Offshore wind still years off after 1st auction

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- It will be a few years before energy is generated by any offshore wind farm in the United States, but efforts to get more of the nation's energy from such sources took a major step forward last week when the federal government for the first time auctioned off leases for wind energy on the outer continental shelf.

Providence-based Deepwater Wind was the provisional winner of the two leases for an area that starts around 10 miles off the coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island and stretches between and to the south of Block Island and Martha's Vineyard. The company bid $3.8 million for the two leases combined, beating out two other bidders in the auction held Wednesday by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, a division of the U.S. Department of Interior.

Tommy Beaudreau, director of the bureau, called it a historic moment in the future of clean energy in the country and said it would help in meeting President Barack Obama's goal of increasing the amount of clean energy generated on public lands. The Department of Energy has estimated the area could support enough electricity to power more than 1 million homes.

There are no offshore wind farms in the U.S., though several are being developed, including Cape Wind off Cape Cod and a small 5-turbine project off Block Island, being developed by Deepwater. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management also plans to auction off leases for several other offshore wind development areas, including Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Virginia, where an auction will be held next month.

Deepwater CEO Jeff Grybowski said after the auction that the work for his company begins now. It will have to look closely at the area it is leasing and win state and federal permits that will allow the company to begin construction. That process is expected to last into 2015.

"We need to study everything from the birds and the whales to the ocean floor. We need to study the wind patterns out there and the waves," Grybowski said.

Assuming it receives permits, Deepwater will then begin construction onshore of foundations and other components, which will happen at Quonset Point in North Kingstown. Grybowski said an aggressive schedule could mean the company starts putting turbines in the water in 2017. It plans to erect 200 turbines, which would generate 1,000 megawatts, he said.

The project would start generating power in 2018.

The first offshore wind farm operating in the U.S. is expected to be either Deepwater's smaller project or Cape Wind. Cape Wind officials have said construction could begin later this year, while Grybowski said work is scheduled to start next year on the 5-turbine Deepwater project, with operation expected in 2015.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/offshore-wind-still-years-off-124802477.html

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China's Army Defends 'Sovereign Territory' from Japanese in Game

These are just some of the "guizi", the derogatory Chinese term for the Japanese occupiers during World War Two, that will die at the hands of Chinese troops defending their sovereign land, in a new Chinese video game released on Thursday, the anniversary of the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) founding.

"Glorious Mission Online" was developed by Giant Interactive Group, a Chinese developer and publisher, in collaboration with the PLA for use in training simulations. It has entered into the CBT on August 1st.

Now it has been released as an online game, allowing players to defend contested islands in the East China Sea -- Diaoyu to the Chinese, Senkaku to the Japanese.

"Players will do battle alongside the PLA, with guns in hand, and tell the Japanese: 'You will not violate our sovereign territory!'" says a statement on the game's website.

The row over the barren clump of rocks in the East China Sea - administered by Japan - has badly affected relations between Beijing and Tokyo.

Japan's defense ministry declined to comment on the game's release.

The PLA was interested in having a 3D interactive game for simulations with virtual replicas of their weapons, said Richard Chiang, a spokesman for Giant Interactive.

"The military was 100 percent behind this game," he said. "Rather than playing the same foreign games like Call of Duty and being American Marines shooting Russians or whatnot, Chinese can actually play as Chinese soldiers."

Glorious Mission Online plays much like any other first-person shooter, though nationalism is prominent.

Weibo of People's Daily shows the PLAs are testing this game.

?

One mission has players fighting with "burning passion" from the deck of the Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier, in a "life-and-death" battle.

"The guizi are coming!" warns the game in a scenario where players are tasked with defending a World War Two-era Shanghai and its cultural artefacts from Japanese invaders.

"The guizi have been obliterated!" Glorious Mission congratulates the player after a grenade explodes under the last enemy's feet. Shanghai's museums are saved.

Source: Reuters

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Iranian news agency says it misquoted Rouhani

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Iran's semiofficial ISNA news agency says it misquoted the country's president-elect Hasan Rouhani.

ISNA reported Friday that Rouhani said "the Zionist regime has been a wound on the body of the Islamic world for years and the wound should be removed" in remarks ahead of his inauguration.

The remarks, made during an annual pro-Palestinian rally, echoed longstanding views of other Iranian leaders and threatened to tarnish his image in the West as a voice of moderation in Iranian affairs.

But after an outcry, ISNA corrected the quote, saying Rouhani actually said "in our region and under occupation of Palestine and dear al-Quds (Jerusalem), there has been a wound on the body of the Islamic world."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iranian-news-agency-says-misquoted-rouhani-143041460.html

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Chevron's 2Q profit falls on lower oil prices

Chevron's latest quarterly profit was huge _ $5.37 billion _ but down 26 percent from last year due to lower oil prices, less production, and maintenance work at some refineries.

The results mirrored lower profit at Exxon Mobil and Shell, and they also lagged Wall Street expectations. Chevron shares fell $1.49, or 1.2 percent, to $124.95 Friday.

Consumers aren't likely to feel sorry for Chevron _ not after they fill their tanks at the national average of $3.63 for a gallon of gas. And Chevron's quarterly profit was much fatter than those at Google, General Electric and Johnson & Johnson _ like Chevron, they all rank among the 10 biggest companies by stock market value.

But for the second-biggest U.S. oil company, Chevron Corp.'s haul was considered disappointing because a year ago it earned $7.21 billion.

Chevron's profit worked out to $2.77 per share, down from $3.66 per share a year ago. Analysts were expecting $2.97 per share, according to FactSet.

Revenue fell 8 percent to $57.37 billion but came in higher than the $56.01 billion that analysts expected.

Chairman and CEO John Watson said earnings fell "largely due to softer market conditions for crude oil and refined products." He said repair and maintenance work on U.S. refineries was also a factor.

In percentage terms, Chevron's profit decline was only half as steep as those reported Thursday by Exxon Mobil Corp., which earned $6.86 billion on revenue of $106.47 billion, and Royal Dutch Shell. But the causes were similar _ lower oil prices and declining production.

The average price that Chevron got for a barrel of oil or natural gas liquids was $92 in the United States and $94 overseas; both were down $5 a barrel from last year's second quarter. Natural gas prices in the U.S. jumped 74 percent, but that was up from 10-year lows in 2012.

Chevron sold more natural gas in the U.S., but sales of refined products such as gasoline dipped both at home and overseas.

Production of oil and gas fell 1.6 percent, midway between Shell's 1.3 percent decline and Exxon's 1.9 percent decrease.

Chevron boosted production in the Marcellus shale of Pennsylvania, a deep-water development in the Gulf of Mexico and a new project in Angola, but that wasn't enough to offset declines in maturing fields elsewhere.

This week's numbers underscored the challenge that the major oil companies face to tap new sources. They must drill in remote areas or blast through tight rock formations. The costs are high, and it can take years for a project to begin producing crude.

Big Oil may be reining in any ambitions of boosting production. Exxon has posted nine straight quarters in which output sank from 12 months earlier. Shell announced it was dropping plans to raise production to 4 million barrels per day by 2018 from the current 3 million per day.

Source: http://www.stltoday.com/business/national-and-international/chevron-s-q-profit-falls-on-lower-oil-prices/article_4c2145fa-0827-5fa7-bd1e-d12f9ef63768.html

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Uruguay takes step toward full pot legalization

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) ? Uruguay's unprecedented plan to put the government at the center of a legal marijuana industry has made it halfway through congress, giving President Jose Mujica a long-sought victory in his effort to explore alternatives to the global war on drugs.

All 50 members of the governing Broad Front coalition approved the proposal in a party line vote just before midnight Wednesday, keeping a narrow majority of the 96 lawmakers present after more than 13 hours of passionate debate.

The measure now goes to the Senate, where Mujica's coalition has a bigger majority and passage is expected to come within weeks for the proposal to make Uruguay the world's first nation to create a legal, regulated marijuana market.

"Sometimes small countries do great things," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the U.S. Drug Policy Alliance. "Uruguay's bold move does more than follow in the footsteps of Colorado and Washington. It provides a model for legally regulating marijuana that other countries, and U.S. states, will want to consider - and a precedent that will embolden others to follow in their footsteps."

Marijuana legalization efforts have gained momentum across the Americas in recent years as leaders watch the death toll rise from military responses to unabated drug trafficking in Mexico and Central America. Presidents Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia and Otto Perez Molina of Guatemala also have called for reforms, and a recent report by a commission of the Organization of American States encouraged new approaches, including legalization of marijuana.

But no sitting president has gone as far as Mujica to support the creation of legal alternatives to marijuana trafficking.

"At the heart of the Uruguayan marijuana regulation bill is a focus on improving public health and public safety," said Hannah Hetzer, a Drug Policy Alliance staffer who moved to Montevideo to help shepherd the proposal. "Instead of closing their eyes to the problem of drug abuse and drug trafficking, Uruguay is taking an important step towards responsible regulation of an existing reality."

Legislators in the governing coalition said putting the government at the center of a legal marijuana industry is worth trying because the global war on drugs had been a costly and bloody failure, and displacing illegal dealers through licensed pot sales could save money and lives.

They also hope to eliminate a legal contradiction in Uruguay, where it has been legal to use pot but against the law to sell it, buy it, produce it or possess even one marijuana plant.

Critics warned that marijuana is a gateway drug and said fostering the bad habits of addicts is playing with fire.

Mujica said he never consumed marijuana, but believes regulations are necessary because many other people do, even though recent polls suggest two-thirds of Uruguayans oppose the plan.

National Party Deputy Gerardo Amarilla said the government was underestimating the risk of marijuana, which he called a "gateway drug" for other chemical addictions that foster violent crimes.

"Ninety-eight percent of those who are today destroying themselves with base cocaine began with marijuana," Amarilla said. "I believe that we're risking too much. I have the sensation that we're playing with fire."

Under the legislation, Uruguay's government would license growers, sellers and consumers, and update a confidential registry to keep people from buying more than 40 grams a month.

Carrying, growing or selling pot without a license could bring prison terms, but licensed consumers could grow up to six plants at a time at home.

Growing clubs with up to 45 members each would be encouraged, fostering enough marijuana production to drive out unlicensed dealers and draw a line between pot smokers and users of harder drugs.

The latest proposal "has some adjustments, aimed at strengthening the educational issue and prohibiting driving under the effects of cannabis," ruling coalition deputy Sebastian Sabini said. "There will be self-growing clubs, and it will also be possible to buy marijuana in pharmacies" that is mass-produced by private companies.

An Institute for Regulation and Control of Cannabis would be created, with the power to grant licenses for all aspects of a legal industry to produce marijuana for recreational, medicinal or industrial use.

Dozens of pro-marijuana activists followed the debate from balconies overlooking the house floor, while others outside held signs and danced to reggae music.

"This law consecrates a reality that already exists: The marijuana sales market has existed for a long time, but illegally, buying it from traffickers, and in having plants in your house for which you can be thrown in jail," said Camilo Collazo, a 25-year-old anthropology student. "We want to put an end to this, to clean up and normalize the situation."

The heavy toll, costs and questionable results of military responses to illegal drugs have motivated marijuana legalization initiatives in the U.S. states of Colorado and Washington, and inspired many world leaders to re-think drug laws.

The secretary-general of the Organization of American States, Jose Miguel Inzulza, told Mujica last week that his members had no objections. Pope Francis, however, said during his visit to Brazil that the "liberalization of drugs, which is being discussed in several Latin American countries, is not what will reduce the spread of chemical substances."

___

Associated Press Writer Michael Warren in Buenos Aires contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uruguay-takes-step-toward-full-pot-legalization-055751123.html

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?Free, honest and credible?: African Union approves Zimbabwe elections

The head of the African Union?s election observer team has said that Zimbabwe?s presidential and parliamentary votes this week were ?free, honest and credible.?

That verdict contradicts an assessment made on Thursday by Zimbabwe?s biggest domestic monitoring group, in which it was claimed voting was ?seriously compromised?, particularly in urban areas where support for Morgan Tsvangirai, the bitter rival of President Robert Mugabe, is thought to be stronger.

Mugabe?s Zanu-PF party is already claiming victory in the presidential election, predicting that the 89-year-old leader who is running for a seventh presidential term, will have won at least 70 percent of the vote. A party spokesman said of the parliamentary vote that Zanu-PF would have at least 130 to 140 of the 210 parliamentary seats to be decided.

As for Tsvangirai, he has denounced the election as a ?huge farce?. ?The credibility of this election has been marred by administrative and legal violations which affected the legitimacy of its outcome,? he said on Thursday.

According to the first official results ? leaking unofficial results is illegal in this Zimbabwean election ? Mugabe?s Zanu-PF finds itself in the lead, although these results only include seats in rural areas, where Mugabe enjoys considerably more support than his rival Tsvangirai.

The Zimbabwe Election support Network, the country?s biggest domestic election observer group, has said that in urban areas, eight out of 10 polling stations turned away potential voters, with nearly four out of 10 rural stations doing the same. Up to a million people out of the 6.4 registered voters were unable to cast their ballots, it said.

However, Olusegun Obasanjo, who leads the Afruican Union observer mission has said that it could not verify these claims, and that the registrar-general had satisfactorily accounted for any discrepancies in the electoral roll.

Zimbabwe?s Electoral Commission has until Monday to declare the final official results.

More about: Parliamentary elections, Zimbabwe

Copyright ? 2013 euronews

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Stocks rise after tepid jobs news

Stocks rose Friday?despite the US adding fewer jobs than forecast in July, curbing optimism that the economy is poised to pick up strength in the second half of the year. Stocks gradually recovered throughout the day and major indexes ended slightly higher.?

By Steve Rothwell,?AP Markets Writer / August 2, 2013

Specialists Joseph Dreyer, left, and Donald Civitanova work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Tepid jobs news barely dented an advance in stocks Friday.

Richard Drew/AP/File

Enlarge

A tepid jobs report Friday barely dented a summer rally on the?stock?market.

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The Standard & Poor's 500 index ended the week 1 percent higher after breaking through 1,700 points for the first time Thursday. The index has risen for five of the last six weeks. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.6 percent and is on a streak of six weekly gains.

On Friday, indexes dropped in early trading after the U.S. added fewer jobs than forecast in July, curbing optimism that the economy is poised to pick up strength in the second half of the year. The market gradually recovered throughout the day and major indexes ended slightly higher. The gains were enough to set all-time highs for the Dow and S&P.

The government reported that 162,000 jobs were created last month, pushing the unemployment rate down to a 4?-year low of 7.4 percent. The number of jobs added was the lowest since March and below the 183,000 economists polled by FactSet were expecting.

Brad Sorensen, Charles Schwab's director of market and sector research, said the jobs report was "moderately disappointing."

"That tepid growth we've seen, (the economy) not being able to reach escape velocity, continues to be the story," Sorenson said.

Investors have been watching economic reports closely and trying to anticipate when the Federal Reserve will start easing back on its economic stimulus. The central bank is buying $85 billion in bonds every month to keep long-term interest rates low and encourage borrowing.

While the jobs report wasn't encouraging, it did make it more likely that the Fed would take its time cutting back on stimulus, said Doug Lockwood of Hefty Wealth Partners. The stimulus from the central bank has been an important factor powering a four-year bull run in?stocks.

"As long as there's this concept that the Fed may still need to be involved and stimulate, that's good for both the bond and the?stock?market," said Lockwood. "You're seeing the trampoline effect; the market drops and then comes back up."

The S&P 500 ended Friday up 2.80 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,709.67. The index is up 5 percent since the start of July. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 30.34 points, or 0.2 percent, to 15,658.36.

Seven of the 10 industry sectors that make up the S&P 500 gained, led by consumer discretionary?stocks. Of the three groups that fell, energy?stocks?dropped the most.

Investors were also assessing company earnings.

Chevron fell after it became the latest big energy company to disappoint investors with lower earnings. Chevron's profit fell 26 percent to $5.4 billion due to lower oil prices and maintenance work at refineries. The?stock?fell $1.49, or 1.2 percent, to $124.95.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/GeIzLIoowCE/Stocks-rise-after-tepid-jobs-news

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