Nasrallah vows 'thousands of rockets' if Israel hits Lebanon

BEIRUT: "Thousands of rockets" will hit Israel if it attacks Lebanon, the chief of the powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah said on Sunday, reiterating support for Iran and the Palestinian resistance. Hassan Nasrallah, in a speech broadcast on Hezbollah's Al-Manar television and over stadium screens, addressed tens of thousands of supporters who massed in the southern suburbs of Beirut to mark the commemoration of Ashura. The recent conflict in and around the Gaza Strip, which killed 166 Palestinians and six Israelis, was "a great victory for the resistance," Nasrallah said. "Israel was shaken by a handful of Fajr 5 missiles. How would it bear the thousands of rockets that would hit Tel Aviv and beyond if it attacked Lebanon," he challenged. "That which protects Gaza, after God, is the will of the resistance, its people, its weapons and its rockets," said the leader of Lebanon's most powerful military force. While Gaza people are constrained by their geography, he stressed that "the battle with us runs through occupied Palestine, from the Lebanese to the Jordanian border to the Red Sea, from Kiryat Shmona to Eilat (Israel's northernmost and southernmost localities)." "The time when Israel could terrorise us has expired," he said. Meanwhile, Nasrallah fiercely defended his backer Iran: "Day after day, it is confirmed that Iran is an ally of Arabs and Muslims... and this was confirmed during the recent confrontation in Gaza and before that in Lebanon." "There are Arab and Islamic countries working to offer Israel a friend and Iran an enemy," he said, in an apparent reference to Gulf countries. "But Israel does not help its friends in the Arab and Muslim world." According to Pentagon officials, Hezbollah has 50,000 missiles, including some capable of reaching Tel Aviv.

Five killed, 70 injured in D.I. Khan blast

D.I. KHAN: Five more people were killed and 70 others injured in second blast in two days in D.I. Khan, Geo News reported. The bomb was put in a shop in Chogla area. It was detonated with a remote-controlled device. Police and LEAs have cordoned off the area after the blast. Emergency have been declared in all the hospitals. It is said that Ashura procession was the target of miscreants and the blast occurred near it. Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar confirmed the death toll, adding that the bomb was planted in a closed shop. It is second blast in two days. On Saturday eight people including four children were killed in the blast near 9th Muharram procession.

Euro weakens as eurozone fails to agree Greek deal

HONG KONG: The euro fell in Asian trade on Wednesday and shares were mixed after eurozone finance chiefs said they had failed to agree on a deal to unlock the latest batch of crucial bailout cash for Greece.
Ministers said in a statement at the end of talks that ended in the small hours that they would meet again next Monday "for further technical work on some elements of the package".
The news sent the euro diving from recent highs against the yen, while it also lost almost a US cent from its intra-day peak against the dollar.
In afternoon trade the single currency bought $1.2753 and 104.37 yen, after hitting $1.2820 and 105.07 yen ahead of the announcement from Brussels.
It had finished in New York Tuesday at $1.2818 and 104.70 yen.
The dollar, which had touched a seven-month high of 81.97 yen in the morning, bought 81.81 yen.
Traders were left disappointed as they had been buying the euro on expectations an agreement would be made in Brussels, while Jean-Claude Juncker, who presides over the Eurogroup has said there were "good chances of an agreement".
However, the meeting ended with a statement saying only that they "made progress in identifying a consistent package of credible initiatives aimed at making a further substantial contribution to the sustainability of Greek government debt".
"It was progress but we have to do a little bit more," International Monetary Fund (IMF) boss Christine Lagarde told reporters as she left the meeting.
The major sticking point had been whether to give Greece, which is in desperate need of the $40 billion handout, an extra two years to arrive at a point where it can raise its own funds.

Crude up in Asia

SINGAPORE: Oil prices rose in Asian trade Wednesday on an unexpected fall in US crude stockpiles but eurozone ministers' failure to reach a Greek bailout deal pared earlier gains, analysts said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January was up two cents at $86.77 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for January delivery added 16 cents to $109.99.

Oil prices fall amid hopes for Mideast truce

NEW YORK: Oil prices slumped Tuesday on fresh economic strains in Europe and amid expectations -- still unfulfilled late in the day -- of a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza.
New York's main contract, WTI light sweet crude for delivery in January, slid $2.53 from Monday to $86.75 a barrel.
Brent North Sea crude for January shed $1.87 to $109.83 a barrel in London trade.
"Rumors abound today as headlines out of the Middle East signalled an 'imminent ceasefire' agreement, but as of this writing nothing has been set in stone," said BMO Capital Markets in its market summary.
"The rumor alone pushed the market lower erasing much of the gains from the previous day sessions, and given all the headline watching, expect continued swings as the Middle East risk premium has re-emerged as the Alpha dog on the street."
Oil prices had surged about $2 a barrel to strike one-month highs on Monday as Israel stepped up its assault on Gaza.
The pressure lower also came with Moody's downgrade of France's sovereign rating late Monday, warning that it was vulnerable to more deterioration in the eurozone.
Despite hopes for a cease-fire and the unexpected arrival in Israel of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, there was no letup late Tuesday to Israel's attacks on Gaza, killing another 26 and taking the toll of the week-long assault to more than 130.
Clinton was to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as Palestinian officials and to visit Cairo to meet with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, seen as one of the most influential negotiators in the current conflict.

HTC "happy" with Apple settlement, slams media estimates

TOKYO: Taiwan's HTC Corp is happy with its patent settlement with Apple Inc, but regards media reports on details of the licensing agreement as "outrageous", chief executive Peter Chou told reporters on Tuesday.
HTC and Apple announced a global patent settlement and a 10-year licensing agreement this month after a bruising patent war between the two smartphone makers.
The companies did not disclose details of the settlement or the licensing agreement, but HTC said it will not change its fourth-quarter guidance.
Responding to a question about media reports that HTC will pay Apple $6 to $8 per Android phone as part of the patent settlement, Chou said it was an outrageous estimate.
"I think that these estimates are baseless and very, very wrong. It is a outrageous number, but I'm not going to comment anything on a specific number. I believe we have a very, very happy settlement and a good ending," said Chou at a KDDI Corp product launch in Tokyo.
Apple sued the Taiwanese handset maker in 2010, its first major legal salvo against a manufacturer using Google's Android operating system. Since the suit, a patent war has engulfed competitors including Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Google's Motorola Mobility unit.

Sindh:CNG stations shut for 48 hours

KARACHI: All CNG stations in the province of Sindh including this mega-metropolis city have been closed for 48 hours from 9.00 A.M. in the morning on Wednesday, Geo News reported.
Earlier, Sui Southern Gas Company officials had announced that CNG stations all across Sindh will be shut down for two days from tomorrow (Wednesday) morning at 9.00 A.M. to Friday morning at 9.00 A.M. Last week also the company had suspended supply of CNG to the all the stations in Sindh for two days due to what they said low pressure of gas from the source i.e. the gas fields.
Meanwhile the coaches, buses, taxis, rickshaws, motorists as well as the commuters are facing great difficulties due to frequent suspension of gas supply to CNG stations. The vehicle owners complain that they have to wait for hours in long queues for getting their gas cylinders re-filled and even those fortunate who succeed in their efforts cannot keep their vehicles running during 48 hours of break that cause thinning out of the public transport on roads, who are forced to travel hanging around or even sitting at the rooftops of jam-packed mini-buses and coaches. Besides, traders and shopkeepers also grumbled that frequent interruptions in transport facility due to non-availability of CNG hampering their business activities and causing losses owing to less shoppers and less sale.