LIBYA

Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi launched a counter-attack on Thursday, fighting fierce gun battles with rebels who have threatened the Libyan leader by seizing important towns close to the capital.

The Gold Price rose further in London trade Thursday morning, hitting new 2011 highs for Dollar investors as Brent crude oil jumped to $119 per barrel and a raft of economic analysis warned of stagflation ahead for the global economy.

Soaring oil prices will have little impact on Chinese consumer inflation, but will place considerable cost pressure on the country's manufacturers, a government adviser and ministry official said on Thursday.

The leader of Libya Moammar Gaddafi has appeared on state TV and alleged that al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden and his followers are behind the protests and revolts in the country.

Oil prices continue to rise amidst fears that violent unrest in Libya will not only cut off supplies from that nation, but perhaps spread to other, larger oil producers, including Saudi Arabia.

Gold steadied near seven-week highs on Thursday, as investor fears over inflation stemming from the spike in crude oil were partially offset by pockets of profit-taking after the market's 6 percent rise this month.

Futures on major U.S. indices point to a lower opening on Thursday as oil prices continued surge due to continued turmoil and violence in Libya.

Barack Obama not naming Muammar Gaddafi in his comments on Libya has raised question if the dictator has muted the US President blocking Americans evacuation in Tripoli.

President Barack Obama termed the Gaddafi's crackdown on protestors in Libya as outrageous and unacceptable and is looking at the full range of options to respond to the crisis.

President Barack Obama termed the Gaddafi's crackdown on protestors in Libya as outrageous and unacceptable and is looking at the full range of options to respond to the crisis.

Hong Kong stocks are expected to open lower on Thursday, pressured by a surge in oil prices on fears turmoil in Libya could spread to other oil exporters in the region, and declines in global markets.

There is now more evidence that speculators are pushing up the prices of food commodities.

Stocks sank for a second consecutive day in tandem with oil prices surging to 28-month highs as continued turmoil and violence in Libya shatters traders nerves.

A Wikileaks document also reported that the Libyan government had received (and rejected ) investment offers from Bernard Madoff and Allen Stanford, two men were involved in huge Ponzi schemes.

The price of oil crude oil futures touched $100 per barrel for the first time since October 2008 on deepening worries over the political chaos and violence in oil-rich Libya.

The two most powerful members of the European Union (EU), France and Germany, have threatened to strike Libya with sanctions in response to Moammar Gaddafi’s brutal crackdown on protesters. Such sanctions would eventually lead to the cancellation of all economic and business ties between Libya and the EU.

South African government bonds fell to three-month lows on Wednesday but the rand firmed over 1.0 percent after the finance ministry projected a higher- than-expected budget deficit for the 2011/2012 financial year.

Saudi King Abdullah returned home on Wednesday after a three-month medical absence and unveiled benefits for Saudis worth some $37 billion (23 billion pounds) in an apparent bid to insulate the world's top oil exporter from an Arab protest wave.

Thousands of Libyans celebrated the liberation of the eastern city of Benghazi from the rule of Muammar Gaddafi, who was reported to have sent a plane to bomb them on Wednesday as he clung to power.

As much as a quarter of OPEC member Libya's oil output has been shut down, Reuters calculations showed on Wednesday, as unrest prompted oil firms to warn of production cuts in Africa's third-largest producer.

Governments around the world scrambled on Wednesday to send planes and ships to evacuate their citizens from turmoil in Libya, whose leader Muammar Gaddafi has vowed to crush a revolt against his 41-year rule.