Euro pushes higher; yen falls after stimulus announced

NEW YORK: The euro surged against the dollar Friday, topping the $1.30 level before giving back most of the ground to end only slightly higher.

At $1.2982 at around 2300 GMT, it was still the European currency's best level in five weeks, finishing up from $1.2978 late Thursday.

There was little news to provoke any firm moves, and analysts said the euro could move lower next week as the Greek bond buyback program opens and the European Central Bank sees more room from a lower inflation rate to ease monetary policy.

"With five major central bank interest rate decisions on the docket for the following week, the European Central Bank may have the largest impact on the currency market as headlines surrounding the debt crisis continue to drag on investor confidence," said David Song of DailyFX.

"As the EU prepares to release the details of the Greek bond buyback program, there's speculation that the ECB will provide further monetary assistance to alleviate the downside risks for the economy."

In addition, he added, with inflation on a trajectory to fall below 2.0 percent, "the central bank may show a greater willingness to lower the benchmark interest rate further."

The Japanese government's pre-election announcement of a new 880-billion-yen ($10.7 billion) stimulus package sent the yen lower.

The euro pushed to 107.07 yen from 106.58 yen, and the dollar gained to 82.48 yen from 82.10.

In other currencies, the dollar gained slightly to 0.9280 Swiss francs, and the British pound slipped to $1.6015, from $1.6043 Thursday.

-AFP/ac

Read More..

Around 40% states still have more than 5% as stamp duty

NEW DELHI: The Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) audit into Centre's urban renewal programme - Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) -- has shown that 40% of states and Union Territories have failed to rationalize stamp duty to 5% for property registration. The defaulting states include Delhi, Haryana, West Bengal, Karnataka, Kerala and Chhattisgarh.

High stamp duty discourages property registration at actual or market value and thereby increases scope of black money in the realty sector.

As per JNNURM norms, stamp duty was to be brought down to 5% or less, including surcharges by local municipal bodies, during implementation of the programme. "It was expected that a reduction in the rate would help develop a healthy real estate market, by providing a boost to the economy, and reduce black money. It was expected that reduction in stamp duty rates would lead to an increase in revenue both for the states and urban local bodies," the report said.

The CAG found that out of 30 states/UTs selected for scrutiny, only 16, including Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan had either 5% or less as stamp duty.

The report mentioned that in the case of Uttarakhand, stamp duty was reduced to 5% for men and 3.5% for women. On the contrary, in Haryana, stamp duty is 7% (5% plus 2% as local body surcharge) for men and 5% for women, including 2% surcharge for local bodies

Read More..

Pictures: Bakken Shale Oil Boom Transforms North Dakota

Photograph by Jim Urquhart, Reuters

His overalls caked in mud, roughneck Brian Waldner wrestles with pipe as North Dakota's new horizon unfolds around him. (Related: "Oil Train Revival: Booming North Dakota Relies on Rail to Deliver Its Crude")

North Dakota, once a sleepy backwater of the petroleum industry, this year surpassed Alaska as the number two oil producer in the United States. The gush of North Dakota crude has helped lift U.S. oil production to its highest level in 14 years, and has the United States on track to regain its spot as the world's top energy producer within five years. (Related: "U.S. to Overtake Saudi Arabia, Russia as World's Top Energy Producer")

It's all due to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a new combination of old technologies that has yielded astounding results. Using high-pressure water, sand, and chemicals, the energy industry has been able to force abundant oil and natural gas production from underground shale formations around the United States. (See interactive, "Breaking Fuel From Rock.")

Controversy abounds over fracking's impact on land, water, and air. But there's no question it has boosted energy resources and local economies. (See Special Report, "The Great Shale Gas Rush")

Nowhere is this more visible in North Dakota, which has the lowest unemployment rate in the United States (3.1 percent.)

As workers labored in October on this True Company rig outside Watford City, North Dakota set a new one-month record for issuance of drilling permits, 370, up tenfold from just five years ago. (Related: "Shale Oil Boom Takes Hold on the Plains")

—David LaGesse

This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge.

Published November 30, 2012

Read More..

3 Dead After Attack at Wyo. Community College

Three people are dead after an attack at Casper College, a Wyoming community college, that may have involved a type of bow and arrow.

The college was shut down Friday morning after the attack.

"Emergency Alert: All classes and activities are cancelled today," read a message posted on the school's website.

Initial calls came in just after 9 a.m. reporting a "traumatic injury" on campus, according to a statement provided by local law enforcement to ABC News. Officers found "multiple victims" and the school was immediately placed on lockdown.

Alan Rogers/Casper Star-Tribune/AP Photo

Three people were found dead. One was a Casper College faculty member and another was a suspect who died of "apparent suicide," according to the statement.

The suspect, authorities said, "was not a current student at Casper College and the incident does not appear to be school motivated."

"There were no firearms involved in the crime," they said, "and the victim's injuries were caused by a sharp-edged weapon."

Police told Wyoming station KCWY that one of the victims was stabbed with a "bow-and-arrow-type" weapon.

The school of around 5,000 students is located in Casper, the state's second-largest city. It was founded in 1945, according to the school's website.

Calls to Casper Police Chief Chris Walsh and school spokesman Rich Fujita were not returned Friday afternoon.

The lockdown was later lifted. The school's website said campus travel was "now permitted" and that counselors were available at the school's Gateway Building.

Read More..

Euro benefits from US 'fiscal cliff' hopes

NEW YORK: The euro rose against the dollar Thursday, boosted by hopes that US politicians will find a compromise to avoid the year-end "fiscal cliff" that could jolt the economy into recession.

With investors' appetite for risk whetted, the euro bought $1.2978 at 2200 GMT, up from $1.2939 at the same time Wednesday.

The European unit rose against the Japanese currency, to 106.58 yen from 106.14 yen late Wednesday.

The dollar edged up to 82.10 yen from 82.03 yen.

"Investors want to believe that the full brunt of the US fiscal cliff is going to be somehow averted," said CurrencyThoughts.com.

David Solin at Foreign Exchange Analytics noted that the euro had softened somewhat from earlier highs, citing "some mixed comments from US officials in regards to these negotiations on the fiscal cliff."

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner met with congressional leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties seeking progress on a deal.

Republican speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner said, after meeting with Geithner, there had been "no substantive progress" in averting drastic tax hikes and spending cuts that take effect in January.

Solin said the risk market remained quite strong as investors believed that lawmakers would forge a longer-term debt-reduction budget to avoid the fiscal cliff.

"It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, they might be underestimating" the situation, he added.

The European currency also found support from the European Commission approving a plan to restructure some of Spain's banks Wednesday, said Nick Bennenbroek at Wells Fargo Bank.

The EC cleared the restructuring of four Spanish banks -- Bankia, Novagalicia, CatalunyaCaixa and Banco de Valencia -- paving the way for Spain to receive 37 billion euros ($48 billion) in aid next month.

The dollar fell against the Swiss currency, fetching 0.9274 francs, compared with 0.9300 late Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the British pound rose to $1.6043 from $1.6013.

-AFP/ac

Read More..

CPM accuses Congress of allowing disruption in Parliament

NEW DELHI: The CPM on Thursday accused the Congress of allowing disruption of both Houses of Parliament so that it could marshal the numbers in case of a vote on FDI in multi-brand retail. The Lok Sabha was disrupted for four days and Rajya Sabha for five consecutive days as the opposition, including the BJP and Left parties, demanded a discussion and vote on the issue.

"The government has agreed to a discussion in both Houses, but five days (in Rajya Sabha) need not have been lost," CPM MP Sitaram Yechury said.

About two weeks ago, Left leaders had announced that they would move notices under Rule 184 in Lok Sabha and Rule 167 in Rajya Sabha that involve voting after discussion on a matter. Yechury signed the notice in Rajya Sabha and his party colleague Basudeb Acharia sent the notice in Lok Sabha seeking the two Houses reject the government's decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail.

In an editorial in the latest issue of the party mouthpiece People's Democracy, CPM said Congress allowed disruption of Parliament "to buy time in order to marshal a majority in case they are forced by the opposition to take a vote on the floor of the House" on FDI in multi-brand retail. The Congress-led UPA government has been reduced to a minority after Trinamool Congress withdrew support.

Though the government is quite sure of winning a vote on FDI in Lok Sabha, it is not so confident in Rajya Sabha. If the government wins the vote in one House but loses in the other, it can still go ahead with the decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail as the opinion of the House is not binding on the government.

Constitutional expert Subhash Kashyap said, "There may be political embarrassment for the government depending on the language of the notice. But it would not have legal, constitutional or procedural consequences."

Yechury though said if the government has a conscience, it would call a joint session of Parliament as happened for the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), 2002. POTA was defeated in Rajya Sabha but the then NDA government won in a joint session of Parliament.

The CPM also pointed out that amendments to Sections 47 and 48 of FEMA, 1999 to allow FDI in retail must be tabled in Parliament. Under the Constitution, neither the executive (government) nor the judiciary can make or amend laws.

"The sole authority for making laws, or, amending existing laws, is the Parliament. Thus, the decision to permit FDI in retail trade can only be taken by the legislature (Parliament) and the authority to do so is beyond the mandate of the executive as decreed by our Constitution," the CPM said in its mouthpiece.

The party believes the government was forced to follow rules and amended the FEMA regulations under pressure from the Supreme Court. The CPM hoped if the due process of law was not followed, then the SC "will surely invoke its constitutional authority of judicial review".

Read More..

Pictures: Inside the World's Most Powerful Laser

Photograph courtesy Damien Jemison, LLNL

Looking like a portal to a science fiction movie, preamplifiers line a corridor at the U.S. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF).

Preamplifiers work by increasing the energy of laser beams—up to ten billion times—before these beams reach the facility's target chamber.

The project's lasers are tackling "one of physics' grand challenges"—igniting hydrogen fusion fuel in the laboratory, according to the NIF website. Nuclear fusion—the merging of the nuclei of two atoms of, say, hydrogen—can result in a tremendous amount of excess energy. Nuclear fission, by contrast, involves the splitting of atoms.

This July, California-based NIF made history by combining 192 laser beams into a record-breaking laser shot that packed over 500 trillion watts of peak power-a thousand times more power than the entire United States uses at any given instant.

"This was a quantum leap for laser technology around the world," NIF director Ed Moses said in September. But some critics of the $5 billion project wonder why the laser has yet to ignite a fusion chain reaction after three-and-a-half years in operation. Supporters counter that such groundbreaking science simply can't be rushed.

(Related: "Fusion Power a Step Closer After Giant Laser Blast.")

—Brian Handwerk

Published November 29, 2012

Read More..

Palestinians Win Statehood Status at U.N.

The U.N. General Assembly voted today to approve Palestinians' request to be upgraded to a "non-member observer state," defying opposition by the U.S. and Israel.

Before the vote, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the General Assembly that it "is being asked today to issue the birth certificate of Palestine."

Of the 193 countries in the General Assembly 138 voted to recognize Palestine, nine voted against and 41 abstained.

The historic vote recognizes Palestine as a state and gives Palestine the right to join U.N. agencies. It opens the door for Palestine to become a party to the International Criminal Court, allowing them to bring cases against Israel.

Israel and the U.S. argued that the vote is purely symbolic, would change nothing on the ground, would hurt peace talks and could affect U.S. funding.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice downplayed the significance of the victorious resolution.

"Today's grand pronouncement will soon fade and the Palestinian people will wake up tomorrow and find that little about their lives has changed, save that the prospects of a durable peace have only receded," Rice said.

"The United States therefore calls upon both the parties to resume direct talks without preconditions on all the issues that divide them and we pledge that the United States will be there to support the parties vigorously in such efforts. The United States will continue to urge all parties to avoid any further provocative actions - in the region, in New York and elsewhere," she said.

Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images

Iron Dome Main Player in New War in The Middle East Watch Video

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Families Pray for Ceasefire Watch Video

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office dismissed the significance of the vote.

"This is a meaningless decision that will not change anything on the ground. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made it clear that there will be no establishment of a Palestinian state without a settlement that ensures the security of Israel's citizens," the statement said.

"He will not allow a base for Iranian terrorism to be established in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank], in addition to those that have [already] been established in Gaza and Lebanon... By going to the U.N., the Palestinians have violated the agreements with Israel and Israel will act accordingly," the Israeli statement said.

After the results were announced, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon urged leaders of Israel and Palestine to resume peace talks.

"Today's vote underscores the urgency of the resumption of negotiations," he said.

The vote went ahead despite calls to Abbas from President Obama and other U.S. officials to abandon the bid. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that only direct Palestinian negotiations with Israel can bring about any real solution.

"We have made very clear to the Palestinian leadership -- you know I met with President Abbas just last week -- that we oppose Palestinian efforts to upgrade their status at the U.N. outside of the framework of negotiations to achieve a two-state solution," Clinton said, "because no matter what happens at the United Nations, it will not produce the outcome that this government, this president and certainly I strongly support."

The vote today falls short of triggering the law in Congress that automatically cuts all U.S. aid to Palestinian Authority and any programs in the Palestinian Territories, as well as aid to any organizations that recognize Palestine as a state. Non-member observer status falls short of being as being accepted as a "member state," which would allow Palestine to have full voting rights in the U.N. General Assembly, something Congress is vehemently opposed to if done outside of talks with Israel.

ABC News' Sarah Parnass and ABC Pollster Gary Langer contributed to this report.

Read More..

FCC chief’s successors-in-waiting

(Marvin Joseph - The Washington Post)
Rumors have been flying for many months over Julius Genachowski’s successor at the Federal Communications Commission. He hasn’t officially announced a departure, but industry experts are floating several contenders to replace him:

Blair Levin, who had worked on Obama’s transition team, was a senior adviser to Genachowski and helped craft the agency’s National Broadband Plan. During the Clinton administration, he served two tours at the FCC as chief of staff to Reed Hundt.

But Levin may face steep opposition from the broadcast industry, who fought with him over using their airwaves for a proposed auction to wireless companies.

Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democratic FCC member, is a freshman commissioner but has telecom chops. She served for years on the Senate Commerce Committee as senior staffer on telecom issues for Sen. John D. Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), whose support should smooth any confirmation concerns.

But Rosenworcel would find it hard to land the top seat at the FCC before Democratic commissioner Mignon Clyburn, daughter of House Minority leader James Clyburn.

Lawrence E. Strickling, the highly regarded assistant secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, is another possibility.

He also served on the president’s 2008 transition team and helped on the 2008 campaign. The Chicago native is seen as close to a number of White House officials.

Read More..

No progress in cliff talks leave dollar-euro flat

NEW YORK: The dollar traded flat against the euro Wednesday after a slight push higher mid-session, as talks continued in Washington on averting the economy-crunching fiscal cliff.

At 2200 GMT, the euro bought $1.2939, a hair off the level at the same time Tuesday.

Just hours earlier, the euro fell to $1.2881 before rebounding, the swings apparently related to perceptions over whether the fiscal cliff talks were going well, analysts said.

President Barack Obama suggested key issues were still unresolved with a challenge to Republicans to compromise, deflating the impact of more optimistic remarks earlier by Republican House Speaker John Boehner on progress.

"Our ultimate goal is an agreement that gets our long-term deficit under control in a way that is fair and balanced," Obama said.

"I believe that both parties can agree on a framework that does that in the coming weeks," he said. "In fact, my hope is to get this done before Christmas."

Forex expert Neal Gilbert of GFT was skeptical even of that deadline.

"If no more positive comments are made by the Republican side tomorrow, then we can likely chalk this up to political gamesmanship and resume our regularly scheduled acceleration toward the edge of the fiscal cliff," Gilbert said.

The yen edged higher, with the looming election in Japan limiting any gains as long as the opposition Liberal Democratic Party continues to lead in the polls.

LDP leader Shinzo Abe has vowed to pressure the Bank of Japan into more aggressive monetary easing if his party wins.

The dollar bought 82.03 yen, compared to 82.16 on Tuesday, while the euro was at 106.14 yen, from 106.30.

The dollar was flat against the Swiss franc, trading at 0.9300 francs, and the British pound was also barely changed at $1.6013.

-AFP/ac

Read More..