Business demands growth push in Budget
Business is piling pressure on the UK coalition to deliver a convincing growth strategy in George Osborne’s financial statement in March as fears increase that the recovery may be losing momentum
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Britain cancels diplomatic immunity for Gaddafi, family
London, United Kingdom (AHN) – British Foreign Secretary William Hague announced Sunday the cancelation of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s diplomatic immunity.
Speaking to reporters after the United Nations Security Council’s unanimous sanctions of the leader over his deadly crackdown on protestors, Hague also urged the veteran Libyan leader to step down for his country’s future.
In an interview with BBC TV, Hague said, “We have here a country descending into civil war, with atrocious scenes of killing of protesters and a government actually making war on its own so of course it is time for Col. Gaddafi to go. That is the best hope for Libya.”
Hague confirmed that he had already signed an order to cancel immunity for Gaddafi, his son Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, and other family members.
The son has been studying in Britain for most of the last decade.
The minister also said that his country was intensively working to determine the number of Britons still left in Libya after reports claimed that 300 British were still in the conflicted country.
On Saturday, British Special Forces launched a military operation to rescue dozens of oil workers from a remote desert location without Libyan authorities’ permission. However, the minister refused to say whether London will launch similar operations in coming days.
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Jump in exports and Kazakh hitch lift grain prices
Strong US export data, and talk of setbacks to a Turkish wheat order from Kazakhstan, drive a rebound in crop futures. Wheat prices soar 6%
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Gaddafi blames al-Qaeda for Libya’s uprising
Tripoli, Libya (AHN) – Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has accused terrorists of manipulating his country’s people amid growing violence. In a speech on Libyan state television, Gaddafi blamed al-Qaeda for the uprising.
He said that most of the protesters were young people, who were either influenced by drugs or by Osama bin Laden. “No one above the age of 20 would actually take part in these events,” he said from an unidentified location. “They are taking advantage of the young age of these people to commit violent acts because they are not legally liable!” the veteran leader said.
Gaddafi also told people to stop the protests, else be ready to face prosecution in the country’s court. The Libyan leader also urged parents to keep their children at home. “How can you justify such misbehavior from people who live in good neighborhoods?” he asked. He further said that unlike Egypt and Tunisia, Libyans have no reason to go for such uprising since there is “no reason to complain whatsoever.”
He questioned why Libyans would protest when they already have easy access to cheap daily commodities and low interest loans. The only reform needed in the country is a possible rise in salaries, he added. Gaddafi also warned against cutting off Libyan oil production. “If the protesters do not go to work regularly, the flow of oil will stop,” he said.
Analyzing Gaddafi’s comments, Libyan political activist Ibrahim Jibreel told Al Jazeera the veteran leader doesn’t have the courage to appear publicly, which showed that he remained “under self-imposed house arrest in Tripoli.”
Former Justice Minister Mustafa Abdel Galil told Al Jazeera that Gaddafi would not hesitate to use his biological and chemical weapons and urged the United Nations and the international community to prevent him from going on with his plans. “At the end when he’s really pressured, he can do anything. I think Gaddafi will burn everything left behind him,” the ex-minister added.
Meanwhile, the United Nation’s Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is considering sending an international delegation to investigate the alleged violation of human rights in the African country. A final decision is expected during the agency’s meeting in Geneva on Friday.
The U.S. has called on the UNHCR to expel Libya as a member as an initial step to press the country to stop violence against protesters. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due to attend a meeting of the U.N. panel in Geneva on Monday.
In the meantime, Libya has called on Malta to send two fighter jets that landed earlier in the week on the island nation with senior colonels of the Libyan Air Force who fled the African nation after refusing to bomb protesters, a spokesman of the Maltese Foreign Ministry said. Malta is yet to send a reply to the request. The spokesman said that the two aircraft are safe at its airport in Luqa under armed guard.
In Paris, French President Nicolas Sarkozy also urged the 27-nation bloc to impose tough sanctions against Libya. Earlier, European Council President Herman van Rompuy condemned “violence, aggression and intimidation” against Libyan demonstrators and sought an “immediate end to the use of force.”
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Toll Brothers posts third consecutive profitable quarter
Horsham, PA, United States (AHN) – The nation’s largest luxury home builder reported better-than-expected profit for the first quarter on Wednesday, boosted by a price increase and better sales.
Toll Brothers said net income for the period ended Jan. 31 was $3.4 million, or 2 cents a share, compared to a loss of $40.8 million, or 25 cents a share, during the same quarter the previous year.
Without taxes and $25 million in write-downs, profit was $8.1 million, up from a pre-tax loss a year ago of $23.4 million. It is the company’s third consecutive quarter of pre-tax profitability.
Sales rose 2 percent to $334.1 million despite the number of housing units declining 4 percent to 570. Average price for a luxury home during the past three months was $586,000, or 7 percent higher than the previous year.
The Pennsylvania-based company said more buyers followed through with contracts. Cancelation rate was 5.7 percent, the lowest in four years.
Toll Brothers forecast deliveries of 2,200 and 2,800 homes for the full fiscal year. It expects homes to cost $540,000 and $565,000 on average.
“The market is still tough; the home buyer is still wary,” chief executive Douglas Yearley Jr. said. in a statement. “Although our customers recognize that this is perhaps the best time to buy in many years, so far the market is not generating the positive momentum that creates urgency among buyers.”
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U.S. stocks in third day of losses, Nasdaq rebounds
New York, NY, United States (AHN) – U.S. stocks ended mixed on Thursday with the blue chips and S&P 500 index extending losses for a third straight session day as oil prices retreated.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 37 points or 0.3 percent to close at 12,068.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was a tick off or 0.2 percent at 1,306.
The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 15 points or 0.5 percent to 2,738.
Crude oil futures for April delivery lost 30 cents with a barrel settling at $97 after trading above $100 in the early trading hours.
Gold futures for February delivery rose $1.80 or 0.1 percent to $1,416 an ounce.
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USDA cuts hopes for rebuild in crop supplies
US officials forecast farmers will receive record prices for major crops in 2011-12, as it cuts expectations for a rebuild in inventories
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December freezes yield diminished sugar cane crop in Florida
Belle Glade, FL, United States (AHN) – The record breaking early Florida freeze temperatures in December 2010 was devastating to the 2010-11 sugar cane crop’s results. Some estimates place production by some 20% and next year’s crop impacts still remains unknown.
Growers are unsure what the freeze events did to the viability of the seed cane.
The 114-day crop, the second shortest in Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative’s 49 year history, rivals that of the 1970-71 freeze-impacted season.
The 46 grower-members of the Cooperative produced 2,426,865 tons of sugarcane grown on 61,650 acres in Palm Beach County. This yielded 265,682 short tons raw value (STRV) and 17.4 million gallons of blackstrap molasses. Sugar yields dropped to 10.72%– a level not seen since the damage brought on by Hurricane Wilma in the 2005-06 crop—and a full point below the 11.73% yield achieved in 2003-04.
“The December freeze events were so severe and widespread that very little of the crop was un-impacted.” said George H. Wedgworth, President and CEO.
Generally most varieties of sugarcane are able to withstand freezing temperatures up to four hours before terminal bud damage occurs. However once the terminal bud freezes the sugarcane has to be rushed quickly from the field to the processing facility as the cane begins to deteriorates quickly.
Below freezing temperatures were recorded on three distinct occasions in December—December 7 and 8 with temperatures below 30 degrees for up to 9 hours. December 14 and 15 with temperatures below 28 degrees for over 12 hours; and December 27 and 28 with temperatures below 28 degrees for seven hours—a phenomenon never seen before in the Glades.
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Desperate Gaddafi clings to power
Muammar Gaddafi’s four-decade grip on power appears increasingly fragile after protests reach the capital and opposition claims control of second city Benghazi
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Pain for gain: Mantra for Obama 2012 budget
Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – President Barack Obama on Monday unveiled a $3.7 trillion budget request for 2012, with the daring but painful fiscal cuts in his government’s spending programs but leaving Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, out of the trimming zone.
Speaking at Parkville Middle School and Center of Technology outside of Baltimore with Secretary Arne Duncan and Budget Director Jack Lew, in attendance, Obama told his audience, “
Obama cited the “need to invest in education,” as essential for equipping Americans “to compete with any worker, anywhere in the world,” noting, “The only way we can make these investments in our future is if our government starts living within its means.”
Obama announced a”freeze on annual domestic spending over the next five years,” that would result in cutting the deficit by more than $400 billion over the next decade.”
These cuts would require painful cuts in “community action programs in low-income neighborhoods and towns, and community development block grants that so many of our cities and states rely on,” the president said.
Obama listed “domestic spending, defense spending, health care spending, and spending through tax breaks and loopholes,” as some of the sections where the austerity measures can yield results, urging both the Republicans and the Democrats to work together.
“There’s going to be more work that needs to be done, and it’s going to require Democrats and Republicans coming together to make it happen,” Obama said.
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