Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Selected News Feeds - Canadian Dollar Sets 14-Year High as Commodities Boom Lifts Economy, Rates

Apr. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The Canadian dollar set a 14-year high on speculation the Bank of Canada will keep lifting borrowing costs to curb inflation in an economy benefiting from surging commodities prices.

Selected News Feeds - Canada presses for imam's release

The federal government says it is using "all possible diplomatic avenues" to push for the release of Canadian Islamic religious leader Huseyin Celil from jail in Uzbekistan, where he faces deportation to China and possible execution.

Selected News Feeds - Syrians, Jordanian on trial over Aqaba rocket attack

AMMAN (Reuters) - Five Syrians and a Jordanian accused of links to Iraqi insurgent groups went on trial in Jordan on Wednesday charged with firing rockets that missed two U.S. warships docked at the Red Sea port of Aqaba.

Selected News Feeds - Egyptian security on high alert after more attacks

Egyptian security forces were on high alert following two terrorist attacks by suicide bombers in the north of Sinai and a separate incident at a police checkpoint in the east of the country.

Selected News Feeds - Stocks in U.S. Rise as PepsiCo, General Motors, U.S. Steel Shares Increase

Apr. 26 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks rose as profit results from PepsiCo Inc. and Monster Worldwide Inc. spurred optimism that earnings growth this year will be better than expected.

Selected News Feeds - Boeing Profit Rises 29 Percent on Biggest Gain in Deliveries in Five Years

Apr. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co., the world's No. 2 commercial-jet maker, said first-quarter earnings rose a higher- than-expected 29 percent, helped by the biggest jump in airliner deliveries in five years.

Selected News Feeds - Gazprom Shares Surge, Taking Russia's Gas Company Past BP in Market Value

Apr. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin now controls the world's second-biggest energy company by market value, after shares of state-run OAO Gazprom surged to a record, making the company worth more than BP Plc.

Selected News Feeds - Oil Minister Asserts Iran Won't Cut Exports

Iran's top oil official said the country wouldn't use its exports as a political weapon and that it struggles to meet its own domestic demand.

Selected News Feeds - Rumsfeld, Rice visit Iraq in show of support

On a mission to show support for Iraq's fledgling new government, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived today in Baghdad on unannounced visits. Rumsfeld told reporters: "This is a sovereign country, and they are making impressive progress."

Selected News Feeds - PepsiCo Earnings Climb 12 Percent on Demand for Gatorade, Frito-Lay Snacks

Apr. 26 (Bloomberg) -- PepsiCo Inc., the world's second- largest soft-drink maker, said first-quarter profit rose 12 percent on demand for soda in Asia and Europe and Sun Chip snacks in the U.S.

Selected News Feeds - Olmert clinches first Israeli coalition partner

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima Party signed its first partner for an Israeli coalition government on Wednesday, a party spokesman said.

Selected News Feeds - Ace to Pay $80 Million in Industry's Third Bid-Rigging Settlement of 2006

Apr. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Ace Ltd., a Bermuda-based insurer, agreed to pay $80 million to settle bid-rigging and accounting probes stemming from New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's two-year investigation of the industry.

Selected News Feeds - Durable Goods Orders in U.S. Jump 6.1 Percent, Biggest Gain in 10 Months

Apr. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Orders for long-lasting goods rose the most in 10 months in March as U.S. businesses invested in new equipment to meet demand.