safe bet that, for the 41st year in a row, they will fail" NYT-DealBook 126
23-Jan-11 VIO Bombings Around Baghdad Kill 8 Iraq: Bomb attacks killed 8 people VOA News 127
23-Jan-11 VIO Suspected US Drone Strikes Kills 6 in NW Pakistan Pakistan: suspected U.S. drone attacks killed 6 people VOA News 128
24-Jan-11 PRO VIO Police Fire Tear Gas at Tunisian Protesters Tunisia: anti-government protests continue; ≥78 people killed VOA News 129
24-Jan-11 GOV POL FIN Heda Bayron China Pushing for Yuan to be Global Currency China to make the yuan a global currency competing with the dollar VOA News 130
24-Jan-11 ELITE FIN ECON Andrew Ross Sorkin A Hefty Price for Entry to Davos Price tag for an annual membership in the World Economic Forum at “Strategic Partner” level (up to 5 invitations): $527,000-$622,000 NYT-DealBook 131
24-Jan-11 BUS FIN Claire Cain Miller Twitter’s Advertising Plan Could Be Paying Off Twitter statistics: users, 200 million; venture capital, $360 million; valuation, $3.7 billion NYT-Bits 132
25-Jan-11 VIO Interior Ministry responsible for airport security - watchdog 24-Jan-11: Russia: suspected suicide bomber attacked Moscow’s Domodedovo international airport and killed ≥35 people RIA Novosti 133
25-Jan-11 GOV FIN BANK Statement on Monetary Policy Bank of Japan to keep the uncollateralized overnight call rate at ~0% to 0.1% Bank of Japan 134
25-Jan-11 VIO POL Ayaz Gul Bomb Blasts in Pakistan Kill at Least 12 Pakistan: 2 bomb attacks killed ≥12 VOA News 135
25-Jan-11 PRO VIO Jon Leyne Egypt protests: Two reported killed on 'day of revolt' Cairo: thousands join anti-government protests; ≥2 people killed BBC News 136
25-Jan-11 PRO Martin Chulov Lebanon protesters clash with army over new Hezbollah-backed PM Lebanon: Najib Miqati was sworn in as prime minister; supporters of ousted Saad Hariri, toppled by Hezbollah, clashed with troops The Guardian 137
25-Jan-11 MKT GOLD Matt Whittaker PRECIOUS METALS: Gold Hits 3-Month Low As Correction Continues Gold futures tumbled to a 3-month low; contract on Comex for Feb-11 delivery fell to $1,332.30 WSJ-Dow Jones Newswires 138
25-Jan-11 GOV JOBS Remarks by the President in State of Union Address President Barack Obama, State of the Union address: "Half a century ago, when the Soviets beat us into space with the launch of a satellite called Sputnik, we had no idea how we would beat them to the moon. The science wasn’t even there yet. NASA didn’t exist. But after investing in better research and education, we didn’t just surpass the Soviets; we unleashed a wave of innovation that created new industries and millions of new jobs. This is our generation’s Sputnik moment. . . "
 Whitehouse.gov 139
25-Jan-11 BUS AUTO Toyota Announces Voluntary Recall of Certain 2006-2007 Lexus GS 300/350, 2006-2009 IS 250 and 2006-2008 IS 350 Vehicles to Inspect the Fuel Pressure Sensor Installation Toyota to recall 1.3 million vehicles worldwide Toyota Motor Corporation 140
26-Jan-11 GOV FIN The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2011 to 2021 Congressional Budget Office (CBO): projected federal budget deficit for 2011, ~$1.5 trillion (9.8% of GDP) U.S. Congressional Budget Office 141
26-Jan-11 BUS SEC M.G. Siegler “Let The Hacking Begin” Declares Person Who Hacked Zuckerberg’s Facebook Fan Page Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook fan page hacked with the message: "Let the hacking begin: If Facebook needs money, instead of going to the banks, why doesn't Facebook let its users invest in Facebook in a social way? Why not transform Facebook into a 'social business' the way Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus described it?" TechCrunch 142
26-Jan-11 GOV BANK LAW FSA levies £1.12m fine on Barclays Capital for client money breaches UK: Financial Services Authority fined Barclays Capital £1.12 million for "failing to protect and segregate on an intra-day basis client money held in sterling money market deposits" Financial Services Authority 143
26-Jan-11 GOV BANK DEBT FOMC statement 25-26-Jan-11: FOMC to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0%-0.25% Federal Reserve Board 144
27-Jan-11 PRO Anti-government rallies hit Yemen Yemen: tens of thousands join anti-government protest Al Jazeera-Agencies 145
27-Jan-11 PRO VIO Protesters torch Egypt police post Egypt: massive, violent anti-Hosni Mubarak protests Al Jazeera-Agencies 146
27-Jan-11 VIO Car Bomb Kills 48 at Baghdad Funeral Iraq: car bomb at a funeral killed ≥ 48 people VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 147
27-Jan-11 GOV SEC Secretary Napolitano Announces New National Terrorism Advisory System to More Effectively Communicate Information about Terrorist Threats to the American Public Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to discontinue the color-coded alerts of the Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS); a new system, the National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS), to provide detailed information about terrorist threats U.S. Department of Homeland Security 148
27-Jan-11 GOV BANK FIN Phil Angelides; Hon. Bill Thomas; Brooksley Born; Byron S. Georgiou; Senator Bob Graham; Keith Hennessey; Douglas Holtz-Eakin; Heather H. Murren, CFA; John W. Thompson; Peter J. Wallison; Commission Staff The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report Conclusions of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC): "About four million families have lost their homes to foreclosure and another four and a half million have slipped into the foreclosure process or are seriously behind on their mortgage payments. Nearly $11 trillion in household wealth has vanished . . . Many people who abided by all the rules now find themselves out of work . . . From 1978 to 2007, the amount of debt held by the financial sector soared from $3 trillion to $36 trillion . . . By 2005, the 10 largest U.S. commercial banks held 55% of the industry’s assets . . . On the eve of the crisis in 2006, financial sector profits constituted 27% of all corporate profits in the United States, up from 15% in 1980. . . We conclude this financial crisis was avoidable. . . We conclude widespread failures in financial regulation and supervision proved devastating to the stability of the nation’s financial markets. . . We conclude there was a systemic breakdown in accountability and ethics. . . " Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission 149
27-Jan-11 GOV FIN Hiroko Tabuchi; Bettina Wassener; Contributors: Jack Ewing; Matthew Saltmarsh S.&P. Downgrades Japan as Debt Concerns Spread Standard & Poor’s downgraded Japan's sovereign credit rating from AA to AA-. NYT 150
27-Jan-11 BUS FIN Microsoft Reports Record $0.77 Earnings Per Share in Second Quarter Microsoft Corp., 2011Q2: record revenue, $19.953 billion (up 5% YOY); net income, $6.63 billion Microsoft 151
27-Jan-11 BUS FIN Fourth-Quarter Sales and Revenues Increase 62 Percent, Full Year up 31 Percent; Fourth-Quarter Profit Quadruples, Full Year Triples Caterpillar Inc., 2010: sales and revenues, $42.588 billion (up 31% YOY); profit, $2.700 billion (up 202% YOY) Caterpillar Inc. 152
27-Jan-11 GOV BANK FIN Bernanke: All But One Major Firm At Risk In 2008 Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, in Nov-2009: 12 of the 13 top U.S. financial firms "would go under" in 2008 NYT: Reuters 153
27-Jan-11 POL Daniel Serge Uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt Challenge Israel Too Israel no longer the only "democracy" in the Middle East New Socialist 154
27-Jan-11 MEDIA Tariq Ali Bernard-Henri Lévy Indicted! PIR (Parti des Indigènes de la République) activists are organizing a trial of Bernard-Henri Lévy [a journalist/philosopher of Jewish provenance] in Paris on 28-Jan-2011: BHL is accused of "unrelenting promotion of imperialism and Zionism," "intellectual fakery," disseminating "false news likely to sow social and religious discord between Christians and Muslims," etc. [see also: Henry Samuel, "Bernard-Henri Lévy caught out by fake philosopher," The Telegraph, 9-Feb-2010; Henry Samuel: "France's best-known philosopher, Bernard-Henri Lévy, has become the butt of intellectual ridicule after copiously quoting a leading authority on Kant who, it transpires, is a modern-day hoax," http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/7196517/Bernard-Henri-Levy-caught-out-by-fake-philosopher.html] Counterpunch 155
28-Jan-11 PRO VIO Mass Anti-Government Protests Rock Egypt Mass unrest in Egypt: tens of thousands joined protests against government/Hosni Mubarak; 5 killed since 25-Jan-11 VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 156
28-Jan-11 GOV SEC PRO Online activism fuels Egypt protest Egypt: the government disrupted Internet and mobile services to fight anti-government protests Al Jazeera 157
28-Jan-11 PRO Thousands Protest for Reform in Jordan Jordan: thousands of protesters demand government reforms  VOA News-AP-AFP 158
28-Jan-11 VIO Kabul supermarket hit by deadly suicide attack - police Afghanistan: suicide attack at a supermarket killed ≥8 people BBC News 159
28-Jan-11 ACC Aubrey Belford Indonesia Investigates Deadly Ferry Fire, Train Collision Indonesia: ferry fire and train collision killed ≥14 people NYT 160
28-Jan-11 GOV ECON National Income and Product Accounts; Gross Domestic Product, 4th Quarter and Annual 2010 (advance estimate) BEA: real GDP in the U.S. increased at an annual rate of 3.2% in 2010Q4 (up from 2.6% in 2010Q3); and 2.9% in 2010 (up from -2.6% in 2009) Bureau of Economic Analysis 161
28-Jan-11 BUS FIN AUTO Ford Reports 2010 Full Year Net Income Of $6.6 Billion; Fourth Quarter Net Income Of $190 Million  Ford Motor Company, 2010: net income, $6.561 billion (up 141% YOY); revenue, $120.9 billion ($17 billion YOY, excluding Volvo from 2009) Ford Moter Company 162
28-Jan-11 BUS FIN ENER Chevron Reports Fourth Quarter Net Income of $5.3 Billion, Up From $3.1 Billion in Fourth Quarter 2009 Chevron, 2010: earnings, $19.024 billion (up 81% YOY); revenues, $204.928 billion (up 19% YOY) Chevron Corporation 163
28-Jan-11 UN MKT Davos, Switzerland, 28 January 2011 - Secretary-General''s remarks to the World Economic Forum Session on Redefining Sustainable Development United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, at WEF: "We mined our way to growth. We burned our way to prosperity. We believed in consumption without consequences. Those days are gone. In the 21st century, supplies are running short and the global thermostat is running high. . . We need a revolution. Revolutionary thinking. Revolutionary action. A free market revolution for global sustainability. . . We are running out of time." UN 164
28-Jan-11 MKT DJIA down 1.39% The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 166.13 points (-1.39%), closing at 11,823.70 Yahoo! Finance: DJ 165
28-Jan-11 MKT GOLD Matt Whittaker PRECIOUS METALS: Egypt's Turmoil Sends Investors Back To Gold NYMEX: Gold for Feb-2011 delivery: $1,340.70/oz. (up $22.30 or 1.7%) WSJ-Dow Jones Newswires 166
28-Jan-11 MKT OIL Margot Habiby; Mark Shenk U.S. Commodities: Crude Oil, Gold Jump as Egypt Tensions Mount NYMEX: Oil futures for Mar-2011 delivery, $89.34/barrel (up $3.70 or 4.3%) Bloomberg 167
28-Jan-11 PRO DEBT Jason Webb; Gavin Serkin (ed.) Egypt Bond Yields Climb to Record High in Worst Week as Protests Spread Egypt: outcome of uprising: bond yields soar to record high Bloomberg 168
28-Jan-11 MKT The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 166.13 points (-1.39%), closing at 11,823.70 Yahoo! Finance: DJ 169
28-Jan-11 BANK MON Susanne Craig Goldman Sachs Gives Blankfein a Big Raise Lloyd C. Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs: restricted stock valued at $12.6 million; base salary, $2 million per year (up from $600,000) 170
28-Jan-11 MKT NASDAQ Composite: Historical Prices NASDAQ lost 68.39 points (-2.48%), closing at 2,686.89 Yahoo! Finance: NADAQ 171
29-Jan-11 PRO VIO David D. Kirkpatrick; Reporters: Kareem Fahim; Ethan Bronner; Contributors: David D. Kirkpatrick; Mona El-Naggar; Liam Stack; Dawlat Magdy; Anthony Shadid; Alan Cowell; Maria Newman; Christine Hauser  Egypt Protests Continue as Government Resigns Egypt: anti-Hosni Mubarak protests continued; the Egyptian cabinet resigned; ≥50 people killed NYT 172
29-Jan-11 POL WWW Michael Kan China Microblogs Block Chinese Word for 'Egypt' China blocked searches for the word "Egypt" on microblogs PC World: IDG News 173
29-Jan-11 M&A ENER Alpha Natural Resources and Massey Energy Agree to $8.5 Billion Combination Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. to acquire Massey Energy Company in a transaction valued at $8.5 billion Alpha Natural Resources 174
30-Jan-11 VIO Laura King Suicide bomber kills a top official in key Afghan province 29-Jan-11: Afghanistan: suicide bomber killed Deputy Governor Abdul Latif Ashna  Los Angeles Times 175
30-Jan-11 ACC Wang Guanqun (ed.) Train collision kills 10 in eastern Germany 29-Jan-11: Germany: train collision killed ≥10 Xinhua 176
30-Jan-11 POL Obama joins King Abdullah in condemnation of Egyptian turmoil 29-Jan-11: King Abdullah and US President Barack Obama reportedly disapprove of the uprising in Egypt  Arab News 177
30-Jan-11 PRO RPIG David D. Kirkpatrick; Mona El-Naggar Rich, Poor and a Rift Exposed by Unrest Egypt: extreme rich-poor income gap trigger class warfare; rich people “afraid for their money” support Hosni Mubarak  NYT 178
30-Jan-11 BANK FRAUD Alissa J. Rubin; James Risen; Contributors: Rod Nordland; Ray Rivera; an Afghan NYT employee Losses at Afghan Bank Could Be $900 Million Potential losses from fraud and mismanagement at Kabul Bank estimated at $900 million NYT 179
30-Jan-11 MKT Israel: TA-25 Index fell 3.75% to 1,282.56 Tel Aviv Stock Exchange 180
30-Jan-11 POL Peter Martell South Sudan chooses to secede: official results South Sudan: 9-15-Jan-2011 referendum results: 99.57% opt to secede from the north AFP 181
30-Jan-11 VIO Buildings Burn in Latest Central Nigeria Clashes Nigeria: Christian-Muslim violence; 15 killed VOA News 182
31-Jan-11 M&A RE ProLogis and AMB Property Corporation Announce Merger of Equals AMB Property Corporation and ProLogis to merge; the combined company to have a total market capitalization >$24 billion, and gross assets owned and managed of ~$46 billion ProLogis 183
31-Jan-11 BUS ENER FIN Exxon Mobil Corporation Announces Estimated Fourth Quarter 2010 Results Exxon Mobil, 2010: net income, excluding special items, $30.46 billion (up 58% YOY); total revenue, $383.221 billion (up 23.4% YOY) Exxon Mobil 184
31-Jan-11 MIL NUC Karen DeYoung New estimates put Pakistan's nuclear arsenal at more than 100 Pakistan: nuclear arsenal, >100 deployed weapons Washington Post 185
1-Feb-11 PRO VIO Egyptians Begin Gathering for Million-Strong March Egypt: massive pro-democracy, anti-Hosni Mubarak "million-strong march"; death toll from one week of protests: >125 VOA News 186
1-Feb-11 PRO VIO Tunisia protests against Ben Ali left 200 dead says UN Tunisia: according to the UN, the uprising's death toll is ≥219 BBC News 187
1-Feb-11 PRO GOV Ranya Kadri; Ethan Bronner King of Jordan Dismisses His Cabinet Jordan: protesters continue to challenge King Abdullah II's rule; the King fired his government NYT 188
1-Feb-11 MKT DJIA up 1.25% The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 148.23 points (1.25%), closing at 12,040.16 Yahoo! Finance: DJ 189
1-Feb-11 BUS FIN BP p.l.c. Group results: Fourth quarter and full year 2010 BP, 2010: total revenue, $308.928 billion (up 25.5% YOY); replacement cost loss, $4.914 billion (v. $13.955 billion profit in 2009) BP 190
1-Feb-11 LAW RE Julie Creswell; Barry Meier Bet on Foreclosure Boom Turns Sour for Investors David J. Stern "may be the best-known beneficiary of the foreclosure boom"; made millions from evictions NYT 191
2-Feb-11 PRO VIO UN: 300 killed in nationwide protests 1-Feb-11: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay: ~300 people killed in Egypt's protests over 9 days Al-Masry Al-Youm 192
2-Feb-11 PRO VIO Griff Witte; Will Englund; Contributors: Leila Fadel; Samuel Sockol; Sherine Bayoumi  Mubarak supporters clash with crowds after army tells protesters: 'Go home' Egypt: Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians demand President Hosni Mubarak resign immediately; Mubarak supporters clash with pro-Democracy demonstrators Washington Post 193
2-Feb-11 BANK FIN MON Aaron Lucchetti; Stephen Grocer
On Street, Pay Vaults to Record Altitude Total compensation and benefits at publicly traded Wall Street banks and securities firms, 2010: record $135 billion (up 5.7% YOY) WSJ 194
2-Feb-11 FIN BANK SEC Patricia Hurtado; David E. Rovella (ed.) Financial Institutions in New York Warned by FBI of Al-Qaeda Terror Threat FBI: financial institutions in New York warned in Jan-2011 about a potential al-Qaeda terrorist attack Bloomberg 195
2-Feb-11 FIN BANK MON William H. Gross Devil’s Bargain William H. Gross: "Fifty years ago, the highest paid and most prestigious professions were that of a doctor or a 707 airline pilot who flew the “golden” route from Los Angeles to Honolulu. Today the yellow brick road begins on Wall Street or the City. Aside from supernova innovators such as Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg, the money is made from securitizing things instead of booting and rebuilding America. . . Almost a quarter of the 400 wealthiest people on Forbes annual richest list make their money from money, whereas only 8% could make that claim in its first issue in 1982, and probably close to 0% when I first read my economic primer in 1966." PIMCO 196
2-Feb-11 VIO Bomb Blast Kills 9 in NW Pakistan Pakistan: bomb killed 9 people VOA News 197
2-Feb-11 GOV POL Peter Heinlein AU Summit Reveals Growing African Resentment Toward Western Values AU: African resentment of Western values VOA News 198
2-Feb-11 GOV MIL NUC The New START Treaty: Signed President Barack Obama signs the instrument of ratification of the New START Treaty with Russia Whitehouse.gov 199
2-Feb-11 MKT NIKKEI 225 gained 182.86 points (1.78%), closing at 10,457.36 Yahoo! Finance: Nikkei 200
3-Feb-11 PRO Griff Witte; Contributor: Samuel Sockol  In Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak still has support, from rich and poor Egypt: Mubarak supporters include: "businessmen with rich government contracts, civil servants, security officers, ruling-party activists and poor Egyptians who fear the instability . . ."; Mubarak foes include: "the professional middle class - lawyers, doctors, university students and engineers" Washington Post 201
3-Feb-11 PRO Yemen protests: 20,000 call for President Saleh to go Yemen: "day of rage": 20,000 anti-government protest against President Ali Abdullah Saleh; pro-government supporters alsy rally BBC News 202
3-Feb-11 MKT OIL Alejandro Barbajosa Brent crude tops $103 as Egypt violence escalates
 ICE Brent crude for March delivery hit $103.37 a barrel, a record since 26-Sep-2008, as a result of Egypt unrest Reuters 203
3-Feb-11 BUS FIN 4Th Quarter And Full Year 2010 Unaudited Results Royal Dutch Shell plc, 2010: earnings, on a current cost of supplies (CCS) basis, $18.643 billion (up 90.2% YOY); total revenue, $378.152 billion (up 32.6% YOY) Royal Dutch Shell plc 204
3-Feb-11 BANK FIN Deutsche Bank reported net income of EUR 605 million for the fourth quarter 2010 and EUR 2.3 billion for the full year Deutsche Bank, 2010: net income of €2.3 billion (€5.0 billion in 2009); net revenues, €28.6 billion Deutsche Bank 205
3-Feb-11 UN FOOD World food prices reach new historic peak 03-02-2011: 3.4 percent surge in January - FAO updates Food Price Index FAO: World food prices surged 3.4% to a new historic peak in January (prices surged for 7 consecutive months) Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN 206
3-Feb-11 GOV BANK FIN Federal Reserve offers $5 billion in 28-day term deposits through its Term Deposit Facility Federal Reserve to offer $5 billion in 28-day term deposits through its Term Deposit Facility on 7-Feb-11 Federal Reserve Board 207
3-Feb-11 LAW BANK FRAUD Trustee For Liquidation Of Bernard L. Madoff Investment
Securities Announces Unsealing Of Complaint Against
Jpmorgan Chase, Madoff’S Primary Banker		 Irving H. Picard, the Trustee for the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BLMIS), complaint against JPMorgan Chase (JPMC) was unsealed: "The complaint seeks to recover nearly $1 billion in fees and profits and an additional $5.4 billion in damages for JPMC’s decades-long role as BLMIS’s primary banker, aiding and abetting Madoff’s fraud." {Editor's note: JPMorgan Chase denies any wrongdoing.] Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC Liquidation Proceeding: Irving H. Picard, Trustee 208
3-Feb-11 GOV FIN BANK Monetary policy decisions ECB to keep the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility unchanged at 1.00%, 1.75%, and 0.25%, respectively ECB 209
3-Feb-11 GOV BANK DEBT 3 February 2011 - Monetary policy decisions The Governing Council of the ECB to keep the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility at 1.00%, 1.75% and 0.25% respectively European Central Bank 210
4-Feb-11 PRO Egypt Protests Continue Despite Curfew Egypt: tens of thousands of anti-government protesters call for "day of departure" for Mr. Mubarak VOA News 211
4-Feb-11 GOV Liz Sly Amid Arab protests, U.S. influence has waned America's influence in the Middle East has diminished; people are disappointed with America Washington Post 212
4-Feb-11 EDU DEBT Nick Anderson Default rate for repayment of for-profit college loans hits 25 percent U.S. Department of Education report: default rate for repayment of for-profit college loans in 2010: 25% (up from 21% YOY) Washington Post 213
4-Feb-11 MKT FIN Nicole Bullock Investors pull $7bn from emerging funds EPFR Global: Investors withdrew >$7 billion from emerging market equities funds last week, a 3-year record high; emerging market equities attracted a record $95 billion in 2010 FT 214
4-Feb-11 AOG WEATH Australia Deploys Troops to Help in Storm Recovery Australia: recovering from category-5 cyclone Yasi VOA News 215
4-Feb-11 VIO South Sudan ex-militiamen mutiny kills 13 3-Feb-11: Sudan: rebellion by ex-militiamen killed ≥16 people AFP 216
4-Feb-11 ACC Turkey factory blasts: Ankara explosions kill 16 Turkey: 2 explosions in an industrial zone killed 16 people BBC News 217
4-Feb-11 MIL VIO Pakistanis Flee Renewed Fighting in Northwest Pakistan: military campaign target Taliban fighters; ≥70 militants killed since 27-Jan-2011 VOA News-AP 218
4-Feb-11 NATO NATO Secretary General calls for ''Smart Defence'' at Munich Conference Munich Security Conference: ''Smart Defence'' in an "age of austerity"; 2 priorities: “investing in science and technology, and creating greater coherence within Europe" NATO 219
5-Feb-11 PRO GOV Luis Ramirez Top Egyptian Ruling Party Leadership Quits Egypt: anti-Mubarak protests continue; top leadership of Mubaraks' National Democratic party resigned VOA News 220
5-Feb-11 ACC OIL Nayla Razzouk; Ola Galal; Peter Hirschberg (ed.) Egypt Halts Gas Pipeline Feeding Israel, Jordan Egypt: explosion at a natural-gas pipeline feeding both Israel and Jordan Bloomberg 221
5-Feb-11 PRO Andreas Illmer; Martin Kuebler (ed.) Serbian opposition rally calls for early elections Serbia: ≥50,000 demonstrators protest against economic hardship and corruption Deutsche Welle: dpa-AFP-Reuters 222
5-Feb-11 ACC JET Muhanad Mohammmed (Reporting); Jim Loney (Writing) Business executives killed in Iraq plane crash
 Iraq: plane crash on 4-Feb-11 killed 7, including the chief executive of MerchantBridge and 2 JPMorgan executives  Reuters 223
5-Feb-11 MKT WWW Devlin Barrett  Hackers Penetrate Nasdaq Computers NASDAQ computers accessed by hakers WSJ 224
5-Feb-11 VIO Reza Sayah; Nasir Habib (contributor) 4 accused as U.S. spies, killed in Pakistan Pakistan: militants killed 4 alleged U.S. spies CNN International 225
5-Feb-11 BANK LAW David E. Rovella (Reported/ed.);  Bank of America to Pay $410 Million to Settle Overdraft Manipulation Claim Bank of America Corp. to pay $410 million to settle lawsuits alleging deceptive practices and excessive fees for overdrafts Bloomberg 226
6-Feb-11 MIL VIO 50 Killed in Sudan Army Infighting Sudan: army infighting re breakup of Sudan killed ≥50 VOA news 227
6-Feb-11 PRO GOV LAW Mark LeVine The shaping of a New World Order The uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt "actually constitute a far greater threat to the "global system" al-Qa'eda has pledged to destroy . . ." Al Jazeera 228
6-Feb-11 M&A HEAL Sanofi-aventis to Acquire Genzyme for $74.00 in Cash per Share Plus Contingent Value Right Sanofi-Aventis to acquire Genzyme for $74.00 per share in cash, or ~$20.1 billion Sanofi-Aventis; Genzyme 229
7-Feb-11 MON Egypt government struggles to finance itself President Hosni Mubarak's family wealth is estimated by the ABC television network at ~$70bn BBC News 230
7-Feb-11 M&A OIL Dana Cimilluca; Guy Chazan Oil Drillers Plan to Merge .  Ensco plc to buy Pride International Inc. for $7.3 billion in cash and stock WSJ 231
7-Feb-11 M&A HEAL Danaher to Acquire Beckman Coulter, Inc. Danaher to acquire Beckman Coulter in a transaction valued at ~$6.8 billion, including debt assumed and net of cash acquired PR Newswire: Beckman Coulter, Inc. 232
7-Feb-11 M&A MEDIA Michael Liedtke AOL Buying Huffington Post for $315M AOL Inc. to buy Huffington Post in a $315 million deal; Huffington Post statistics: 25 million visitors/month; 70 paid staff; 6,000 bloggers ($315 million=$4.5 million per employee; $52,500 per blogger; $12.60 per visitor/month) AOL News: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation 233
7-Feb-11 WWW SEC FREE Anonymous hackers attack US security firm HBGary Anonymous targeted American security firm HBGary: "Let us teach you a lesson you'll never forget: don't mess with Anonymous" BBC News 234
8-Feb-11 PRO Mass protests continue in Egypt Egypt: mass pro-democracy protests continue Al Jazeera-Agencies 235
8-Feb-11 GOV BANK FIN Margot Habiby; Mark Shenk; Dan Stets (ed.) Oil Declines for Fourth Day After China Raises Interest Rates People’s Bank of China increased the 1-year lending rate from 5.81% to 6.06% Bloomberg 236
8-Feb-11 BANK FIN UBS fourth quarter net profit attributable to shareholders of CHF 1.3 billion. Full year net profit of CHF 7.2 billion UBS, 2010: net profit attributable to UBS shareholders, CHF 7.2 billion (v. loss of CHF 2.7 billion in 2009); total operating income, CHF 31.975 billion (up 41.5% YOY) UBS 237
8-Feb-11 REL LAW VIO Muslim Mob Burns Churches in Indonesia Indonesia: A Christian is sentenced for blaspheming Islam; unhappy with the sentence, a Muslim mob burned 2 churches  VOA News-AFP-AP 238
8-Feb-11 GOV BANK FIN Patrick Jenkins; Sharlene Goff; George Parker; Miles Johnson (Additional Reporting) Banks lash out at Osborne’s levy increase U.K. to increase the bank levy by 50% (~ £800m); bank levy to increase from from 0.05% to 0.075% (£1.7bn to £2.5bn) FT 239
9-Feb-11 M&A MKT BUS London Stock Exchange Group Plc And Tmx Group Inc. Join Forces In Merger Of Equals London Stock Exchange Group plc and TMX Group Inc. to merge "Europe’s and Canada’s leading diversified exchange groups in an all-share merger of equals" London Stock Exchange Group Plc; Tmx Group Inc. 240
9-Feb-11 M&A ENER OIL PetroChina Ltd. to acquire a 50% stake in Encana Corp's for $5.4 billion NYT: AP 241
9-Feb-11 ACC OIL One missing after fire at Texas natural gas plant 8-Feb-11: TX: explosion reported at a natural gas processing plant by Enterprise Products Partners; 1 person missing AHN 242
9-Feb-11 SEC ENER BUS George Kurtz Global Energy Industry Hit In “Night Dragon” Attacks McAfee: "Night Dragon" alert: "starting in November 2009, covert cyberattacks were launched against several global oil, energy, and petrochemical companies"; the attacks likely originated in China
 McAfee 243
9-Feb-11 GOV ECO No End in Sight for China's Drought China: drought threatening wheat crop, water shortages; potential impact on food prices VOA 244
9-Feb-11 VIO SEC Deadly car bombings hit Iraq city Iraq: 3 car bombings targeting security forces killed ≥7 people Al Jazeera: Agencies 245
9-Feb-11 M&A MKT Deutsche Börse AG and NYSE Euronext Inc. Confirm Advanced Merger Discussions Deutsche Börse AG and NYSE Euronext in advanced discussions regarding a potential merger NYSE 246
10-Feb-11 PRO GOV MIL David D. Kirkpatrick; Anthony Shadid; Alan Cowell; Contributors: Kareem Fahim; Liam Stack; Mona El-Naggar; Thanassis Cambanis; Helene Cooper Egypt’s Army Signals Transfer of Power Egypt: the army to take "necessary measures to protect the nation and support the legitimate demands of the people”  NYT 247
10-Feb-11 BANK GOV DEBT IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn Calls for Strengthening the International Monetary System IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn: “Global imbalances are back, and issues that worried us before the crisis—large and volatile capital flows, exchange rate pressures, rapidly growing excess reserves—are on the front burner once again . . . reforms to the international monetary system could both bolster the recovery and strengthen the system’s ability to prevent future crises” IMF 248
10-Feb-11 BUS FIN TEL Alcatel-Lucent fourth quarter 2010 earnings Alcatel-Lucent, 2010: revenues, €15.996 billion (up 5.5% YOY); adjusted operating income, €288 million (1.8% of revenues) Alcatel-Lucent 249
10-Feb-11 BUS FIN Spencer E. Ante; Amir Efrati; Anupreeta Das Twitter as Tech Bubble Barometer Twitter valued at $8-$10 billion WSJ 250
10-Feb-11 VIO Alex Rodriguez; Zulfiqar Ali Pakistan suicide bomber kills 32 at military school Pakistan: suicide bomber killed 32 people at a military training school Los Angeles Times 251
10-Feb-11 VIO Blast kills Shia pilgrims in Iraq Iraq: car bomb targeting Shia pilgrims killed ≥8 people Al Jazeera-Agencies 252
10-Feb-11 PRO JUST Angelique Chrisafis Sarkozy under pressure as French judges take to the streets France: thousands of judges and lawyers protested against Nicolas Sarkozy meddling with the justice system The Guardian 253
10-Feb-11 GOV BANK DEBT Bank of England Maintains Bank Rate at 0.5% and the Size of the Asset Purchase Programme at £200 Billion The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee to maintain (1) the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5% and (2) the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £200 billion Bank of England 254
11-Feb-11 PRO GOV Luis Ramirez Mubarak Resigns Egypt: President Mubarak resigned; the military to take control of the country (Mubarak ruled Egypt for 30 years; the revolution that ousted him took 18 days) VOA News 255
11-Feb-11 MIL GOV Statement of Egyptian armed forces Egypt: Statement of Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces Al Jazeera: Agencies 256
11-Feb-11 GOV POL FOOD Thomas Kostigen Why U.S. farm policy caused Egypt crisis; Commentary: Subsidies wreak havoc on world food prices Thomas Kostigen: "The PRO in Cairo are the result of United States [farm] policy gone bad. In fact, we — you, me, U.S. taxpayers — are to blame" MarketWatch 257
12-Feb-11 PRO Algerian Police Try to Block Egypt-Inspired Protest Algeria: thousands join anti-government demonstration VOA News-AP-Reuters 258
12-Feb-11 PRO Clashes in Yemen as Thousands Rally Against Government Yemen: thousands of protesters call for president Ali Abdullah Saleh to resign VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 259
12-Feb-11 VIO Many dead in raid on Afghan police Afghanistan: Taliban fighters attack the police headquarters in Kandahar city; ≥21 people were kiled Al Jazeera 260
12-Feb-11 VIO MIL 105 killed in fighting in southern Sudan 11-Feb-11: Sudan: army-rebel fighting killed 105 people Washington Post: AP 261
12-Feb-11 GOV BANK DEBT Maria Petrakis (reporter); Angela Cullen (ed.) Greek Government Criticizes EU, IMF Demands for Asset Sales Greece: George Petalotis, regarding demand by EU-IMF for asset sales to raise €50 billion: “The only agent responsible for these decisions is the Greek government. We take orders only from the Greek people” Bloomberg 262
12-Feb-11 GOV M&A China to review foreign takeovers for threats to 'national security' China: mergers and acquisitions to be reviewed for threat to "national security" The Telegraph: Reuters 263
12-Feb-11 MIL GOV POL Egypt military authorities 'to respect all treaties' Egypt: military authorities affirmed "The Arab Republic of Egypt is committed to all regional and international obligations and treaties" BBC News 264
13-Feb-11 MIL GOV PRO Egypt's Military Dissolves Parliament, Suspends Constitution Egypt: the military dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution VOA News 265
13-Feb-11 GOV ECON Michael Kitchen Japan Oct.-Dec. GDP down 1.1% but beats forecasts Japan: 2010Q4 GDP down 1.1% (annualized) MarketWatch 266
13-Feb-11 ACC Christian Purefoy 11 killed at stampede at Nigerian campaign event Nigeria: stampede at an election rally killed 11 people CNN International 267
13-Feb-11 PRO SEX Flavia Krause-Jackson; James Hertling (ed.) Italy Women, Enraged by Berlusconi Scandals, Protest Italy: thousands of women protest against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s sexual escapades (Ruby-Gate) Bloomberg 268
14-Feb-11 PRO Egyptian Military Criticizes Public Worker Strikes Egypt: public workers, including the police, strike, demand better pay VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 269
14-Feb-11 PRO Farnaz Fassihi Protests Gather Steam in Tehran Iran: thousands demonstrate in support of Egyptian and Tunisian protesters WSJ 270
14-Feb-11 GOV FIN Corey Boles; Jared A Favole (contributor) Obama Releases $3.73 Trillion Budget President Barack Obama released a $3.73 trillion budget for FY2012 WSJ 271
14-Feb-11 GOV ECON Chester Dawson; Jason Dean; Contributors: Loretta Chao; Juro Osawa Rising China Bests a Shrinking Japan China's economy passed Japan's in 2010; 2010 GDP: U.S., $14.66 trillion; China, $5.88 trillion; Japan, $5.47 trillion WSJ 272
14-Feb-11 LAW JUST VIO William Glaberson A Legal Manual for an Apocalyptic New York New York state legal manual to guide judges and lawyers answer tough question in the aftermath of an apocalyptic terrorist attack upon New York; the government has the power to declare a state of emergency and “local authorities may establish curfews, quarantine wide areas, close businesses, restrict public assemblies and, under certain circumstances, suspend local ordinances” NYT 273
15-Feb-11 GOV BANK ELITE Paul B. Farrell Fed dictator Bernanke needs to be toppled Paul B. Farrell: "Fed boss Ben Bernanke is the most dangerous human on earth . . . Bernanke rules a monetary dictatorship that will trigger the coming third meltdown of the 21st century. . . Bernanke is the final egomaniac in America’s bubbling 30-year wealth gap, where the top 1% went from owning 9% of America’s wealth to owning 23% during this dictatorship" MarketWatch 274
15-Feb-11 PRO VIO Deaths reported in Iran protest 14-Feb-11: Iran: thousands protested against the government; 2 people were killed; protesters accused of being "corrupt on earth" risk the death penalty Al Jazeera-Agencies 275
15-Feb-11 PRO VIO Thousands of Yemenis Join 5th Day of Anti-Saleh Protests Yemen: thousands of protesters demand political reforms and the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh; government supporters clash with protesters VOA News-AFP-AP 276
15-Feb-11 M&A MKT Deutsche Börse AG And NYSE Euronext Agree To Combine To Create The Premier Global Exchange Group Deutsche Börse AG and NYSE Euronext to merge; ownership: 60% by Deutsche Börse shareholders, 40% by NYSE Euronext shareholders on a fully diluted basis Deutsche Börse 277
15-Feb-11 BUS FIN Dell Delivers Record Results in Fiscal-Year 2011 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Dell, FY2011: revenues, $61.5 bilion (up 18% YOY); operating income (GAAP), $3.4 billion (up 58% YOY) Dell 278
15-Feb-11 FOOD PRO POL Lester R. Brown World One Poor Harvest Away From Chaos Lester R. Brown, re record FAO Food Price Index in Dec-2010: "If the world has a poor harvest this year, food prices will rise to previously unimaginable levels. Food PRO will multiply, political unrest will spread and governments will fall. The world is now one poor harvest away from chaos in world grain markets"; "overpumping" in China and India feeds 305 million people Earth Policy Institute 279
15-Feb-11 GOV POL Clinton Set to Name New Envoy to Afghanistan, Pakistan Marc Grossman to replace Richard Holbrooke as U.S. Special Representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan; (Grosman is Vice Chairman of the Cohen Group [Cohen Group]; both Grossman and Holbrooke are of Jewish provenance [NNDB and Wikipedia, respectively]) VOA News 280
15-Feb-11 FIN FRAUD Diana B. Henriques From Prison, Madoff Says Banks ‘Had to Know’ of Fraud Bernard L. Madoff said banks and hedge funds were “complicit” in his Ponzi scheme NYT 281
15-Feb-11 SCIE Enormous solar flare in AR 1158 NASA, Solar Dynamics Observatory Mission: enormous solar flare in AR 1158 NASA 282
16-Feb-11 PRO VIO Glen Carey; Mohammed Hatem. Assisting: Inal Ersan; Vivian Salama. Editors: Heather Langan; Digby Lidstone. Andrew J. Barden (ed.) Bahrain, Yemen, Libya Face Protests as Region’s Unrest Spreads Bahrain: 3rd day of pro-democracy protests; 2 protesters killed; Yemen: 6th day of protests; Libya: anti-Muammar Qaddafi protests Bloomberg-Businessweek 283
16-Feb-11 M&A HEAL Sanofi-aventis to Acquire Genzyme for $74.00 in Cash per Share Plus Contingent Value Right Sanofi-aventis to acquire Genzyme Corporation for ~$20.1 billion plus contingent-value right Sanofi-aventis-Genzime 284
17-Feb-11 BANK DEBT LAW Short-term Delinquencies Fall to Pre-Recession Levels, Loans in Foreclosure Tie All-Time Record in Latest MBA National Delinquency Survey Mortgage Bankers Association: the percentage of loans in the foreclosure process at the end of 2010Q4 was 4.63% (up 0.05% YOY); the serious delinquency rate (the percentage of loans that are ≥90 days past due or in the process of foreclosure), was 8.57% (down 1.1% YOY) Mortgage Bankers Association 285
17-Feb-11 ELITE FIN ECON Report Highlights Personal Data as New Economic Asset Class World Economic Forum report: Personal Data: The Emergence of a New Asset Class World Economic Forum 286
17-Feb-11 GOV WWW SEC Greg Weston Foreign hackers attack Canadian government Canada: cyberattacks/cyber espionage traced back to servers in China targeted the Canadian government including Defence Research and Development Canada, Finance Department, and the Treasury Board CBC News 287
17-Feb-11 PRO VIO Sudarsan Raghavan; Hakim Almasmari (Contributor) More protests in Yemen, Bahrain as populist empowerment grips the Middle East Yemen and Bahrain: PRO police clash with anti-ruler protesters Washington Post 288
17-Feb-11 PRO VIO Michael Slackman; Mark Landler. Contributors: Nadim Audi; Robert F. Worth  Bahrain Turmoil Poses Fresh Test for White House Bahrain: the military killed 5 pro-democracy protesters NYT 289
17-Feb-11 PRO ECON Anthony Shadid Suez Canal Workers Join Broad Strikes in Egypt Egypt: hundreds of Suez Canal workers go on strike; labor strikes reported in many business and industrial sectors, including banking NYT 290
17-Feb-11 PRO VIO Michael S. Schmidt; Duraid Adnan. Contributors: NYT employees in Iraq Protests Spread to More Iraqi Cities Iraq: protests spread; protestors demand better government services; 5 people were killed in Sulaimaniya NYT 291
17-Feb-11 PRO GOV Libyan Protesters Express Rage, Call for Reforms Libya: pro-government supporters counter anti-government "Day of Rage" VOA News 292
17-Feb-11 ACC MIL Ali Sultan. Jason Straziuso (AP); AP Contributors: Malkhadir M. Muhumed; Carley Petesch 25 killed in Tanzania blasts after explosion at military base 16-17-Feb-11: Tanzania: explosions at a military munitions depot killed ≥25 people Toronto Star 293
17-Feb-11 VIO Iraq attack: Muqdadiyah car bomb blast kills 13 Iraq: car bomb attack killed ≥13 people BBC News 294
17-Feb-11 ACC Nguyen Kieu Giang; Diep Ngoc Pham. Editors: Ryan Woo; Oanh Ha.  Vietnam Tourist Boat Sinks in Halong Bay, Killing 12 Vietnam: tourist boat sank killing 12 people Bloomberg 295
17-Feb-11 GOV TECH ELITE Top Silicon Valley Execs to Meet with Obama USA: President Barack Obama to dine with top Silicon Valley executives at the home of a venture capitalist NYT-Bits 296
17-Feb-11 SCIE Scientists Build the World’s First Anti-laser Yale University: Yale physicist A. Douglas Stone and the experimental group of Hui Cao built a functioning anti-laser, a coherent perfect absorber (CPA); "CPAs could one day be used as optical switches, detectors and other components in the next generation of computers, called optical computers, which will be powered by light in addition to electrons"
 Yale University 297
17-Feb-11 BUS MIL SEC W.J. Hennigan It's a bird! It's a spy! It's both AeroVironment Inc. for the Pentagon: remotely-controlled robot Nano Hummingbird can be used in spying missions Los Angeles Times 298
18-Feb-11 PRO VIO Contributors: Fionnuala Sweeney; Salma Abdelaziz  20 reported dead in Libya as thousands take to streets Libya: tens of thousands of Libyans protested against Moammar Gadhafi; 20 people were reportedly killed in Benghazi CNN International 299
18-Feb-11 PRO VIO Bahrainis call for monarchy's downfall Bahrain: tens of thousands called for the overthrow of King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa and his government after the military killed at least 5 people  CBC News 300
18-Feb-11 PRO Day of Rage' Rallies Staged in Yemen Yemen: Day of Rage: thousands of demonstrators demand the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 301
18-Feb-11 PRO Egyptians stage Tahrir Square victory march Egypt: Victory March: thousands of pro-democracy supporters celebrated the fall of President Hosni Mubarak CBC News-AP 302
18-Feb-11 GOV BANK Chairman Ben S. Bernanke Global Imbalances: Links to Economic and Financial Stability Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, at the Banque de France Financial Stability Review Launch Event, Paris, France: "The global financial crisis is receding, but capital flows are once again posing some notable challenges for international macroeconomic and financial stability. These capital flows reflect in part the continued two-speed nature of the global recovery, as economic growth in the emerging markets is far outstripping growth in the advanced economies" Federal Reserve Board 303
18-Feb-11 GOV BANK Minutes of the Monetary Policy Meeting on January 24 and 25, 2011 The Bank of Japan to encourage the uncollateralized overnight call rate to remain at ~0%-0.1% Bank of Japan 304
18-Feb-11 BUS MAN COMP Intel to Invest More than $5 Billion to Build New Factory in Arizona Intel Corporation to invest >$5 billion to build Fab 42 -- "the most advanced, high-volume semiconductor manufacturing facility in the world -- in Chandler, AZ Intel 305
19-Feb-11 PRO VIO Scores killed' in Libya protests Libya: security forces shot at pro-democracy protesters;  Human Rights Watch said 84 people were killed Al Jazeera-Agencies 306
19-Feb-11 PRO Joe Parkinson Bahraini Demonstrators Retake Pearl Roundabout Bahrain: the army was ordered to withdraw; tens of thousands of anti-government protesters retake Pearl Square WSJ 307
20-Feb-11 VIO BANK Taliban Attack on Afghan Bank Kills 40 19-Feb-11: Afghanistan: suicide Taliban attack on Kabul Bank killed ≥40 people VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 308
20-Feb-11 PRO VIO Libya unrest death toll 'tops 200' Libya: ≥200 were killed in Benghazi; protests spread Al Jazeera-Agencies 309
20-Feb-11 PRO James Kelleher. Editing by: Ellen Wulfhorst; Peter Bohan; Eric Walsh Wisconsin governor sees Democrats back to debate 19-Feb-11: Wisconsin: ~55,000 protested against Governor Scott Walker's plan to limit the bargaining power of public union employees Reuters 310
20-Feb-11 PRO UN Nasser Abu Bakr Palestinians protest at 'despicable' Obama UN veto Palestine: ~3,000 protested against the US veto of a UN resolution condemning Israeli settlements; protesters: "Obama, you despicable man, we want self-determination!" AFP 311
20-Feb-11 PRO Jeremy Page; Loretta Chao (Contributor) Call to Activists Unnerves China China: "anonymous" activists called for a "Jasmine Revolution" in China; people's response was "lacklustre" WSJ 312
20-Feb-11 PRO Marc Champion Region's Protests Spread to Morocco Morocco: thousands of protesters demand a change to the constitution WSJ 313
20-Feb-11 VIO Pakistani Troops Kill 15 Militants in Gunbattle Pakistan: troops killed 15 militants VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 314
20-Feb-11 PRO VIO Libya: Governments Should Demand End to Unlawful Killings Human Rights Watch: death toll from 4 days of protests across Libya: ≥233 Human Rights Watch 315
21-Feb-11 PRO VIO BANK Five dead in violence after Morocco demos Morocco: thousands protested against corruption and undemocratic constitution; PROers torched a bank; 5 were killed AFP 316
21-Feb-11 VIO Suicide car bomber kills 12 north of Baghdad Iraq: suicide car bomber killed 12 police officers AP 317
21-Feb-11 VIO Laura King Suicide bomber kills 30 in Afghanistan's north Afghanistan: suicide bomber killed ~30 people at a government administrative center  Los Angeles Times 318
21-Feb-11 M&A ENER OIL BP And Reliance Industries Announce Transformational Partnership In India BP to acquire a 30% stake in 23 oil and gas production sharing contracts that Reliance operates in India, including the formation of "a 50:50 joint venture between the two companies for the sourcing and marketing of gas in India"; BP to pay $7.2 billion and completion adjustments for the production sharing contracts; future performance payments can amount to $1.8 billion Reliance Industries 319
21-Feb-11 MKT ENER OIL NYMEX: Light sweet crude oil: Apr-2011 high=98.48 NYMEX: light sweet crude oil for Apr-2011 delivery hit a high of $98.48 per barrel CME Group 320
21-Feb-11 ACC 36 killed in stampede at Mali stadium: official Mali: stampede in a stadium killed ≥36 people AFP 321
22-Feb-11 AOG New Zealand quake kills 65 as dozens trapped New Zealand: 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit Christchurch: ≥65 people killed; >100 people trapped in rubble CBC News 322
22-Feb-11 PRO Michael Slackman; J. David Goodman In Bahrain, Shiites Turn Out in Great Numbers to Protest Bahrain: >100,000 people protest against the government at Pearl Square NYT 323
22-Feb-11 PRO GOV Sudarsan Raghavan; Leila Fadel. Contributors: Anthony Faiola; Janine Zacharia; Sherine Bayoumi; Karla Adam; William Branigin; Mary Beth Sheridan  Gaddafi vows to 'die as a martyr,' refuses to relinquish power Libya: Moammar Gaddafi refused to relinquish power; blamed PRO on "mercenaries" and foreign interference Washington Post 324
22-Feb-11 MKT DJIA down 1.44% The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 178.46 points (-1.44%), closing at 12,212.79 Yahoo! Finance: DJ 325
22-Feb-11 M&A ENER BHP Billiton Announces Acquisition Of Chesapeake Energy Corporation's Fayetteville USA, Shale Assets BHP Billiton to acquire all of Chesapeake Energy Corporation's interests in the Fayetteville Shale, USA for US$4.75 billion BHP Billiton 326
22-Feb-11 VIO CNN Wire Staff; Mike Pearson (Contributor) Americans slain by captors on hijacked yacht; pirates killed, arrested Pirates killed 4 American hostages they hijacked from a yacht on 18-Feb-2011; US forces killed 2 pirates and captured 13 CNN International 327
22-Feb-11 POL WWW SEC Iran's Cyber Army Hacks VOA, US-Backed Websites Fars News Agency: an Iranian cyber group hacked Voice of America (VOA) and affiliated websites; message on the VOA website: "Mrs. Clinton, Do you want to hear the voice of the oppressed nations? The Islamic nations would no more be tricked by the US, and we want you to stop interfering in the Islamic countries" FNA 328
22-Feb-11 MKT NIKKEI 225 lost 192.83 points (-1.78%), closing at 10,664.70 Yahoo! Finance: Nikkei 329
22-Feb-11 MKT NASDAQ Composite: Historical Prices NASDAQ lost 77.53 points (-2.74%), closing at 2,756.42 Yahoo! Finance: NASDAQ 330
23-Feb-11 PRO VIO Suzanne Presto Libyan Death Toll Mounts as Protests Continue in Region Libya: pro- and anti-government violence; death toll estimated at 1,000 331
23-Feb-11 PRO FIN Greece general strike: Clashes erupt Greece: 30,000 angry workers protested against "austerity" cuts BBC News 332
23-Feb-11 MKT ENER OIL NYMEX: Light sweet crude oil: Apr-2011 high=99.29 NYMEX: light sweet crude oil for Apr-2011 delivery hit a high of $99.29 per barrel CME Group 333
23-Feb-11 BANK FIN Sheila C. Bair et al. FDIC-Insured Institutions Earned $21.7 Billion in the Fourth Quarter of 2010 FDIC: FDIC-insured institutions aggregate profit of $21.7 billion in 2010Q4 (up from $1.8 billion net loss in 2009Q4); the number of institutions on the FDIC's "Problem List" increased from 860 to 884 FDIC 334
23-Feb-11 FIN DiNapoli: Wall Street Bonuses Declined in 2010 New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli: Wall Street cash bonuses fell 8% from $22.5 billion in 2009 to $20.8 billion in 2010 Office of the New York state Comptroller 335
23-Feb-11 PRO MIL VIO Kareem Fahim, David D. Kirkpatrick; Contributors: Sharon Otterman, Mona El-Naggar, Neil MacFarquhar, Liam Stack  Qaddafi Massing Forces in Tripoli as Rebellion Spreads Libya: the rebellion spread; some military officers defect; ~300 deaths confirmed; mercenaries and tribal supporters of Col. Qaddafi deployed to counter the rebellion NYT 336
24-Feb-11 GOV FIN King Abdullah announces $35bn aid for Saudis Saudi Arabia: King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia to offer benefits for Saudis (young unemployed people and families) worth ~$35 billion The News International 337
24-Feb-11 BUS MIL JET Boeing Receives US Air Force Contract to Build Next-Generation Refueling Boeing received a contract from the U.S. Air Force to build aerial refuelling tanker aircraft (MarketWatch, 24-Feb-11: the contract is valued at $30 billion) Boeing 338
24-Feb-11 BUS AUTO Nick Bunkley Toyota to Recall Over 2 Million Vehicles for Gas Pedal Flaws Toyota to recall 2.17 million vehicles  NYT 339
24-Feb-11 AOG QUAK Death Toll from New Zealand Earthquake Exceeds 100 New Zealand: 6.3-magnitude earthquake of 22-Feb-2011 killed 113 people; >200 are missing VOA News 340
25-Feb-11 PRO MIL VIO David D. Kirkpatrick, Kareem Fahim; Contributors: Sharon Otterman, Mona El-Naggar, Gaia Pianigiani Qaddafi Forces Violently Quell Capital Protest Libya: pro-Col. Muammar Qaddafi mercenaries and military forces shoot at protesters attempting the takeover of Tripoli NYT 341
25-Feb-11 PRO VIO Sharon Otterman, J. David Goodman; Contributors: Michael Slackman, Jack Healy, Michael S. Schmidt, Duraid Adnan, Laura Kasinof, Liam Stack, Ranya Kadri, Isabel Kershner Hundreds of Thousands Protest Across Mideast Middle East: hundreds of thousands protest against their leaders; security forces in Iraq killed ≥10 people NYT 342
25-Feb-11 GOV MON VIO EXECUTIVE ORDER: BLOCKING PROPERTY AND PROHIBITING CERTAIN TRANSACTIONS RELATED TO LIBYA President Barak Obama issues an executive order blocking Libyan property [for Libya's wealth statistics, see 23-Mar-11] White House 343
25-Feb-11 GOV ECON National Income and Product Accounts: Gross Domestic Product, 4th quarter and Annual 2010 (second estimate) Bureau of Economic Analysis: U.S. real GDP increased: 2.8% (YOY) in 2010; and at an annual rate of 2.8% (QOQ) in 2010Q4  U.S. Department of Commerce 344
25-Feb-11 MKT BANK LAW Se Young Lee Korea Exchange Hits Deutsche With Record Fine Korea Exchange fined Deutsche Securities Korea a record one billion won ($884,001) for improper arbitrage trading; Kospi fell 2.7% WSJ 345
26-Feb-11 PRO GOV LAW Michael A. Fletcher, Sandhya Somashekhar; Contributor: Nick Anderson Wisconsin protesters rally against Gov. Walker's budget plan Madison, WI: tens of thousands of workers protested at Gov. Scott Walker's "proposal to strip public employees of most of their collective bargaining rights" Washington Post 346
26-Feb-11 PRO VIO Edward Yeranian Much of Libya Outside of Government Control Libya: anti-government protests continue; many former top officials side with insurgents; evidence of violence denied by government VOA News 347
27-Feb-11 PRO VIO Clashes Between Police, Protesters Kill 2 in Oman Oman: security forces killed 2 protesters  VOA News 348
28-Feb-11 ENER OIL John M. Broder, Clifford Krauss Oil Drilling to Resume in the Gulf’s Deep Waters First deepwater drilling permit in the Gulf of Mexico approved since BP explosion/spill  NYT 349
28-Feb-11 PRO MIL Kareem Fahim, David D. Kirkpatrick; Contributors: Robert F. Worth, Alan Cowell, Steven Lee Myers, Sebnem Arsu Qaddafi’s Forces Hit Back at Rebels Libya: Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s forces counterattack rebels NYT 350
28-Feb-11 GOV POL MON Helene Cooper U.S. Freezes a Record $30 Billion in Libyan Assets The U.S. Froze $30 Billion in Libyan Assets NYT 351
28-Feb-11 M&A Ventas to Acquire Nationwide Health Properties in $7.4 Billion Transaction Ventas to acquire Nationwide Health Properties in a transaction valued at $7.4 billion Ventas 352
28-Feb-11 GOV LAW PRO Peter Whoriskey, Amy Gardner Ohio, Wisconsin shine spotlight on new union battle: Government workers vs. taxpayers Madison, WI: workers protested proposed legislation to cut benefits and eliminate collective bargaining rights Washington Post 353
1-Mar-11 MKT DJIA down 1.38% The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 168.32 points (-1.38%), closing at 12,058.02 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance). Yahoo! Finance: DJ 354
1-Mar-11 BANK DEBT Steven M. Davidoff Debt Market Rebounds From the Crisis, and So Does Risk Concern about new debt issued since 1-Jan-2011: high-yield debt, $38 billion (up 60% over 2010), according to Dealogic; "cov-lite" debt, $17 billion NYT-DealBook 355
1-Mar-11 MKT GOLD Claudia Assis, Virginia Harrison Gold ends at record on inflation fears, Middle East unrest NYMEX: gold for April-2011 delivery rose to $1,431.20/oz. (up 1.5%) MarketWatch 356
1-Mar-11 PRO Yemen's President Blames US, Israel for Arab Unrest Yemen: tens of thousands protesters call for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh; Saleh blame the U.S. and Israel for fomenting unrest in Arab countries VOA News 357
2-Mar-11 MKT NIKKEI 225 lost 261.65 points (-2.43%), closing at 10,492.38 Yahoo! Finance: Nikkei 358
2-Mar-11 GOV VIO Jane Perlez; Contributors: Waqar Gillani, Salman Masood, Steven Lee Myers Extremists Are Suspected in Killing of Pakistani Minister Pakistan: the minister of minorities, a Christian who championed religious tolerance, was killed NYT 359
2-Mar-11 VIO Anthony Faiola; Contributors: Colum Lynch, Samuel Sockol  Crisis building on Libyan border Libya:>75,000 people fled violence to Tunisia; tens of thousands to Egypt Washington Post 360
3-Mar-11 MKT DJIA up 1.59% The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 191.40 points (1.59%), closing at 12,258.20 Yahoo! Finance: DJ 361
3-Mar-11 GOV FIN BANK Landon Thomas Jr. Libya’s Hidden Wealth May Be Next Battle Libyan assets: sovereign wealth fund estimated at $70 billion; central bank reserves estimated at $110 billion NYT 362
3-Mar-11 PRO ECON JOBS Nathan Morley North Cyprus Demonstrators Direct Anger at Turkey's Austerity Measures North Cyprus: ~30,000 Turkish Cyprus protested at Turkish government's austerity package (cutting salaries; increasing taxes) and the potential for high unemployment VOA News 363
3-Mar-11 GOV FIN BANK Monetary policy decisions ECB to keep the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility unchanged at 1.00%, 1.75%, and 0.25%, respectively ECB 364
3-Mar-11 GOV BANK DEBT 3 March 2011 - Monetary policy decisions The Governing Council of the ECB to keep the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility at 1.00%, 1.75% and 0.25% respectively European Central Bank 365
4-Mar-11 HEAL REL Jewish groups oppose circumcision ban in US city Activist Lloyd Schofield wants to criminalize infant circumcision in San Francisco. Schofield : "This is a human rights issue. . . This is a painful and irreversible surgery. . . It's a man's body. It's his right to choose and we're trying to preserve that choice." Abby Porth of the Jewish Community Relations Council: "This is one of the most fundamental practices to our tradition of over 3,000 years. . . It's symbolic of our covenant with God." AFP 366
4-Mar-11 MKT OIL Kate Gibson U.S. stocks slide as crude oil tops $104 a barrel NYMEX: crude-oil futures for April-2011 delivery rose to $104.42/barrel (up 2.5%) MarketWatch 367
4-Mar-11 PRO GOV David Byrd Gadhafi: Shrewd, Eccentric, or Insane? Libya: Col. Moammar Gadhafi blamed Libya's troubles on "Al- Qaida, on foreign interference, even on drug use" VOA News 368
4-Mar-11 PRO GOV VIO Stephanie McCrummen Protesters say Maliki is using special security forces to shut down demonstrations in Iraq Iraq: security forces responded to protests with force and blockades; 29 people were killed Washington Post 369
5-Mar-11 PRO GOV SEC Saudi Arabia Bans All Protests Saudi Arabia banned all protests following protests by Shia Muslims; academics are in favor of a constitutional monarchy; "Day of Rage" planned for 11-Mar-11 VOA News-AFP-Reuters 370
5-Mar-11 PRO VIO Gunfire erupts in Tripoli after battles in key city Libya: forces loyal to Col. Moammar Gadhafi counterattacked rebel fighters at Zawiya; ≥30 people were killed CBC News-AP 371
6-Mar-11 ELITE Rhonda Garelick (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) High Fascism John Galliano, Christian Dior’s creative director, reportedly to a woman in a Paris bar: “Dirty Jewish face, you should be dead”; Christian Dior fired Galliano NYT: Op-Ed 372
6-Mar-11 PRO Thousands Protest at Bahrain Prime Minister's Office Bahrain: thousands join anti-government protest VOA News 373
6-Mar-11 MIL VIO Karzai Condemns Civilian Casualties by NATO Troops 1-Mar-11: Afghanistan: NATO airstrike killed 9 Afghan boys VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 374
7-Mar-11 MKT NIKKEI 225 down 1.76% NIKKEI 225 lost 188.64 points (-1.76%), closing at 10,505.02 Yahoo! Finance: Nikkei 375
7-Mar-11 M&A TECH Hitachi Transfers Hard Disk Drive Business to Western Digital Western Digital to acquire Hitachi Global Storage Technologies in a cash and stock transaction valued at ~$4.3 billion Hitachi 376
7-Mar-11 MKT GOLD Claudia Assis, Sarah Turner,  Gold futures gain, tap $1,445 mark; Silver pushes past $36 an ounce, settles at new 31-year high NYMEX: gold for April-2011 delivery rose to $1,434.50/oz. on the Comex; silver for May-2011 delivery soared to $35.865/oz., a 31-year record high MarketWatch 377
7-Mar-11 FIN LAW Julie Creswell A Lawyer Under Investigation Shuts Down His Foreclosure Practice David J. Stern, a top beneficiary of the foreclosure boom (70,000 foreclosures in 2009), to shut down his foreclosure practice NYT 378
7-Mar-11 PRO MIL Gadhafi Forces Launch Airstrikes on Eastern Town Libya: military airstrikes targeted rebel fighters; 7 people were killed VOA News 379
7-Mar-11 M&A Michael J. De La Merced, Chris V. Nicholson; Contributor: Chris V. Nicholson LVMH to Take Control of Italy’s Bulgari LVMH Group to acquire Bulgari in a deal valued at €3.7 billion NYT-Dealbook 380
8-Mar-11 PRO Eman Al Nafjan Saudi Arabia is losing its fear 4-Mar-11: Saudi Arabia: despite a government ban on protests, protests called for the release of Sheikh Tawfiq al-Amer after he advocated for a constitutional monarchy Guardian 381
8-Mar-11 MKT DJIA up 1.03% The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 124.35 points (1.03%), closing at 12,214.38 Yahoo! Finance: DJ 382
8-Mar-11 PRO MIL VIO David D. Kirkpatrick; Contributors: Kareem Fahim, Anthony Shadid Qaddafi Forces Renew Attacks on Rebels 4-8-Mar-11: Libya: Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi's military forces clobberred rebel fighters in Zawiyah NYT 383
8-Mar-11 JUST BANK Anjana Pasricha Bangladeshi Micro Banker Faces Another Setback Bangladesh: High Court upheld an order for micro banker Mohammad Yunus to step down as Grameen's managing director; Yunus is a Nobel Prize-winner VOA News 384
9-Mar-11 SCIE SPACE Suzanne Presto Farewell, Discovery,' as Shuttle's Space Career Ends U.S. space shuttle Discovery completes successfully its last space mission VOA News 385
9-Mar-11 ELITE MON The World's Billionaires The World's Billionaires The World's Billionaires: Top 5: 1. Carlos Slim Helu & family, $74 B; 2. Bill Gates, $56 B; 3. Warren Buffett, $50 B; 4. Bernard Arnault, $41 B; 5. Larry Ellison $39.5 B Forbes 386
9-Mar-11 PRO MIL VIO Kareem Fahim, David D. Kirkpatrick; Contributors: Lynsey Addario, Tyler Hicks  Loyalists Batter Libyan Rebels Near Strategic Oil Town Libya: Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi's forces attacked rebel fighters at Ras Lanuf, a refinery town, forcing them to retreat NYT 387
9-Mar-11 MKT POL Chris V. Nicholson ‘World Does Need Order,’ Soros Says George Soros, at the Traveller’s Club in Paris: “The world does need order . . . The idea that markets can correct their excesses turned out to be false.” NYT-Dealbook 388
9-Mar-11 PRO VIO Laura Kasinof One Dead After Yemen Security Forces Fire on Protesters in Capital 8-Mar-11: Yemen: tens of thousands joined antigovernment protest; igovernment security forces fired at protesters NYT 389
9-Mar-11 POL OIL FOOD Joe DeCapua Will Political Turmoil Collapse the Old Oil Order? Michael Klare, Hampshire College in Amherst, MA, on the new oil order: “With the demise of the old oil order, we will see the end of cheap petroleum forever. . . $200 a barrel wouldn’t surprise me. . . When oil rises, the price of food rises.  And it’s been the high price of food that triggered many of the uprisings . . ." VOA News 390
9-Mar-11 FOOD Lester R. Brown Why World Food Prices May Keep Climbing Lester R. Brown: "Can the world boost this year’s grain harvest by 150 million tons or even 100 million tons? . . . this year it does not appear likely"; "It will take 100 million tons of additional grain just to maintain the current precarious situation and close to 150 million tons to restore some semblance of stability in the world grain market." Earth Policy Institute 391
10-Mar-11 PRO MIL VIO Anthony Shadid; Contributors: Kareem Fahim, David D. Kirkpatrick, Alan Cowell, Steven Lee Myers  Qaddafi Forces Bear Down on Strategic Town as Rebels Flee Libya: Qaddafi's military forces defeat rebel fighters NYT 392
10-Mar-11 GOV LAW PRO Monica Davey, A. G. Sulzberger; Contributors: Emma G. Fitzsimmons, Steven Greenhouse, Timothy Williams  In Wisconsin Battle on Unions, State Democrats See a Gift Wisconsin: the State Assembly passed a bill cutting the bargaining rights of government workers; legislators reportedly received death threats NYT 393
10-Mar-11 MKT DJIA down 1.87% The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 228.48 points (-1.87%), closing at 11,984.61 Yahoo! Finance: DJ 394
10-Mar-11 GOV MON PRO Reuters; Additional Reporting: Martina Fuchs, Martin Dokoupil; Writing: Crispian Balmer; Editing: Diana Abdallah Gulf States Launch $20 Billion Fund for Oman and Bahrain Gulf States announce $20 billion fiscal stimulus package for Oman and Bahrain; protests are planned in Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia NYT: Reuters 395
10-Mar-11 AOG QUAK China earthquake kills 24, injures 200 China: a magnitude 5.4 quake [USGS] killed 24 people CBC News: AP 396
10-Mar-11 VIO REL Richard Leiby; Contributors: Muhammad Mansour, Sherine Bayoumi  Sectarian clashes in Egypt challenge revolutionary idealism 8-Mar-11: Egypt: Christian-Muslim violence killed 13 people Washington Post 397
10-Mar-11 GOV BANK DEBT Bank of England Maintains Bank Rate at 0.5% and the Size of the Asset Purchase Programme at £200 Billion The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee to maintain (1) the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5% and (2) the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £200 billion Bank of England 398
10-Mar-11 MON FRAUD Canadian banknotes to be made of plastic Canada: RCMP statistics on the number of counterfeit Canadian banknotes passed in 2009, by denomination: $5, 2,894; $10, 8,342; $20, 24,762; $50, 5,653; $100, 25,030; $1,000, 5 CBC News 399
11-Mar-11 AOG QUAK Magnitude 8.9 - NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN Japan: Magnitude 8.9 quake hit near the East coast of Honshu [USGS updated magnitude to 9.0 on 14-Mar-11] USGS 400
11-Mar-11 AOG QUAK Martin Fackler, Kevin Drew; Contributors: Bettina Wassener, Alan Cowell, Richard Berry  Huge Earthquake Triggers Tsunami Off Japan’s Coast Japan: massive quake triggers catastrophic tsunami NYT 401
11-Mar-11 AOG QUAK NUC Matthew L. Wald; Contributor: Ken Belson Japan Orders Evacuation Near 2nd Nuclear Plant Japan declared states of emergency for 5 reactors at 2 nuclear plants (Daiichi and Daini, operated by Tokyo Electric Power) NYT 402
11-Mar-11 MKT NIKKEI 225 NIKKEI 225 lost 179.95 points (-1.72%), closing at 10,254.43 Yahoo! Finance: Nikkei 403
12-Mar-11 QUAK NUC UN Japan informs UN atomic watchdog of explosion at nuclear power plant United Nations: Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA.) informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of an explosion at one of the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant; Japanese authorities extended the evacuation zone around the plant to a 20-kilometre radius UN 404
12-Mar-11 AOG QUAK Chico Harlan Japan quake: With two natural disasters and a nuclear emergency, recovery begins Japan: ~9,500 people in Minamisanriku remain missing [Kyodo news agancy] Washington Post 405
12-Mar-11 PRO MIL VIO Libya Continues Air Attacks on Rebel Strongholds Libya: pro-Moammar Gadhafi military forces launched airstrikes against rebels for control of Misrata and Ras Lanuf VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 406
12-Mar-11 VIO Robert Berger Assailants Kill 5 Israelis at West Bank Settlement Palestinian attackers killed a family of five, including 3 children, in a Jewish West Bank settlement VOA News 407
12-Mar-11 GOV FIN DEBT European Leaders Expand Bailout Fund European nations: to increase the European Financial Stability Facility (bailout fund) from ~$350 billion to >$600 billion; to lower the interest rate on and more than double the term of Greece's bailout loans VOA News-Reuters 408
12-Mar-11 AOG QUAK SCIE Japan Earthquake Alters Coast Line, Changes Earth's Axis Japan magnitude-8.9 quake on 11-Mar-11 shifted: part of Japan's land mass by ~2.5 meters; and earth off its axis point by ≥8 centimeters VOA News-Reuters 409
12-Mar-11 AOG QUAK MON Alert Worldwide: Tohoku Japan Earthquake AIR Worldwide estimated the insured property losses from the Japan M9.1 quake to be in the range from $14.5 billion to $34.6 billion (losses from the tsunami excluded) Air Worldwide 410
13-Mar-11 AOG QUAK Damage from mega quake increasing, death toll feared to top 1,800 Japan: preliminary estimates: effects of combined magnitude 8.9 quake and tsunami on 11-Mar-11: death toll expected to exceed 1,800; ~3,000 people were rescued; ~3,400 buildings were destroyed; 5.57 million households lost power; water supply cut off for >1 million households Kyodo News 411
13-Mar-11 POL ECON VIO Israelis Mourn Settlement Killings, Govt. Approves New Settler Homes Israel: government "to approve hundreds of additional settler homes on occupied [Palestinian] land" VOA News 412
13-Mar-11 AOG QUAK Japanese Quake Survivors Await Relief as Engineers Battle Japan: death toll from quake and tsunami could exceed 10,000 in Miyagi prefecture alone VOA News 413
13-Mar-11 VIO Suspected US Missile Strike Kills 6 in NW Pakistan Pakistan: suspected U.S. missile strike killed ≥6 people; insurgents killed ≥8 people; police killed 3 gunmen VOA News 414
13-Mar-11 MKT ENER OIL NYMEX: Light Sweet Crude for Apr-2011 delivery: $99.68 (down $1.48) at 11:12:33 PM CST CME Group 415
13-Mar-11 PRO MIL VIO Chris McGreal, Simon Tisdall Gaddafi forces rout rebels in eastern Libya Libya: pro-Col. Muammar Gaddafi forces capture Brega, advance towards Benghazi Guardian 416
13-Mar-11 PRO VIO Wang Yan (ed.) Five protesters killed, 105 injured in Yemeni clashes with police Yemen: thousands of protestors called for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh; 5 protesters were killed  in clashes with the police Xinhua 417
13-Mar-11 PRO VIO BANK Frederik Richter, Lin Noueihed Bahrain protesters block highway, confront police Bahrain: violent protest; protesters block access to Gulf Arab banking center Reuters 418
13-Mar-11 VIO REL Aaron Maasho Ethiopia PM blames Muslim sect over church attacks Ethiopia: up to 50 churches have been burnt since 2-Mar-11 Reuters Africa 419
14-Mar-11 AOG QUAK SCIE USGS Updates Magnitude of Japan’s 2011 Tohoku Earthquake to 9.0 USGS: magnitude of Japan’s 2011 Tohoku quake updated to 9.0 USGS 420
14-Mar-11 AOG QUAK NUC Hydrogen blast occurs at Fukushima plant's No. 3 reactor: agency Japan: hydrogen explosion at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant's No. 3 reactor; the plant is operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) Kyodo News 421
14-Mar-11 GOV BANK MON Earthquake in the Pacific Coast of the Tohoku Region (Seventh Earthquake Report) Bank of Japan: "the Bank conducted a same-day funds-supplying operation totaling 7 trillion yen, which was the largest amount ever conducted, and a future-day-start funds-supplying operation totaling 3 trillion yen. The Bank will do its utmost to continue ensuring stability in the financial markets and securing smooth settlement of funds, including providing liquidity" Bank of Japan 422
14-Mar-11 MKT NIKKEI 225 NIKKEI 225 lost 633.94 points (-6.18%), closing at 9,620.49 Yahoo! Finance: Nikkei 423
14-Mar-11 M&A CHEM Berkshire Hathaway to Acquire Lubrizol for $135 per Share
in an All-Cash Transaction		 Berkshire Hathaway to Buy Lubrizol for ~$9.7 billion, including ~$0.7 billion in net debt Berkshire Hathaway 424
14-Mar-11 PRO MIL Lin Noueihed; Contributors: Andrew Hammond, Ulf Laessing, Peter Apps, Andrew Quin; Editor: Ralph Boulton Analysis: Tiny Bahrain could provoke regional conflict Bahrain: Saudi Arabian troops were dispatched to Bahrain to help control Shia Muslim protests; Saudi interference can trigger a wider confrontation; Bahrani police killed 7 protesters in Feb-2011 Reuters 425
15-Mar-11 AOG QUAK NUC Container damaged, radiation leak feared at Fukushima No.2 reactor Japan: explosion at the No. 2 reactor of the Fukushima nuclear plant; potential for a "meltdown"; high level radiation reported Kyodo News 426
15-Mar-11 AOG QUAK NUC Hiroko Tabuchi, Keith Bradsher; Contributors: David E. Sanger, Matthew L. Wald  Japan Says 2nd Reactor May Have Ruptured With Radioactive Release Japan: a vessel at the Fukushima Daiichi plant appeared to be compromised; radiation levels spiked NYT 427
15-Mar-11 VIO Jamal Hashim; Mu Xuequan (ed.) 14 killed, 40 wounded in Iraq's violence Iraq: suicide bombing and other violence killed 14 people, including 11 soldiers Xinhua 428
15-Mar-11 MKT NIKKEI 225 NIKKEI 225 tumbled 1015.34 points (-10.55%), closing at 8,605.15 Yahoo! Finance: Nikkei 429
15-Mar-11 MKT DJIA The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 137.74 points (-1.15%), closing at 11,855.42 Yahoo! Finance: DJ 430
15-Mar-11 GOV BANK MKT Bank of Japan injects $245 bln into markets Bank of Japan to inject $245 billion into markets MarketWatch 431
15-Mar-11 GOV BANK MON FOMC Statement FOMC: to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0%-0.25%; to purchase $600 billion of longer-term Treasury securities by the end of 2011Q2 Federal Reserve Board 432
15-Mar-11 ENER NUC Germany to Shut Down 7 Nuclear Reactors Germany: to shut down 7 aging nuclear power plants VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 433
15-Mar-11 GOV BANK DEBT FOMC statement 15-Mar-11: FOMC to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0%-0.25% Federal Reserve Board 434
16-Mar-11 AOG QUAK Steve Gelsi Combined dead, missing in quake exceeds 13,000 Japan: death toll from magnitude-9.0 quake, 4,277; misssing, 8,194 MarketWatch 435
16-Mar-11 MKT ENER QUAK Kari Lundgren, Yuki Yamaguchi; Will Kennedy (ed.) Tepco Market Value Slumps $24 Billion as Japan Utility Faces Atomic Crisis Tokyo Electric Power Co., (TEPCO) lost ¥1.93 trillion ($24 billion) in market value; TEPCO shares tumbled 57% in 3 days Bloomberg 436
16-Mar-11 BUS UN NUC Stephen Kurczy Reports: Lax oversight, 'greed' preceded Japan nuclear crisis Stephen Kurczy, CSM: "Reports suggest that greed within the worldwide nuclear industry, combined with an insufficient UN watchdog and lax oversight of Japan's nuclear plants, contributed to the Japan nuclear crisis" Christian Science Monitor 437
16-Mar-11 GOV MON PRO Gadhafi's Son Says Libya Funded Sarkozy Campaign Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, son of Col. Moammar Gadhafi: Libya financed President Nicolas Sarkozy's campaign, wants its money back VOA News 438
16-Mar-11 REL Archbishop Bashar Warda The Christians of Iraq – Address by Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil from Northern Iraq Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil from Northern Iraq, on "Christians oppressed for their faith": "Islamists are not the only ones at fault. Secularists with an eye for profit are also responsible. Neighboring governments in the region feeding the insurgents with money and weapons to destabilize the government are also responsible. The rest of world’s governments have turned their backs on us, as if the human rights abuses and near genocide conditions Iraqi Christians experience, are temporary." Irish Catholic Bishop's Conference 439
16-Mar-11 MKT NIKKEI 225 up 5.68% NIKKEI 225 gained 488.57 points (5.68%), closing at 9,093.72 Yahoo! Finance: Nikkei 440
16-Mar-11 MKT DJIA down 2.04% The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 242.12 points (-2.04%), closing at 11,613.30 Yahoo! Finance: DJ 441
17-Mar-11 MKT MON Yen hits record-high against US dollar as Nikkei falls The yen hit a record-high against the US dollar since the end of World War II BBC News 442
17-Mar-11 GOV FIN MKT Statement of G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Statement of G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors: 'In response to recent movements in the exchange rate of the yen associated with the tragic events in Japan, and at the request of the Japanese authorities, the authorities of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the European Central Bank will join with Japan, on March 18, 2011, in concerted intervention in exchange markets" Department of Finance Canada 443
17-Mar-11 UN Security Council authorizes ‘all necessary measures’ to protect civilians in Libya The UN Security Council authorized "the use of force in Libya to protect civilians from attack"; the Council also established a no-fly zone in Libyan airspace; abstentions included: China, Russia, Brazil, Germany, India 444
17-Mar-11 GOV BANK DEBT Minutes of the Monetary Policy Meeting on February 14 and 15, 2011 Bank of Japan to keep the uncollateralized overnight call rate at ~0%-0.1% Bank of Japan 445
17-Mar-11 BANK FIN OCC Reports Fourth Quarter Trading Revenue of $3.5 Billion U.S. derivatives trading statistics: notional value of derivatives held by commercial banks in 2010Q4, $231 trillion (down $3.5 trillion in 2010Q4); trading revenues of U.S. commercial banks in 2010Q4, $3.5 billion (up 80% over 2009Q4); trading revenues of U.S. commercial banks in 2010, $22.5 billion ($22.6 billion in 2009); net current credit exposure in 2010Q4, $375 billion (down 15% or $65 billion); derivatives trading in the U.S. was dominated by the top 5 banks: JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, and Wells Fargo; together they held 96% of the total notional amount of derivatives Office of the Comptroller of the Currency 446
17-Mar-11 MIL VIO Contributor: Ishtiaq Mahsud Pakistan intelligence officials say US missiles kill 38 militants near Afghan border Pakistan: U.S. missiles killed 38 suspected militants  Washington Post: AP 447
17-Mar-11 VIO Scott Stearns Nigerian Militants Attack Oil Facility, Warn of More Violence Nigeria: Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta claimed responsibility for Oct-2010 bombing of Agip oil facility (15 killed) VOA News 448
17-Mar-11 SEC TECH Art Coviello (Executive Chairman, RSA) Open Letter to RSA Customers RSA, security division of EMC: " . . . an extremely sophisticated cyber attack . . . resulted in certain information being extracted from RSA's systems. Some of that information is specifically related to RSA's SecurID two-factor authentication products" EMC-RSA 449
17-Mar-11 MKT OIL Claudia Assis, Deborah Levine Oil rallies 3.5%, pushes past $101 a barrel NYMEX: light sweet crude for Apr-2011 delivery to $101.42/barrel (up 3.5%) MarketWatch 450
17-Mar-11 MKT DJIA up 1.39% The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 161.29 points (1.39%), closing at 11,774.59 Yahoo! Finance: DJ 451
18-Mar-11 GOV BANK MKT Arran Scott, Yoshio Takahashi, David Pearson; Contributor: Shai Oster Global Intervention Slows Yen's Rise G7 intervention in currency markets slows rise of Yen WSJ 452
18-Mar-11 GOV QUAK NUC Japan's PM Says Nuclear Situation 'Very Grave' Japan: Prime Minister Naoto Kan, on the nuclear crisis: "very grave."; nuclear disaster severity increased from 4 to 5 out of 7
 VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 453
18-Mar-11 BANK DEBT Sonya Dowsett, Jesus Aguado; Greg Mahlich (ed.) Spanish banks' bad loans at 16-year high in Jan Spain: the ratio of bad loans to total loans increased from 5.8% in Dec-2010 to 6.1% in Jan-2011, a record-high since Oct-95 Reuters 454
18-Mar-11 BANK GOV DEBT Ben Protess, Eric Dash Many Banks Are Clinging to Billions in Bailout Money Distribution of bailout debt still owed to the U.S. government: $21 billion, 25 banks; $10 billion, 559 banks; total bailout debt owed: $31 billion, 584 banks [source: U.S. Department of the Treasury] NYT-DealBook 455
18-Mar-11 PRO GOV VIO