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 Yemen's President Declares Emergency Following Protest Killings Yemen: security and pro-government forces killed ≥40 anti-government protesters; protesters demand end to poverty, corruption and lack of freedom  VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 456
18-Mar-11 GOV BUS JUST IBM To Pay $10 Million In Settled FCPA Enforcement Action The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) of "improper cash payments, gifts, and travel and entertainment to government officials in South Korea and China"; IBM agreed to pay $10 million (disgorgement of $5.3 million, $2.7 million in interest, and $2 million civil penalty); IBM does not admit or deny the SEC allegations SEC 457
18-Mar-11 MKT NIKKEI 225 up 2.72% NIKKEI 225 gained 244.08 points (2.72%), closing at 9,206.75 Yahoo! Finance: Nikkei 458
18-Mar-11 GOV BANK FIN PBC Decides to Raise RMB Reserve Requirement Ratio by 0.5 Percentage Points The People's Bank of China to raise the RMB reserve requirement ratio for depository financial institutions by 0.5%, effective 25-Mar-2011 People's Bank of China 459
19-Mar-11 MIL VIO Contributors: Arwa Damon, Jill Dougherty, Elise Labott, Nic Robertson  French fighter jets deployed over Libya French air force assailed Libyan airspace CNN International 460
19-Mar-11 MIL VIO Nathan Hodge Strikes Designed to Knock Out Libyan Air Defenses U.S. and British warships launched 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles with the objective of destroying "critical nodes" in Libya's air-defense system WSJ 461
19-Mar-11 BANK MON Dan Fitzpatrick; Contributor: Liz Rappaport Banks Get Fed's Nod to Pay Dividends U.S.: 6 of the largest banks to distribute $8.7 billion in new dividend payments in 2011 WSJ 462
19-Mar-11 POL Libya Live Blog - March 19 Reader comments in Al Jazeera's "Libya Live Blog" indicate as follows: President Nicolas Sarkozy is disliked in China; UN, NATO, and the U.S. are hipocritical; Israel gets away with genocide; imperialists and colonialists will be fought . . .  Al Jazeera 463
19-Mar-11 POL David Hochman Helen Thomas: Playboy Interview Playboy interview: Helen Thomas, dean of the White House press corps: "I’m not retired! I was fired. In fact, I’ll die with my boots on. . . Everybody knows my feelings that the Palestinians have been shortchanged in every way. Sure, the Israelis have a right to exist—but where they were born, not to come and take someone else’s home. I’ve had it up to here with the violations against the Palestinians. . . I had reached the point of no return. You finally get fed up. . .  I’m not anti-Jewish; I’m anti-Zionist. I am anti Israel taking what doesn’t belong to it. If you have a home and you’re kicked out of that home, you don’t come and kick someone else out. Anti-Semite? . . . We are owned by the propagandists against the Arabs. There’s no question about that. Congress, the White House and Hollywood, Wall Street, are owned by the Zionists" Playboy 464
19-Mar-11 AOG QUAK Japan Death Toll Rises Above 7,000 Japan: confirmed death toll from the 11-Mar-11 quake and tsunami, 7,300 people: in addition, ~11,000 people are still missing VOA News 465
20-Mar-11 MIL VIO Contributors: Nic Robertson, Arwa Damon, Yousif Basil, Chris Lawrence, Jill Dougherty, Elise Labott, Ed Henry, Larry Shaughnessy, Jim Bittermann, Paula Newton, Richard Roth, Maxim Tkachenko  Nations bombing Libya are 'terrorists,' Gadhafi says Reports from Russia indicate that "non-military" targets in Libya, including a hospital, were bombed by American, British and French forces; Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez: "They (the United States) want to appropriate the oil in Libya; they don't care about anyone's life in that region"
CNN International 466
20-Mar-11 M&A TEL AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile USA From Deutsche Telekom AT&T to acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at ~$39 billion AT&T 467
20-Mar-11 PRO Thousands Across Morocco Demand Political Reforms Morocco: thousands of protesters demand political reform VOA News-AFP-Reuters 468
20-Mar-11 PRO Protests Continue in Syrian Town for 3rd Day Syria: thousands of protesters demand political freedom; security forces killed ≥4 protesters VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 469
20-Mar-11 VIO REL Luc van Kemenade Ethiopian Christians flee after church burnings Ethiopia: Muslim extremist torched 69 churches Radio Netherlands Worldwide 470
21-Mar-11 GOV POL Clifford J. Levy, Thom Shanker In Rare Split, Two Leaders in Russia Differ on Libya Russia: Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin, on the U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing attacks on Libya: “In general, it reminds me of a medieval call for a crusade" NYT 471
21-Mar-11 MKT DJIA up 1.50% The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 178.01 points (1.50%), closing at 12,036.53 Yahoo! Finance: DJ 472
21-Mar-11 MKT GOLD NYMEX: Gold Futures: Apr-2011 settle=1426.4 NYMEX-Comex: Gold for Apr-11 delivery: $1,426.4 (up $10.3) CME Group 473
21-Mar-11 PRO Simona Sikimic Thousands in Beirut rally against sectarianism Lebanon: thousands of protesters called for the end of “the sectarian regime” Daily Star 474
21-Mar-11 AOG QUAK Over 21,000 dead or missing in quake-hit Japan: police Japan: death toll from 11-Mar-11 quake and tsunami, 8,805; number of people reported missing, 12,654  Kyodo News 475
22-Mar-11 GOV BANK Federal Reserve System publishes annual financial statements Federal Reserve System 2010 financial statements: total Reserve Bank assets, $2.428 trillion (up $193 billion YOY); comprehensive income, $82 billion (up $28 billion YOY); amount transferred to the U.S. Treasury, $79 billion (up $32 billion YOY) Federal Reserve Board 476
22-Mar-11 GOV MIL VIO China "concerned" with civilian casualties in Libya: FM spokeswoman China: Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu: "China noticed reports of civilian casualties from the multinational military action against Libya and is very concerned with this. . . The UN resolution on no-fly zone over Libya aimed to protect civilians. We oppose abuse of force causing more civilian casualties and more serious humanitarian disasters"; air strikes by France, Britain and the U.S. reportedly killed ≥64 Libyans and injured 150 others Xinhua 477
22-Mar-11 GOV MIL VIO Libya: Museveni, Mugabe and Zuma condemn air strikes Africa: Uganda, South Africa and Zimbabwe condemned the air strikes on Libya BBC News 478
22-Mar-11 POL Phyllis Bennis Libya intervention threatens the Arab spring Phyllis Bennis, Fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies and the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam: "Despite its official UN-granted legality, the credibility and legitimacy of Western military action is dwindling rapidly, even in key diplomatic circles" Al Jazeera 479
22-Mar-11 MIL VIO Gaddafi forces shell Libyan city Libya: forces loyal to Col. Muammar Gaddafi shelled Misurata; ≥40 killed on 21-Mar-11 Al Jazeera-Agencies 480
22-Mar-11 MIL U.S. F-15 crashes in Libya; crew ejects U.S. Air Force F-15 Strike Eagle jet crashed in Libya Los Angeles Times: AP 481
22-Mar-11 MKT NIKKEI 225 up 4.36%% NIKKEI 225 gained 401.57 points (4.36%), closing at 9,608.32 Yahoo! Finance: Nikkei 482
22-Mar-11 MKT ENER OIL NYMEX-Comex: light sweet crude oil for May-11 delivery: $105.25 at 9:21:56 PM CST
 NYMEX-Comex 483
22-Mar-11 PRO GOV VIO Six Protesters Killed in Syria 23-Mar-11: Syria: security forces attacked protesters (protests started on 18-Mar-11); ≥6 people were killed NYT 484
22-Mar-11 JUST Isabel Kershner Ex-Israeli President Sentenced to Prison for Rape Israel: court sentenced ex-president Moshe Katsav to 7 years in jail for rape NYT 485
22-Mar-11 LAW Miguel Helft; Contributors: Julie Bosman, Claire Cain Miller  Judge Rejects Google’s Deal to Digitize Books New York: federal judge rejected Google's legal settlement with authors and publishers regarding the digitizing of books for Internet access NYT 486
23-Mar-11 GOV MON VIO Robert O’Harrow Jr., James V. Grimaldi, Brady Dennis Sanctions in 72 hours: How the U.S. pulled off a major freeze of Libyan assets Libya: wealth statistics: amount of Libya's wealth frozen by the U.S., $32 billion; Libya's GDP in 2009, $62 billion (Executive Order 13566); Libya's sovereign wealth fund, ~$40 billion; Libya's central bank reserves, $110 billion Washington Post 487
23-Mar-11 MIL VIO Gaddafi's air force 'defeated' U.K.: Air Vice-Marshal Greg Bagwell: Col. Muammar Gaddafi's air force "no longer exists as a fighting force" BBC News 488
23-Mar-11 VIO Shira Medding; Contributors: Michal Zippori, Kareem Khadder, Talal Abu Rahma  Palestinians and Israel exchange new round of strikes Gaza: cycle of violence continues; Israeli forces killed 10 Palestinians since 19-Mar-11 CNN International 489
23-Mar-11 VIO Melanie Lidman, Rebecca Anna Stoil, Tovah La 1 dead, 50 injured in Jerusalem bus bombing Jerusalem: bus bombing; 1 killed, 39 injured Jerusalem Post 490
23-Mar-11 MKT Robert Daniel Egypt bourse slumps in truncated trading session Egypt: the exchange market reopened: EGX 30 stock index fell to 5,142.71 (down 8.9%) MarketWatch 491
23-Mar-11 MKT GOLD Gold Futures NYMEX: gold for Apr-11 delivery, $1,437.7/oz. (up $10.1) at 4:00:35 PM CST CME Group 492
23-Mar-11 MKT NIKKEI 225 lost 158.85 points (-1.65%), closing at 9,449.47 Yahoo! Finance: NIKKEI 493
24-Mar-11 GOV Liz Sly To some in Libya, ‘Brother Leader’ Gaddafi still a hero Liz Sly, on "Brother Leader" Gaddafi: "it is clear that Gaddafi can count on the fierce loyalties of at least a significant segment of the population in the vast stretches that lie beyond the enclave of rebel-held territory in the east" Washington Post 494
24-Mar-11 VIO Richard Spencer Libya: Gaddafi regime claims 100 civilians have been killed by coalition air strikes Libya: Gaddafi regime claims coalition air attacks killed 100 civilians Telegraph 495
24-Mar-11 REL POL Michael Slackman; Contributor: Nadim Audi Islamist Group Is Rising Force in a New Egypt Egypt: the Muslim Brotherhood: a new political force in Egypt NYT 496
24-Mar-11 PRO DEBT POL Lisa Bryant EU Leaders Discuss Spreading Debt Crisis Brussels: EU Summit: concern re spreading of eurozone debt crisis; thousands of workers protest against economic pro-business reforms VOA News 497
24-Mar-11 MIL NATO Nicholas Watt Setback for Nicolas Sarkozy as Nato wins command of Libyan campaign NATO to take full control of war on Libyan government Guardian 498
24-Mar-11 BUS MON David Kocieniewski G.E.’s Strategies Let It Avoid Taxes Altogether General Electric, 2010: worldwide profits, $14.2 billion; U.S. tax bill, $0 -- claimed tax benefit, $3.2 billion NYT 499
25-Mar-11 AOG QUAK Fang Yang (ed.) Death toll of Myanmar's earthquake rises to 74, 111 people injured 24-Mar-11: Myanmar: magnitude-6.8 quake killed ≥74 people  Xinhua 500
25-Mar-11 PRO Thousands in Yemen march against Saleh Yemen: tens of thousands join anti-government "Day of Departure" protest Al Jazeera 501
25-Mar-11 PRO VIO Clashes break out at Jordan anti-government protest Jordan: pro- and anti-government protesters clashed BBC News 502
25-Mar-11 GOV ECON National Income and Product Accounts: Gross Domestic Product: Fourth Quarter and Annual 2010 (Third Estimate);  Corporate Profits: Fourth Quarter and Annual 2010 U.S. Real GDP in 2010Q4  increased at an annual rate of 3.1% Bureau of Economic Analysis 503
25-Mar-11 QUAK ECON MON Henry Ridgwell Japan Tsunami Damage Cost Could Top $300 Billion Japan: total cost of the damage caused by the tsunami estimated at up to ¥25 trillion ($309 billion) VOA News 504
25-Mar-11 PRO NUC Dorian Jones Turkey Presses Ahead With Nuclear Power Plant Plans Turkey: thousands of people protested against nuclear energy program VOA News 505
26-Mar-11 PRO ECON Michael Holden; Contributor: Olesya Dmitracova; David Cowell (ed.) Britons protest in London over government cuts U.K.: tens of thousands of Britons protest against government austerity cuts Reuters 506
26-Mar-11 PRO VIO Protests erupt in south Syria Syria: thousands of people protest against the government; a local Baath party headquarters was torched; death toll according to activists, 25 AFP 507
26-Mar-11 PRO NUC Some 200,000 in Germany protest nuclear power Germany: ~200,000 people protest against nuclear power AP 508
26-Mar-11 PRO ECON Mya Guarnieri Boycotting Israel . . . from within: Israelis explain why they joined the Boycott Divestment Sanctions movement Mya Guarnieri, on Boycott Divestment Sanctions in Israel: "The Israeli people are also oppressed by the occupation - they are living inside a society that is militant; that is violent; that is racist. . . "What is even worse is that people are raised to be deeply racist. . . Everything is targeted at supporting [Jewish] privilege as the masters of the land. Supporting BDS means renouncing my privileges in this land and insisting on equality for all. . . I think that the main lesson to be learned from the Holocaust is 'never again to anybody' not 'never again to the Jews'" Al Jazeera 509
27-Mar-11 MKT Zahra Hankir, Ahmed Namatalla Egyptian Stocks Advance Most in 15 Months, Lead Middle East Equities Rally Egypt: EGX 30 Index rose to 5,212.08 (up 5.3%) [see 23-Mar-11] Bloomberg 510
27-Mar-11 PRO VIO Yemen Islamists Seize Southern Town, Kill 6 Troops in Center Yemen: al-Qaida militants capture a town, kill ≥6 troops VOA News 511
27-Mar-11 PRO VIO Libyan Rebels Push West After Recapturing Eastern Towns Libya: rebels backed by Franco-Anglo-American forces recapture Libyan towns VOA News 512
27-Mar-11 PRO VIO Elizabeth Arrott Syrian Demonstrators Blame Government for Violence Syria: clashes between protesters and government foces; 12 people killed VOA News 513
27-Mar-11 MIL VIO Robert Berger Israel Launches Deadly Air Strike on Gaza; Deploys Anti-Rocket System Israel: new Iron Dome anti-rocket system deployed; I(DF killed 2 Palestinians 514
28-Mar-11 PRO VIO Fawaz al-Haidari Blast at Qaeda-looted Yemen ammo plant kills 70 Yemen: Al-Qaeda looted an ammunition plant on 27-Mar-11; blast at the plant killed ≥70 people AFP 515
28-Mar-11 VIO Suicide Bombing Kills 24 in Afghanistan 27-Mar-11: Afghanistan: 3 suicide car bombers killed 24 people  VOA News-AFP-Reuters 516
28-Mar-11 PRO VIO David D. Kirkpatrick, Kareem Fahim; Contributors: Eric Schmitt, Mark Mazzetti, Steven Erlanger, Alan Cowell  Libyan Rebel Gains Could Be Fleeting, U.S. Military Says Libya: rebels, with coalition support, move to capture Col. Muammar Qaddafi’s home town NYT 517
28-Mar-11 ENER NUC Partial Meltdown Suspected at Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Japan: Fukushima nuclear power plant: partial meltdown of fuel rods suspected; high radioactive contamination in water reported VOA News 518
28-Mar-11 GOV DEBT Canada's Federal Debt: Canada's National Debt Clock Canada's federal debt: total, $559.4 billion; per capita, $16.333 Canadian Taxpayers Federation 519
28-Mar-11 GOV BANK FIN Judy Chen, Jing Jin; Editors: James Regan, Sandy Hendry China's Central Bank Plans to Auction Most One-Year Bills Since March 2010 The People's Bank of China to sell 99 billion yuan ($15.1 billion) of one-year bills Bloomberg 520
28-Mar-11 BUS DEBT JOBS Lynn Thomasson, Whitney Kisling; Editors: Nick Baker, Nick Gentle CEOs Tap Record Cash for Payouts as M&A at Post-Lehman High Consequence of ~0% Federal Reserve interest rates and unemployment rate kept at ~26-year high: record $940 billion buildup in corporate cash Bloomberg 521
28-Mar-11 M&A WWW eBay Inc. to Acquire GSI Commerce eBay to acquire GSI Commerce for ~$2.4 billion Ebay 522
28-Mar-11 SCIE TECH Internet pioneer Paul Baran passes away US scientist Paul Baran died aged 84; Baran pioneered technology aimed at increasing the survivability of data communications networks (data packs and node redundancy: precursors of the Internet) BBC News 523
29-Mar-11 M&A ENER GE Energy to Acquire Converteam, Accelerating Momentum in High-Efficiency, Fully Electric Solutions General Electric to acquire ~90% stake in Converteam for ~$3.2 billion General Electric 524
29-Mar-11 MKT RE Home Prices Off to a Dismal Start in 2011 According to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices U.S.: the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index fell 3.03% in Jan-2011 (YOY)  S&P/Case-Shiller 525
29-Mar-11 ECON The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index Declines U.S.: The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index fell from 72.0 in Feb-2011 to 63.4 in Mar-2011 (down 11.94%; 1985=100) The Conference Board 526
29-Mar-11 GOV BANK ELITE Neil M. Barofsky Where the Bailout Went Wrong Neil M. Barofsky, on the bank bailout (Troubled Asset Relief Program): " . . . billions of dollars in taxpayer money allowed institutions that were on the brink of collapse not only to survive but even to flourish. These banks now enjoy record profits and the seemingly permanent competitive advantage that accompanies being deemed “too big to fail”. . . That program has been a colossal failure, with far fewer permanent modifications (540,000) than modifications that have failed and been canceled (over 800,000). . . As the program flounders, foreclosures continue to mount, with 8 million to 13 million filings forecast over the program’s lifetime." NYT: Op Ed 527
29-Mar-11 PRO VIO Ivory Coast Rebels Rapidly Advance Ivory Coast: pro-Alassane Ouattara rebels captured 4 towns; according to the U.N., ≥472 people have been killed since Dec-2010 VOA News-AFP-Reuters 528
29-Mar-11 GOV DEBT Charles Forelle Greece, Portugal Cut. Thanks ESM! Standard & Poor’s dowgraded the credit ratings of both Greece and Portugal: Greece was downgraded to double-B-minus, and Portugal to triple-B-minus WSJ 529
30-Mar-11 REL Nick Squires Surge in Satanism sparks rise in demand for exorcists, says Catholic Church Rome: surge in Satanism propelled by the Internet reported at a conference held at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome Telegraph 530
30-Mar-11 GOV BANK DEBT TARP Bank Programs Turn Profit After Three Financial Institutions Repay $7.4 Billion U.S. Department of the Treasury: 3 financial institutions repaid $7.4 billion in TARP funds to taxpayers; the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) (bank bailout) "will ultimately provide a lifetime profit of approximately $20 billion to taxpayers" U.S. Department of the Treasury 531
30-Mar-11 PRO VIO C. J. Chivers, David D. Kirkpatrick; Contributors: David E. Sanger; Kareem Fahim, Edward Wong Retreat for Rebels; Libyan Foreign Minister Quits Libya: despite 102 airstrikes by Western countries, pro-Qaddafi forces succeeded in repelling the rebels NYT 532
30-Mar-11 PRO VIO Edward Cody; Contributor: a special correspondent in Damascus Syria’s Assad offers no concessions, blames protests on ‘big conspiracy’ Syria: 12 days of protest; ~60 people killed; President Bashar al-Assad blamed the protests on a "big conspiracy" Washington Post 533
30-Mar-11 GOV BANK FIN Federal Reserve offers $5 billion in 28-day term deposits through its Term Deposit Facility April 4, 2011: the Federal Reserve to offer $5 billion in 28-day term deposits through its Term Deposit Facility Federal Reserve Board 534
30-Mar-11 MKT NIKKEI 225 gained 249.71 points (2.64%), closing at 9,708.79 Yahoo! Finance: NIKKEI 535
31-Mar-11 MKT GOLD NYMEX-Comex NYMEX: Gold for Jun-2011 delivery: settled at $1,439.90 (record high) CME Group 536
31-Mar-11 PRO Julia Ritchey Tension High in Abidjan as Rebels Advance Ivory Coast: pro-Ouattara rebels took control of San Pedro; advanced to Abidjan VOA News 537
31-Mar-11 VIO Blasts in Greece, Switzerland and Italy Injure 3 Letter bombs exploded in Switzerland, Italy and Greece VOA News 538
31-Mar-11 GOV BANK FIN Financial Measures Programme Sets €24bn Capital Requirement Central Bank of Ireland: 4 banks will be required to raise €24bn in capital to meet liquidity requirements Central Bank of Ireland 539
31-Mar-11 MON Jon Loades-Carter (ed.) Swiss Miss Out as Arab Capital Flies to London Rich Middle Eastern families are moving their money to London NYT: Reuters 540
1-Apr-11 PRO VIO REL Kevin Gray; Pascal Fletcher (ed.). Additional reporting: Jane Sutton Florida pastor is focus of Muslim outrage - again Afghanistan: thousands protest against Florida pastor Terry Jones for overseeing the burning of a Koran; ≥7 U.N. staff were killed Reuters Canada 541
1-Apr-11 PRO VIO Neil Macfarquhar; Liam Stack Syrian Protesters Clash With Security Forces Syria: thousands protested against the government; ≥10 people were killed NYT 542
1-Apr-11 DEBT Matt Wirz; Serena Ng. Contributors: Leslie Scism; Mark Gongloff  Subprime Bonds Are Back: As Economy Recovers, Long-Term Investors Willing to Take On More Risks Subprime bonds are "back in vogue" WSJ 543
3-Apr-11 VIO Julia Ritchey Battle for Abidjan Rages on in Ivory Coast Ivory Coast: 4 days of fighting in Abidjan VOA News 544
3-Apr-11 VIO Syria Gets New Government as Demonstrations Continue Syria: Human rights groups: >60 people killed by security forces since the start of unrest VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 545
3-Apr-11 M&A MEDIA Vivendi to acquire Vodafone’s 44% stake in SFR Vivendi to acquire Vodafone’s 44% stake in SFR for €7.95 billion ($11.3 billion) Vivendi 546
4-Apr-11 M&A TECH TI to acquire National Semiconductor Texas Instruments to acquire National Semiconductor in an all-cash transaction valued at ~$6.5 billion Texas Instruments 547
4-Apr-11 VIO Luis Ramirez Cycle of Violence Continues on Israel-Gaza Border Gaza: Israeli forces killed a boy, his uncle, and a cousin VOA News 548
4-Apr-11 M&A LAW Kent Walker (Senior Vice President & General Counsel) Patents and Innovation Google to bid for Nortel’s patent portfolio in the company’s bankruptcy auction Google 549
4-Apr-11 PRO VIO Laura Kasinof; J. David Goodman Clashes Escalate in Yemen; at Least 12 Protesters Are Killed Yemen: pro-government forces fired at tens of thousands of protesters; ≥10 people were killed NYT 550
4-Apr-11 M&A Pfizer to Sell Capsugel to KKR Pfizer to Sell Capsugel to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co L.P. (KKR) for $2.375 billion in cash Pfizer 551
5-Apr-11 MKT GOLD Claudia Assis Gold futures settle at record high Comex/NYMEX: gold for Jun-2011 delivery rose to a record $1,452.50/oz. (up 1.4%) MarketWatch 552
6-Apr-11 PRO Tens of Thousands Demand President's Removal in Yemen Yemen: tens of thousands protest against and demand the removal of President Ali Abdullah  VOA News-AP-Reuters 553
6-Apr-11 NATO Libyan Opposition Accuses NATO of Failing to Protect Civilians Libya: the head of the rebel forces accuses NATO of failing to protect civilians; hundreds of civilians are being killed per day VOA News 554
6-Apr-11 MKT GOLD Claudia Assis Gold notches settlement, intraday record high NYMEX: gold for Jun-2011 delivery settled at a record $1,458.50/oz. (up 0.4%) MarketWatch 555
6-Apr-11 BANK MON Jack Ewing Commerzbank to Repay $20.3 Billion of German Bailout Commerzbank to repay €14.3 billion ($20.3 billion) of the €16.2 billion German bailout NYT-DealBook 556
7-Apr-11 BANK MON Andrew Ross Sorkin (ed.) JPMorgan Paid Dimon $20.8 Million in 2010 JPMorgan Chase paid its CEO Jamie Dimon $20.8 million in 2010 (up from $1.3 million in 2009) NYT-DealBook 557
7-Apr-11 GOV BANK DEBT 7 April 2011 - Monetary policy decisions The Governing Council of the ECB to increase by 0.25%: (1) the interest rate on the main refinancing operations of the Eurosystem to 1.25%; (2) the interest rate on the marginal lending facility to 2.00%; and (3) the interest rate on the deposit facility to 0.50% European Central Bank 558
7-Apr-11 PRO Neil Macfarquhar. Contributors: Mona El-Naggar; Amr Emam Egypt Protests Go On, Seeking New Beginning Egypt: protests spread across the country; people protest against corrupt managers that were appointed under Mubarak and low salaries; students at Cairo University protest against a dean accused of being a "Mubarack-era lackey" NYT 559
7-Apr-11 PRO REL German Catholics leave in droves: report Die Zeit: 180,000 Catholics dropped out of the Church (up from 130,000 in 2009) AFP 560
7-Apr-11 PRO Anjana Pasricha Indian Government Concedes Some Demands of Anti-Corruption Protestors India: massive movement against corruption; social activist Anna Hazare is on hunger strike against corruption VOA News 561
7-Apr-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 562
8-Apr-11 M&A HEAL Sanofi-Aventis Completes Acquisition of Genzyme Corporation Sanofi-Aventis completes the acquisition of Genzyme Corporation in a deal valued at ~$20.1 billion [see 6-Feb-11] Sanofi-Aventis; Genzyme 563
8-Apr-11 PRO VIO Casualties Rise in Syria During Anti-Government Protests Middle East and North Africa: anti-government protests reported in Syria, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Iraq, Iran; ≥36 people were killed in Syria VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 564
8-Apr-11 PRO VIO Liam Stack; Katherine Zoepf. Contributors: J. David Goodman; an employee of The NYT Syrian Protests Are Said to Be Largest and Bloodiest to Date Syria: reportedly hundreds of thousands protest against the government across Syria; 20 people and 19 police officers and members of the security forces were reportedly killed NYT 565
8-Apr-11 VIO NATO C. J. Chivers; Kareem Fahim. Contributors: David D. Kirkpatrick; Alan Cowell NATO Expresses Regret for Airstrike 7-Apr-11: NATO warplanes accidentally killed ≥4 in a rebel convoy NYT 566
8-Apr-11 REL PRO MON Joshua Lapide Christian leaders against Israel: ban on Anglican bishop and new taxes are unjust Jerusalem: Christian churches protest against: Israel’s denial of a residency permit to Suheil Dawani, an Anglican bishop; and Israel's attempts to impose new taxes on churches. "The new taxes are an outrage against the tradition of the Ottoman Empire, British rule, that of Jordan and the UN Resolution of '47 that founded the State of Israel." AsiaNews 567
8-Apr-11 MON ECON Loonie surges to 3.5-year high Canada: loonie rises to 104.77 cents US (up 0.44 of a cent) CBC News: Canadian Press 568
8-Apr-11 M&A Rio Tinto assumes control of Riversdale Mining Limited Rio Tinto to acquire majority control of Riversdale Mining Limited Rio Tinto 569
8-Apr-11 BUS Jeffrey Goldfarb; Antony Currie Usual Directors in Boardrooms Many directors in bank boardrooms apparently have no "financial expertise"; they do not understand derivatives, other complex products, and associated risks NYT: Reuters 570
10-Apr-11 BANK JUST Louise Story JPMorgan Accused of Breaking Its Duty to Clients Lawsuit alleges JPMorgan breached its responsibility to safegard its clients' investments: clients lost 94% of a $500 million investment while JPMorgan collected ~$1.9 billion from Sigma’s collapse; JPMorgan disputes the allegations NYT 571
10-Apr-11 PRO NUC Martyn Williams Thousands Protest Nuclear Power in Japan Japan: ~3,000 people protested against nuclear-power plants VOA News 572
11-Apr-11 EDU DEBT Tamar Lewin Burden of College Loans on Graduates Grows Student loan debt topped credit card debt for the first time in 2010 [see FinAid.org and FastWeb.com] NYT 573
11-Apr-11 M&A TEL WWW Level 3 To Acquire Global Crossing Level 3 to acquire Global Crossing in a transaction valued at ~3.0 billion, including the assumption of ~$1.1 billion of net debt  Level 3 574
11-Apr-11 M&A Endo Announces Agreement to Acquire American Medical Systems for $2.9 Billion Endo Pharmaceuticals to buy American Medical Systems (AMS) for $2.9 billion in cash, including the assumption of $312 million of AMS debt Endo Pharmaceuticals 575
12-Apr-11 GOV FIN Financial Stability Board publishes a note on financial stability issues from exchange-traded funds (ETFs) Financial Stability Board (FSB) issues a warning: "There are a number of disquieting developments in some market segments which call for closer scrutiny. ETFs have branched out to other asset classes (fixed-income, credit, emerging markets, commodities) where liquidity is typically thinner and transparency lower. The increased popularity of “synthetic” ETFs (which use derivatives) as well as the more intensive recourse to securities lending by ETF providers of plain-vanilla ETFs raises new challenges in terms of counterparty and collateral risks. In addition, the expectation of on-demand liquidity may create the conditions for acute redemption pressures on certain types of ETFs in situations of market stress, which could in turn affect the liquidity of the large asset managers and banks active in this market." Financial Stability Board 576
12-Apr-11 REL JUST Cardinal Francis George (USCCB President), et al. 2010 Annual Report on the Implementation of the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” [report prepared by the Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection for the National Review Board and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB); and reviewed by the USCCB President, Cardinal Francis George; Mar-2011] Total cost of the clerical abuse scandal to American dioceses, from 2004 through 2010: $2.344 billion; the cost was distributed as follows:settlements, 78.29%; therapy for victims, 2.41%; support of offenders, 4.34%; attorneys' fees, 13.66%; other costs, 1.29% [Table 6: Cost Related to Allegations: Combined Totals] United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 577
12-Apr-11 GOV ACC NUC Martyn Williams Japan Raises Severity of Fukushima Accident to Highest Level Japan raised the level of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster to 7 (the highest level on the international nuclear accident scale) VOA News 578
12-Apr-11 GOV BANK DEBT Minutes of the Monetary Policy Meeting on March 14, 2011 The Bank of Japan to encourage the uncollateralized overnight call rate to remain at ~0%-0.1% Bank of Japan 579
12-Apr-11 M&A AUTO ENER Daimler and Bosch to establish joint venture for electric motors Daimler AG and Robert Bosch GmbH plan to develop and produce electric motors for all-electric vehicles in Europe through a 50:50 joint venture Daimler 580
13-Apr-11 LAW BANK Carl Levin (Chairman); Tom Coburn (Ranking Minority Member); et al. Wall Street And The Financial Crisis: Anatomy Of A Financial Collapse; Majority And Minority Staff Report Subcommittee investigation of America's financial collapse which began in the fall of 2008 provides detailed case studies substantiating: 1. high risk Lending (Washington Mutual Bank); 2. regulatory failures (Office of Thrift Supervision); 3. inflated credit ratings (Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s); 4. investment bank abuses (Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank). Permanent Subcommittee On Investigations, United States Senate 581
13-Apr-11 M&A Silgan to Acquire Graham Packaging Silgan Holding to acquire Graham Packaging in a deal valued at ~$4.1 billion (including net debt) Silgan Holding 582
13-Apr-11 GOV ECON DEBT Rex Nutting We're worrying about the wrong deficit Rex Nutting, MarketWatch: "We're worrying about the wrong deficit . . . foreigners own about $11 trillion in U.S. financial assets, including $4.4 trillion in government securities. In addition, foreigners have invested more than $2 trillion directly in U.S. businesses." MarketWatch 583
13-Apr-11 PRO VIO At Least Seven Dead as Protests Rock Yemen Yemen: thousands of anti-government protesters demanding President Ali Abdullah Saleh's departure; clashes killed ≥7 people VOA News-AP 584
13-Apr-11 GOV BANK Federal Reserve issues enforcement actions related to deficient practices in residential mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure processing The Federal Reserve Board announced "formal enforcement actions requiring 10 banking organizations to address a pattern of misconduct and negligence related to deficient practices in residential mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure processing"; the 10 banking organizations are: Bank of America Corporation; Citigroup Inc.; Ally Financial Inc.; HSBC North America Holdings, Inc.; JPMorgan Chase & Co.; MetLife, Inc.; The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.; SunTrust Banks, Inc.; U.S. Bancorp; and Wells Fargo & Company. Federal Reserve Board 585
13-Apr-11 BANK FIN JPMorgan Chase Reports First-Quarter 2011 Net Income Of
$5.6 Billion, Or $1.28 Per Share, On Revenue1 Of $25.8 Billion		 JPMorgan Chase 2011Q1 results: revenue, $25.8 billion (down 8% YOY); net income, $5.6 billion (up 67% YOY) JPMorgan Chase & Co. 586
13-Apr-11 BUS BANK DEBT Takako Taniguchi; Finbarr Flynn; Chitra Somayaji (ed.) Japan Megabanks Get $90 Billion in Loan Requests as Quake Hurts Companies Japan: businesses sought 7.5 trillion yen ($90 billion) in loans following the magnitude-9 quake and tsunami Bloomberg 587
13-Apr-11 PRO GOV JUST David D. Kirkpatrick; Liam Stack. Contributor: Mona El-Naggar Prosecutors Order Mubarak and Sons Held Egypt: authorities ordered the detention of former president Mubarak and his 2 sons NYT 588
14-Apr-11 GOV ECON BANK Mu Xuequan (ed.) Premier Wen vows to curb inflation, continue tightening property market China: much concern about inflation; the CPI is expected to rise above 5% in Mar-2011; the People's Bank of China (PBOC) increased benchmark interest rates twice and banks' reserve requirement ratios three times in 2011 Xinhua 589
14-Apr-11 BUS FIN WWW Google Announces First Quarter 2011 Results Google 2011Q1 GAAP results: revenues, $8.58 billion (up 27% YOY); net income, $1.80 billion (down 8% YOY) Google 590
14-Apr-11 GOV UN Stephanie Ho BRICS Nations Oppose Use of Force in Libya BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) oppose the use of force in Libya VOA News 591
15-Apr-11 GOV ECON An (ed.) Chinese economy expands 9.7% in Q1 2011, inflation rises China: National Bureau of Statistics (NBS): China's economy expanded 9.7% in 2011Q1 (YOY) to 9,631.1 billion yuan ($1,459.3 billion); China's consumer price index (CPI) rose 5.4% in Mar-2011 (YOY) Xinhua 592
15-Apr-11 FIN FOOD Peter Heinlein Inflation, Drought Deal Ethiopia a Double Blow Ethiopia suffering rising inflation (11.3% in Mar-2011) and drought: 3.2 million people are suffering from malnutrition; according to the World Bank, global food prices increased by 36% over 2010 VOA News 593
15-Apr-11 GOV FIN NUC Steve Herman Japan Nuclear Plant Operator to Pay Damages Japan: the government ordered Tokyo Electric Power Company to provisionally compensate ~50,000 families who lived near the Fukushima-1 nuclear plant: families to get ~$12,000; single-member households to get ~$9,000 VOA News 594
15-Apr-11 BANK FIN Bank of America Earns $2.0 Billion in First Quarter Bank of America 2011Q1 results: total revenue, net of interest expense, $26.877 billion (down 15.9% YOY) ; net income, $2.0 billion (down 35.6% YOY) Bank of America 595
16-Apr-11 VIO MIL 13 Algerian Soldiers Killed by Militants Algeria: suspected militants killed ≥13 soldiers VOA News-AP-AFP 596
17-Apr-11 LAW FIN Stephen Ohlemacher For richest, federal taxes have gone down; for some in U.S., they’re nonexistent The average federal income tax rate for the 400 highest adjusted gross incomes in 2007 was 17% (down from 26% in 1992) Washington Post: AP 597
17-Apr-11 VIO NATO MIL 8 NATO Soldiers Killed Saturday in Afghanistan Afghanistan: bombings killed 8 NATO service members and 4 Afghan soldiers VOA News-AP-AFP 598
18-Apr-11 GOV DEBT MKT AAA/A-1+' Rating On United States of America Affirmed; Outlook Revised To Negative S&P affirmed 'AAA' long-term and 'A-1+' short-term sovereign credit ratings on the U.S. and dowgraded its outlook on the long-term rating of the U.S. sovereign from stable to negative S&P 599
18-Apr-11 MKT DJIA down 1.14% The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 140.24 points (-1.14%), closing at 12,201.59 Yahoo! Finance: DJ 600
18-Apr-11 BANK FIN Citigroup Reports First Quarter 2011 Net Income of $3.0 Billion, Compared to $1.3 Billion in The Fourth Quarter 2010 Citigroup 2011Q1 results: revenues of $19.7 billion (down 22% YOY); net income, $3.0 billion (down 46.7% YOY) Citigroup 601
18-Apr-11 PRO VIO Liam Stack; Katherine Zoepf Security Forces Fire on Protesters in Restive Syrian City Syria: security forces reportedly fired on thousands of protesters in Homs NYT 602
18-Apr-11 GOV RES BANK The Orderly Liquidation of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. under the Dodd-Frank Act FDIC releases a paper examining "how the government could have structured a resolution of Lehman under the orderly liquidation authority of Title II of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) and how the outcome could have differed from the outcome under bankruptcy" [FDIC Quarterly, 2011, Vol. 5, No. 2] FDIC 603
19-Apr-11 BUS TECH FIN IBM Reports 2011 First-Quarter Results IBM 2011Q1 results: revenue, $24.6 billion (up 8% YOY): net income (GAAP), $2.9 billion (up 10%) IBM 604
19-Apr-11 BUS TECH FIN Patrick Darling Enterprise Strength and New Products Drive Record Intel Results Intel 2011Q1 GAAP results: revenue, $12.8 billion (up 25% YOY); net income $3.2 billion (up 29% YOY)
 Intel 605
19-Apr-11 VIO NATO MIL NATO Jets Bomb Libyan Capital Libya: NATO airstrikes targeted command and control facilities and infrastructure near Tripoly VOA News 606
19-Apr-11 MKT GOLD Gold hits intraday record at $1,500 an ounce Comex/NYMEX: gold for Jun-2011 delivery hit $1,500/oz. MarketWatch 607
19-Apr-11 BANK FIN Goldman Sachs Reports First Quarter Earnings Per Common Share of $1.56 Goldman Sachs 2011Q1 results: net revenues, $11.894 billion (down 7% YOY); net earnings, $2.735 billion (down 21% YOY) Goldman Sachs-Business Wire 608
20-Apr-11 MKT DJIA up 1.52% The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 186.79 points (1.52%), closing at 12,453.54 Yahoo! Finance: DJ 609
20-Apr-11 MKT NASDAQ Composite: Historical Prices NASDAQ gained 57.54 points (2.10%), closing at 2,802.51 Yahoo! Finance: NASDAQ 610
20-Apr-11 BANK FIN Wells Fargo Reports Record Quarterly Net Income: Q1 Net Income Of $3.8 Billion Wells Fargo 2011Q1 results: revenue of $20.329 billion (down 5% YOY); net income, record $3.759 billion (up 48% YOY) Wells Fargo 611
20-Apr-11 MKT GOLD Matthew Saltmarsh Prices Surge as Investors Rush to Safety of Gold NYMEX: Gold for Jun-2011 delivery topped $1,500/oz.then settled at $1,498.90/oz. NYT 612
20-Apr-11 MKT OIL Claudia Assis; Polya Lesova Oil rallies nearly 3% on dollar, supply report: Crude futures top $111 a barrel NYMEX: crude oil for Jun-2011 delivery settled at $111.45/barrel (up 2.9%) MarketWatch 613
20-Apr-11 M&A ENER AES Announces the Acquisition of DPL Inc. and Issues 2012 Adjusted EPS Guidance of $1.27 to $1.37 The AES Corporation to acquire DPL Inc. in a transaction valued at $4.7 billion  AES 614
21-Apr-11 BANK FIN Morgan Stanley Reports First Quarter 2011 Morgan Stanley 2011q1 results: net revenues, $7.6 billion (down 16% YOY); income, $966 million (down 48% YOY) Morgan Stanley-Business Wire 615
21-Apr-11 JUST BANK FRAUD Former Treasurer And President Of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Each Sentenced To Prison For Fraud Scheme U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Virginia: "The former treasurer and the former president of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TBW) were sentenced today to 72 months in prison and 30 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in a more than $2.9 billion fraud scheme that contributed to the failures of TBW and Colonial Bank. . . Both admitted to conspiring with Lee Bentley Farkas, the former chairman of TBW . . . Farkas was convicted on April 19, 2011, on 14 counts of fraud for his role in masterminding the scheme, which was one of the largest bank frauds in the country. . . According to court documents, the fraud scheme also included an effort by certain conspirators in the fall of 2008 to obtain $570 million in taxpayer funding through the Capital Purchase Program (CPP), a sub-program of the U.S. Treasury Department’s TARP." U.S. Depaotment of Justice 616
23-Apr-11 VIO MIL Edward Yeranian Syrian Security Forces Fire on Funeral Processions Causing More Bloodshed Syria: security forces opened fire on thousands of people at a funeral procession; ≥12 people were kiled VOA News 617
24-Apr-11 PRO NATO Pakistanis, Angered by US Drone Strikes, Block NATO Supply Route Pakistan: thousands of Pakistanis protest against US drone strikes and block NATO supply route VOA News 618
24-Apr-11 VIO NATO Blasts Kill 3 NATO Troops in Afghanistan, Joint Forces Kill 3 Top Insurgents Afghanistan: roadside bombs killed 3 NATO troops VOA News 619
25-Apr-11 GOV ECON FIN Brett Arends IMF bombshell: Age of America nears end; Commentary: China’s economy will surpass the U.S. in 2016 IMF: “Age of America” will likely end in 2016; China's economy likely will top America's within 5 years MarketWatch 620
25-Apr-11 GOV FIN MON Henny Sender; Jamil Anderlini CIC set for up to $200bn in fresh funds China: foreign exchange reserves topped $3 trillion; the government to inject up to $200 billion in China Investment Corp. (CIC), China's sovereign wealth fund FT 621
25-Apr-11 SEC Joshua Partlow; Javed Hamdard. Contributor: Rajiv Chandrasekaran Taliban digs tunnel to free prisoners from Kandahar jail Afghanistan: Taliban dug a tunnel and freed 480 prisoners; 24 were recaptured; 2 were killed Washington Post 622
25-Apr-11 VIO MIL Anthony Shadid. Contributors: Hwaida Saad; employees of The NYT Syria Escalates Crackdown as Tanks Go to Restive City Syria: army moves into Dara'a; ≥25 were reportedly killed NYT 623
25-Apr-11 VIO NATO David D. Kirkpatrick. Contributor: Rachel Donadio NATO Strikes Qaddafi Compound Libya: NATO attacked Col. Gaddafi's coumpound NYT 624
25-Apr-11 M&A GOLD Barrick Announces Agreement to Acquire Equinox Barrick Gold to acquire Equinox Minerals for ~C$7.3 billion Barrick Gold 625
25-Apr-11 PRO VIO Over 150 Dead as South Sudan Army, Rebels Clash Soudan: South Sudan army and rebels clashed; >150 people were killed VOA News-AFP-Reuters 626
26-Apr-11 MKT FIN BANK Steven M. Davidoff As Wall St. Firms Grow, Their Reputations Are Dying Steven M. Davidoff: "Reputation is dead on Wall Street" NYT-DealBook 627
26-Apr-11 MIL VIO Gadhafi Forces Pound Misrata Port; 3 Migrant Workers Dead Libya: forces loyal to Gadhafi bombarded the port area of Misrata which is held by rebels VOA News-AFP-Reuters 628
26-Apr-11 BUS MKT IBM Board Approves 15 Percent Increase in Quarterly Cash Dividend; Authorizes $8.0 Billion for Stock Repurchase IBM board authorized $8.0 billion for stock repurchase IBM 629
26-Apr-11 BUS AUTO FIN Ford Reports $2.6 Billion 2011 First Quarter Net Income as One Ford Plan Continues Strong Progress Ford 2011Q1 results: revenue, $33.1 billion (up 15.1% YOY); net income, $2.6 billion 2011 (up 17.9% YOY) Ford Motor Company 630
26-Apr-11 WWW SEC Trent Nouveau Sony says "personal information" compromised on PSN network Sony: a hacker breached Sony’s PlayStation Network (PSN); "personal information" was compromized during 17-19-Apr-2011 TG Daily 631
27-Apr-11 FOOD BANK MKT Frederick Kaufman How Goldman Sachs Created the Food Crisis Frederick Kaufman on the creation of a food crisis: "Today, bankers and traders sit at the top of the food chain -- the carnivores of the system, devouring everyone and everything below . . . for the roughly 2-billion people across the world who spend more than 50 percent of their income on food, the effects have been staggering: 250 million people joined the ranks of the hungry in 2008, bringing the total of the world's "food insecure" to a peak of 1 billion . . ." Foreign Policy 632
27-Apr-11 BUS MON LAW Dan Eggen The Influence Industry: Companies lobbying for tax holiday on overseas money U.S.: some 40 companies and business associations lobby for tax breaks via the "Win America Campaign" in return for repatriating money they hold overseas Washington Post 633
27-Apr-11 BUS MON LAW $1 Trillion Into The U.S. Economy? Or $1 Trillion Into Foreign Economies? No, It’S Not A Trick Question. Win America Campaign, mission statement: "We have an opportunity right now to strengthen our economy, pay down our debt, put people back to work, and invest up to $1 trillion in America. Currently, there is over $1 trillion earned by American businesses trapped overseas. We strongly support corporate tax reform – it is essential to keeping us competitive. But as Washington works on broader reform – likely to be a long process – an essential first step would be to allow these worldwide American businesses the freedom to bring up to $1 trillion in global earnings home to invest it now into our still fragile economy. . ." Win America Campaign 634
27-Apr-11 AOG WEATH Anahad O’Connor; Timothy Williams. Contributor: Jim Noles Scores Die in Storms Across South; Tornado Ravages City Storms hit Atlanta, Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee; ≥60 people were killed NYT 635
27-Apr-11 M&A Johnson & Johnson and Synthes Announce Definitive Merger Agreement to Create World’s Most Innovative and Comprehensive Orthopaedics Business Johnson & Johnson to acquire Synthes in a deal valued at $21.3 billion Johnson & Johnson 636
27-Apr-11 BUS ENER FIN BP first quarter 2011 results BP 2011Q1 results: replacement cost profit, $5,481 million (down 2.1% YOY); net debt, $27.5 billion (up 9.1% YOT) BP 637
27-Apr-11 PRO VIO At Least 13 Dead in Yemen as Thousands Continue Protest Yemen: anti-government protest; security forces and protesters clashed; ≥13 people were killed VOA News 638
27-Apr-11 GOV BANK DEBT FOMC statement FOMC to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0%-0.25% Federal Reserve Board 639
27-Apr-11 GOV DEBT MKT Ratings agencies' warnings, actions on Japan debt S&P lowered its outlook for Japan's rating from stable to negative Money Control [27-May-11]: Reuters 640
27-Apr-11 GOV BANK DEBT FOMC statement 26-27-Apr-11: FOMC to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0%-0.25% Federal Reserve Board 641
28-Apr-11 M&A ENER Exelon And Constellation Energy To Merge Exelon to buy Constellation Energy for $7.9 billion; combined enterprise value: $52 billion Exelon; Constellation Energy 642
28-Apr-11 AOG WEATH U.S. severe storms kill 200 U.S.: Severe storms killed at least 200 people; the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center received 137 tornado reports into 27-Apr-11 CBC News: AP 643
28-Apr-11 VIO Judge accuses Marrakesh blast suspects of 'terrorism' Morocco: Marrakesh café blast killed 17 people AFP [17-may-11] 644
28-Apr-11 BANK MON Deutsche Bank reports first quarter 2011 net income of EUR 2.1 billion Deutsche Bankm 2011Q1 results: net revenues, €10.5 billion (up 16% YOY); net income, €2.1 billion ("matches Deutsche Bank’s best ever quarter") Deutsche Bank 645
28-Apr-11 M&A ENER Exelon And Constellation Energy To Merge Exelon to buy Constellation Energy for $7.9 billion; combined enterprise value: $52 billion Exelon; Constellation Energy 646
28-Apr-11 BUS ENER Exxon Mobil Corporation Announces Estimated First Quarter 2011 Results Exxon Mobil 2011Q1 results: Total revenues and other income, $114 billion (up 26.3% YOY); earnings, $10.65 billion (up 69% YOY) Exxon Mobil 647
28-Apr-11 BUS ENER Royal Dutch Shell Plc: 1st Quarter 2011 Unaudited Results Royal Dutch Shell, 2011q1 results: total revenue and other income, $114.842 billion (up 30.5% YOY); earnings, $6.925 billion (up 41.4% YOY) Royal Dutch Shell 648
28-Apr-11 BUS Microsoft Reports Record Third-Quarter Results Microsoft 2011Q3 results: revenue, $16.43 billion (up 13% YOY); net income, $5.23 billion (up 31% YOY) Microsoft 649
28-Apr-11 GOV ECON Gross Domestic Product, 1st quarter 2011 (advance estimate) BEA: real GDP increased at an annual rate of 1.8% in 2011Q1 (QOQ, advance estimate) Bureau of Economic Analysis 650
28-Apr-11 GOV BANK DEBT Statement on Monetary Policy The Bank of Japan to keep the uncollateralized overnight call rate to remain at ~0%-0.1% Bank of Japan 651
29-Apr-11 JUST BANK MKT Antitrust: Commission probes Credit Default Swaps market  The European Commission has started 2 antitrust investigations of the Credit Default Swaps (CDS) market: the Commission will investigate whether investment banks and Markit (a financial information services company) colluded or abused their position to control financial information on CDS; the Commisiion will also investigate agreements between 9 CDS dealers (Bank of America Corporation, Barclays Bank plc, Citigroup Inc, Crédit Suisse Group AG, Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., JP Morgan Chase & Co, Morgan Stanley and UBS AG) and ICE Clear Europe (a CDS clearing platform) EUROPA 652
29-Apr-11 MKT OIL Myra P. Saefong; Virginia Harrison Oil futures close near $114 a barrel NYMEX: crude oil for Jun-2011 delivery rose to $113.93/barrel (up 1%) MarketWatch 653
29-Apr-11 MKT GOLD Myra P. Saefong; Chris Oliver Gold futures jump $25.20, set record NYMEX: Gold for Jun-2011 delivery rose to $1,556.40/oz. (up 1.7%) MarketWatch 654
29-Apr-11 PRO VIO Margaret Besheer Protest Crackdowns Leave Almost 62 Dead in Syria Syria: "Day of Rage": tens of thousands protest against the government; security forces crackdown on the protests; ≥62 people were killed VOA News 655
29-Apr-11 REL Selah Hennessy Britain's Prince William Marries Catherine Middleton U.K. Royal Wedding; Prince William marries Catherine Middleton VOA News 656
29-Apr-11 MKT NASDAQ Composite: Historical Prices NASDAQ peaked at 2873.54 Yahoo! Finance: NASDAQ 657
30-Apr-11 AOG WEATH US Tornadoes Killed at Least 350 US: tornadoes killed ≥350 over 1 week VOA News-AP-AFP 658
1-May-11 MIL JUST Obama Announces Death of Osama bin Laden Abbottabad, Pakistan: U.S. forces killed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden VOA News 659
1-May-11 REL Benedict Proclaims John Paul Ii A Blessed  Vatican City, The Holy See: beatification of Pope John Paul II; hundreds of thousands of people joined the ceremony Vatican Information Service 660
1-May-11 VIO NATO Margaret Besheer Libyan Leader's Son Killed in NATO Airstrike Libya: NATO airstrike killed Saif-Al-Arab Gadhafi, one of Moammar Gadhafi's sons, and 3 of Gadhafi's grandchildren; a government of Libya spokesman said the attack was an attempt "to assassinate the leader" and that NATO and the West care only to steal Libyan freedom and oil VOA News 661
1-May-11 VIO Afghan Taliban Uses Child Bomber at Start of Spring Offensive Afghanistan: Taliban spring offensive: 12-year-old suicide bomber killed 4 people VOA News 662
2-May-11 GOV Mark Gollom; Andrew Davidson Harper wins 1st majority; Duceppe defeated; Ignatieff accepts responsibility for party's decimation Canada federal election: Conservative leader Stephen Harper wins a majority government; NDP Leader Jack Layton to become Official Opposition leader CBC News 663
2-May-11 BUS TECH Jeff Bruner Intel 22nm 3-D Tri-Gate Transistor Technology Intel announced "a major breakthrough and historic innovation in microchips: the world's first 3-D transistors in mass production"; key benefits: improved performance and reduced power Intel 664
2-May-11 VIO REL L.M. Africa/Nigeria-Clashes in northern Nigeria: a report of “Justice and Peace” complains that "someone has armed extremists" Commission for “Justice and Peace” report, published by Catholic News Service of Nigeria: toll of the Kafanchan clashes: ~300-500 deaths; 300 houses  destroyed: >14 thousand internally displaced persons Agenzia Fides 665
2-May-11 M&A Teva to Acquire Cephalon in $6.8 Billion Transaction Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (Israel) to buy Cephalon for $6.8 billion Teva Pharmaceutical Industries 666
2-May-11 M&A ENER Arch Coal To Acquire ICG for $3.4 Billion Arch Coal, Inc.to acquire International Coal Group, Inc. (ICG) in an all-cash transaction valued at $3.4 billion Arch Coal 667
3-May-11 GOV BANK JUST Manhattan U.S. Attorney Sues Deutsche Bank And Subsidiary Mortgageit For Years Of Reckless Lending Practices The U.S. govrnment filed a civil mortgage fraud lawsuit against Deutsche Bank AG and its subsidiary MORTGAGEIT United States Attorney,
Southern District of New York		 668
3-May-11 UN SCIE World Population to reach 10 billion by 2100 if Fertility in all Countries Converges to Replacement Level UM: 2010 Revision of World Population Prospects: world's current population, ~7 billion; projected population in 2100, 10.1 billion UN 669
4-May-11 GOV FIN DEBT Landon Thomas Jr.; Raphael Minder; Contributor: Stephen Castle Markets Losing Faith in Portugal 3-May-11: Portugal bailout package: $115.5 billion NYT 670
4-May-11 LAW Josh Lowensohn Lawsuit accuses Apple, others of fixing worker pay Lawsuit alleged tech companies, including Adobe Systems, Apple, Google, and Intel, conspired to fix employee salaries and worked out "no solicitation" deals with one another CNET 671
5-May-11 GOV Liu (ed.) Hamas, Fatah sign reconciliation agreement 4-May: Palestine: Hamas and Fatah sign reconciliation agreement Xinhua: CNTV.cn 672
5-May-11 MKT DJIA down 1.10% The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 139.41 points (-1.10%), closing at 12,584.17 Yahoo! Finance: DJ 673
5-May-11 MKT OIL Clifford Krauss Crude Oil Falls Below $100 a Barrel NYMEX: crude oil for Jun-2011 delivery tumbled to $99.80/barrel (down 8.6%) NYT 674
5-May-11 GOV BANK DEBT IMF Reaches Staff-Level Agreement With Portugal On a €26 Billion Extended Fund Facility Arrangement IMF staff-level agreement with Portugal to provide €26 billion (~$116 billion) in extended fund facility arrangement IMF 675
5-May-11 GOV BANK DEBT 5 May 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 1.25%, 2.00% and 0.50% respectively European Central Bank 676
5-May-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 677
6-May-11 VIO Raheem Salman; Contributor: Ned Parker Suicide attack kills 16 at Iraqi police station Iraq: a suicide bomber killed ≥16 people in Hillah; also, on 3-May-11, a car bomb killed 16 people in Dora, Baghdad Los Angeles Times 678
6-May-11 PRO David D. Kirkpatrick; Contributors: Lara el-Gibaly; Ravi Somaiya A Scattering of Protests Honoring Bin Laden Pakistan and Egypt: anti-U.S. protests honor Osama Bin Laden NYT 679
6-May-11 PRO VIO Liz Sly; Contributor: Joby Warrick Syria sends tanks to coastal town as protests spread Syria: thousands of people join anti-government protest in Baniyas; security forces killed ≥30 people on 6-May-11; according to human rights groups, >500 people have been killed over 7 weeks of protests Washington Post 680
6-May-11 MKT Silver has biggest weekly drop since 1980 Silver for May-2011 delivery tumbled 27% over 5 days MarketWatch 681
6-May-11 MKT OIL Claudia Assis Oil ends 2.6% lower as rebound fizzles NYMEX: Oil for Jun-2011 delivery, $97.18/barrel (down 2.6%) MarketWatch 682
6-May-11 VIO MIL Phillip Ittner US Drone Strike Kills 15 Militants, Says Pakistan Pakistan: U.S. missile attack killed ≥8 people; ~1,500 people protested the killing of Osama Bin Laden VOA News 683
7-May-11 ACC JET 15 Bodies Recovered in Indonesian Plane Crash Indonesia: Merpati airline plane carrying ≥25 people crashed; 15 bodies were recovered VOA News-AP-AFP 684
7-May-11 VIO REL Amy Fallon Nigerian 'revenge killings' leave 16 dead Nigeria: ≥16 killed in sectarian violence; ≥500 people were killed in Apr-2011 in election-related protests Guardian-Agencies 685
7-May-11 MKT OIL Dan Strumpf; Contributor: Tatyana Shumsky Crude Dropped in a Series of Mini 'Flash Crashes' New York: "Flash crashes" triggered a ~15% plunge in oil market WSJ 686
8-May-11 VIO REL Edward Yeranian Egypt to Use 'Iron Hand' for Security After Deadly Sectarian Violence Egypt: sectarian clashes killed 12 people; 2 churches were torched VOA News 687
8-May-11 VIO OIL Gadhafi Forces Bear Down on Western Libya Libya: pro-Moammar Gadhafi forces shelled and destroyed 4 oil tanks in Misrata VOA News 688
8-May-11 VIO Attempted Baghdad Prison Break Kills 17 Iraq: prison uprising; ≥17 killed, including 6 security guards and 11 prisoners 689
8-May-11 BANK DEBT JUST Yunus says political influence may ruin Garmeen Bank Bangladesh: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, microlending pioneer, was ousted from Grameen Bank; Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina accused Yunus of “sucking blood from the poor borrowers" Washington Post: AP 690
9-May-11 BANK FIN HSBC Holdings Plc – Interim Management Statement HSBC financial results, 2011Q1: total operating income, $20.443 billion (down 2.6% YOY); profit attributable to shareholders, $4.153 billion (up 57.8% YOY) HSBC 691
9-May-11 VIO Cindy Lavanderos Thousands of Mexicans March to Protest Drug Gang Violence Mexico: thousands of people demand an end to drug gang volence; death toll from war against organized crime: ~40,000 over 4 years VOA News 692
9-May-11 BUS RPIG Joann S. Lublin. Contributor: Joe Light CEO Pay in 2010 Jumped 11% Study for The Wall Street Journal by Hay Group: the median compensation (salary, bonus and incentives) for CEOs of 350 major companies surged to $9.3 million (up 11%) WSJ 693
9-May-11 GOV DEBT MKT William L. Watts S&P cuts Greece credit rating to B from BB-minus Standard & Poor's Ratings Services cut Greece's long-term sovereign credit rating from BB- to B MarketWatch 694
10-May-11 BANK FIN John J. Curran; Yoolim Lee; Michael Serrill (ed.) OCBC World’s Strongest Bank in Singapore as Canadians Dominate The world's strongest banks: 1. Oversea-Chinese Banking (Singapore); 2. Svenska Handelsbanken (Sweden); 3. National Bank of Canada; 4. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce; 5. DBS Group Holdings (Singapore) [source: Bloomberg] Bloomberg 695
10-May-11 M&A Microsoft to Acquire Skype Microsoft to acquire Skype (Internet communications company) for $8.5 billion Microsoft 696
10-May-11 VIO NATO NATO Bombs Strike Tripoli; Rebels Advance in Misrata Libya: NATO bombed a military command and control facility in Tripoly; the U.S. is shipping military aid for rebels  VOA News 697
10-May-11 VIO Sudanese Army: 82 Killed in South Sudan Fighting Soudan: fighting between rebel militia and civilians killed 82 people in Warrap VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 698
10-May-11 ECON China’s trade surplus soars in April with imports less dynamic than exports China's trade surplus in Apr-2011 soared to ~$11.4 billion MercoPress 699
11-May-11 MON JUST Rajaratnam Guilty on All Insider Trading Charges Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon Group, was found guilty on all 14 insider trading charges [USA v Raj Rajaratnam et al., U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 09-01184] CNBC: Reuters 700
11-May-11 MKT DJIA down 1.02% The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 130.33 points (-1.02%), closing at 12,630.03 Yahoo! Finance: DJ 701
11-May-11 JUST BANK Matt Taibbi The People vs. Goldman Sachs Matt Taibbi: 'Wall Street and the Financial Crisis: Anatomy of a Financial Collapse,' a report released by the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations provides the evidence "that doesn't leave much doubt: Goldman Sachs should stand trial" [see 13-Apr-11]. Rolling Stone 702
11-May-11 JUST FIN FRAUD Wall Street, Held Accountable On restoring trust in America's financial markets: Hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon Group, was convicted on all counts of securities fraud and conspiracy NYT-Editorial 703
11-May-11 VIO NATO C. J. Chivers. Contributor: John F. Burns contributed Taking Airport, Rebels in Libya Loosen Noose Libya: rebels seize the airport in Misurata; NATO sorties: 2,414 since Mar-2011 NYT 704
11-May-11 MKT GOLD Claudia Assis  Gold, silver end sharply lower on stronger dollar NYMEX: Gold for June delivery: $1,501.40/oz. (down 1%) MarketWatch 705
11-May-11 UN FOOD Cutting food waste to feed the world 11-05-2011: Over a billion tonnes squandered each year FAO-commissioned study: Global Food Losses and Food Waste: 1. ~1.3 billion tons per year (~33%) of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally; 2. food waste by consumers per capita per year: in Europe and North-America, 95-115 kg; in Sub-Saharan Africa and South/Southeast Asia, 6-11 kg/year Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN 706
11-May-11 VIO More Than 20 Killed in Northern Somalia Fighting Somalia: fighting between government troops and Islamist insurgents killed ≥26 people VOA News 707
12-May-11 VIO Osama Bin Laden's family tree Osama Bin Laden has ≥50 siblings, 5 wives, and ≥20 children BBC News 708
12-May-11 VIO SEC REL David D. Kirkpatrick. Contributor: Mona El-Naggar Crime Wave in Egypt Has People Afraid, Even the Police Egypt is beset with a crime wave: Muslim-Christian PRO, soccer PRO, jailbreaks, a mob attack NYT 709
12-May-11 MKT GOLD Claudia Assis; Polya Lesova. Contributor: Sarah Turner Metals shake off weakness as dollar falls NYMEX/Comex: Gold for June delivery: $1,506.80/oz. (up 0.4%) MarketWatch 710
13-May-11 VIO Phil Ittner 80 Killed in Pakistan Suicide Bombing Pakistan: Taliban avenge the killing of Osama Bin Laden; twin suicide bombings targeted a training center for local security forces and killed ≥80 people VOA News 711
13-May-11 ECON William L. Watts Euro-zone growth jumps as German economy booms Eurostat: Euro-zone GDP in 2011Q1: up 0.8% QOQ, and 2.5% YOY; Germany's GDP grew 1.5% QOQ MarketWatch 712
14-May-11 MON RPIG Andrew Ross Sorkin Rich and Sort of Rich According to a study on economic equality by Thomas Piketty (Paris School of Economics) and Emmanuel Saez (University of California, Berkeley), "the rich have gotten richer — income for the top 1 percent rose by $261,930, or 30 percent, from 2002 to 2008 — while the bottom 90 percent saw their incomes drop by $1,170, or 4 percent, on an inflation adjusted basis" NYT 713
14-May-11 JUST BANK Al Baker; Steven Erlanger. Contributors: William K. Rashbaum; Colin Moynihan I.M.F. Chief, Apprehended at Airport, Is Accused of Sexual Attack New York: Dominique Strauss-Kahn (DSK), managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was arrested “on charges of criminal sexual act, attempted rape, and an unlawful imprisonment in connection with a sexual assault on a 32-year-old chambermaid" NYT 714
15-May-11 MIL TECH UN: North Korea, Iran Share Ballistic Missile Technology United Nations report: North Korea and Iran shared ballistic missile technology VOA News-AFP 715
15-May-11 PRO David Marty Indignant and Organized: from 15-M to 19-J Spain: 125,000 "indignant" people protest government economic measures; the protest's platform was "Democracia Real Ya" ("Real Democracy Now"). ZNet, 25-Jun-11 716
16-May-11 BUS DEBT WWW Sapna Maheshwari; Alan Goldstein (ed.) Google Sells $3 Billion of Bonds in ‘Home Run’ Debut Offering Google sold $3 billion of bonds; Google's total cash and marketable securities was $35 billion at yearend 2010 Bloomberg 717
16-May-11 VIO PRO Israeli Troops Clash with Protesters Along Borders Palestinians protested the creation of Israel along the Lebanese, Syrian and Gaza borders; Israeli troops killed ≥15 Palestinians VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 718
16-May-11 VIO PRO Syria Death Toll Reportedly Up to 850 Syria: reported death toll from clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters: ≥850 VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 719
16-May-11 VIO Scott Stearns Human Rights Watch: 800 Nigerians Killed in Electoral Violence Nigeria: according to Human Rights Watch, ≥800 people were killed in Muslim-Christian electoral violence VOA News 720
16-May-11 M&A MKT Andrew Ross Sorkin (ed.) Nasdaq and ICE Drop Offer for NYSE Euronext The Nasdaq OMX Group and IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) to withdraw their $11.3 billion takeover bid for NYSE Euronext NYT-DealBook 721
16-May-11 RES FIN ECON Chairman Ben S. Bernanke Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, At the Conference on "New Building Blocks for Jobs and Economic Growth," Washington, D.C.: Promoting Research and Development: The Government's Role Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, on promoting R&D: "A growth rate of output per person of 2-1/2 percent per year doubles average living standards in 28 years--about one generation--whereas output per person growing at what seems a modestly slower rate of 1-1/2 percent a year leads to a doubling in average living standards in about 47 years--roughly two generations. Compound interest is powerful! . . . In the United States, total R&D spending (both public and private) has been relatively stable over the past three decades, at roughly 2-1/2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). However, this apparent stability masks some important underlying trends. First, since the 1970s, R&D spending by the federal government has trended down as a share of GDP, while the share of R&D done by the private sector has correspondingly increased. Second, the share of R&D spending targeted to basic research, as opposed to more applied R&D activities, has also been declining." Federal Reserve Board 722
17-May-11 GOV DEBT ELITE Barry Wood Buffett’s silly talk about the U.S. debt; Commentary: U.S. isn’t special and can’t avoid default forever Warren Buffett: “The United States is not going to have a debt crisis as long as we keep issuing our debts in our own currency. The only thing we have to worry about is the printing press and inflation" MarketWatch 723
17-May-11 ELITE SEX Stephen Clarke Droit du Dirty Old Men 15-May-11: New York: Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, was arrested on sexual assault charges; the French elite is horrified [on the impunity of "chauds lapins"] NYT-Op Ed 724
17-May-11 VIO NATO NATO Ups Siege on Libya With Bombs, Leaflets Libya: NATO forces bomb official buildings and deploy psychological warfare against Moammar Gadhafi forces VOA News-AP-AFP 725
17-May-11 BUS CHEM SABIC and Sinopec invest in polycarbonate plant with 260 kilo metric tonnes capacity in China Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec Corp.) to collaborate on polycarbonate production in China Sabic 726
18-May-11 PRO Scott Shane In Message, Bin Laden Praised Arab Revolt Osama Bin Laden message praised the Arab uprisings: “a great and rare historic opportunity to rise with the Ummah and to free yourselves from servitude to the desires of the rulers, manmade law, and Western dominance" NYT 727
18-May-11 GOV ECON Michael Kitchen Japan economy shrinks more than expected in Q1 Japan: GDP contracted by 0.9% during 2011Q1 (down 3.7% YOY) MarketWatch 728
18-May-11 PRO VIO NATO Ray Rivera; Sangar Rahimi. Contributors: Alissa J. Rubin; employees of The NYT A NATO Raid Sets Off a Deadly Afghan Protest Afghanistan: thousands of people protested a NATO strike that killed 4 civilians, including 2 women; protesters clashed with police; ≥12 people were killed; also, a suicide attack killed ≥6 people NYT 729
19-May-11 BANK JUST Catherine Weaver; Contributor: Dave DeForest Who Should Be the Next Chief of the IMF? Dominique Strauss-Kahn [Socialist; of Jewish provenance] resigned as IMF managing director after he was charged on 14-May-11 with a sexual attack on a hotel maid; Strauss-Kahn denied the charges VOA News; Wikipedia 730
19-May-11 VIO Asso Ahmed; Ned Parker Double bombing in Iraq kills 27, injures dozens Kirkuk, Iraq: double bombing outside police offices killed ≥27 people Los Angeles Times 731
19-May-11 ACC JET Nelson Quinones Plane crash kills 22 in Argentina 18-May-11: Argentina: Sol Lineas Aereas plane crashed; 22 people were killed CNN International 732
19-May-11 PRO ECON JOBS Lauren Frayer Inspired by Arab Protests, Spain's Unemployed Rally for Change Spain: inspired by the Arab Spring thousands of demonstrators protest high unemployment and lack of opportunities VOA News 733
19-May-11 M&A Takeda to Acquire Nycomed Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited to acquire the Swiss firm Nycomed A/S for €9.6 billion [$13.7 Billion] Takeda; [NYT-DealBook] 734
20-May-11 BANK JUST Dominique Strauss-Kahn 14-May-11: New York: Police arrested Dominique Strauss-Kahn, IMF managing director, for allegedly sexually assaulting a hotel maid Wikipedia 735
20-May-11 MKT GOLD Jack Farchy; James Mackintosh Soros sharpens gold bubble debate George Soros sold much of his gold investments Financial Times 736
20-May-11 PRO BANK BUS Barbara Kollmeyer In Spain, protesters rally a battered nation Spain: 6th day of mass protest "against capitalism" and "a corrupt fusion of banks, businesses and politicians that isn’t helping the unemployed"; the number of unemployed under the age of 25 was almost 45% in Mar-2011 MarketWatch 737
20-May-11 VIO PRO Anthony Shadid; Contributors: Hwaida Saad; 2 employees of The NYT Syrian Protesters Defy Crackdown and Gain Momentum Syria: thousands of people demonstrated against the government, despite a crackdown; security forces reportedly killed ≥26 people NYT 738
21-May-11 VIO Suicide Blast Kills 6 Medical Students in Major Afghan Hospital Afghanistan: Taliban suicide bomber targeted a military hospital; killed ≥6 medical students  VOA News 739
21-May-11 VIO NATO Bomb Attack on NATO Tanker in NW Pakistan Causes Deadly Explosion Pakistan: bomb attack on a NATO fuel tanker; ≥15 people killed VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 740
21-May-11 PRO JOBS Lauren Frayer Thousand Defy Protest Ban to Rally Ahead of Spanish Elections Spain: tens of thousands of Spaniards demonstrated against high unemployment despite a protest ban VOA News 741
22-May-11 VIO Taliban Fighters Raid Govt. Building in Afghan East, Killing 7 People Afghanistan: Taliban suicide bombers attacked a local government office; killed 7 people; also, other bomb attacks starting on 21-May-11 killed 6 people VOA News 742
22-May-11 VIO Bomb Blasts Around Baghdad Kill 15 Iraq: bomb attacks in Baghdad killed ≥15 people VOA News 743
22-May-11 AOG WEATH 16 Dead in Malaysia Orphanage Landslide Malaysia: landslide killed 16 people in an orphanage VOA News 744
23-May-11 VIO NATO John F. Burns NATO Bombs Tripoli in Heaviest Strikes Yet Libya: NATO forces bombed ≥15 targets in Tripoly NYT 745
23-May-11 JUST Adam Liptak Justices, 5-4, Tell California to Cut Prisoner Population The U.S. Supreme Court ordered California to reduce its prison population by >30,000 inmates NYT 746
23-May-11 VIO Pakistan Retakes Naval Base After Militant Attack Pakistan: commandos take control of a naval base after a fight with Taliban militants; 10 security personnel were killed; U.S. drone strike killed ≥7 suspected militants  VOA News 747
23-May-11 VIO PRO Gun Battles in Yemeni Capital Kill Six Yemen: clashes between government and tribal forces killed 6 people VOA News-AP-AFP 748
23-May-11 MKT DJIA down 1.05% The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 130.78 points (-1.05%), closing at 12,381.26 Yahoo! Finance: DJ 749
23-May-11 JUST BANK FIN Harry Wilson; Jonathan Russell FBI joins inquiry into Libor manipulation claims against banks U.S. authorities are investigating some financial institutions for allegedly having manipulated Libor, the interbank lending rate, during the financial crisis Telegraph 750
24-May-11 GOV BANK FIN FDIC Quarterly Banking Profile FDIC-insured commercial banks and savings institutions posted a net income of $29.0 billion in 2011Q1 (up 66.5% YOY); the number of institutions on the FDIC’s “Problem List” increased from 884 to 888 during 2011Q1 FDIC 751
24-May-11 AOG WEATH Greg Flakus Search for Survivors Continues After Devastating US Tornado Joplin, MO: death toll from F-4 tornado of 22-May-11: 116 VOA News 752
24-May-11 BUS GOV DEBT Chrysler Group LLC Completes Refinancing and Repays U.S. and Canadian Government Loans in Full Chrysler Group LLC repayed $7.6 billion in outstanding U.S. and Canadian government loans after completing new financing transactions (a term loan totaling $3.0 billion, debt securities totaling $3.2 billion, and a revolving credit facility of $1.3 billion) Chrysler 753
24-May-11 PRO GOV BANK Sudarsan Raghavan; James V. Grimaldi; Contributor: Robert O’Harrow Jr. Libyans ‘robbed our own bank’ to fund uprising Libya: rebels rob the Central Bank of Libya Washington Post 754
24-May-11 BANK GOV Julia Werdigier British Banks Paid Bonuses Using Government Aid John Vickers, chairman of a government-backed banking commission in the U.K: some bonuses to British bankers were financed using government aid NYT-DealBook 755
24-May-11 BUS MKT Evelyn M. Rusli Yandex Shares Soar 55% in Market Debut Yandex (Russia's "Google," according to Scott Sweet) raised $1.3 billion on 23-May-11; Yandex shares climbed >55% on 24-May-11 on Nasdaq NYT-DealBook 756
24-May-11 GOV POL Netanyahu: No Compromise on Pre-1967 Borders Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress VOA News 757
24-May-11 GOV ECON Protectionist pressures on the rise, latest G20 monitoring report says WTO OECD: "G20 governments have introduced more trade barriers, including export restrictions, in the past six months than in previous periods since the financial crisis began" Wold Trade Organization 758
24-May-11 VIO NATO Sayed Salahuddin NATO coalition touts recent capture of al-Qaeda fighter in Afghanistan Afghanistan: Afghan and NATO-led ISA forces killed 10 insurgents and captured a Moroccan al-Qaeda fighter Washington Post 759
25-May-11 POL ECON MIL Agenda of the Deauville Summit 26-27-May-11: G8 Deauville Summit 2011 G20-G8 France 2011 760
25-May-11 VIO Contributor: Adriana Gomez Licon Gang battles rattle western Mexico – 28 dead in Nayarit state, 700 flee homes in Michoacan Mexico: 28 people killed in drug gang battles Washington Post: AP 761
25-May-11 NATO VIO Explosions Rock Libyan Capital 24-May-11: Libya: NATO bombing campaign over Tripoly VOA News-AFP-Reuters 762
25-May-11 VIO PRO Elizabeth Arrott Yemen Troops Fight Tribal Forces, New Turn in Revolt Yemen: fighting between government troops and forces loyal to Sheik Sadeq al-Ahmar, a powerful tribal chief  VOA News 763
25-May-11 GOV BANK DEBT 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 31-May-11 Federal Reserve Board 764
25-May-11 GOV BUS MON Noah Buhayar; Dan Kraut (ed.) AIG Share Sale Raises $8.7 Billion The U.S. Treasury Department and American International Group Inc. (AIG) raised $8.7 billion Bloomberg 765
26-May-11 M&A Investment Banking Scorecard: Australia M&A Up 84% Australia: M&A deals hit $41.6 billion for year-to-date 2011 (up 84% over same period in 2010) [Thomson Reuters: Deal Intelligence] Thomson Reuters 766
26-May-11 BUS ELITE POL Evelyn M. Rusli; Peter Lattman Facebook Taps Joel Kaplan to Head Washington Office Facebook hired Joel Kaplan to head the company’s office in Washington NYT-DealBook 767
26-May-11 VIO PRO Elizabeth Arrott Dozens Dead, Wounded as Yemen on Brink of Civil War Yemen: increasing anti-government unrest; dozens have been killed VOA News 768
26-May-11 GOV JUST Selah Hennessy Europe’s Most Wanted Criminal Ratko Mladic Arrested Serbia: Ratko Mladic, former Bosnian-Serb military leader during the Bosnian civil war in the early 1990s, has been arrested; charges include: genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes VOA News 769
26-May-11 GOV BANK DEBT Bob Ivry; Gary Putka (ed.) Fed Gave Banks Crisis Gains on $80 Billion Secretive Loans as Low as 0.01% Federal Reserve emergency lending program: $80 billion in "secretive loans" to banks, including Credit Suisse Group AG (CS), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS), at interest rates as low as 0.01% in 2008 [single-tranche open-market operations, or ST OMO] Bloomberg 770
26-May-11 GOV FIN Michael Peel; Sam Jones. Additional Reporting: Lina Saigol; Henny Sender  Libya sovereign fund suffers big losses Libya: Libya’s sovereign wealth fund suffered billions of dollars in losses (30-Jun-2010) Financial Times 771
26-May-11 GOV ECON Gross Domestic Product, First Quarter 2011 (second estimate); Corporate Profits, First Quarter 2011 (preliminary estimate) BEA: real GDP increased at an annual rate of 1.8% in 2011Q1 (QOQ, 2nd estimate); real GDP increased 3.1% in 2010Q4 Bureau of Economic Analysis 772
26-May-11 VIO Contributors: Suzan Fraser; Selcan Hacaoglu  Turkey: 8 injured in bomb blast during rush hour in Istanbul, PM accuses Kurdish rebels Turkey: bomb injured 8 people in Istanbul Washington Post: AP 773
26-May-11 BUS Japanese copier maker Ricoh to shrink staff by 10,000 to revamp business Ricoh to cut 10,000 of its workers (9% of its global workforce) over 3 years Washington Post: AP 774
26-May-11 BUS Consolidated Financial Results for the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2011 Sony financial results, FY2010 (ended 31-Mar-11): sales and operating revenues, ¥7,181.3 billion ($86.521 billion); loss, ¥259.6 billion ($(3.128 billion) Sony 775
26-May-11 AOG WEATH Colleen Jenkins. Contributor: Mary Wisniewski; Greg McCune (ed.) 2011 tornado death toll tops 500 and season not over U.S. National Weather Service: 2011 tornado death toll to date: >500 Reuters 776
27-May-11 VIO Pakistani officials: Bomb kills 8 tribesmen in country’s northwest Pakistan: bomb killed 8 people Washington Post: AP 777
27-May-11 GOV POL FIN
Neil Macfarquhar		 Saudi Arabia Scrambles to Limit Region’s Upheaval Saudi Arabia intervenes to rally Arab monarchies and safeguard its "interests"; Saudi aid to Egypt amounted to $4 billion NYT 778
27-May-11 VIO PRO Syrian Forces Fire on Protesters, At Least 8 Dead Syria: security forces targeedt protesters killing at ≥8 people VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 779
27-May-11 PRO RE Egyptian Activists Stage ‘Second Revolution' Rally Egypt: thousands of Egyptians launch a "second revolution" demanding democratic reforms and an end to corruption; authorities are investigating illegal land deals VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 780
27-May-11 GOV BANK DEBT Salameh: I will not allow any bank to go bust 26-May-11: Beirut: Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh asserted at the Arab Economic Forum that he would not allow any Lebanese bank to fail; Salameh: “The privatization programs in these [Arab] states did not actually liberate the economies and achieve sustainable growth. Most of these state assets were sold to particular businessmen" Daily Star 781
28-May-11 GOV POL Luis Ramirez Egypt Eases Restrictions on Gaza Border Crossings Gaza: Egyptian government opened its border with Gaza VOA News 782
28-May-11 NATO VIO NATO Targets Tripoli Facility Libya: NATO forces targeted a vehicle storage facility in Tripoli VOA News-AP-AFP 783
29-May-11 BANK ELITE Graham Bowley At I.M.F., a Strict Ethics Code Doesn’t Apply to Top Officials Double ethics codes at IMF: one for "rank-and-file staff" and one for "elite executive directors." NYT 784
29-May-11 NATO VIO Karzai Warns NATO After 14 Civilians Killed in Afghanistan Airstrike 28-May-11: Afghanistan: NATO airstrike killed 14 people (women and children) VOA News 785
29-May-11 AOG WEATH Suzanne Presto Obama Offers Message of Hope and Support to Tornado-Damaged Joplin, Missouri Joplin, MO: death toll from tornado of 22-May-11: 142 VOA News 786
30-May-11 POL MIL Helene Cooper; Thom Shanker Dempsey Appointed as Chairman of Joint Chiefs President Obama nominated Gen. Martin E. Dempsey as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. NYT 787
30-May-11 BANK FIN MON Russia Unexpectedly Raises a Key Interest Rate The Bank of Russia: raised its overnight deposit rate by 0.25% to 3.5%; and kept its refinancing rate at 8.25% and its repo rate at 5.5%. Capital outflows estimated at >$50 billion over 7 months. NYT: Reuters 788
30-May-11 VIO PRO UN officials speak out over excessive use of force against Yemeni civilians Yemen: government forces reportedly killed 50 people since 29-May-11 in the city of Taiz; Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “Such reprehensible acts of violence and indiscriminate attacks on unarmed civilians by armed security officers must stop immediately" UN News Centre 789
30-May-11 VIO PRO Syrian Crackdown in Central Towns Kills 15 Civilians Syria: the military reportedly killed ≥15 civilians since 29-May-11; Syrian government claimed ≥140 Syrian security personnel have been killed in the unrest; rights groups claimed security forces have killed >1,000 people since Mar-2011. VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 790
30-May-11 GOV SEC MON Dave Seglins G8/G20 police raked in bonuses, OT pay; Documents detail lucrative RCMP summit security contracts to out-of-town forces CBC/Radio-Canada: RCMP contracts for protecting G8/G20 leaders totalled $7 million; 657 officers were hired "at premium rates of 1½ or two times an officer's usual wages." CBC News 791
30-May-11 BANK JUST $25K bail for Egyptian businessman accused of sexually abusing maid at elite NYC hotel Mahmoud Abdel Salam Omar, former chairman of Bank of Alexandria, of the Egyptian American Bank and of the Federation of Egyptian Banks, was charged with sexually abusing a housekeeper at a luxury hotel; Omar denied the charges Washington Post: AP 792
31-May-11 FOOD BANK The World Bank Group: Food Crisis: Hunger Clock: Number of undernourished people: >939 million people The World Bank Group: Food Crisis: Hunger Clock: Number of undernourished people: >939 million people World Bank Group 793
31-May-11 GOV BANK DEBT Landon Thomas Jr. New Rescue Package for Greece Takes Shape Greece: new bailout package ($86 billion in new loans; roll over of old government debt; accelerated privatization; tax collection) triggers protest NYT 794
31-May-11 M&A CHEM Ashland to Acquire International Specialty Products Inc. (ISP)
Broadens Global Leadership in Specialty Chemicals		 Ashland Inc. to acquire privately owned  International Specialty Products Inc. (ISP) for ~$3.2 billion   International Specialty Products Inc. 795
31-May-11 RE MKT Greg Robb Housing in double-dip decline as prices fall again S&P/Case-Shiller home price index fell 0.8% in Mar-2011 (non-seasonally adjusted basis) indicating that the "housing market has entered a double-dip recession" MarketWatch 796
31-May-11 MKT DJIA up 1.03% The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 128.21 points (1.03%), closing at 12,569.79 Yahoo! Finance: DJ 797
1-Jun-11 M&A Sealed Air to Acquire Diversey for $4.3 Billion Sealed Air (packaging solutions) to Buy Diversey Holdings (cleaning and sanitization) in $4.3 billion deal Sealed Air 798
1-Jun-11 MKT DJIA down 2.22% The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 279.65 points (-2.22%), closing at 12,290.14 Yahoo! Finance: DJ 799
1-Jun-11 HEAL Alan Cowell; William Neuman. Contributors: James Kanter; Victor Homola; Stefan Pauly; Judy Dempsey; Raphael Minder Virulent E. Coli Strain Spreads in Germany and Puzzles Health Officials Germany: E. coli 0104:H4 bacteria has infected >1,500 people and killed 16 NYT 800
1-Jun-11 FOOD ECON SEC Lester R. Brown (president of the Earth Policy Institute) When the Nile Runs Dry Saudi Arabia, South Korea, China and India are acquiring "huge tracts of land to produce wheat, rice and corn for consumption back home" NYT-Op Ed 801
1-Jun-11 MKT NASDAQ Composite: Historical Prices NASDAQ lost 66.11 points (-2.33%), closing at 2,769.19 Yahoo! Finance: NASDAQ 802
2-Jun-11 VIO NATO GOV Contributors: Riaz Khan: Heidi Vogt; Lita Baldor  Pakistan gov’t issues demarche over attack from Afghanistan, NATO inaction blamed 1-2-Jun-11: Pakistan: clashes between Islamist militants from Afghanistan and Pakistani security forces killed 63 people; from Pakistan's perspective, Afghan, US and NATO/ISAF forces failed to control the flow of militants on the Afghan side of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border Washington Post: AP 803
2-Jun-11 PRO ECON Robert F. Worth; Laura Kasinof. Contributors: Khaled Hammadi; Kawkab Thaibani  Chaos in Yemen Drives Economy to Edge of Ruin Yemen near economic collapse; estimated economic cost of 4 months of protests: $5 billion NYT 804
2-Jun-11 GOV BUS DEBT Treasury Announces Agreement to Exit Remaining Stake in Chrysler Group LLC U.S. Department of the Treasury to sell its 6% fully diluted equity interest in Chrysler Group LLC to Fiat for $500 million; the likely net loss from Treasury's commitment of $12.5 billion to Chrysler under TARP’s Automotive Industry Financing Program (AIFP) is estimated at $1.3 billion. U.S. Department of the Treasury 805
3-Jun-11 ECON JOBS The Employment Situation -- May 2011 BLS: U.S. labor statistics for May-2011: unemployment rate, up to 9.1%; number of unemployed persons, 13.9 million; labor force, 153.7 million. Bureau of Labor Statistics 806
3-Jun-11 PRO VIO At Least 27 Killed in Syria as Protests Rage Nationwide Syria: thousands protest against the government; security forces reportedly fired at the protesters killing ≥27 people VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 807
3-Jun-11 PRO Full text of Baba Ramdev's speech India: yoga guru Baba Ramdev addressed thousands of his anti-corruption followers at Ramlila ground: "Today America is a superpower, UK, Germany and France are superpowers . . . but we forget that all these countries are in crores of debt. What does this mean? This is actional tax. They have gained this money by exploiting poor countries like India. . . this is not a political or business agenda and nor do we have any underground agenda. Our agenda is to get black money back. We have to end corruption. And inspired by this idea, we are all asking for our rights by adopting an enthusiastic yet peaceful means of protest. If black money is brought back in this country, no one will go hungry, no one will be without a livelihood. Our currency will be stronger than the dollar or pound. I want to see that day soon . . . the currency should stand at $1=Rs 50. . . Corruption has permeated everywhere. . ." [Translation from IBNLive.] IBNLive 808
3-Jun-11 M&A Walmart Board Approves New $15 Billion Share Repurchase Program Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.: Board of Directors authorizes the company to repurchase $15 billion of its shares; Walmart purchased ~$13 billion of its shares since Jun-2010  Walmart 809
3-Jun-11 VIO REL Sociologist: Every 5 Minutes a Christian Is Martyred Massimo Introvigne of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), at a conference on Christian-Jewish-Muslim interfaith dialogue: 105,000 Christians are killed every year just for being Christian Zenit 810
3-Jun-11 JUST ENER OIL Alexandra Bruell Offshore-Drilling Giant Transocean Launches PR-Agency Review BP sued Transocean for ~$40 billion in damages AdvertisingAge 811
4-Jun-11 VIO NATO NATO helicopters hit targets in Libya Libya: British and French NATA forces attack Gadhafi Libyan forces CBC News-AP 812
4-Jun-11 ECON DEBT JOBS Andrew Martin For the Jobless, Little U.S. Help on Foreclosure Andrew Martin: "the primary cause of foreclosures is unemployment" NYT 813
4-Jun-11 VIO Elizabeth Arrott Yemen: President in Sana'a, Others Wounded Treated in Saudi Arabia 3-Jun-11: Yemen: the presidential compound was attacked; 7 people were killed; officials were wounded VOA News 814
5-Jun-11 VIO Yemeni gunmen attack 2nd presidential palace Yemen: gunmen attacked the presidential palace at Taiz; 5 people were killed, including 4 soldiers; ~50 people were reportedly killed in clashes with security forces over 7 days CBC News-AP 815
5-Jun-11 PRO Harmeet Shah Singh Indian police crack down on yoga guru's anti-graft fast India: ≥50,000 followers join yoga guru Baba Ramdev as he starts an anti-corruption hunger strike; the police break up the strike  CNN International 816
5-Jun-11 GOV BANK DEBT IMF Reaches Staff Level Agreement with Egypt on a US$3 Billion Stand-By Arrangement IMF reaches staff level agreement with Egypt on a 12 month US $3 billion stand-by agreement IMF 817
5-Jun-11 GOV BANK DEBT Statement by John Lipsky, Acting Managing Director of the IMF, on Egypt John Lipksy, Acting Managing Director of the IMF: "the IMF could make available as much as $35 billion in financial assistance to the region [including Egypt] . . . to address short-term needs and develop the strategies necessary for medium-term success of their transition to free and democratic societies." IMF 818
5-Jun-11 PRO VIO Luis Ramirez Israeli Troops Fire at Protesters at Golan Heights Border Syria-Israel border: Pro-Palestinian demonstrations mark the 44th anniversary of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war; Israeli forces killed ≥20 people VOA News 819
5-Jun-11 HEAL Bean Sprouts Likely Source of Europe's E. coli Outbreak That Killed 22 Germany and Sweden: E.coli outbreak infected ~2,000 and killed 22 people; likely cause: bean sprouts [see 1-Jun-11] VOA News 820
5-Jun-11 PRO ECON Hundreds of Vietnamese Stage Anti-China Protest Vietnam: hundreds protest against China re disputed waters in the South China Sea VOA News 821
5-Jun-11 MKT FRAUD Robert Cookson China foreign listings dogged by scandal China: shortsellers have accused Chinese companies listed in New York, Hong Kong and Toronto of "fraud and other wrongdoing"; Chinese stocks tumble FT 822
5-Jun-11 VIO PRO Syrian Army Kills 38 In North, Reports Say 4-5-Jun-11: Syria: Syrian military forces reportedly killed 38 people in Idlib  NYT 823
5-Jun-11 GOV ECON DEBT Economically struggling Belarus to get $3 bln Russia-led loan in exchange for privatizations 4-Jun-11: Belarus to get a $3 billion loan from a "Russia-dominated group"; loan condition: Belarus must privatize much of its economy Washington Post: AP 824
5-Jun-11 MKT BANK How speed traders are changing Wall Street 60 Minutes: Steve Kroft: How speed traders are changing Wall Street: High frequency traders use super computers, robotic algorithms, and "co-location" (access to "raw data" from exchanges); high frequency traders now account for ~70% of stock traders (number of trading systems in the U.S.: >80; new electronic stock exchanges: BATS and Direct Edge) CBS News 825
6-Jun-11 M&A ENER OIL Statoil to divest in Gassled Statoil ASA to sell a 24.1% stake in Gassled joint venture to Solveig Gas Norway AS for a consideration of NOK 17.35 billion ($ 3.24 billion); Statoil to continue to own 5.0% in the joint venture; Solveig Gas Norway is ~45% owned by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, 30% by Allianz Capital Partners, and 25% by Infinity Investments SA, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority Statoil 826
6-Jun-11 M&A AUTO Public takeover offer by Daimler und Rolls-Royce for Tognum successful - companies now jointly hold 60 per cent Daimler AG and Rolls-Royce Holding plc hold 59,87% of Tognum shares through their Joint Venture Engine Holding GmbH Daimler 827
6-Jun-11 VIO Yan (ed.) 20 Iraqis, 5 US soldiers killed in Iraq's violence Iraq: violence killed 20 Iraqis; rocket attack killed 5 U.S. troops; death toll for U.S. troops in Iraq: 4,459 Xinjua 828
6-Jun-11 VIO MIL Phillip Ittner Suspected US Drone Strikes Kill 17 in Pakistan Pakistan: suspected U.S. drone strikes killed 17 people in South Waziristan VOA News 829
6-Jun-11 VIO Syria, Claiming 80 Officers Killed, Hints at Retaliation Syria's state media: “armed gangs” reportedly killed 120 people, including police, security personnel and civilians NYT 830
7-Jun-11 VIO NATO John F. Burns. Contributor: Helene Cooper Qaddafi Compound Is Pounded in Day Raid Libya: NATO escalates its air war NYT 831
7-Jun-11 VIO Elizabeth Arrott Yemen's Interim Leadership Rules out Transition Deal for Now Yemen: clashes between government troops and Islamic militants continue; ≥25 people were killed VOA News 832
7-Jun-11 GOV LAW RPIG Dr. Vandana Shiva The great land grab: India's war on farmers Dr. Vandana Shiva on "the great land grab" in India: "In India, the land grab is facilitated by the toxic mixture of the colonial Land Acquisition Act of 1894, the deregulation of investments and commerce through neo-liberal policies -  and with it the emergence of the rule of uncontrolled greed and exploitation. It is facilitated by the creation of a police state and the use of colonial sedition laws . . . The World Bank has worked for many years to commodify land. . . Thus the state could forcibly acquire the land from the peasants and tribal peoples and hand it over to private speculators, real estate corporations, mining companies and industry."
 Al Jazeera 833
8-Jun-11 MIL JUST Steve Vogel Class-action lawsuit ties VA to plight of homeless veterans VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki: the number of homeless veterans was reduced from ~131,000 in 2009 to ~76,500 in 2011 (the number of veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan is estimated at >14,400) Washington Post 834
8-Jun-11 DEBT Azam Ahmed Bank Said No? Hedge Funds Fill a Void in Lending Some hedge funds are lending to midsized companies; this kind of banking may be risky as it is unregulated NYT-DealBook 835
8-Jun-11 GOV MON Neil Macfarquhar In Saudi Arabia, Royal Funds Buy Peace for Now Saudi Arabia: cost of placating Saudi opposition since start of Arab Spring: $130 billion NYT 836
8-Jun-11 MIL Mark Mazzetti. Contributors: Muhammad al-Ahmadi; Eric Schmitt; Scott Shane  U.S. Is Intensifying a Secret Campaign of Yemen Airstrikes Yemen: the U.S. is conducting a secret war on militants and members of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen NYT 837
8-Jun-11 GOV ENER China Overtakes USA as Top Energy Consumer as World Demand Grows Strongly, Says BP in 60th Year of Global Energy BP: "China Overtakes USA as Top Energy Consumer" BP 838
8-Jun-11 POL Al-Qaeda posts fresh warning from al-Zawahiri to US Ayman al-Zawahiri: "The sheikh has departed, may God have mercy on him, to his God as a martyr and we must continue on his path of jihad to expel the invaders from the land of Muslims and to purify it from injustice, Today, and thanks be to God, America is not facing an individual or a group, but a rebelling nation, which has awoken from its sleep in a jihadist renaissance" BBC News 839
9-Jun-11 MIL MON Libya mission has cost Canada $26M: MacKay Canada: cost of Canada's Libya military mission: $26 million for fuel and bombs; Canada dropped >300 laser-guided bombs on targets in Libya from 19-Mar-11 to 2-Jun-11 CBC News-AP 840
9-Jun-11 UN ECON VIO Record number of children displaced by West Bank demolitions The United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), on "the Israeli practice of demolitions and forced demolitions in the West Bank": “Demolitions saw 67 children displaced in May, the highest monthly figure so far this year" UNRWA 841
9-Jun-11 BUS MKT Kate O'Keeffe; Jeffrey Ng; Peter Stein. Contributor: Andrew Browne China Is the New Dot-Com,' Says Outgoing Securities Chief Hong Kong: Martin Wheatley, CEO of Securities and Futures Commission: "China is the new dot-com" WSJ 842
9-Jun-11 BANk SEC Suzanne Kapner Citi admits customer data at risk after breach 8-Jun-11: Citigroup reported it suffered a security breach; the cyberattack can potentially affect 1% of Citigroup's card customers FT 843
9-Jun-11 ECON BANK MON Paul Krugman Rule by Rentiers Paul Krugman, NYT: "creditor-friendly policies are crippling the economy. This is a negative-sum game, in which the attempt to protect the rentiers [bankers and wealthy individuals with lots of bonds in their portfolios] from any losses is inflicting much larger losses on everyone else. And the only way to get a real recovery is to stop playing that game." NYT-Op Ed 844
9-Jun-11 GOV BANK DEBT 9 June 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 1.25%, 2.00%, and 0.50% respectively European Central Bank 845
9-Jun-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 846
10-Jun-11 VIO PRO Elizabeth Arrott Demonstrations Flare, Refugees Flee as Syrian Crackdown Intensifies Syria: the government cracks down on "armed gangs" in Jisr al-Shughour who killed 120 soldiers VOA News 847
10-Jun-11 VIO NATO MON New Airstrikes Target Libyan Capital 9-Jun-11: Libya: Italy, France and some Arab nations pledged >$1.1 billion to help Gadhafi's opponents; 10-Jun-11: NATO airstrikes target Tripoli VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 848
10-Jun-11 MKT DJIA down 1.42% The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 172.45 points (-1.42%), closing at 11,951.91 Yahoo! Finance: DJ 849
11-Jun-11 VIO Contributors: Eve Bower; Chelsea J. Carter; Joe Sterling  U.N.: 368 civilians die in Afghanistan in May Afghanistan: violence killed 368 in May-2011 CNN World 850
11-Jun-11 VIO Abdul Haleem; Zhang Jianhua; Mu Xuequan (ed.) Insurgency claims 20 Afghan lives in single day Afghanistan: suicide attacks and roadside bombings killed 20 people, mostly civilians Xinhua 851
11-Jun-11 VIO Ahmed Al-Haj Fighting with Islamic militants in Yemen kills 40 Yemen: clashes between soldiers and Islamic militants killed 40 people AP 852
11-Jun-11 JUST AUTO Ohio judge says Ford must pay dealers $2 billion in damages Ford Motor Co. ordered to pay ~$2 billion in damages to thousands of dealers; Ford to appeal ruling Detroit News-Wire Reports 853
11-Jun-11 PRO ENER NUC Hiroko Tabuchi Protests Challenge Japan’s Use of Nuclear Power Japan: ~20,000 people rally against nuclear power NYT 854
11-Jun-11 GOV BANK SEC I.M.F. Reports Cyberattack Led to ‘Very Major Breach’ IMF suffered a cyberattack over several months NYT 855
12-Jun-11 HEAL Wang Guanqun (ed.) Over 600 people, including 103 children, poisoned by lead in east China China: >600, including 103 children, are suffering from lead poisoning Xinhua 856
12-Jun-11 PRO ECON Vietnamese Stage Anti-China Protest Vietnam: ~100 people protest against China re disputed waters in the South China Sea VOA News 857
12-Jun-11 VIO Taliban Denies Involvement in Pakistan Bombings 11-Jun-11: Pakistan: CIA Director Leon Panetta visited Islamabad; 2 bombings at a market in Peshawar killed ≥35 people VOA News 858
12-Jun-11 M&A FIN Transatlantic Re And Allied World Agree To A Merger Of Equals To Create A Premier Global Specialty Insurance And Reinsurance Company Transatlantic Holdings, Inc. and Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, AG to merge; the combined company to have $8.5 billion in capital Transatlantic Holdings, Inc.; Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, AG 859
12-Jun-11 MIL VIO Liam Stack. Contributors: Sebnem Arsu; Hwaida Saad; Katherine Zoepf Syrian Troops Retake Control of Rebellious Town in North Syria: Syrian troops take control of Jisr al-Shoughour; the number of Syrian refugees in Turkey is estimated at 5,000 NYT 860
13-Jun-11 GOV DEBT MKT Shawn Langlois S&P cuts Greece by thre notches Standard & Poor's downgraded its long-term sovereign credit ratings of Greece from B to CCC MarketWatch 861
13-Jun-11 VIO 5 Dead in Iraq Suicide Bombing Iraq: suicide bomber killed 5 people, including ≥3 policemen, in Basra; car bombings killed 6 people in Mosul on 11-Jun-11; other violence is alo reported VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 862
13-Jun-11 VIO 32 Militants, 4 Soldiers Killed in Western Afghanistan Afghanistan: Afghan troops have 32 insurgents; 4 soldiers were also killed VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 863
13-Jun-11 PRO China migrant workers clash with police for third night China: ~1,000 protesters clashed with police 3 nights in a row outside Guangzhou BBC News 864
14-Jun-11 GOV BANK DEBT Statement on Monetary Policy The Bank of Japan to encourage the uncollateralized overnight call rate to remain at ~0%-0.1% Bank of Japan 865
14-Jun-11 VIO Ben Lando Hostages Taken in Deadly Raid on Iraqi Government Building Iraq: insurgents attacked the Diyala provincial council building, took hostages, and killed ≥9 people WSJ 866
14-Jun-11 PRO Jeremy Page. Contributors: Andrew Browne; Jason Dean; Yang Jie  Wave of Unrest Rocks China: Threats to Social Order Increasingly Hit Cities, Bringing Iron-Fist Response China: waves of anti-government protests sweeping rural areas; social unrest is increasing WSJ 867
14-Jun-11 GOV BANK DEBT An (ed.) China hikes bank reserve ratio for 6th time this year to battle inflation China's central bank to raise the banks' reserve requirement ratio (RRR) by 0.5%; banks will have to allocate 21.5% of their capital as reserve (reducing liquidity by $56.92 billion) Xinhua 868
14-Jun-11 JUST Eric Schmitt; Mark Mazzetti Pakistan Arrests C.I.A. Informants in Bin Laden Raid Pakistan arrested 5 C.I.A. informants who helped the U.S. hunt and kill Osama Bin Laden NYT 869
14-Jun-11 MKT DJIA up 1.03% The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 123.14 points (1.03%), closing at 12,076.11 Yahoo! Finance: DJ 870
14-Jun-11 PRO GOV LAW Victory in Italian Referendum an Inspiration for Water Justice Movements Italians "overwhelmingly opted to overturn the laws promoting water privatisation in Italy" Food & Water Watch 871
15-Jun-11 MIL Sources Say Secret CIA Air Base in Mideast to Target Yemeni Terrorists The CIA is building a secret air base to attack America's enemies in Yemen VOA News-AP 872
15-Jun-11 BUS TECH Charlotte Raab US computer pioneer IBM turns 100 IBM turns 110 on 16-Jun-11; market capitalization statistics: IBM, $197 billion; Microsoft's $201 billion; Apple, $304 billion AFP 873
15-Jun-11 DEBT Scott Stearns Clinton: African Businesswomen Need More Access to Credit U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: African businesswomen need more access to credit VOA News 874
15-Jun-11 PRO VIO PRO erupt in Vancouver after Canucks loss: Dozens injured amid scenes of violence, looting Vancouver: people PROed following the Stanley Cup hockey final; looting was reported CBC News 875
15-Jun-11 MKT DJIA down 1.48% The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 178.84 points (-1.48%), closing at 11,897.27 Yahoo! Finance: DJ 876
15-Jun-11 PRO GOV LAW Rich Bindell Italian Voters Turn Out Against Water Privatization [By Feed: Food and Water Watch in Gas Industry] Italy: "Voters blocked efforts by the Italian government to privatize water, re-establish the nuclear energy program and grant Berlusconi immunity from prosecution" NorthcentralPA.com 877
16-Jun-11 PRO VIO ECON Costas Paris; Alkman Granitsas; Bruce Orwall. Contributors: Stephen L. Bernard; Matt Phillips; Charles Forelle Fresh Greek Shock Waves: Violent Street Protests in Athens Shake Government, Spark Global Market Woes 15-Jun-11: Greece: tens of thousands of demonstrators protested austerity measures imposed by euro-zone lender nations and the IMF; bond yields: 2-year=28.223%; 10-year=18.021% [Source: Thomson Reuters] WSJ 878
16-Jun-11 VIO NATO 12 killed as NATO air strike hits bus in Libya Libya: NATO air strike hit a bus killing ≥12 people Hindustan Times 879
16-Jun-11 POL Ayman al-Zawahiri appointed as al-Qaeda leader Al-Qaeda annoucement: "Sheikh Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, may God guide him, assumed responsibility as the group's amir [leader]" [Analysis by Frank Gardner] BBC News 880
16-Jun-11 M&A BANK Capital One to Acquire ING Direct for $9.0 Billion in Stock and Cash Capital One Financial Corporation to acquire ING Direct from ING Groep in a stock and cash transaction valued at $9.0 billion Capital One 881
16-Jun-11 M&A ENER Energy Transfer Equity to Acquire Southern Union Company  Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. (ETE) to acquire Southern Union Company (SUG) for $7.9 billion, including ~$3.7 billion of SUG debt Energy Transfer 882
16-Jun-11 BANK FIN DEBT Matt Andrejczak Greece poses $41 billion risk to U.S. banks Bank for International Settlements (BIS): total exposure of U.S. banks at yearend 2010 was $41 billion MarketWatch 883
17-Jun-11 BANK FIN ECON World Economic Outlook Update: Mild Slowdown of the Global Expansion, and Increasing Risks IMF: World Economic Outlook Update: "Activity is slowing down temporarily, and downside risks have increased again. The global expansion remains unbalanced. Growth in many advanced economies is still weak, considering the depth of the recession. In addition, the mild slowdown observed in the second quarter of 2011 is not reassuring." IMF 884
17-Jun-11 MON FRAUD Chinese officials stole $120 billion, fled mainly to US People's Bank of China: up to 18,000 corrupt Chinese officials stole $120 billion and fled mainly to the U.S. BBC News 885
17-Jun-11 MIL FIN Ralph Jennings Taiwan Develops Advanced Missiles Taiwan started to deploy Hsiung Feng missiles; China spends ~$92 billion on modernizing its military and has ~1,900 missiles aimed at Taiwan VOA News 886
17-Jun-11 VIO At Least 16 Killed in Syrian Crackdown on Protests Syria: security forces killed ≥16 anti-government protesters VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 887
17-Jun-11 VIO NATO Pro-Gadhafi Forces Hit Misrata, NATO Targets Tripoli Libya: pro-Gadhafi forces attack targets in Misrata; NATO airstrikes target Tripoli VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 888
17-Jun-11 PRO VIO Khaled Yacoub Oweis; Jon Hemming (ed.). Contributors: Mariam Karouny; Yara Bayoumy; Tulay Kardeniz; Yann Le Guernigou; Stephen Brown; Tabassum Zakaria; Dominic Evans Syria forces kill 19 in biggest protests: activists Syria: mass protest against President Bashar al-Assad; Syrian forces killed 19 people  Reuters 889
17-Jun-11 AOG WEATH Helena Hong Torrential rains hit south China, killing 25 China: torrential rains/floods killed 25 people; 25 people are missing CNN International 890
18-Jun-11 BUS TEL Phred Dvorak; Stuart Weinberg; Anupreeta Das Investors Sour on BlackBerry 17-Jun-11: Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) shares tumbled 21%; RIM's market value tumbled from >$80 billion in 2008 to <$15 billion WSJ 891
19-Jun-11 VIO NATO NATO says Libya attack may have killed civilians Libya: Libyan government claimed NATO airstrike in Tripoli killed 9 civilians, including 2 children CBC News-AP 892
19-Jun-11 VIO MIL Fighting Kills 29 in Northwest Pakistan 18-Jun-11: Pakistan: Taliban attack on a military base triggered fighting; 25 militants and 4 soldiers were killed VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 893
19-Jun-11 VIO NATO Afghan Suicide Attack Targets German Soldiers Afghanistan: suicide car bomber targeted a German military convoy; ≥3 civilians were killed VOA News 894
19-Jun-11 PRO DEBT Spaniards protest against economic cuts Spain: tens of thousands of Spaniards protest to express their outrage against austerity measures imposed by eurozone lenders Al Jazeera 895
19-Jun-11 MIL RES MON Elisabeth Bumiller; Thom Shanker War Evolves With Drones, Some Tiny as Bugs The Pentagon requested ~$5 billion for drones (including sensor-and-camera equipped "spy flies") in 2012; since 11-Sep-2001, the time alloted to "flying missions for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance" swelled increased 3,100% NYT 896
20-Jun-11 RPIG GOV ECON Paul Bentley America's pay gap shame: Inequality between rich and poor is worse than Cameroon, Ivory Coast and revolutionary Egypt America's rich-poor gap is worse than that in "Cameroon, the Ivory Coast and revolutionary Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen" [source: CIA's World Fact Book]; the top 0.1% of earners in the U.S. in 2008 took 10% of the total personal income; the top 1% of earners in the U.S. in 2008 took >20% of the total personal income Daily Mail 897
20-Jun-11 BUS JUST Greg Stohr; Mark Silva (ed.) Wal-Mart Wins Supreme Court Gender-Bias Case U.S. Supreme Court decides in favor of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in a massive sex discrimination lawsuit Bloomberg 898
20-Jun-11 BUS JUST RPIG Wal-Mart Wins. Workers Lose. Workers lose: the Supreme Court makes massive class-action lawsuits against allegedly abusive large corporations (1) much harder to certify and (2) more costly NYT-Editorial 899
20-Jun-11 GOV FIN RPIG Anthony Faiola. Contributor: Eliza Mackintosh London’s poor facing squeeze amid housing-benefit cuts London, UK: cuts to the Local Housing Allowance (LHA), a welfare benefit, may trigger a "population shift" of ~82,000 poor families from London to "American-style ghettos" Washington Post 900
20-Jun-11 NUC Yossi Melman Israel reveals it has returned hundreds of kilograms of nuclear waste to U.S. Israel Nuclear Energy Commission to IAEA: nuclear waste [>100s of kilograms' of 93% enriched uranium] from Sorek reactor was returned to the U.S.; Dimona excluded from U.S.-Israel agreement Haaretz 901
20-Jun-11 M&A BANK PNC Announces Agreement to Buy RBC Bank (USA)  PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) to acquire RBC Bank (USA) for $3.45 billion ($112 million discount to tangible book value); RBC to refocus its U.S. growth strategy on RBC Wealth Management and RBC Capital Markets [RBC] PNC; RBC 902
20-Jun-11 WWW SEC Mark Raby Sega says 1.3 million affected by data breach 19-Jun-11: Sega: a cyber attack targeted Sega's online gaming service; 1.3 million people were affected by data breach  TG Daily 903
20-Jun-11 ACC JET Russian plane crash leaves 44 dead Russia: RusAir Tu-134 passenger jet crashed killing 44 people  CBC News: AP 904
20-Jun-11 GOV BANK MON Bank of Canada Unveils Polymer Bank Note Series: Celebrating Canada’s Achievements at the Frontiers of Innovation Canada: The Bank of Canada to issue new polymer $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 bank notes with advanced new security features Bank of Canada 905
20-Jun-11 RES TECH COMP Supercomputer "K computer" Takes First Place in World: Achieves world's best performance of 8.162 petaflops to lead TOP500 list 26th International Supercomputing Conference (ISC'11), Hamburg, Germany: the K Computer, a supercomputer jointly developed by Fujitsu Ltd. and the RIKEN research institute, is the world's fastest computer; the K Computer is capable of 8.162 petaflops (1 pertaflop=1 quadrillion calculations per second) Fujitsu; RIKEN 906
21-Jun-11 BUS FIN Best Buy Authorizes $5 Billion Share Repurchase Program and 7 Percent Dividend Increase Best Buy authorized a $5 billion share repurchase program Best Buy: Thomson Reuters ONE via COMTEX 907
21-Jun-11 VIO Tim Craig; Aziz Alwan. Contributors: Sa’ad Sarhan; Hassan al Shimmari  Twin bombings kill at least 24 in Iraq Iraq: 2 car bombs targeted a government facility; ≥24 people were killed Washington Post 908
21-Jun-11 ECO RES Mass Extinction of Ocean Species Soon to Be 'Inevitable' International Programme on the State of the Ocean and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, meeting held at Oxford University, 11-13-Apr-11 : "A deadly trio of factors - warming, acidification and lack of oxygen - is creating the conditions associated with every previous major extinction of species in Earth's history, the panel warned" ENS 909
21-Jun-11 GOV NATO