NZ quake toll rises as hope fades for survivors

CHRISTCHURCH: Rescuers extended their search on Friday to shattered houses close to the epicentre of Christchurch’s deadly earthquake, but rain and cold dimmed hopes of finding more survivors of New Zealand’s worst disaster in decades.

Oil inched up amid doubts about US, eurozone economies

SINGAPORE: Oil prices inched marginally higher in Asian trade Tuesday with investor sentiment clouded by worries about the US and eurozone economies, analysts said.

New York”s main contract, light sweet crude for September delivery, gained eight cents to 79.06 dollars a barrel and Brent North Sea crude, also for September delivery, was 10 cents higher at 77.60 dollars.

“There are a lot of mixed signals,” said David Johnson, a Hong Kong-based oil analyst with the Royal Bank of Scotland.

“There is not enough confidence in the US and Europe (economic) recovery… a lot of people are getting slightly concerned about what”s happening,” he said.

Skepticism over European banking-sector stress tests, which cleared all but seven European lenders, got a subdued welcome on stock markets on Monday while investors remained concerned about the pace of US recovery from the global slump.

However, latest data on Monday from the Commerce Department showed new home sales increased 23.6 percent to 330,000 units in June from a revised May rate of 267,000, a record low.

The housing sector was at the epicentre of the financial crisis that plunged the US economy into recession in December 2007.

Meanwhile, investors are waiting for the release of a weekly government report on US energy stockpiles regarded as a gauge of demand in the world”s
biggest economy.

Last week”s inventory data showed an unexpectedly big rise in crude stocks and investors expect the report to show a drop in energy reserves when the Department of Energy releases its report Wednesday.

Moderate quake hits India”s Andaman Islands: seismologists

NEW DELHI: A moderate 5.9-magnitude earthquake hit India”s Andaman Islands early Saturday, seismologists said, but no tsunami warning was immediately issued.

The USGS said the quake struck at a depth of 27 kilometres (17 miles), with the epicentre 180 kilometres (112 miles) from Port Blair on the Andaman Islands, in the Indian Ocean.

The Andamans were badly hit by the 2004 Asian tsunami, which was triggered by an earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra that sent giant waves crashing into countries around the Indian Ocean.

The Andaman Sea area witnesses frequent earthquakes caused by the meeting of the Indian plate with the Burmese microplate along an area known as the Andaman trench. The islands were hit by a strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake on June 1.

Tsunami alert after 7.7 magnitude quake hits Indian Ocean

HONG KONG: A major 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck the Indian Ocean on Sunday near India”s Nicobar Islands, the US Geological Survey said.

The quake hit at 1:26 am local time (1926 GMT) at a depth of 35 kilometres (22 miles) with the epicentre around 160 kilometres west of the Nicobar Islands.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a tsunami watch for all areas of the Indian Ocean following the quake.

US, India begin strategic dialogue

WASHINGTON: India and the US Thursday vowed to strengthen their cooperation in key areas like defence, counter- terrorism, education, nuclear energy, agriculture and climate change.

Kicking off their first-ever Strategic Dialogue, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his American counterpart Hillary Clinton began their day-long deliberations at the State Department with the American leader calling India a “rising global power”.

Clinton said the US was committed to the modernisation of India”s military and that the US military holds the maximum number of joint exercises with the Indian Army.

She stressed the need for cooperation in the area of counterterrorism in the form of better intelligence sharing as the two countries are “seared by acts of terrorism”.

Krishna said the threat of trans-national terrorism requires both India and the US to cooperate more closely than ever before though the epicentre of this threat lies in India”s neighbourhood.

Nation Will Soon Hear Good News on 17th Amendment: Kaira

Pakistan News: Federal Minister for Information Qamar Zaman Kaira said on Sunday President Zardari would soon announce a good news on 17th amendment. He said ministers who benefited from NRO did not need to resign.
Kaira said some sitting MNAs had still cases against them pending in courts; however, filing a case did not mean to seize rights. He reiterated that government wanted to table National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) in the parliament only on directions of Supreme Court and now it had been withdrawn. “The government would abide by the verdict of Supreme Court on that.” Kaira told that Balochistan package would be tabled in the joint session of the parliament and the President’s annual address to the joint session would be in March next year.

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Nation Will Soon Hear Good News on 17th Amendment: Kaira was first posted on November 22, 2009 at 9:03 pm.

Moderate Quake Jolts Malakand Areas

SWAT, Pakistan News: A moderate earthquake on Sunday rocked parts of northwest Pakistan, causing widespread panic among the area people.

Pakistan meteorological department said the quake had a magnitude of 4.2 and the epicentre was located in Mingora.

There were no immediate reports of casualties but tremors were felt in Swat, Mingora, Mansehra and Malakand areas of Malakand Division.

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Moderate Quake Jolts Malakand Areas was first posted on November 22, 2009 at 9:45 pm.