US Officials: Osama Bin Laden is Dead
Al-Qaeda founder and leader Osama Bin Laden is dead, US officials say.
The US is said to be in possession of Bin Laden's body. President Barack Obama is due to speak shortly.
The al-Qaeda leader was killed in a ground operation in a mansion outside Islamabad in an operation based on US intelligence, reports said.
Bin Laden is accused of being behind a number of atrocities, including the attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September 2001.
He is top of the US most wanted list.
Crowds gathered outside the White House in Washington DC, chanting "USA, USA" after the news emerged.
Caribbean Airlines-Air Jamaica deal hits snag
The finalisation of the Caribbean Airlines-Air Jamaica deal has again been delayed.
The deadline for the sale to be finalised, and transfer of assets to be completed, should have been tomorrow.
However, at a post-budget press conference today, Finance Minister Audley Shaw said a two week extension had been agreed on to allow both parties to resolve some issues.
Shaw would not elaborate on the issues which caused the delay in the signing, and was unable to give an exact date for when it will take place.
The deal had been subjected to a one-year transition period to allow Caribbean Airlines to secure the necessary licences and to properly integrate the operations.
EU investigates banks over credit default swaps use
The EU's competition authorities are investigating the activities of nine of the world's biggest banks over the market for credit default swaps (CDS).
CDS's are a form of insurance policy taken out on financial instruments, such as bonds, in case they lose value.
The banks include Barclays, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup.
The probe centres on whether preferential treatment - including special low fees - was given by a clearing house to drum up business.
The other five banks involved are Bank of America, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and UBS.
The EU's anti-trust commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, said in a statement: "CDS's play a useful role for financial markets and for the economy.
"Recent developments have shown, however, that the trading of this asset class suffers a number of inefficiencies that cannot be solved through regulation alone."
The value of CDS - said to be in the region of $28 trillion (£17tn) dwarfs the worth of the instruments they are based on.
As well as providing insurance against a bond going bad, CDS are also used for speculation, with banks and hedge funds trading in CDS to make money without actually owning the underlying bonds.
During the height of the financial crisis there were concerns that speculation in CDS for bonds was driving down prices and fuelling market panic.
The European Commission said it is investigating whether the nine big investment banks received special treatment from the clearing house ICE Clear Europe, and were therefore only giving their business to ICE.
The Commission said: "The effects of these agreements could be that other clearing houses have difficulties successfully entering the market and that other CDS players have no real choice where to clear their transactions."
The nine banks are shareholders in ICE's US clearing arm.
Preferential treatment?
In a separate case, the Commission said it was investigating whether those nine banks - and the seven others that act as dealers in the CDS market - give essential information on pricing and other daily activities only to Markit Group Ltd, which is the leading financial data provider for that market.
Such preferential treatment "could be the consequence of collusion between them or an abuse of a possible collective dominance" and could lock other data providers out of the CDS business, the Commission said.
Seven other firms are targeted in this probe: BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Wells Fargo, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale.
All 16 banks, which control around 90% of the market whereby banks deal with each other, are shareholders of Markit.
Markit holds a near monopoly on financial data, which the EU says could leave smaller competitors with worse information on pricing.
Market players, however, insist that there is no conclusive proof of such a link.
Markit said Friday it "does not believe it has engaged in any inappropriate conduct and looks forward to demonstrating that to the Commission".
A spokeswoman for IntercontinentalExchange said the company would cooperate with the investigation.
Gold hits new record high as US dollar weakens
The price of the precious metal hit a new record high for the third straight day of $1,569.30 on the back of a weakening US dollar.
The gold price has risen 7% over the last month as investors have sought a save-haven against inflation and the softer US dollar.
In late US trade the precious metal reached a record of $1,569.30 an ounce.
Traditionally, investors turn to gold at times of uncertainty and rising prices.
But analysts also said the falling US dollar had helped bolster the metal's value.
Over the past year, the US dollar has dropped against the euro and the pound by 12% and 9% respectively.
The dollar continued to slide against several major currencies after new economic data was released showing that US growth had slowed in the first quarter of 2011 to 1.8%.
As gold is priced in dollars, any fall in the currency means it becomes cheaper for investors using other currencies to buy.
"If the dollar continues to weaken, then it's only likely to boost gold as well as silver as the inverse relationship between the two assets persists," said Ong Yi Ling, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
"I would say that for gold I am still looking for it to hit $1,600 this year."
Silver
Meanwhile, the price of silver remained in sight of record highs thanks to the weakening dollar as well as increased demand in Asia.
Earlier this week, the precious metal hit an all-time high of $49.793 and is up almost 60% on a year ago.
As the global recovery continues, some analysts expect demand for the metal, which is used in industry such as electronics, to rise further.
But others warn the metal's high price could come at a cost.
"In the long term, I think, if we see silver prices at such a high level, then it could hurt the industrial demand," added Ong Yi Ling.
In 2007, 455.5 million ounces of silver were used for industrial applications according to the Silver Institute.
China's yuan rises past 6.50 against the US dollar
China's currency, the yuan, strengthened past a key level against the US dollar on Friday, as part of wider efforts to contain inflation on the mainland.
The yuan broke past 6.50 against the dollar, a level not seen since 1993.
Traders and currency strategists believe the move is a sign that China's central bank is prepared to allow the currency to appreciate further.
A stronger currency means imported products become cheaper in China.
"The market is very excited," said Dariusz Kowalczyk, a Hong Kong-based strategist at Credit Agricole CIB.
"Clearly, the People's Bank of China is pushing for a stronger pace of appreciation."
China's central bank actively guides the level of the yuan, by effectively setting the rate at which it is allowed to trade.
Mr Kowalczyk said the yuan had gained by 0.9% against the dollar so far in April, roughly equivalent to its entire gain in the first three months of 2011.
Friday's gains mean the yuan has strengthened by 27.5% since 2005, when Beijing revalued the currency, effectively ending its peg against the US dollar.
That policy of gradual appreciation was temporarily frozen in the aftermath of the financial crisis in 2008.
Now, the spectre of rising prices in China has prompted its leaders to speed up the pace of appreciation, according to analysts.
"High inflation means you need to do more than just raise interest rates," said Thio Chin Loo, a Singapore-based currency strategist at BNP Paribas.
"This just compounds the kind of dollar selling we've been seeing."
China imports a great deal of food and fuel.
A more valuable currency would help reduce those costs, making daily essentials more affordable for the country's 1.3 billion people.
Inflation is a growing social and political problem in China. It hit a high of 5.4% in March.
Mr Kowalczyk believes that if the yuan continues to appreciate at the current rate, it may gain as much as 10% by the year end.
Eurozone inflation rate increases to 2.8%
The eurozone's inflation rate edged up to to 2.8% in April from March's figure of 2.7%, according to official data from Eurostat.
The increase takes inflation further away from the European Central Bank's target of just below 2%.
The cost of raw materials and high energy prices have contributed to the increase.
The ECB started raising rates in April from their record low, with a quarter point increase to 1.25%.
The rise in the inflation rate will put pressure on the ECB to raise interest rates further.
"It's slightly higher than consensus but that wasn't a complete surprise. We saw from Germany and Spain, which already published numbers, that it could go this way," said Piet Lammens, economist at KBC.
"However, I can imagine that some market participants will expect the rate increase by the European Central Bank at an earlier date. We expected June, the market is still expecting July. I guess the consensus will now move to June," he added.
However, policymakers at the ECB will also be keenly aware of the austerity measures in countries such as Greece, the Irish Republic and Portugal.
If rates in such countries were to rise, on top of the austerity measures being implemented, the return to growth for the eurozone as a whole might be threatened.
Cuba to allow sale of private homes for first time since the revolution
Cuba plans to allow people to buy and sell their homes for the first time since the 1959 revolution brought Fidel Castro to power, the BBC reports.
The decision came during the first congress held by the ruling Communist party in 14 years.
No details were released on how the new property sales could work, but President Raul Castro is likely to elaborate on a wide-range of economic reforms during a closing speech he made today in Havana, The Miami Herald reports.
Cubans currently could only pass on their homes to their children, or work out complicated and often corrupt swaps, the BBC reports.
While loosening the power on sale of property, Castro warns that the concentration of property would not be allowed.
Fidel Castro, 84, wrote in an editorial in the party newspaper Monday that he embraces the economic reforms. He no longer holds an official government or party post.
(Published in USA Today)
Floyd Mayweather hearing delayed for a third time
Floyd Mayweather's hearing on domestic violence charges, for which he could be jailed for 34 years if found guilty, was postponed a third time on Thursday.
The preliminary hearing, already postponed in January and March, was delayed again until 29 July.
It puts in further doubt a potential super-fight with Philippine legend Manny Pacquiao.
The two men were due to meet last year before a row over drug testing scuppered the bout.
Five-weight world champion Mayweather is charged with grand larceny, coercion and robbery stemming from a dispute last September with former girlfriend Josie Harris.
The American, 34, is accused of striking and threatening her, stealing her mobile telephone and threatening their two children.
Mayweather also faces a 1 September trial date on a battery charge for allegedly poking a security guard in the face during a scuffle last November over parking tickets.
Plans for a fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao last March fell through when the Filipino, a six-weight world champion, rejected his opponent's demand for random drug-testing in the build-up to the bout.
Mayweather had said Pacquiao's refusal to undergo blood tests up to the day of their proposed fight meant his rival had something to hide.
It had been hoped their differences could be ironed out, but Mayweather's legal woes have made any match-up even more unlikely.
Mayweather, who is undefeated in 41 fights, has not fought since a dominant points win over fellow American Shane Mosley last May and he has fought only twice since stopping Britain's Ricky Hatton in December 2007.
Pacquiao's last fight was a stunning defeat of Mexican Antonio Margarito last November and he faces Mosley on 7 May.
However, the 32-year-old, who has 52 wins from 57 fights, won a seat in the Philippine Congress last May and there have been suggestions he is ready to quit the sport.
Windies fall further behind
Penetrative bowling from Ravi Rampaul and Devendra Bishoo was upstaged by a typically resolute, unbeaten 62 from Misbah-ul-Haq that guided Pakistan to a series-clinching, three-wicket victory over West Indies in the third one-day international yesterday.
Rampaul finished with four wickets for 32 runs from nine overs, and Bishoo ended with three for 42 from nine overs, as West Indies failed to successfully defend a modest target of 172 in their rain-affected match at Kensington Oval.
feeble batting performance
The result meant that the visitors have taken an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match series, after winning the first two ODIs by eight and seven wickets, respectively, at the Beausejour Cricket Ground in St Lucia.
Lendl Simmons had hit the top score of 51 and Darren Bravo supported with 47, but West Indies gave another feeble batting performance, and were dismissed for 171 with eight balls of their weather-reduced allocation of 45 overs remaining.
Simmons and Bravo put on 86 for the second wicket, but West Indies failed to kick on, after they were sent in to bat.
No other batsman reached 20, as Saeed Ajmal collected three for 29 from 8.4 overs, Wahab Riaz snared three for 38 from eight overs, and Mohammad Hafeez captured two for 31 from nine overs to undermine West Indies' batting.
Rampaul then left the visitors reeling on 49 for four in the 12th over, with a telling opening burst.
He had Ahmed Shehzad caught behind and Asad Shafiq caught at second slip for ducks off successive deliveries in his first over, the second of the Pakistan innings, before Mohammad Hafeez top-edged a hook at his short delivery and was caught at backward square leg for five.
Rampaul elevated West Indies' hopes, when he had Umar Akmal caught behind for 36 to leave Pakistan wobbling.
overcast skies
Rampaul and the other West Indies fast bowlers ran out of steam on a hard, bouncy pitch under overcast skies, and Hammad Azam joined Misbah to put on 78 for the fifth wicket to get Pakistan moving in the right direction again.
Bishoo then triggered a slide that got West Indies excited, when he had Azam dubiously trapped lbw for 30 in the 32nd over.
The jockey-sized leg-spinner added the scalps of Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi caught at extra cover for 11, and Mohammad Salman bowled off the inside edge for three to leave Pakistan rocking on 148 for seven in the 36th over.
But West Indies could not finish the job, and they were condemned to their eighth straight ODI loss against Pakistan.
Earlier, Simmons and Bravo played an array of strokes in their stand, when play commenced an hour and 45 minutes later than scheduled.
Celtics still waiting on Shaq
For most of the last three months, Doc Rivers has relayed optimistic reports on Shaquille O'Neal's recovery from a "minor" injury to his right calf.
One thing the Boston Celtics coach doesn't need to hear from a trainer: whether O'Neal will be any good once he does return.
"He's still big," Rivers said before practice on Friday. "When he's on the floor, he's seven feet tall - plus - and he weighs what he weighs. Of all the players on the team, he has the easiest task of being who he is. Because that's all he can be."
Rivers said O'Neal would take part in a limited workout on Friday, a day after he ran through some plays and shot baskets while his teammates practiced in earnest for Sunday's opener of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Heat in Miami. Rivers said he's more confident than ever that O'Neal will play in the series.
"I don't know when," the coach said. "Maybe (Game) 1, maybe 2."
O'Neal was not available for comment at the Celtics' practice facility on Thursday or Friday. General manager Danny Ainge said he hasn't seen O'Neal run, but backup center Glen "Big Baby" Davis said O'Neal "looked good."
"And he says he's OK," Davis said. "I'm looking forward to him being back."
O'Neal signed with the Celtics for the veteran's minimum last summer, saying he joined Boston's Big Three for a chance at another title or two before he ended his Hall of Fame career. He played only 37 games in the regular season, and just 5 minutes, 29 seconds since Feb. 1 because of lingering leg problems that have left him perpetually day-to-day.
An injury that was originally supposed to keep him out for a few games has now cost him 33 of the last 34 games of the regular season and the entire, four-game series against the New York Knicks in the first round of the playoffs. Ainge said the future Hall of Famer has been struggling with his downtime and eager to return.
"I think he was probably discouraged in the New York series. He was really determined to get out on the court," Ainge said Friday. "Sometimes, the body doesn't do what the mind wants. But it definitely wasn't because of a lack of will."
The Heat are expecting O'Neal to bring his 345 pounds - and six fouls - onto the court for what is expected to be a physical series between the teams that, while not exactly rivals, have plenty of history. Twice in the last three years the Celtics knocked LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers out of the playoffs; last year, that was one round after Boston sent Miami home.
"We don't know what's going on there. But, obviously, it's a big series for both teams," said Heat center and former O'Neal teammate Zydrunas Ilgauskas. "So, unless it's something healthwise, I would expect him to be there."
And health is the only thing that would keep O'Neal away. The team is being extra careful because O'Neal did return once, on April 3, only to re-injure himself.
He hasn't played since.
"He's a competitor. He wants to be on the floor to really help that team," James said. "We'll see when Sunday gets here and throughout the rest of the series if he's going to be in uniform. But it doesn't change our game plan at all."
When O'Neal returns, Rivers said, he will come off the bench; he wasn't able to guess how many minutes.
Davis said O'Neal will help clog the lane on defense, and bring more playoff experience than the Celtics' other centers. With four All-Stars already in the lineup, Davis said, "we just need a little bit of offense from him."
But the good news is that O'Neal doesn't need to relearn how to be tall and strong.
Source:SI
"He has six fouls. He clogs the paint. He's a big body," Heat star Dwyane Wade said. "Of course, it's a positive for them if he's as full-strength as possible."