Oil price bounces after record fall
Crude oil prices have recovered after last Thursday's commodity market rout.
Brent crude futures rose 6.5% on Monday to over $116 a barrel, still well below their recent peak of more than $126.
The relief rally comes after a week-long 17% decline in the price - including crude oil's biggest ever one-day fall on Thursday, which was triggered by weak US economic data.
Many hedge funds speculating on the market are said to have made double-digit losses because of the crash.
US stock markets also rose on Monday, with the Dow Jones ending the day 0.4% higher.
Speculators
Shares also fell last week because of concerns about the health of Western economies.
However, stock market movements have been much more subdued than the extreme volatility seen in the price of raw materials, particularly crude oil.
A lot of speculators are thought to have sold their positions during the slump on Thursday, thereby worsening the market fall, and their losses.
Traders attributed the rebound on Monday to "bargain hunters" rather than to any turnaround in market sentiment about the economy.
The recovery was also seen in other - but not all - commodity markets.
Food prices, particularly for grains, also rose.
The price of silver - which has seen some of the greatest speculation and highest volatility - jumped 11%, following a 33% slide over the previous week.
However, prices for industrial metals such as copper and aluminium were largely unchanged.
US tells China to look to its own consumers
US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has called on China to rely more on its own spending and less on exports.
"The challenge is to lay the foundation for a new growth model, driven more by domestic demand," he advised his Chinese counterparts.
His comments came at the start of a two-day bilateral summit on security and the economy in Washington.
US officials and many economists say Beijing depends unfairly on a cheap currency to boost exports and growth.
However, Chinese commerce minister, Chen Deming, responded by telling reporters that "the West's fears and worries about China's [yuan] exchange rate are unfounded because over the past three years China's trade surplus has continuously dropped".
The heads of 16 US government agencies and representatives of 20 Chinese government departments will discuss the most difficult issues in a complex, interdependent relationship.
The annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue comes just four months after bilateral discussions between US President Barack Obama and China's President Hu Jintao.
Mr Geithner also said that China should develop "a more market-based economy and a more sophisticated financial system".
In a largely upbeat opening address, he claimed that the two countries' reform needs were "not in conflict".
'Vigorous disagreement'
Meanwhile, at the separate diplomatic track of the twin-track summit, both US Vice-President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticised China's recent clampdown on opposition activists.
"We have vigorous disagreement in the area of human rights," said Mr Biden.
The two pointed out the numerous arrests of activists, journalists and critics by the Chinese government, in an apparent attempt by Beijing to preempt any Egyptian-style protest movement.
It is not thought any concrete results will emerge from this meeting, according to the BBC's Caroline Hepker in New York. Rather, each side is hoping to influence the other's point of view.
"That has meant a string of statements and briefings on issues from the yuan exchange rate to protectionism, America's budget deficit and China's human rights record from leaders on both sides," she said.
"But China makes its own claims of discrimination. Beijing argues the US imposes restrictions on Chinese investment in the US using the cloak of national security concerns."
Libya: Misrata rebels 'push back troops'
Rebels in the Libyan city of Misrata say they have pushed government troops back from its outskirts.
Misrata, the only city in western Libya under rebel control, has been under siege from forces loyal to Col Muammar Gaddafi for two months.
The UN aid chief called for a pause in hostilities to ease Libya's humanitarian crisis, and described the situation in Misrata as dire.
In Tripoli, blasts were heard overnight in what reportedly were Nato strikes.
Eyewitnesses spoke of at least five air strikes which are believed to have targeted Col Gaddafi's compound and other government buildings.
The Libyan government has so far made no public comments about the explosions.
High morale
The rebels say Misrata remains surrounded, but that they have advanced about 30km (18 miles) to the west.
An AFP correspondent in Misrata said the rebels were now in control of a stretch of coastline heading towards the capital.
A rebel spokesman, Mohammed, told the BBC: "We've pushed Gaddafi away from Misrata."
He said the morale of the rebels was high, and that "they want to keep going".
Reda, another rebel, told Reuters news agency there had been fighting in the east, west and south of the city as well as near the airport.
"The revolutionaries control the western side while the (pro-Gaddafi) brigades are still holding the south-eastern side of the airport," he said, adding that they had been aided by recent Nato air strikes.
Libyan state media has said Nato aircraft bombed "military and civilian targets" in Misrata and the nearby town of Zlitan on Monday.
Reporting restrictions mean the claims from both sides cannot be independently verified.
Medical sources say at least 300 people have been killed by the weeks of fighting in Misrata.
On Monday, Valerie Amos, the UN's under-secretary for humanitarian affairs, said: "In Misrata, which is at the forefront of our concerns, shelling and fighting has been ongoing in parts of the city for over two months. Stocks are available, but some people are running short of food, water and other basics."
Game over?
A Red Cross ship successfully docked in Misrata on Monday, bringing medical equipment, baby food and spare parts for electrical and water systems.
The port has become a lifeline for the city, allowing refugees to leave and supplies to be brought in, but has come under repeated attack from pro-Gaddafi forces.
The BBC's Andrew Harding in Benghazi says the rebels have managed to get arms into Zlitan and are hoping its residents will rise up.
But the town is still controlled by pro-Gaddafi troops, he adds, so it will not be easy for the rebels to achieve that goal.
Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has told CNN that Col Gaddafi has been "stopped in his track" and that his time is running out.
"The game is over for Gaddafi. He should realise sooner rather than later that there's no future for him or his regime," he said.
Meanwhile, the UNHCR says hundreds of people are feared to have drowned when a boat broke up shortly after leaving Tripoli port.
The agency has called on all ships using the Mediterranean to be prepared to offer assistance to the often unseaworthy vessels carrying migrants from Libya to Europe.
Memphis flooding: Thousands of homes evacuated
The southern US city of Memphis is coping with flood levels not seen since the 1930s, which have forced people from at least 1,300 homes.
The Mississippi River was expected to crest at 48ft (14.6m) late on Monday or early on Tuesday in the Tennessee city.
The authorities have evacuated low-lying neighbourhoods, but officials say they are confident flood control systems will prevent further harm.
The flooding has been caused by melting snow and heavy rains.
Rising water levels
Army engineers say it is unlikely that the levee system in Memphis will give way, but have admitted that the water has been rising faster than expected.
The authorities have also warned residents to look out for snakes and rats which could seek shelter on higher ground.
Officials downstream in Louisiana have begun evacuating prisoners from one of the state's toughest prisons - the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola - and opened floodgates to relieve pressure on levees outside New Orleans.
Police in Memphis have gone door-to-door to 1,300 homes during the past several days to warn people about the rising water levels.
More than 300 people were staying in shelters on Monday, and police increased their presence in evacuated areas to prevent looting.
"I imagine that my trailer, if it's not covered, it's close," Aurelio Flores, an unemployed construction worker, told the Associated Press news agency.
On Monday evening, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam said even though the river was approaching its crest, the water would not recede in some neighbourhoods for at least two weeks.
"It's not going to get a lot better for a while," Mr Haslam said.
The National Weather Service said the Mississippi River would probably crest later on Monday evening or early on Tuesday.
Forecasters had previously said the crest could come as late as Wednesday.
The record river height of 48.7ft was set in February 1937 during one of the worst Mississippi floods in US history.
Officials said they were confident levees along the river would hold back the water and that the authorities had 20,000 sand bags in reserve in case of a breach.
Col Vernie Reichling Jr of the Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the Mississippi River flood control system, told reporters: "There should be no concern for any levees to fail."
In downtown Memphis, the river had swollen to three miles (4.8km) wide from its typical width of half a mile, the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper reported.
IMF: N. Zealand Quakes More Costly Than Japan’s Disasters
The International Monetary Fund says earthquakes that struck New Zealand in September and February are likely to hurt that country's economy more than the recent disasters in Japan will affect Tokyo's economy.
The IMF estimated that rebuilding after the Christchurch quakes will cost New Zealand about $ 12 billion, or about 7.5 per cent of its GDP – or gross domestic product.
IMF economists predicted that the quakes would wipe out about two percentage points of New Zealand's economic growth this year, and that as a result the economy would grow by about one percent.
On a positive note, IMF said reconstruction work will push growth up to four percent next year.
New Zealand was struck by 6.3-magnitude earthquake in February, which was more destructive than the 7.1-magnitude quake in September.
Japan was hit by a 9.0-magnitude quake in March followed by a powerful tsunami, which crippled a nuclear power plant.
11 Afghans, 2 NATO Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan
Insurgent attacks on Afghan security forces and civilians in the east killed at least 11 people Monday.
Afghan officials say that in the first incident in Ghazni province, militants killed at least four officers, while authorities in Khost province bordering Pakistan found headless bodies of four men kidnapped by militants earlier in the day.
In a third incident, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle attacked a NATO convoy in Laghman province, killing at least three Afghan civilians and wounding several others.
Also Monday, two NATO service members died in two separate incidents. One soldier was killed in a bomb blast in southern Afghanistan, while the other died of a non-battle injury in the west.
The U.S. embassy in Kabul warned of specific threats of attack in three areas of the southern Helmand province beginning Monday. The embassy said the threats relate to Afghan government facilities in the districts of Marjah, Lashkar Gah and possibly Gereshk.
In other violence Monday, coalition forces in northeastern Kunar province killed several insurgents who opened fire on their patrols.
And in eastern Paktika province, joint NATO-Afghan forces detained more than 10 suspected insurgents while searching for a Taliban senior leader.
France Returns Maori Head to New Zealand
France is returning to New Zealand the shrunken tattooed head of a Maori warrior, which has been kept in a French museum for more than a century.
The head is a relic of the ancient practice of mummification of Maoris killed in battle. It was taken away by explorers and eventually sold to the Museum of Rouen, where it has been housed since 1875.
Museum officials handed the relic over on Monday, packed in a box and covered with a black cloth.
Before the mummified head's long voyage home, Maori elders performed traditional rites, chants and prayers at Rouen's town hall to honor the fallen warrior.
Michelle Hippolite, the Maori director of the Te Papa national museum in Wellington, New Zealand said the head may have been a curiosity for people to enjoy, but that it is a Maori ancestor who is returning to his homeland.
The head, known in Maori as Toi Moko, is being returned after a four-year political struggle between France and New Zealand. Last year, the French senate passed a law allowing the return of all Maori human heads held in France, estimated to number about 15.
Rouen authorities decided to give the head back to the Maoris in 2007, but initially were overruled by the French government.
Tradition does not allow photographing the heads. A computerized image of the head from the Rouen museum depicts a scary face, masked with swirling green tattoos, crooked teeth and a gaping hole in place of one eye.
Maori warriors would tattoo their faces with elaborate geometric designs to show their rank. The heads of captured warriors were kept as war trophies, but Western explorers began collecting and trading them in the 18th century.
The interest in the decorated shrunken heads sparked a gruesome practice of killing slaves and other victims and tattooing them for the illicit trade.
Several other countries have agreed to return the Maori heads since New Zealand began its quest to retrieve them about 30 years ago.
Mavericks sweep Lakers with blowout
Phil Jackson walked off the court with a tight smile, shaking hands and accepting congratulations like he has after so many series-ending playoff games.
Never like this, though.
His team didn't win; they were crushed. Swept, too.
And he wasn't just heading to the offseason - he's calling it a career, ending the most successful run by any coach in NBA history.
Jason Terry and the Dallas Mavericks ended Jackson's tenure, and the Lakers' reign as two-time champions, with a 122-86 victory Sunday. After two tight finishes and another game that was relatively close, the Mavs turned this one into a rout in the second quarter.
With Terry leading the way, Dallas hit a barrage of 3-pointers to go ahead by 24 points at halftime. When he made 3s on consecutive possessions early in the third quarter, Los Angeles knew it wasn't going to come back in this game or the series.
Things got ugly early in the fourth quarter, with vicious, frustration-fueled cheap shots by Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum getting them ejected 45 seconds apart. But at game's end, Dallas coaches, players and team owner Mark Cuban lined up to bid farewell to the Zen Master.
''It's been a wonderful run,'' Jackson said.
The 65-year-old Jackson has retired before, but he insists it's for good this time. While he goes out with the sour taste of his first sweep in 21 postseasons, and his second-widest margin of defeat, it can't override all the sweet days.
A Hall of Famer since 2007, he leaves with a record 11 titles, and only 10 series losses. Take away Red Auerbach, who won nine championships, and Jackson won more titles than any two coaches combined. He won six championships with Michael Jordan, three with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, and the last two with Bryant leading the way.
He had to be talked into coming back this year. The lure of chasing a 12th title, bundled neatly as four three-peats, did it, but he knew it would be tough with a team worn down by three straight years of reaching the finals.
''(That) puts a lot of strain on the basketball club from all angles: personalities, spiritually, physically, emotionally, and getting charged up for game after game and assault after assault when you go in and play a team,'' Jackson said. ''It was a challenge bigger than we could beat this year.''
Four of Jackson's five kids flew to Dallas for this game, in case it was the end. On Saturday, Jackson called that ''a drag that I don't need,'' but by Sunday afternoon he was probably happy to have them around. They sat near the Lakers bench, wearing yellow hats with Roman numerals marking his 10th and 11th championships.
Then there was his extended family - his coaches and players, especially Bryant.
''I grew up under him,'' Bryant said. ''The way I approach things, the way I think about things - not only basketball, life in general - comes from him. It's a little weird for me to think of what next year is going to be like.''
Assistant Brian Shaw, a former Lakers player, is considered a front-runner to take over. The bigger decisions for general manager Mitch Kupchak will be how to surround Bryant. He may want a younger point guard than Derek Fisher, who turns 37 before next season, and he may consider breaking up his tandem of 7-footers, Bynum and Pau Gasol.
''We all know they always come back and get themselves back in the race,'' Jackson said. ''The Lakers are going to survive.''
For Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs, clearing this hurdle sets them up for a chance to redeem themselves for flopping during the 2006 NBA finals and for flaming out in every postseason since. That's why when this game ended, confetti didn't fall; the organization's bigger goal is reaching the finals and winning its first championship.
They're halfway there, having won a franchise-record six straight playoff games, a streak that began right after they blew a 23-point lead in Game 4 of their first-round series against Portland.
''The job is not finished,'' Terry said.
Dallas will host either Oklahoma City or Memphis in the conference finals. The Grizzlies lead the Thunder 2-1 going into Game 4 on Monday night. The next round likely won't start before next Sunday, a layoff that could pay huge dividends for a roster filled with players in their 30s.
Then again, they might want to keep playing the way they're going.
Terry tied a playoff record with nine 3-pointers, and the club matched NBA postseason marks with 11 3s in the first half and 20 for the game. Dallas made 63 percent of its shots from behind the arc (20 of 32) and 60 percent of its field goals (44 of 73).
''I don't think I've seen a team play to that level in a series in a game like they played this afternoon,'' Jackson said. ''You'd like to have an opportunity to challenge, but we didn't.''
Terry made 11 of 14 shots for 32 points. J.J. Barea set a career playoff-best with 22 points and Peja Stojakovic added 21 points. All three of those guys come off the bench.
''We've been doing it by committee all year long,'' said Nowitzki, who scored 17 points, his fewest this postseason. ''There are a lot of guys who can make plays and make shots when it counts.''
Nowitzki was still in during the fourth quarter and took the blindside blow that led to Odom's ejection. Then Barea took a Bynum elbow to the 'M' on his Mavericks jersey while up in the air after releasing the ball for a layup. Fans threw things toward the court and officials scrambled to keep the peace. Bynum took off his jersey and was escorted to the locker room by Ron Artest, of all people. Artest was suspended from Game 3 because of his shot on Barea in the closing seconds of Game 2.
''I wasn't happy with the way our players exited the game, on Lamar and Andrew's part,'' Jackson said. ''It was unnecessary, but I know they were frustrated.''
The Lakers blew big, late leads in Games 1 and 3, and came in talking about cleaning up their fourth-quarter performance. They never got that far.
The second quarter proved to be one of the most spectacular in Mavericks history, thanks mostly to Terry.
He was 5 of 6 from behind the arc that period, and the team was 7 of 8 - despite Jackson's repeated demands that his players run at them to try forcing them to dribble up for 2-pointers instead of 3s. The Mavericks had a run of 13-2 early in the quarter and 10-1 spurt at the end.
Bryant couldn't bail his club out. He made only 1 of 5 shots in the period and had two turnovers. His only basket came after shoving Barea away from him; the pesky little point guard got even right away, driving straight to the rim for a layup.
Bryant finished 7 of 18 for 17 points. Shannon Brown was Los Angeles' next-best scorer with 15. Pau Gasol's lost postseason continued, too; he had 10 points and eight rebounds.
Hawks knock off Bulls to even series
The Atlanta Hawks finally won a second-round playoff game at home.
They can thank a guy who frequently gets booed by the home fans, and a young guard who wasn't supposed to be playing much at all.
Josh Smith answered his critics with a huge game — 23 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists — and fill-in Jeff Teague came up with the Derrick Rose-like plays down the stretch to lead the Hawks past the Chicago Bulls 100-88 Sunday night, evening the Eastern Conference semifinals at two games apiece.
The Hawks snapped a nine-game home losing streak in the second round, their misery dating to a May 13, 1996, win against Orlando.
Smith is frequently criticized by Atlanta fans for his inconsistent play. He heard nothing but cheers in this one, staying away from the outside jumpers, dominating on the inside and finding the open man with crisp passes.
''There are people who don't understand the game, who don't know the game. That doesn't faze me,'' Smith said. ''My teammates matter more than anybody else. They believe in me. They have confidence in my game. When I was in my rut, they told me to stay positive, to stay in the game, just do what I'd been doing all season long. I stayed with it and had the game I had tonight.''
Teague has been an even bigger surprise filling in for injured Kirk Hinrich, playing with the poise of a veteran instead of someone who played infrequently during the regular season and first round of the playoffs. He scored 12 points and doled out four assists, putting the capper on a late 10-0 run that broke open a game that had been tight and intense all the way.
''He's playing great,'' said Hinrich, who's watched this entire series in dress suits because of a hamstring injury. ''Obviously he has ability. He's fast. He's good at finishing up around the rim.''
Driving toward the hoop with Kyle Korver draped all over him, Teague flipped up a shot as he was falling down. It banked in, giving the Hawks a safe lead, 94-84, with 1:26 remaining. The second-year player bounced off the court with a big smile, bumping his teammates on the way to the bench.
Someone held up a sign, ''M-V-Teague.''
The actual MVP scored 34 points. But Rose needed 32 shots to do it, and he wasn't nearly as effective as he was in scoring a career-best 44 points in Game 3, leading the Bulls to a 99-82 rout that restored Chicago's home-court advantage. The top-seeded Bulls can still close out the series simply by winning at home, but the Hawks know they'll get at least one more home game.
'Game 6 tickets are on sale now,'' the Hawks public-address announcer said.
After an embarrassing performance two nights earlier, the Hawks changed up their lineup. They had been dominated on the boards in the two previous games, so they went back to a bigger lineup that worked so well against Dwight Howard and Orlando in the opening round.
Seven-footer Jason Collins started at center between Al Horford and Smith, putting Marvin Williams in a reserve role. Collins had a couple of early dunks, but he wound up playing less than 12 minutes.
More significant was the way Atlanta changed up its defense on Rose, charging at him with double-teams - even a few triple-teams - whenever it looked as though he was about to make a move toward the hoop.
No one stops Rose completely, of course. He still had plenty of moves for the highlight film, including a soaring dunk of his own miss when no one blocked him out early on.
But down the stretch, the Hawks clamped down on the Chicago star. Rose tied it at 84 on a drive with 4 1/2 minutes to go, but he missed his next shot, then turned it over twice before making a late basket that didn't matter. He finished 12 of 32 from the field.
''It was a tough game but no excuses,'' Rose said. ''Put this game on me. Two turnovers at the end of the game.''
Watching from the bench, Hinrich noticed a big difference from Game 3 to Game 4.
''Our second line of defense was so much better,'' he said. ''When Derrick got in the lane, we made him play in a crowd. That's what you have to do.''
Smith showed what he can do when he's not sitting on the outside, launching up errant jumpers. In the decisive run, he played stifling defense on Rose, had a big rebound and dished out two nifty passes that set up dunks by Horford.
Horford had his best game of the series, scoring 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting. Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 24 points, knocking down some early shots to get over a rough showing in Game 3.
Carlos Boozer had 18 points for Chicago, and Luol Deng added 13. Korver had an especially rough night, going 1 for 8 from the field. He missed all five of his 3-point attempts.
The game was in single digits until the end. The Hawks ran to what was their biggest lead, 60-52, when Smith got out on a fast break and passed to Horford slicing in off the wing for a layup.
Chicago responded with a 17-7 spurt to close the third quarter. Boozer capped it with a nice spin move, laying it in with his left hand to send the Bulls to the final period up 69-67.
Coach Tom Thibodeau said the tone was set in the first quarter. The Hawks came out with much more effort than they did on Friday, and the Bulls weren't nearly as tight on defense as they had been. Atlanta made 13 of 24 shots in those opening 12 minutes.
''It was too easy,'' Thibodeau said. ''Then we didn't finish the game the way we would have liked.''
Caricom looks at land management issues
PROPER land management should be implemented to protect the Caricom’s limited land resources, which are under constant threat of severe degradation and costal erosion.
This was the view expressed at the first meeting on the Partnership Initiative on Sustainable Land Management, which was held last Friday at the Cascadia Hotel and Conference Centre, St Ann’s.
The partnership serves as a mechanism to facilitate the exchange of experiences and good land management practices between participating countries. The initiative was intended to stimulate the replication of various approaches, tools and methodologies throughout the region.
Director of the Caribbean Network for Integrated Rural Development Calvin James said island states have challenges with land management.
“Our main issues are land degradation and costal erosion, and so this meeting is geared towards providing a synergy among nations in order mitigate or reverse some of the impacts of degradation,” James explained.
Anya Thomas, Caricom’s representative to the meeting, noted that most of Caricom’s population live on land subjected to erosion, and as such, improvements were necessary to protect the livelihood of the people.
“A green economy should also be looked at when it comes to land management practices. This will preserve the lands that are there instead of destroying it through development,” she noted.
Head of the Multilateral Environmental Agreements Unit at the Ministry of Housing and the Environment Kishan Kumarsingh hailed the meeting, saying it laid the groundwork for further consultations at international conferences.
The Council for Trade and Economic Development meeting of Caricom is expected to be held next month and it is expected at this meeting regional states will begin the process of looking at ways to streamline environmental issues and sustainable land management into policy and decision making in a regional context.
Kumarsingh explained that this framework was important, since it was easy for the concerns of Small Island Developing States, such as those in the Caribbean, to become marginalised.