Key Taliban commander arrested in Karachi

KARACHI: Police arrested a commander of outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan in a raid in Baldia Town locality of Karachi.

More here:
Key Taliban commander arrested in Karachi

NKorea set no-sail zones off west coast

SEOUL: A South Korean official says North Korea banned boats off its west coast though no unusual military movement has been detected.

See more here:
NKorea set no-sail zones off west coast

Japan go through, holders Italy make exit,

JOHANNESBURG: Holders Italy were dumped out of the World Cup at the group stage on Thursday, joining the humiliation of fellow European power France.

More: 
Japan go through, holders Italy make exit,

World Cup first round final four matches today

DURBAN: Four matches will be played in soccer World Cup in South Africa today.

View original post here: 
World Cup first round final four matches today

Oil drops to near $76 amid new economic jitters

KUALA LUMPUR: Oil prices fell to near $76 a barrel Friday in Asia as regional stock markets tumbled amid concerns over the pace of the global economic recovery.

Go here to see the original:
Oil drops to near $76 amid new economic jitters

Pakistan helping in NYC probe: US

WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday urged top Pakistani officials on Thursday to push ahead in their investigation of a Pakistan-born American accused of trying to set off a car bomb in New York”s Times Square, a senior U.S. official said.

The Pentagon said it was encouraged by Pakistani promises of cooperation on getting to the bottom of the attempted car bombing. The suspect, Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Pakistan, is in custody in the United States.

U.S. officials say Shahzad has been cooperating with investigators but they want Pakistani authorities to pursue his possible links to the Taliban in Pakistan.

U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson telephoned Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Thursday to discuss the matter, the State Department said but declined to describe the discussions in detail.

The main point appeared to be ensuring there is a political commitment on the part of Pakistani officials to see the investigation through, said a senior State Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“What we are doing right now is communicating to Pakistan that this is important and that we would expect them to take very specific actions as the investigation proceeds,” the official said.

“The political commitment by various officials is very important,” the official added, suggesting the United States was not yet making specific requests of Pakistan but would in the future.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Thursday that Pakistan was was ready to give full support to bring the culprits to justice.

The Defense Department said it was encouraged by Pakistani promises of cooperation and that Washington was letting Islamabad set the pace of its operations against militants.

“The U.S. and Pakistan are exchanging information and we”ve received a pledge of cooperation from the Pakistanis regarding this issue — the investigation that is,” Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said. “We”re encouraged by this.”

Washington had long pressed Pakistan to publicly take on al Qaeda and Taliban militants more aggressively but has expressed satisfaction with recent offensives near the country”s border with Afghanistan, where U.S. forces are locked in an 8-year-old war.

U.S. investigators have uncovered possible links between the suspected Times Square bomber and the Pakistani Taliban, a group that has been heavily targeted by CIA drone strikes in Pakistan”s tribal areas.

“There are safe havens that have yet to be fully targeted, as aggressively targeted … but the pace and timing and the schedule to undertake those operations is of the Pakistanis” choosing,” Morrell said at a Pentagon news conference.

He said Pakistan was reluctant to “overstretch their forces, to go places that they haven”t been necessarily and, in the process, sacrifice gains that they”ve hard won elsewhere.”

A Pentagon report issued last week estimated that Pakistan has shifted 100,000 of its troops from its Indian frontier to spearhead an unprecedented crackdown on militants along the Afghan border.

U.S. officials said about 140,000 Pakistani troops were taking part in offensives against militants in areas near Afghanistan.

Oil Slips on US Recovery Fears

LONDON : World oil prices weakened on Monday as recent weak economic data sparked fears about a recovery in the United States, analysts said.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for November delivery, eased 29 cents to 69.66 dollars a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for November delivery dropped 35 cents to 67.72 dollars a barrel.

“A slew of economic data (last week) rekindled worries over the prospects of a recovery in the United States,” said JBC Energy analysts in a note to clients.

Data released Friday showed the US economy was struggling to recover from recession as job losses accelerated to 263,000, sending the unemployment rate to a 26-year high of 9.8 percent in September.

Payroll losses were far worse than expectations for a loss of 175,000 jobs, while there was an upwardly revised loss of 201,000 in August.

Payrolls have dropped for 21 consecutive months and since the start of the recession, the number of jobless has increased 7.6 million to 15.1 million, while unemployment has doubled to 9.8 percent, Labor Department figures show.

“There are ongoing worries about the pace of economic recovery after the disappointing US jobs data,” added Victor Shum, a Singapore-based analyst with energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz.

“At the top of traders’ minds now is the pace of economic recovery and the US economic situation still looks shaky,” he said.

---

Oil Slips on US Recovery Fears was first posted on October 5, 2009 at 3:24 pm.

Inflation May Increase Due To Oil and Powers Rising

PAKISTAN, KARACHI: The moderation in aggregate demand pressures is likely to further contribute to decline in average inflation. However, likely increases in oil and electricity prices and upward revision of public sector wages may lead to renewed inflationary pressures in current fiscal year, said the State Bank of Pakistan in its monetary policy statement for July-September 2009.

The SBP said that during the current fiscal year the moderation in aggregate demand pressures is likely to continue, contributing towards further decline in average inflation, expected to be around 10 percent, and macroeconomic stability. More importantly, the decline in inflation could be accelerated if the structural reasons of inflation persistence are addressed diligently.

“The benefit will not only be in terms of improved inflation expectations but also for the real economic activity. However, likely increases in the oil prices and upward revision of public sector wages may lead to renewed inflationary pressures,” the SBP said.

Inflationary pressures eased further since March 2009 with CPI inflation (YoY) declining by 7.9 percentage points to 11.2 percent in July 2009. In fact, the pace of decline in inflation increased noticeably in Q4-FY09 compared to the previous quarter and in the first month of FY10.

Similarly, the YoY non-food non-energy (NFNE) and 20 percent trimmed measures of core inflation also declined from their peak levels to 14.0 and 13.9 percent. However, core inflation is still at a relatively high level and recent trends in monthly inflation indicators are showing a degree of stickiness in inflation. Despite the significant decline in inflation in recent months, average CPI inflation of 20.8 percent for FY09 is much higher than the initially announced target of 11 percent.

Moreover, the average inflation during Q4-FY09 turned out to be 14.9 percent, which is higher than the 14 percent projected in the last MPS. Smaller than expected decline in the House Rent Index (HRI) inflation and imposition of fixed Petroleum Development Levy (PDL) on administered oil prices in June 2009 explain this deviation.

A number of factors explain persistence in inflation. First, the benefits of falling international commodity prices, in particular oil prices, were not fully transferred to the domestic economy. Second, even when the domestic administered prices were adjusted, other prices did not respond accordingly due to structural downward rigidities in the system.

Third, nominal exchange rate depreciation during the first four months of FY09 diluted some of the gains of falling international commodity prices. Fourth, fiscal consolidation measures, such as elimination of subsidies, adjustment in power tariffs, revisions in GST and import duties, added to the existing price pressures.

Fifth, loss in productivity due to severe electricity and gas shortages is another reason why the gains of contracting demand pressures could not be fully realised. While solutions for structural impediments develop in the backdrop, monetary policy will maintain its oversight of inflation and its role in improving macroeconomic imbalances, simultaneously supporting real economic activity.

A 7.9 percentage point decline in CPI inflation (YoY), from 19.1 percent in March ‘09 to 11.2 percent in July, is reassuring and validates the direction of economic policy. The YoY non-food non-energy (NFNE) and 20 percent trimmed measures of core inflation have also declined to 14.0 and 13.9 percent in July. In fact, the pace of decline in inflation increased noticeably in Q4-FY09, compared to the previous quarter, and continued through into the first month of FY10.

Five more US bank closures

WASHINGTON: US regulators have shut down five more regional banks, bringing the total number of US bank failures to 77 this year, the US government announced.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said Colonial Bank of Montgomery became the largest US bank to fail this year after it was declared bankrupt and had the bulk of its assets taken over by rival BB&T.

All of Alabama-based Colonial’s 346 branches will reopen Saturday “and operate as branches of BB&T,” the FDIC said.

The list of closed banks also included the Community Bank of Nevada in Las Vegas that was closed by order of the Nevada Financial Institutions Division, which appointed the FDIC as receiver.

As of the end of June, the bank had total assets of 1.52 billion dollars and total deposits of about 1.38 billion.

Also shut down was the Community Bank of Arizona in Phoenix, which will be taken over by MidFirst Bank from Oklahoma City.

The bank had total assets of 158.5 million dollars, most of which will be purchased by MidFirst Bank, the FDIC said.

The Oklahoman bank will also assume all of the deposits of Union Bank of Gilbert, another Arizona institution shut down by regulators.

The closed financial institutions also include the Dwelling House Savings and Loan Association of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.