Newark, NJ, United States (AHN Sports) – Although he denied supporting the idea for contraction in the NBA, LeBron James’ statements have reportedly offended the Nets.

The Nets, along with Minnesota, were singled out by James as candidates for being cut loose by the team, though LeBron later denied knowing what contracted entailed.

In his unsolicited comments last week when he indicated that the league would be better off with fewer franchises, the Heat star forward also singled out Nets guard Devin Harris as one of the players to be dispersed among the NBA.

James also mentioned Kevin Love and Brook Lopez as part of his examples.

Meanwhile, Harris indicated that he is against contraction.

“For him to talk about us specifically, it was a little offensive,” Harris told the New York Daily News Tuesday. “But from a business standpoint, to know what’s best – we’re still trying to figure this out.”

Nets coach Avery Johnson, on the other hand, who was more confrontational compared to Harris’ response, said via the Daily News: “I disagree. Maybe the league would be better off without three stars on one team.”

Nets veteran forward Troy Murphy, who was also against contraction, told the Daily News, “I think the NBA is a great thing, it’s an honor to play in the NBA and I don’t think we should contract.”

The reigning two-time NBA MVP James later came out and denied that he had any support for the idea of contraction, claiming Monday the he was misinterpreted and didn’t know what “contraction” meant.

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Moscow, Russian Federation (AHN) – A day after the United States and Germany denounced the second trial of jailed Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Russia has blasted the West for putting on unacceptable pressure.

A statement from Russian Foreign Ministry on its website said, “Attempts to exert pressure on the court are unacceptable.” “We expect everyone to mind his own business, both at home and in the international arena,” it added.

Khodorkovsky was once considered as a threat to former President Vladimir Putin. He was convicted of embezzlement for stealing from his firm Yukon with his business partner Platon Lebedev. Khodorkovsky’s lawyers vowed to appeal against the verdict, of which they said came amid official pressure.

Khodorkovsky is already serving an eight-year sentence for tax evasion and fraud in a separate trial for which he was jailed in 2005.

On Tuesday, Khodorkovsky and Lebedev reappeared in the court as the judge delivered his verdict. Experts suggest Western governments to silently watch Russia’s anti-corruption moves.

So far Khodorkovsky case has not yet affected between Russia and Western nations in issues like allowing transit to NATO forces fighting in Afghanistan, cooperation on Iran sanctions and new agreement on START treat.

The White House had expressed its deep concerns as Spokesman Robert Gibbs described the verdict as a “selective application” of justice. This appears to be an abusive use of the legal system for improper ends.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday said that Khodorkovsky’s verdict would negatively affect Russia’s reputation, adding that it “raises serious questions about selective prosecution – and about the rule of law being overshadowed by political considerations.”

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D.C., Washington, United States (AHN) – A report released Tuesday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said 157 U.S. banks closed in 2010 and more are expected to shutter in the coming months. The figure is the worst since 1992 when a savings-and-loan crisis hit the country.

Prior to 2006, there were no bank closures. However, the crash of Wall Street and the global financial crisis triggered bank failures that the number of shuttered banks grew to 140 in 2009.

More alarming is that the FDIC has a list of 860 problem banks as of Sept. 30, the highest number since 1993. Statistically about 20 percent of problem banks on FDIC’s list eventually end up closing.

Because of the spate of bank failures, the FDIC coffers are depleted, although the agency forecast it will have sufficient funds in the future to address an expected rise in bank closures until 2014.

Trends, however, indicate the size of banks that failed has become smaller. For 2010, the average assets of shuttered banks stood at $92.1 billion, down 45.7 percent from the 2009 average of $169.7 billion.

In December alone, the FDIC listed eight banks that closed. These were:

• Community National Bank in Lino Lakes, MN
• First Southern Bank in Batesville, AR
• United Americas Bank in Atlanta, GA
• Appalachian Community Bank in McCaysville, GA
• Chestatee State Bank in Dawsonville, GA
• The Bank of Miami, National Association in Coral Gables, FL
• Earthstar Bank in Southampton, PA
• Paramount Bank iin Farmington Hills, MI.

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Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – The U.S. government is trying to smooth over the latest blow to its diplomacy after a new Wikileaks disclosure revealed harsh State Department criticism of Chilean President Sebastian Pinera.

The State Department documents accuse him of shady business dealings before he was elected.

This week, U.S. Ambassador to Chile Alejandro D. Wolff issued a statement saying the United States had “respect and admiration” for Pinera.

The ambassador’s statement contrasts sharply with a 2009 State Department communication, called a cable, that described Pinera during his presidential campaign as a man who “handles both his business and politics to the limits of law and ethics.”

The cable published by Wikileaks also said the billionaire conservative was “linked in the past to a number of questionable actions” in his business dealings.

However, Chilean voters seemed unconcerned about them.

Wikileaks is a Web site that publishes secret government documents. In recent weeks, Wikileaks has been publishing more than 250,000 secret U.S. State Department cables.

One Chilean media report said news of the cables about the country’s president “fell like a cluster bomb” on the Pinera administration.

The cable apparently referred to a 1982 lawsuit against Pinera that accused him of fraud.

He was accused of using his influence in Banco de Talca to make millions of dollars in bad loans to companies he owned.

The bank subsequently collapsed.

The lawsuit said Pinera violated Chile’s banking laws.

The State Department cables also describe Pinera’s controversial 2006 purchase of three million shares in his flagship business LAN Airlines.

Chilean securities regulators fined Pinera about $700,000 for buying the shares on the same day the airline’s board of directors signed off on an earnings report.

The Chilean regulators said Pinera was fined for “failing to abstain” from buying shares while he was benefiting from inside information.

The fine represents an administrative violation but carries no criminal penalties.

A State Department cable from former U.S. Ambassador to Chile Paul Simons said Pinera is a “competitive businessman and politician, prone to taking risks…some of his actions appear to cross the line of what is strictly legal.”

Since taking office in March, Pinera has divested himself of his stakes in LAN Airlines, local television station Chilevision and soccer club Colo-Colo.

As the State Department cables were being mentioned widely in the Chilean news media, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela called Chilean Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno.

Moreno said in interviews that Valenzuela told him the cables describing Pinera were not properly filtered. Valenzuela also reportedly said the opinions expressed in the cables were not the official policy of the U.S. government.

About the same time, U.S. Ambassador Wolff issued his statement, which said, “The U.S. government has high regard and great respect and admiration for President Sebastian Pinera, who has worked hard for the best interests of his country and people of Chile.”

The statement also said that “our partnership is unique and will continue to deepen our cooperation in the months and years ahead.”

The State Department cables also took aim at Pinera’s presidential predecessor, Michelle Bachelet.

They described her as being well-intentioned but a poor administrator whose policy toward Argentina hurt Chilean interests.

Pinera administration spokeswoman Ena von Baer downplayed the importance of the Wikileaks documents.

She said the comments about Bachelet represented “leaks of private conversations that do not reflect the official opinion of anyone, where no one is responsible for these views and that are often taken out of context.”

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Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – Many Canadian workers would begin 2011 paying higher personal income and payroll taxes, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation warned Tuesday.

For personal income taxes, the federation said all the 16 income and family groups in each Canadian province would pay 2 percent higher taxes.

For business payroll taxes, because of hikes in payroll tax thresholds, workers earning more than $44,200 a year would shell out $76 more, while their employers would have to pay $110 more.

The federation blamed the increase to the federal government’s hike in the Canadian Pension Plan premiums and the creation of new, non-insurance based programs funded by Employment Insurance premiums, which caused the program to create a deficit to be covered by higher rates.

The federation pointed out that income tax and payroll tax increases in previous years evened out because some groups enjoyed cuts, while others had to pay more. In 2011, all income levels, family scenarios and geographical location would be affected negatively.

Worst hit will be residents of Ontario, British Columbia and Nova Scotia because inflation rates in these provinces are higher than national average. As a consequence, Ontario residents would be hit with a 4.3 percent increase, BC residents 2.9 percent and Nova Scotians 2.8 percent.

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Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – Only 14 percent of Canadians believe air pollution is very dangerous to their health, according to a study released Tuesday by the Environics Research Group.

While they admit that poor air quality causes some health risks, they think the danger would happen if they had been exposed on a long-term basis or the threat is more on weaker members of the community.

The survey said those Canadians would only change their outlook if they or a member of their household became ill because of poor air quality.

The survey found that 48 percent of the 1,400 respondents view air pollution as a somewhat serious hazard, while 32 percent did not even consider it a serious hazard.

The survey supports an earlier Environics study that Canadians are not focused on climate change issues as they were in 2007 and 2008, according to Environics Group Vice President for Public Affairs Dr. Keith Neuman.

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New York, NY, United States (NewsBahn) – Even though she is one of the biggest stars in the world and well into her fifties, Silvio ‘Tony’ Ciccone is still worried about his daughter, Madonna. Ever since her divorce from Guy Ritchie, Madonna has been seen dating men half younger than her age, leaving her 79-year-old father concerned.

The former mechanic is hoping that the “Hard Candy” songstress will stop looking for men that are in the same age bracket as her teenager daughter Lourdes, and instead settle with someone more suitable for her.

A source tells Britain’s Now magazine: “After she split up with Jesus Luz, who’s 24, Tony was hoping Madonna had got this younger man thing out of her system, but then she started dating Brahim Zailbat, who’s also in his twenties, almost straight away.”

The source adds, “Madonna’s just out for a good time right now, but her dad thinks she should be taking things more seriously.”

According to reports, the elder Ciccone has been worried about his pop star daughter ever since she filed for her second divorce from British director Guy.

“He really liked Guy and was devastated when their marriage fell apart,” says the source.

Meanwhile, Madonna is “having the time of her life,” and thinks her father should “mind his own business.”

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Crosby, TX, United States (AHN) – An explosion at an industrial chemical plant east of Houston sent three workers to the hospital on Friday.

Two of the victims were transported by helicopter with burns to the face and neck and the third person was transported by ambulance. All three victims were reportedly in stable condition.

The explosion happened at the KMCO LP chemical plant in the 16500 block of Ramsey Road near the Crosby-Dayton Road in Crosby, Texas.

It was the result of a small fire in a reactor for fuel additives used by oil and gas companies. The accident is under investigation.

No chemicals were released into the air as a result of the incident.

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Sana’a, Yemen (TML) – Abd-A-Karim Al-Arhabi is the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and the Minister of Planning and International Cooperation for the Republic of Yemen. He is also the founder and Managing Director of the Social Fund for Development.

This past April, Deputy Prime Minister Al-Arhabi received a public service award from the World Bank, citing him as a “key champion in the battle to reduce poverty, improve governance and broaden economic growth for Yemen.”

The Media Line’s Felice Friedson recently spoke with the Deputy Prime Minister in his office in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a.

***

TML: Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Abd-A-Karim Al-Arhabi, thank you for taking the time for this interview.

Al-Arhabi: You’re welcome.

TML: It’s rare in the West to hear anything [about Yemen] without the words Al-Qa’ida. Is that accurate? Is that a fair assessment?

Al-Arhabi: No it is not. It cannot be. You yourself are in Sana’a and you see how Sana’a is. We have some isolated incidents of Al-Qa’ida types from time to time, but many countries are subjected to some threats, so it’s not only Yemen. Other countries are subject to similar terror acts. The media is exaggerating. Talking about Al-Qa’ida is exciting and it attracts readers and viewers. That’s why whatever relates to Al-Qa’ida is being very much exaggerated and it overshadows the image of Yemen, which is most unfair.

TML: On one hand, there is a story to tell about Yemen, the country. A poor country, but a country with a rich history and beautiful architecture. On the other hand, there are serious incidents in rural areas with Al-Qa’ida and terrorism, so how do you contain that terrorism?

Al-Arhabi: I think the government is doing its best. Yemen unfortunately went through several cycles: or permanent cycles of conflict.

You are first, absolutely right. Yemen is a very interesting country; a unique country; has a rich culture; has a beautiful landscape and a long history of civilization which extends back to 1,700 B.C. We have a civilization that is 3700 years old. The country has very limited resources and unfortunately went through continuous cycles of conflict for 50 years which has drained resources and energy.

At the present time, the government is trying its best to combat terrorism and Al-Qa’ida — but we all know that Yemen has very little in terms of financial resources and human resources necessary to deal with Al-Qa’ida. The government is doing its best; and has had several successes in combating Al-Qa’ida.

TML: Does Yemen welcome American assistance and guidance in countering terrorism?

Al-Arhabi: Terrorism is a global threat and unless we all join forces together, we will not be able to defeat that threat. That’s why we need to cooperate — all of us –in exchanging information, experience and so on; and providing all kinds of necessary support. It is an official position of the Yemeni government to accept support, whether it is coming from the United States or any other development partners.

TML: It is known that poor countries like Yemen have areas where Al-Qa’ida seeks out young people in order to drag them into terrorism. How do you prevent that?

Al-Arhabi: You are absolutely right. The young people are most vulnerable to being influenced by Al-Qa’ida and the extremists. The young people who don’t have proper education and skill training and a respectable life can be misled and used for any purpose. That’s why it is of extreme importance that we focus on young people to provide them with good education, focusing on skills, training and jobs. Otherwise, it can be extremely dangerous. Extremists usually target young people to indoctrinate them. That’s a big danger, actually. Young people who have no perspectives in life, have to be careful and Yemen needs to provide young people with hope and perspectives.

TML: Yemen appears to be making serious efforts towards democratization. Is the West helping sufficiently? Are you satisfied with that assistance or should there be more?

Al-Arhabi: Well, our needs are unlimited, to be fair, in terms of democratization; and in terms of meeting the basic needs of the population. Our needs are unlimited, but we welcome any support. We have some donors and development partners that have been providing us with support for the last three and four decades. But still, what Yemen is getting is very limited. I can give you some examples. The official development assistance that Yemen is getting is between $13 and $15 per capita per year while the average per capita in the least developing countries is more than $40 per capita per year. Yemen is very much under-funded. This is a well-known fact. Sometimes you have donors that are focusing on specific parts of the world to provide assistance and sometimes donors confuse us with the Peninsula as a whole. They feel we are part of the huge wealth in the Peninsula which is not true. Yemen is a very poor country.

TML: As managing director of the Social Fund for Development, at what rate is Yemen’s economy moving forward? How fast is it growing?

Al-Arhabi: We had ambitious plans. We thought that we would be able to reach high economic growth: to be able to reduce poverty in the country. Our population growth is 3 percent and we planned to have economic growth of 7.1 percent for the three to five years according to a plan spanning from 2006 to 2010. Unfortunately, we couldn’t reach that goal. It was too ambitious and we had so many problems in the country. What we achieved was an average of 4.6 percent economic growth, which is reasonable if you take into consideration the difficulties and challenges the country is facing.

TML: The Social Fund for Development is now backing the expansion of the coffee industry. Some of the coffee suppliers that I spoke with expressed concerned over the government’s lack of assistance in the area of water — that they need dams — and that they need internationally-recognized grading systems in order to move the coffee industry forward. What does the government need to do in order to make that difference?

Al-Arhabi: Again, it is the same problem. The needs are unlimited and the resources are very limited. The government has been providing assistance to the farmers but it’s not enough, I agree with that. However, our planning is to have special programs to support the coffee growers and farmers and provide them with the necessary assistance in terms of capacity building; building dams and modern irrigation systems. We are determined to provide such assistance to the coffee farmers.

TML: Is the plan to be able to help coffee growers distribute better or is it to actually process the coffee here and ship directly?

Al-Arhabi: We would like to provide them with comprehensive assistance. We will intensify our assistance to the coffee farmers by providing them with capacity building but also to provide them with some basic services they need like you mentioned: the water. We will try to help them building rainwater harvesting schemes in their areas. At the same time, we have several microfinance programs and small enterprise financing programs that could provide funding as well for the processing and trade of coffee. Such assistance is available and accessible to the coffee farmers and coffee traders and those who are interested in processing.

TML: Looking at the rest of Yemen, the other industry that has room to grow is the grape industry. Are grapes second-class citizens to coffee beans?

Al-Arhabi: No, I think we have assorted programs in the country to promote economic activities all over the country. Those are limited programs and cannot meet all the needs and demands for services all over the country so we have several programs targeting different sectors; different areas of the country; and also different products.

TML: What is your biggest frustration in speaking to the American or Western markets?

Al-Arhabi: To the Western markets? Of course we want to have better access to those markets. At the present time, we are negotiating with the different countries for access to the World Trade Organization. Hopefully, we’ll get good deals in those negotiations with the different countries.

TML: When the Western world looks at the Middle East, almost reflexively the conversation comes around to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In reality, there are a number of other Middle Eastern issues. Here in Yemen, how does the Israeli-Palestinian conflict rank among conflicts?

Al-Arhabi: Well, this is a major conflict that is occupying everybody. I think everybody is very much interested to resolve this conflict. Everyone is interested in a fair settlement of the conflict. This is a very sensitive issue to all Arabs and Muslims in general and hopefully the Americans, the Europeans can really help in reaching a fair settlement for this issue and Palestinians can regain their rights again.

TML: Does it impact Yemen directly?

Al-Arhabi: It impacts all Arab countries — no doubt about that whatsoever.

TML: Issues of women in the region do not exactly fall under the category of your ministry, they are serious issues today in terms of the nation’s development. How do you rate Yemen ranks in terms of how its women are treated and its progress in that direction?

Al-Arhabi: We have no doubt that the gender issue is a big issue in the country. It is being discussed at all levels. In the first place, we admit we have a problem and that’s the first step toward doing something about it. We have several programs which are addressed toward women in this country. Yemen is one of the first countries that signed several conventions and treaties related to women’s rights and the gender issue. The government is focused very much on girls’ education. Girls’ education is one of the areas that will help really enrich the level of equality between men and women; and will enable women to contribute substantially to the nation’s development. If you look into Yemen now and compare it with the Yemen of two or three decades ago, you will see a big difference. The woman has really gained a lot during the last few decades and is now participating actively in the labor market. The growth of employment of women in the government agencies is growing continuously; and the whole society now recognizes that women have their own advantages when it comes to the workplace. They are recognized for being more disciplined and organized; and so there is a lot of acceptance for employment of women whether in the private sector or in government agencies. We made significant progress but of course it is not enough. Within the plan for the next five years, we have a chapter on gender issues, so we will endorse several policies that will promote the development and participation of woman in business and government.

TML: Two issues women view as being seriously backward are healthcare for women and allowing women to take vacations from work. Are these going to be resolved in the near future?

Al-Arhabi: These are some of the challenges that we are aware of and we are doing our best to deal with them. But as I said, the needs are huge and the resources extremely limited in this country.

TML: What is the biggest challenge you face personally in the next 10 years?

Al-Arhabi: There are so many challenges but I think education is a very big challenge. We still have millions of kids who have no access to schools, who drop out. We have problems of educational quality. We have problems to provide the right skill training that the market needs. I think the biggest challenge is education. The education can deal with other challenges, like population growth, health and other money challenges. So I think education is a big big concern.

TML: Thank you very much for the time, Mr. Deputy Minister.

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Trading is a process wherein exchange of materials takes places. It implies saying that one item is bought in exchange for the other. One could imagine it as a daily activity where one buys are a required item in exchange for his/her native currency for an amount which depicts the value of the item bought in terms of currency.
Trading can be imagined in various types. In the modern day terminology of trading, one would categorize trading into the following.
1- Stock trading
2- Future and commodity
3- Forex
Regardless of the type of trading, the basic concept is the same and reliance on the aspect of exchange.
On thorough research into the various aspects of trade, one can easily observe that there can be different types of traders in the market.
They can be differentiated as:
Scalpers: Those traders who try to look for profits from those several transactions they carry within the day. Usually the profits are smaller in proportion.
Momentum traders: those traders who look into movement of certain stocks and trade accordingly in those stocks. They basically observe the direction in which certain specific stocks are moving and accordingly trade to derive profits out of the trade.
Technical traders: Those traders who rely on instruments like trend charts, smart charts, momentum charts and speculate the movement of stocks. Using this technical information they trade accordingly.
Fundamental traders: Those traders who rely on speculating by looking at a company’s fundamental analysis. For this they rely on the company’s performance information and other information related to the profit and loss in the company’s earnings report.
Nowadays there are several brokerages providing their customers with online portals so that their clients can also experience the trade in real time. Apart from providing the facility of trading in real time using these portals, most of them also provide exclusive access to their research related to various aspects of trading to most of the customers. In some cases, some of the data is available to the customers on paid basis.
Online stock analysis is of specific significance as it makes sense most of the time to trade based on the fundamentals governing the movement of stocks.
Not always will the above types of charts will be useful. A thorough technical analysis also needs to be read in conjunction with other analysis pertaining to political and economical implications brought about in the country. These implications are powerful enough to change the course of trade.
Forex trading especially is volatile in the above said aspect. Moreover the volatility comes into picture due to its 24 hr active characteristic. Forex trading is something which is done all round the clock and no time limit exists in its case unlike normal stock trading.

Whatever is the type of trade, one is encouraged to passively observe the way trading is done and its technical parameters before really plunging into the field. You can learn more about Stock charts, market trends, Forex trading, online automated stock analysis and other financial and investment particulars.

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