The Most Important Economic Indicator You’ve Never Heard Of

Those bullish on global economic recovery have their data points: the steady upward climb of world stock markets, three straight months of Chinese manufacturing expansion, the weak dollar. But there are still plenty of skeptics of a rapid and robust turnaround, with their own set of numbers to cite: continued bleeding of private-sector jobs in the US and Europe, more record lows in new home construction, and, er, the weak dollar

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Iraqi Kurds begin exporting oil

In an elaborately choreographed ceremony broadcast live on television, the leaders of Iraqi Kurdistan began pumping oil from Kurdish-controlled oil fields in northern Iraq through a pipeline to neighboring Turkey. It is the first time Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region has officially exported oil out of the country

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North Korea’s Next Kim: Dad’s Favorite, Kim Jong Un

In his memoir recounting the days he spent as Kim Jong Il’s personal chef in Pyongyang, Kenji Fujimoto calls Kim Jong Un, the third son of the North Korea dictator, the “Prince.” “When Jong Un shook hands with me,” Fujimoto writes, “he stared at me with a vicious look.

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Oil’s Sky-High Forecast

Racing between OPEC meetings in Vienna, Saudi Arabia’s powerful oil minister Ali Al-Naimi told a reporter that the cartel was “determined” to keep the price of oil at around $25 a barrel, rather than risk a slump in the market by boosting its production. Wait a minute. $25 Al-Naimi said that in April 2003 — less than five years ago — when a barrel of oil cost one-quarter of this week’s whopping $100, and when prices were regarded as high enough to keep oil-rich countries happy

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OPEC Wants You to Pay More for Gas

For many consumers, the only silver lining on the global financial crisis has been the falling oil price it has precipitated. But OPEC is determined to put an end to the relief at the gas pump. Concerned to protect their countries’ financial health, oil ministers from the 13 members of the cartel of oil-producing countries meet in Vienna on Friday with only one item on their agenda — cutting their oil output in order to drive up world prices.

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The 10 Greatest Books of All Time

Let ‘s not mince words: literary lists are basically an obscenity. Literature is the realm of the ineffable and the unquantifiable; lists are the realm of menus and laundry and rotisserie baseball. There’s something unseemly and promiscuous about all those letters and numbers jumbled together

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Barcelona reserves are beaten by Osasuna

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola paid the price for fielding a team of reserves as his Primera Liga champions suffered a shock 1-0 home defeat to Osasuna on Saturday night. With one eye firmly on Wednesday’s Champions League final, Walter Pandiani’s goal proved enough for relegation-threatened Osasuna to pick up a crucial three points — although they remain in the relegation zone with just one match remaining

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How the Economy Could Crush Iraq’s Hopes

Ahmed Basim Mohammed al-Abaje is understanding about slow salary payments from the Iraqi government. He and other citizens of Baghdad are beginning to realize that the Iraqi government is running low on cash owing to the global financial crisis.

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Top Mexican cartel suspect arrested

A top drug cartel suspect with a $1 million reward on his head has been captured by Mexican soldiers, federal authorities said. Japanese distributors are currently in negotiations for the rights to the film and buzz around the no-budget zombie chiller has attracted interest from some major American distributors — all of which is a very nice surprise for the team behind “Colin.” “We were almost fainting at the list of people who were coming [to the final market screening of the film],” said Helen Grace of Left Films who is helping the film’s director Marc Price publicize the film in Cannes. “Representatives from major American distributors — some of the Hollywood studios.” “When we say it’s a low budget film, people presume a couple of hundred thousand [dollars].

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