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| A Future For All Syrians |
| THE future of democracy in Syria
is the subject of many concerns:
people are worried about the
treatment of minorities and
women, possible acts of revenge,
and the likelihood of transitional justice.
Some ask about universal human
rights ... |
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| COOL HAND
OBAMA |
| AT a fundraiser for the president
at his Westport, Conn,
estate Monday night,
Harvey Weinstein spoke in
a softly lit room shimmering
with pink dahlias, gold Oscars,
silvery celebrities and black
American Express cards.
"You can make the case,"
Weinstein said of Barack Obama,
"that he's ...
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 | Recession likely to hit Germany in H2 THREE years into the eurozone debt crisis, the gravity-defying German economy has stalled and some fear it could fall into recession in the second half of this year.
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| | Drop in oil costs pushes down US import prices | | US IMPORT prices unexpectedly fell in July for the fourth straight month as costs declined for imported oil, industrial supplies and even many consumer goods, further icing inflation pressures.
Overall import prices dropped 0.6 percent last month, the Labour Department said on Friday.
Import prices have only risen once in the last eight months.
Analysts had expected import prices would rise 0.1 percent in July, and the decline could give the US Federal Reserve more scope to ease monetary policy if policymakers think the economy needs it.
Still, an increase in the pace of hiring in July has led some economists to think the Fed might not be ready for a new round of bond purchases, a monetary easing strategy known as quantitative easing.
"Even with import prices sagging, people are still going to wonder whether the Fed will embark into another round of quantitative easing," said Robbert Van Batenburg, head of global research at Louis Capital Markets in New York... | | | Asian oil buyers help Iran stave off the worst, for now | | TOKYO/BEIJING ASIA'S major crude buyers are finding ways around tough U.S. and EU sanctions to maintain imports from Iran, suggesting that, for now, the worst may be over for the OPEC producer that is losing more than $100 million a day in oil export revenues.
China, India, Japan and South Korea buy most of the one million barrels per day of crude Iran is able to export despite financial, shipping and insurance sanctions aimed at curbing funds for its controversial nuclear programme.
After a lull in imports in the middle of the year caused by Asian refineries reducing purchases as sanctions kicked in, analysts expect shipments to rise in August and September.
But on average, imports are likely to remain steady until the end of the year, unless the United States and the European Union come up with fresh sanctions to curb Iran's earnings.
"The drop in Iranian oil exports has levelled out over the past couple months at roughly 1 million barrels per day below 2011 levels," said Trevor Houser, a partner at the New York-based Rhodium Group and a former State Department adviser.
... | | | Greek budget deficit shrinks in Jan-July | | ATHENS GREECE managed to shrink its deficit in the first seven months of 2012 and squeeze it below targets as it scrambles to finalize 11.5 billion euros ($14.13 billion) of additional savings to secure continued bailout funding from the euro zone and the IMF.
Finance ministry data on Friday showed the central government deficit came to 13.2 billion euros, down from 15.98 billion in the same period a year ago and below a target of 14.83 billion euros.
The data released on Tuesday refers to the central government budget gap, which excludes local authorities and social security spending and does not coincide with the general government budget deficit, the benchmark for the EU's assessment of Greece's fiscal performance.
Greece's primary balance, which excludes debt servicing costs, remained in deficit at - 3.07 billion euros for the seven-month period, below a targeted 4.53 billion, the ministry said.
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