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Middle East Unrest Could Harm WMD-Free Zone Talks
Protesters chant slogans on Saturday during a demonstration outside an Egyptian state security building in the outskirts of Cairo. Recent political instability throughout the Middle East could complicate efforts to establish a regional weapons of mass destruction-free zone, current and former officials said (Wissam Nassar/Getty Images).
The unrest and revolutions sweeping through the Middle East have raised doubts over the potential for regional nations to hold previously planned talks focused on forming a weapons of mass destruction-free zone, Arms Control Today reported in its March issue (see GSN, March 1).
At the 2010 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty review conference in New York, member nations agreed to hold a 2012 meeting on “the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction.”
“We are absolutely committed” to the WMD-free zone meeting, White House WMD point man Gary Samore said in an interview last month. “But there’s a lot of uncertainty because of the unrest in the Middle East.”
In the last two months, longstanding regimes in Tunisia and Egypt have fallen, and protests in Libya have escalated into full-scale fighting between militants and forces loyal to Col. Muammar Qadhafi. Protests have also erupted in Bahrain, Jordan, Oman and Read more…
Gaddafi warns of bloodbath if West intervenes
TRIPOLI: Libyan strongman Moamer Gaddafi warned on Wednesday “thousands” would die if the West intervened to support the uprising against him, as rebels drove back an attack by his forces on an eastern town.
The chilling warning came as western powers dampened expectations of any early imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya, amid a clamour from western states for action to prevent Kadhafi’s warplanes from attacking his own people.
The United States is a “long way” from deciding on whether to impose a no-fly zone, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said as two US Navy ships steamed into position off Libya.
The 22-member Arab League appeared to offer an Arab and Read more…
Omani Forces Break Up Demonstration
Omani forces have dispersed demonstrators who were blocking the road to a port in the northern industrial city of Sohar, where protests earlier this week turned deadly.
Reuters news agency quotes witnesses as saying one person was injured Tuesday when security forces fired warning shots into the air. Witnesses said tanks were also deployed.
The protesters had taken to the Read more…
Graph of the Amount of Oil Production Affected by Crisis
Although Obama might not view what is happening in the Middle East as all that important- he is going to basketball games and concerts and instead directing attempts to riot in WI- I think it is very important because the Middle East region sits on a very important resource- oil. So for fun, I put together a graph this morning to demonstrate the amount of oil production that is affected by the crisis in the Middle East. The graph shows oil production by country based on the most recent data I found in the CIA World Factbook, and shows each nation currently in crisis or about to be in crisis, and then the gray area represents all other nations not currently affected.
Any change in oil production likely will cause the price of gasoline to go up, and as you can see, a large percentage of the world’s oil comes out of this affected region, although if Saudi Arabia stays stable, then the percentages is considerably less although still significant. In my amateur opinion, gas prices are going to rise, the economy will dip again, and Obama will react to this all by supporting our enemies and lowering our oil output. Here is the graph:
Iranian warships’ passage through Suez put back two days
Iran’s Fars news agency has identified the 1,500-tone Alvand as one of the warships heading to the Suez Canal
The passage of two Iranian naval ships through the Suez Canal has been put back to Wednesday, a canal official said on Sunday as Israel expressed its grave concern about the Mediterranean-bound vessels.
“The shipping agent handling the two Iranian warships has told the canal administration to push back their passage by two days,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
He did not elaborate on the reasons for the delay, but confirmed that the new day of passage through the waterway that links the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea would be Wednesday.
Reportedly bound for Syria on a journey that would Read more…
Pirates hijack $200 million crude oil: owners say Somali pirates dangerously disrupting world oil supplies
A supertanker carrying about $200m (£125m; 146m euros) worth of crude oil has been hijacked off the coast of Oman, the vessel’s Greek operator says.
Athens-based shipping company Enesel said they had lost communication with the Irene SL.
The 333m (1,093ft) vessel was on its way from the Gulf to the Gulf of Mexico when it was attacked.
Although the incident happened hundreds of miles from Somalia, pirate gangs are known to operate there.
A body representing the owners of much of the world’s tanker fleet warned that Read more…
Quantitative Easing Causing Food Prices to Skyrocket
As I’ve previously noted, interest rates have risen both times after the Fed implemented quantitative easing.
Graham Summers points out that food prices have also skyrocketed both times:
In case you’ve missed it, food riots are spreading throughout the developing world Already Tunisia, Algeria, Oman, and even Laos are experiencing riots and protests due to soaring food prices.
As Abdolreza Abbassian, chief economist at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), put it, “We are entering a danger territory.”
Indeed, these situations left people literally starving… AND dead from the riots.
And why is this happening?
A perfect storm of increased demand, bad harvests from key exporters (Argentina, Russia, Australia and Canada, but most of all, the Fed’s money pumping. If you don’t believe me, have a look at the below chart: Read more…
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](https://i0.wp.com/www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/gold/t24_au_en_usoz_2.gif)
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](https://i0.wp.com/www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/silver/t24_ag_en_usoz_2.gif)
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