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Published: April 1, 2010 It is the number that lurks behind much of modern economic life, a figure that helps shape the fortunes of nations and the price of nearly everything. The number hovers around 6.827. It is the nearly fixed rate of exchange between China

Published: April 1, 2010 at 10:14 AM BAGHDAD, April 1 (UPI) -- British supermajor BP announced that it awarded contracts worth around $500 million to rehabilitate the giant Rumaila oil field in the south of Iraq. BP selected oilfield services provider Schlumberger, through a partnership with the Iraqi Drilling Co., Petrochina subsidiary Daqing Drilling and U.S. drilling company Weatherford to provide work on rigs at Rumaila. "We are confident that all of the companies will bring the operational and safety standards which will help us achieve our production targets in Iraq for 2010 and beyond," said Michael Townshend, president of BP Iraq. BP said it plans to drill 70 wells in Rumaila in 2010. The company touts the giant field near the southern port city of Basra as one of the largest in the world. Current production reaches just more than 1 million barrels of oil per day. Tony Hayward, the chief executive at BP, told delegates at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January that Iraq could increase its oil production from 2.5 million bpd to 10 million bpd by 2020. BP joined the China National Petroleum Corp. in June to secure the rights to Rumaila rehabilitation in exchange for a $2 per-barrel fee for the incremental production. http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Resource-Wars/2010/04/01/BP-doles-out-drilling-contracts-in-Iraq/UPI-85041270131276/

Apr 1, 2010 10:43 am US/Pacific Anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose power once seemed all but crushed, has made a remarkable political resurgence in Iraq's parliamentary elections. The Iran-based Shiite leader is now poised to play a key role in choosing Iraq's next prime minister. He may use his newfound clout to push his archenemy, Nouri al-Maliki, from power. Sadrist support is crucial for al-Maliki as he tries to assemble enough Shiite backing to remain prime minister. But the young cleric is holding a referendum among his supporters Friday and Saturday to decide whom to support for the post. The move is widely viewed as a way to give himself the opportunity to back someone other than al-Maliki, under the guise of following the people's will. It's a piquant bit of political revenge for al-Sadr and his supporters, who have hated al-Maliki since he crushed al-Sadr's powerful militia in 2008. The Mahdi Army, as the force is called, once led bloody uprisings against American forces and were blamed by Sunnis for some of the worst sectarian violence in 2006-2007. The Sadrists' main condition for joining a Shiite alliance "is that al-Maliki give up his nomination as prime minister," said Kazim al-Muqdadi, a political analyst at Baghdad University. Or in return for his staying, they might demand such important posts as the interior or defense ministries

April 1, 2010 2:57 p.m. EDT Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- Muqtada al-Sadr, the firebrand cleric with a loyal following among the Shiite population in Iraq, could play a major role in the formation of a new national government. Al-Sadr has refused to back the top vote-getters in the March 7 election and is asking his followers to designate a prime minister of their choosing in a referendum this weekend. This is the latest political jockeying in the aftermath of the election for the 325-member parliament. International observers, such as the United Nations and the United States, have said they were pleased with the process. They are hoping that disagreements will be settled amicably with no backsliding into instability that could affect the planned withdrawal of U.S. combat troops at the end of August and of all American troops at the end of next year. The U.N. Security Council on Thursday welcomed the provisional results, looked forward to their certification by the Supreme Court, and urged all political entities "to respect the certified election results and the choices of the Iraqi people." The Iraqiya bloc of Ayad Allawi won 91 seats, a razor-thin victory over the State of the Law coalition of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, which gained 89 seats, according to the provisional results. At least 163 seats are needed to form a government. As the top vote-getters, Allawi's and al-Maliki's blocs are both working to form coalition governments and are reaching out to entities like al-Sadr's group. continued............... http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/04/01/iraq.politics/

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Thu Apr 1, 2010 6:38am EDT (Reuters) - Policy wrangling over the yuan between China's central bank and its commerce ministry has grabbed the spotlight, but the two factions are in fact closer than in the run-up to the currency's landmark 2005 revaluation. China Analysts say that means it will be easier for them to reach a compromise, which will be key for building a top-level consensus on the way forward, presumably entailing a resumption of gradual yuan appreciation that could start as early as this quarter. An announcement on Thursday that President Hu Jintao will attend a nuclear security summit in Washington on April 12-13 could smooth the way to a currency shift, some believe. According to this line of thinking, Hu would not have agreed to the visit unless he had been privately assured that China would not lose face by being branded a currency manipulator in a U.S. Treasury report due on April 15. "This shows that China and United States are unlikely to be confrontational on currency and trade issues," said Wensheng Peng, China economist at Barclays Capital in Hong Kong. Even a delay to the U.S. Treasury report would open a window of opportunity for China to move on the yuan. President Barack Obama called this week for a positive relationship with Beijing. "Any lessening of Sino-U.S. trade tensions ostensibly would allow China to move ahead with granting a resumption of flexibility for the yuan," said Emmanuel Ng, a currency strategist at OCBC Bank in Singapore. CONSENSUS BUILDING Still, building an internal consensus in Beijing may take time. Any indecision could be costly if the yuan's exchange rate becomes a hot political issue in the run-up to mid-term elections in the United States in November. The latest edition of Caijing magazine cited unidentified official sources as saying that Beijing was studying the option of dropping the yuan's peg, in place since July 2008 near 6.83 per dollar, as soon as this month. "There are still some differences, but the People's Bank of China, the Finance Ministry and Commerce Ministry have formed an important consensus on yuan exchange rate reforms," it said. It should be possible to heal the rift as the central bank simply wants the yuan to resume its gradual appreciation, rather than demanding another one-off revaluation as in July 2005. Qing Wang, China economist at Morgan Stanley, believes the resistance to a strengthening of the yuan will fade as data shows further recovery in exports and higher inflation. "As a major economy, it's impossible for China to stick to the fixed currency," said Wang, who expects a policy shift, including a small revaluation, as early as June. PBOC chief Zhou Xiaochuan has described the yuan's stability as a "special policy" to respond to the global credit crunch. Zhou was backed this week by two new advisers to the central bank, who urged a resumption of the yuan's ascent, but they were slapped down by Commerce Minister Chen Deming. The ministry, a staunch defender of Chinese export industries, has repeatedly warned that many firms would be ruined, with the loss of millions of jobs, by a stronger yuan. The Commerce Ministry's concerns are largely justified as most exporters operate on thin profit margins and do not have enough tools to hedge currency risks, analysts say. "I think because the export sector is almost entirely unhedged, it's very difficult to appreciate the yuan without causing damages to the export sector," said Ben Simpfendorfer, an economist at Royal Bank of Scotland in Hong Kong. Pro-growth government departments, such as the powerful National Development and Reform Commission and the Finance Ministry, are wary when it comes to a stronger exchange rate but are not as vocal on the issue as they were in 2005. "SOFT APPROACH" Calls by Chinese academics for a big one-off revaluation are now few and far between since the yuan's 21 percent rise against the dollar between July 2005 and July 2008, including an initial 2.1 percent adjustment. In 2005, by contrast, many influential Chinese economists were clamoring for a one-off revaluation of up to 10 percent. Freezing the yuan for the past 20 months has enabled China to enjoy a solid economic recovery, but the tide may turn as ample liquidity risks generating price pressures. Although the consumer price index rose only 2.7 percent in the year to February, surging property prices are a harbinger of broader inflation in an economy that is likely to record year-on-year GDP for the first quarter well into double digits. "Appreciating the yuan exchange rate, as part of the monetary policy tightening package, has the merit of reducing the overheating pressures as well as mitigating trade protectionism against China, in our view," Helen Qiao and Yu Song at Goldman Sachs, said in a research note on Thursday. They said they expected a "soft approach" from Beijing, featuring a widening of the yuan's daily trading band against the dollar from 0.5 percent to 1 percent in the next 3 months. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6301ED20100401

Wednesday, March 31, 2010 08:05 GMT US ambassador to Iraq Christopher Hill affirmed that Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki would abide by the law despite his criticism of Iraq Parliamentary election results. Al Maliki "has been very clear with us in private and very clear in public that he will follow the law," Hill said. Ambassador Christopher Hill reiterated his support to March 7 elections, dismissing charges of election fraud. "It's not easy to lose a close election," Hill noted. It is too early to tell who would emerge as the victor as Al Maliki, Iyad Allawi and other politicians are working to form a ruling coalition. http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News/1-47057-Hill%3A-Al-Maliki-will-abide-by-the-law.html

Thursday, April 01, 2010 07:51 GMT Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki anticipated major headlines for the upcoming stage. In a press conference, Al Maliki stressed to respect Iraqi people

Posted on March 31st, 2010 by in Middle East, News Headlines Iraq PM will follow law on election: US envoy (Space War) Washington (AFP) March 30, 2010

(Akaniwz c) m / 2010/4/1 Baghdad, April 1 (Akaniwz) An official at the Finance Ministry said Thursday that the ministry was launched more than 40 percent of provincial budgets for the month of April being denied rumors that pointed to the delayed launch of financial and investment budgets allocated to the provinces of Iraq. The chancellor said the ministry Saeb Abdul Alim told Kurdistan News (Akaniwz) announced today that "the accounting department in the Ministry of Finance will launch this month, about 40 percent of budgets, financial and investment to the provinces particularly in the funds allocated for Asttmarwalaammar." He continued, saying that the Chancellor "to Atathir the delayed formation of the government in launching a financial and investment budgets, the fact that the matter had been resolved by the House of Representatives earlier approved the budget in 2010 and entrusted the task of distributing them to the Ministry of Finance, regardless of the expiration of the mandate of the government." Acharsaib and that "the Amchakl legal standing in front of the launch financial and investment budgets allocated to the provinces after the Ministry has completed all financial, administrative legal requirements relating to this task. He said rightly that "the main problems that hinder the work of the Ministry of Finance is the loss of some provincial councils to the investment plans are clear, and part of those projects overseen by non-specialized, which invites them to consider fear to release large amounts to the provinces." He said the "importance of the expansion in investment and attract companies specializing in the areas of energy, housing and the implementation of water projects, roads and building hospitals will contribute to solving the problem of housing and unemployment." The Finance Ministry had earlier announced its intention to launch more than 40 percent of the value of the investment budget, with a view to revive the economic reality in the country. The province of Maysan in southern Iraq, which was launched last provincial budget and the Ministry of Finance claims after pressing the authorities responsible. http://www.aknews.com/ar/aknews/2/130704/

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NAM NEWS NETWORK Apr 1st, 2010 BAGHDAD, April 1 (NNN-KUNA) Iraqi President Jalal Al-Talabani has held talks with former prime minister Iyad Allawi, who won recent nationwide polls defeating Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, prospects of forming a national coalition government. An official statement said Talabani, who visited Allawi at the latter

April 1st, 2010 by NAM NEWS NETWORK BAGHDAD, April 1 (NNN-KUNA)

Date: 31 Mar 2010 The following Security Council press statement on the Iraq elections was read out today by Council President Emmanuel Issoze-Ngondet (Gabon): The members of the Security Council welcome the Independent High Electoral Commission of Iraq's (IHEC) 26 March announcement of the provisional results of the Iraqi parliamentary election and look forward to the certification by the Supreme Court. The members of the Security Council congratulate the Iraqi people and Government, including the Iraqi security forces, and IHEC for holding this successful election. The members of the Security Council express their support for IHEC's work, particularly its established mechanisms to ensure all political entities can register complaints and appeals in accordance with IHEC procedures and Iraqi law. They also commend the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the role played by the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Iraq, Ad Melkert, in providing technical assistance and support throughout the electoral process. The members of the Security Council recognize the assistance provided by Iraqi domestic observers and civil society organizations and by the international community, including the European Union, Arab League, Organization of the Islamic Conference, as well as the support of United Nations Member States in providing electoral assistance and observation missions. The members of the Security Council take note of the findings of these international and independent Iraqi observers, who affirmed their confidence in the overall integrity of the election. The members of the Security Council call for the political entities to respect the certified election results and the choices of the Iraqi people. The members of the Security Council also urge Iraq's political leaders to avoid inflammatory rhetoric and actions. The members of the Security Council look forward to the formation of the new Government in a spirit of cooperation and respect for national unity. For information media

Wed Mar 31, 2010 10:51pm By Paul Eckert - Analysis WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China's currency is clearly undervalued, but pressure on Beijing to make its currency rise in value won't trim the U.S. trade deficit with China or reduce the jobless rate, say American economists. Political pressure is building on the Obama administration to name China a "currency manipulator" in a mid-April report, and lawmakers are threatening to slap tariffs on Chinese goods to offset any export subsidy a cheap currency gives China. However, many trade economists and businessmen say that at best, a heavy-handed U.S. approach on currency will fail. At worst, it could backfire, sparking a U.S.-China trade war. Instead, Washington should address the currency and other factors behind global financial imbalances in a multilateral setting. Bilaterally, the Americans should focus on Chinese trade barriers that suppress sales to China and may violate World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments, they say. "The currency is undervalued, period. It's also a structural distortion because the world's second-largest economy shouldn't be pegging to the largest economy," said Derek Scissors of the Heritage Foundation in Washington. Economists say China's currency is pegged to the dollar at a rate that is between 15 and 40 percent lower than the level markets would set if the yuan were freely traded. Slamming the Chinese over currency is politically appealing in an election year in which U.S. unemployment is near 10 percent and China's trade surplus is expanding again. JOBS AND TRADE Economically, however, "this is a dead end," warned Scissors. "If you're looking to create jobs, the currency change won't do it." "The Chinese have reserved large parts of their market for the state -- by rules, by subsidies, by everything you can imagine -- and that's the big cap on U.S. exports, not the currency," he said. The U.S. Trade Representative's office on Wednesday issued an annual report that cited a range of Chinese regulations, subsidies and policies that favor state firms over foreign firms and contravene China's WTO obligations. Earlier this month, the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute issued a study that said China's "currency manipulation" and other trade policies caused the loss of as many as 2.4 million U.S. jobs between 2001 and 2008. continued............... http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62U5P320100401

Thursday, April 01, 2010 Responding to a request for clarification made by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki

Gregg Carlstrom | March 31, 2010 3:32 PM The horse-trading continues in Iraq: Prime minister Nouri al-Maliki is trying to cement a possible merger with the Iraqi National Alliance, but the Sadrist movement seems reluctant; and Iyad Allawi is trying to attract Kurdish support, but the Kurds seem reluctant. There's a lot to keep track of, so we've rounded up a bullet-point list of the latest political maneuverings after the jump. We'll do similar lists in the coming days as they're needed.

Updated March 31, 2010 A Fox News poll finds that 40 percent of voters think the Iraqi people are responsible for their country having a sovereign government and holding elections. American voters credit the Iraqi people and former President George W. Bush equally for establishing a sovereign government in Iraq. In addition, while democracy in Iraq is viewed as being beneficial for the war on terrorism, it

Published: March 31, 2010 BAGHDAD

By Ammar Karim (AFP)

2010-04-01 01:09:00 Iraq's sitting Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Wednesday that his bloc would continue negotiations with other blocs to form a new "national partnership government," no matter how long it would take. "The State of Law has held talks with other blocs about the formation of a coalition and the next government, although we have yet achieved any tangible results," Maliki said at a meeting attended by senior politicians of his list. He said his bloc was ready for a possible long time needed to solve pending issues between his bloc and others to ensure a " better quality government." The talks took place in Iraq, Maliki said, refuting recent reports saying politicians from his Dawa Party were dispatched to Iran to meet with radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The Sadr movement led by the cleric garnered 40 seats, making itself a leading party in the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), dominated by Shiite religious groups. "We don't want a government that marginalizes any of the Iraqi factions. We want a national partnership government that will be built by all," Maliki said. In the new 325-member parliament, former interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's Iraqia List won 91 seats, the most, Maliki's State of Law 89 seats, the INA 70 seats and the Kurdish Alliance 43 seats, according to the preliminary results of the March 7 polls. No single bloc got the majority of seats required to form the next government. Therefore, the leading blocs have been negotiating on new coalitions. Maliki has alleged frauds in counting and demanded a recount. He said the results were not final and asked the judiciary system for a ruling on the fraud complaints. However, Allawi insists that his bloc has the right to form the next government under the country's constitution, saying that the Iraqia List is open to everyone for talks about a governing coalition. On Wednesday, Allawi reportedly met President Jalal Talabani, who leads the Kurdish Alliance, a kingmaker in the election. Allawi faces a new challenge as the country's Accountability and Justice Commission in charge of vetting candidates, has been attempting to disqualify six winning candidates, some reportedly from the Iraqia List. The move is likely to undermine Allawi's slender victory. A prolonged government formation may complicate Iraq's situation as the U.S. troops in Iraq were slated to be cut by half at the end of August and to fully withdraw by the end of 2011. http://english.cri.cn/6966/2010/04/01/1461s560483.htm

March 30, 2010, 11:46 p.m. EDT LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- As Beijing offered contradictory views this week on whether to allow its currency to appreciate, analysts also appeared at odds over whether the Chinese unit should move higher, with some saying the yuan might even be undervalued. China kept the yuan's central parity rate -- the daily rate that marks the center of a 1-percentage-point band limiting movement for the currency's rate against the U.S. dollar -- almost unchanged on Wednesday, at 6.8263 yuan to the dollar against 6.8264 yuan Tuesday. After China opened its currency to a limited float in July 2005, it allowed the yuan to rise over 20% against the greenback - up until July 2008. But once the global financial crisis hit, Beijing clamped down on any further appreciation. Whether to allow the yuan to resume its rise has become a hot topic, all the more so as some U.S. lawmakers are insisting that China be labeled a currency manipulator by the Obama administration, a move that would open it up to U.S. sanctions. The administration is due to report on whether to apply the manipulator label by the middle of next month. LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- As Beijing offered contradictory views this week on whether to allow its currency to appreciate, analysts also appeared at odds over whether the Chinese unit should move higher, with some saying the yuan might even be undervalued. Within China, recent remarks show some difference of opinion. Earlier this month, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao rebutted arguments that the yuan is undervalued. See full story on Wen's comments about the yuan. But some corners of Chinese officialdom have suggested a rise might be warranted. Xia Bin, who was picked Monday to join the People's Bank of China's monetary policy committee was quoted in a Reuters report Tuesday as saying the yuan should be allowed to appreciate immediately. China "should resume the pre-crisis managed floating exchange rate as quickly as possible,'' Xia was quoted as saying. The apparent division seen in remarks from Beijing is echoed among economists. The argument for letting the yuan rise is that such a move would counter rising inflation in China, bringing down the price of imports, both for consumers and for Chinese industry, which could then pass on the cost savings. "Because China imports a large portion of its commodities from the rest of the world, it is likely that China could again allow the yuan to appreciate if inflation becomes perceived to be an immediate threat," said analysts at Citigroup in a recent note. The Citi analysts said such inflation is almost a certainty, especially within the food component, which weighs heavily in China's consumer price index. "The healthy global growth rate expected for this year and the next suggests, however, that global commodity prices, including food prices, will be rising more rapidly than the prices of services and manufactured goods," they said. "So, barring a domestic agricultural supply miracle, China is likely to experience rising inflation, with only the threat of overcapacity in the export sectors standing in the way of double-digit inflation," the analysts said. But not everyone is convinced. In a recent note, analysts at BNY ConvergEx Group assembled a price index of its own to argue that the yuan might actually be overvalued http://www.marketwatch.com/story/yuans-fair-value-debated-inside-and-outside-china-2010-03-30

Posted on Wed, Mar. 31, 2010 BAGHDAD

Wednesday, March 31, 2010 Disagreement over a second term for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is snarling merger talks between his coalition and a rival Shiite bloc with close ties to Iran, sources familiar with the talks said on Tuesday. Maliki's State of Law group is negotiating a possible union with the Iraqi National Alliance, which includes anti-U.S. cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, to form the largest bloc in Iraq's next parliament. An alliance between the two main Shiite groups could push Ayad Allawi's cross-sectarian Iraqiya coalition, the top vote-getter in March 7 elections, to the sidelines. That could anger Sunnis who voted for Allawi. Sadrist sources say that Maliki, who launched a crackdown on Sadr's Mahdi Army militia in 2008, cannot be the merged bloc's nominee for prime minister. The secularist Allawi's Iraqiya bloc took 91 seats in the elections, compared with 89 for Maliki's State of Law. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/30/AR2010033003851.html

March 30, 2010 Iraq's Political Blocs Flock to Tehran to Court Cleric Adding to speculation about the path to a coalition government in post-election Iraq, influential cleric Moqtada al-Sadr issued a formal call today for a national referendum on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki Maliki