Pa. animal shelter turns away strays due to cost

Pa. animal shelter turns away strays due to cost

6/17/2009, 6:39 p.m. EDT The Associated Press

(AP) — LANCASTER, Pa. - An animal shelter in south-central Pennsylvania says if local governments don't provide them with money, they'll turn away stray dogs found in those municipalities.

The Humane League of Lancaster County says it needs the money to pay for food, laundry, vaccinations and veterinary care are expensive. But 14 townships and boroughs in the county won't pay the per capita fee, so the Humane League won't take in their strays.

Pennsylvania Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement Director Sue West says this means strays are being taken to shelters outside the county. She says she hopes the Humane League and the municipalities come to an accord.

European stock markets surge

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From correspondents in London | July 02, 2009

Article from: Agence France-Presse

EUROPEAN stock exchanges surged ahead overnight in line with a robust opening on Wall Street and in response to some positive US economic data despite worse-than-expected unemployment figures.

The London FTSE 100 index added 2.15 per cent to close at 4340.71 points while in Paris the CAC 40 rose 2.43 per cent to reach 3217. The Frankfurt Dax gained 2.0 per cent to end the session at 4905.44.

There were gains of 1.18 per cent in Madrid, 2.12 per cent in Brussels, 1.99 per cent in Milan and 2.19 per cent in Amsterdam.

Wall Street shares earlier opened a new month and quarter on an upbeat note, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.36 per cent at 8561.57 at midday local time. The tech-heavy Nasdaq had risen 1.24 per cent to 1857.77.

Wall Street looked to overseas markets for early cues, shrugging off an early report showing a eaker-than-expected US labour market.

"Some upbeat manufacturing data from China and Europe are helping soothe concerns that the economic reality has fallen behind the recent rally in the equity markets since mid-March," said analysts at Charles Schwab & Co.

That helped offset a survey from payrolls firm showing the US private sector shed 473,000 jobs in June.

"The ADP report for June wasn't as dire as the initial headlines indicated," said Patrick O'Hare at Briefing.com

"Nonetheless, it isn't good news. It is a sobering reminder that the labour market is weak and that there is a heightened risk of disappointment in the (official) nonfarm payrolls number that will be reported Thursday (local time)."

But gains accelerated on a report showing the US manufacturing sector showed signs of emerging from its slump in June, after similar reports from Europe and China.

The US Institute of Supply Management said its index of the sector also known as the purchasing managers (PMI) index, increased to 44.8 per cent from 42.8 per cent in May.

It was below the 50 per cent level that separates expansion and contraction, and just under the 45 per cent expected by private economists.

But Ryan Sweet at Moody's Economy.com said the ISM report "suggests that the worst of the manufacturing contraction is behind us. The details of the report were much more upbeat than the headline number would suggest".

In Asia today, Japanese share prices ended slightly lower as investors took profits after a key index of business confidence rose by less than expected, dealers said.

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei-225 index lost 18.51 points, or 0.19 per cent, to end at 9939.93, a day after ending at a two-week high.

The Nikkei topped 10,000 points at one point during the day but failed to hold above the key level.

"As the index topped 10,000, it was a good time to sell," said Hideaki Higashi, a strategist at SMBC Friend Securities.

The Bank of Japan said in its quarterly Tankan survey that business confidence among major Japanese manufacturers had improved for the first time in two-and-a-half years.

Irish unemployment hits 13-year high of 11.9 pct

7/1/2009, 6:25 a.m. EDT The Associated Press

(AP) — DUBLIN - Ireland's unemployment rate hit a 13-year high of 11.9 percent in June as a deepening recession pushed the welfare lines to record lengths, the Central Statistics Office reported Wednesday.

The report said the number of people claiming jobless benefits has nearly doubled over the past year to 418,592, an unprecedented high dating back to the foundation of the Irish state in 1922. The unemployment rate was 11.8 percent in May.

The unemployment rate last exceeded 11.9 percent in April 1996, when Ireland's now defunct 'Celtic Tiger' economy was just starting to roar and Ireland's labor force was much smaller. At the time, fewer than 300,000 people were claiming unemployment benefits.

Ireland now has the second-worst unemployment rate in the 16-nation bloc that uses the euro currency. Spain, which like Ireland was overly dependent on a property boom and construction jobs, has seen its labor market deteriorate even more quickly in recent months.

Oil holds above $69 in Asia as investors look to US June unemployment report

By ALEX KENNEDY , Associated Press

Last update: July 1, 2009 - 11:24 PM

SINGAPORE - Oil prices lingered above $69 a barrel Thursday in Asia ahead of the release of a key U.S. unemployment figure.

Benchmark crude for August delivery fell 14 cents to $69.17 a barrel by midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, it fell 58 cents to settle at $69.31.

A rally from below $35 a barrel in March stalled last month on investor concern that a sluggish global economy may not recover fast enough to justify surging oil prices.

Traders will be eyeing the Labor Department's June unemployment report, due to be released later Thursday, for signs the economy and consumer demand could be improving.

The jobless rate hit a 25-year high of 9.4 percent in May, jumping from 8.9 percent the previous month.

Oil will likely trade between $65 a barrel and $75 in the July-September period, averaging $71 in the third quarter and $76 in the fourth quarter, Barclay Capital said in a report.

"We expect the upward momentum in many commodities to slow over the next few quarters, before fresh highs are reached when the cycle becomes expansive," Barclays said.

Prices were bolstered by a weekly crude inventory report from the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration which showed crude supplies fell more than some expected, losing 3.7 million barrels for the week ended June 26.

Supplies have dropped 15.8 million barrels during the last four weeks, a sign crude demand may be picking up.

In other Nymex trading, gasoline for August delivery was steady at $1.86 a gallon and heating oil held at $1.76. Natural gas for August delivery fell 1.3 cents to $3.78 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent prices fell 9 cents to $68.70 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

JSPL asks govt to redraw coal block 23 Jun 2009, 0033 hrs IST, Sanjay Dutta, TNN

NEW DELHI: The coal ministry appears to have short-changed Jindal Steel and PowerLtd, promoted by Congress steel-to-power conglomerate has asked the government to redraw a coal acreage given to it, saying the total area falls far short of what the Centre had promised. The company was given the Ramchandi coal block in Orissa's Talcher district for its Rs 32,000 crore project to synthesise automotive oil from black diamond, or CTL (coal-to-liquid) plant, to be set up in the state's Angul district.  In a letter to the ministry, the company has pointed out discrepancies in details of the plot given by Central Mines Planning and Development Ltd and the actual location of the acreage. The result, the company says, is four sq km less than the 16 sq km shown in the original plan.  JSPL has pointed out that State Highway 63 passes across the acreage, which will impede the company's ability to dig for coal and reduce availability of the raw materialfor the CTL project. "There are two alternatives to solve the problem, either it can be diverted or a huge amount of coal has to be left underneath to protect it...the loss of coal under the State Highway will be approximately 500 million tonnes,'' JSPL executive director (raw materials) D N Abrol has said in his letter.  The letter suggests that since the State Highway cannot be shifted, it should be used as a natural boundary after the acreage is redrawn by joining contiguous areas on both sides of the road into separate blocks. The letter has pointed out that the government had redrawn three acreages in the Utkal series of mines in Orissa itself to overcome mismatches or lack of contiguity.

Chesapeake says it has cut 50 jobs in corporate office in Oklahoma City

By MURRAY EVANS , Associated Press

Last update: June 22, 2009 - 5:32 PM

OKLAHOMA CITY - Chesapeake Energy Corp. acknowledged on Monday that it has laid off employees at its corporate office.

The independent natural gas producer said in a statement Monday that it "eliminated less than 50 positions of over 3,300" at its Oklahoma City headquarters. The statement did not indicate if the company cut jobs at other locations or what kind of jobs were lost.

Rumors of the layoffs had swirled late last week, although Chesapeake declined to acknowledge the job cuts until issuing the statement late Monday afternoon.

The company said the jobs were cut "to correspond with the level of existing exploration and activity." Chesapeake has dropped its operated rig count from 158 in August to 95 now because of lower natural gas prices.

Chesapeake said it has more than 8,300 employees in the U.S.

In a statement issued Friday after word about the layoffs began surfacing, Chesapeake initially cited company policy in not disclosing what it called "independent employment decisions that we make in the course of our operations."

The Friday statement also said that "since July 2008 we have added 900 net employees and since January of this year, we have added 350 net employees. In Oklahoma City, we have added 350 net employees in the past year and 150 net employees in the past six months. We currently have more than 70 job openings across the country."

The layoffs come as Chesapeake faces lawsuits filed by four separate shareholder groups, claiming that the company's board failed in its fiduciary duties when it awarded CEO Aubrey McClendon a $75 million bonus on Dec. 31.

The bonus raised McClendon's pay package for 2008 to $112.5 million, which an Associated Press calculation determined to be the highest for a CEO among Standard & Poor's 500 companies. It also was more than four times higher than his $25.5 million pay package in 2007.

McClendon, one of Chesapeake's co-founders and one of nine members of the company's board of directors, was awarded the bonus even after a tumultuous financial year. Chesapeake's stock fell to $9.84 in December, its lowest since August 2003, after reaching as high as $74 over the summer.

It closed Monday at $19.36, down $1.59.

Last October, McClendon was forced to sell 31.5 million shares — about 94 percent of his stake in the company — to meet margin loan calls. He said earlier this month after a shareholders' meeting that he has not repurchased any company stock.

After a shareholder lectured McClendon during the meeting, McClendon forcefully defended himself and his abilities to lead Chesapeake

"I'll tell you there's not a harder working guy out there who thinks every day about how to create shareholder value," McClendon said. "And, I'm dedicated to that. I've been dedicated to it for 20 years. And as long as this board is willing to employ me, that's what I'll be dedicated to for the next 20 years.

White House sees 10 pct unemployment within months

White House sees 10 pct unemployment within months 23 Jun 2009, 0227 hrs IST, AGENCIES

WASHINGTON: The US unemployment rate is likely rise from already high levels to 10 percent in the next couple of months, a White House spokesman said monday "I think the president has said this, and I would certainly say this, I think you're likely to see unemployment at 10 percent within the next couple of months," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.  The U.S. unemployment rate already stands at 9.4 percent, the highest level in about 25 years, and many analysts believe it could continue to climb despite the $787 billion economic stimulus package passed early this year by Congress.  Earlier this year, the Obama administration had predicted the unemployment rate would peak at 8 percent before beginning to fall toward the end of 2009.  President Barack Obama is expected to address the outlook for the economy at a White House press conference on Tuesday.