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Different estimates on how quickly and how much additional oil would come into world oil markets if sanctions are lifted. The time estimates range from quickly to 6 months for additional new supplies into world oil markets. Estimates of how much production can be added range from 500,000-800,000 barrels a day from private estimates to 1 million additional barrels a day from Iran's oil company, if sanctions are lifted. UK foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, says "there is still a long way to go if we are going to get there." He told a parliamentary committee that the nonnegotiable part is a window of one year advance notice if Iran were to break out and go for a nuclear weapon, which would be based on technical expert opinion of how long it would take Iran to build a nuclear weapon using its knowhow and materials at that Mr Zanganeh took over as oil minister after the election of Rouhani as president 18 months ago. Zanganeh calls the effect of sanctions and the mismanagement of the previous government as "a catastrophe," and he has tried to instill anew discipline in the oil sector. Iran currently produces about 1-1.2 million barrels a day under sanctions, half of earlier levels before sanctions were tightened in 2012 because of the nuclear weapons development issues....

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DW.com has this exceptional story on the elections in France through the pictures drawn by cartoonists in French newspapers. As polls show Macron with over 60% of the vote, cartoonists reflected on the situation of a new president with little experience and his "en marche" movement only one year old, looking at it with skepticism. Cartoonist Antoine Chereau shows a common person reflecting on the situation, with the title Macron leads in the first round, the person says that after being deceived by the right and the left, the French are now choosing to try out deception from the centrist. Loic Secheress shows Macron at the steering wheel of a car, with the title the second round Uberized, two passengers in the back saying they do not want to go right or left, and Macron saying- then alright we are going straight into the wall. On the Socialists splitting the vote between Hamon with 6% and Melenchon with about 20%, instead of putting up one candidate and heading into the runoff,  cartoonist Plantu shows Hamon and Melenchon riding one bike in opposite directions, with the title - the losing machine. Cartoonist Soulcie drawing for Le Monde shows a tour guide in front of the Louvre museum pointing to the pyramid architecture in front of the museum and saying- here are the last remains of the socialist civilization. Allan Barte's drawing looks at the elections as another disappointing experience for voters. He shows two voters in front of posters of Marine Le Pen and Macron, one saying I hadn't realized what the expression really meant until now, and the girl next to him says "election piege a cons," meaning "elections are a trap for idiots" used in the May 1968 street protests in France. ...

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A new poll from YouGov shows the Conservative Party getting 310 seats and Labor Party at 257 seats. Labor would gain 30 seats and Conservatives lose 20 seats under this prediction. Conservatives would fall short of the majority of 326 seats needed. Support for Theresa May is slipping especially after announcing older people would have to take on more burden for care, dubbed the dementia tax by media. A coalition of Labor party with the Scottish National party (SNP) with 50 seats and the Liberal Democrats with 10 seats is now a possibility.

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Under a deal made between Partido Popular of prime minister Mariano Rajoy and the Ciudadanos party in Spain, the ruling party agreed to back measures to tackle corruption and ensure an independent judiciary. Public officials being investigated for corruption will be suspended from office. Selection will be done by members of the judiciary for 12 of the 20 board members previously elected by parliament that appoints judges and prosecutors. Wage subsidies are introduced for low income families and cuts in public spending for health and education are restored under the agreement,  which includes a program of 150 measures. The combined vote of the two parties get it to 169- 137 for the Partido Popular and 32 for Ciudadanos- and with the aid of a Canary Islands party to 170. The Ciudadanos party will not participate in the Partido Popular government but will vote in its favor. This is still short of the 176 votes needed in the 350 seat parliament. Rajoy could have a second term only if the Socialist party allows some members to abstain. As this is uncertain Spain faces the prospect of an election in December 2016. ...

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Spencer Jakab points out reasons why interest rates will remain low for some time to come- inflation of around 2%, even lower interest rates in Europe and Japan, foreign buying of U.S. bonds keeping the dollar strong, and sluggish economic growth in the U.S.

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R.J. Barrett, Lieutenant junior grade Navy Reserve, his poem on New Year's Day 1975 on board the USS Coral Sea, Subic Bay- chosen from The National Archives by Captain Sam Tangredi.  "Our shipmates all have gone ashore, At twelve o’clock we heard the roar. So far away and yet so near;  Moored starboard side to Alava Pier. Lines 1 and 9 are strung out tight  The head and stern wires are set just right. The standard moor doubled is what you’ll see, As you walk along checking good ’ole 43. The commander of 7th Fleet’s carrier striking forces embarked aboard, Rear ADM D.C. Davis is the gentleman’s name. Down in the hole the snipes are doing fine Only IC boiler is in on the line. Five fire pumps are lit off and readyD.C. reports secure; water pressure steady. Shore cables fore and aft from the pier do reach In the harbor with us there’s quite a crowd A fleet to make any commodore proud The DESRONs and amphibs are represented well. Some of their names I’ll try to tell.Rathburne, Reasoner, Whipple, and Cook  Are all settled in and have grabbed a nook Knox and Stoddert are nestled in too, But that’s not all; these are just a few. Also in sight from the Coral Sea Are Dubuque, Vancouver, and the Tripoli. Peoria and Thomaston are also around. Some pretty fine vessels pound for pound. Taking one last look around the bay, There’s the Camden, Haleakala, and San Jose. Long Beach and Enterprise, make a special mark  Who could miss their shape, even in the dark? The Gurnard, Reclaimer, and the Grayback Are all included, though good rhymes they lack. And because soon I’ll be retiring aft. I’ll just say “and various other yard and district craft." With all this done, though before the watch’s conclusion I must record my New Year’s resolution. If any lesson over the past year has been learned, This single one, into my mind has been burned. As I stood here thinking of things to say, Twisting verse in every which way, I vowed to myself, if ever I did, That I’ll never volunteer for the New Year’s mid Sam J. Tangredi from the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island pulls out these poems from the National Archives which shows ship's logs and poems written on Navy warships in a regulated formula in standardized form. The entries are in strict official form about condition at sea, speed, mooring lines if in port. In the first entry on January 1 tne US Navy makes an exception as it is in poetic form. In 2020 the Naval History and Heritage Command revived the poetry contest. ...

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A year after winning reelection by a large margin, Argentina's president, Mrs. Kirchner, faces a sharp drop in popularity from over 60% to 32%. Problems facing the Argentine economy include slowing growth from the 7% pace from 2003-2011 to about 3% in 2012, and inflation estimated at about 25%. This has cut into purchasing power of workers wages. A general strike by trade unions on Nov. 20, 2012 shut down the capital of Buenos Aires. About half of the population of 41 million live in Buenos Aires. Currency controls imposed to tackle capital flight after the election have hurt support from the middle class. Within the Peronist movement there appears to be a split between the traditional union support and the left representd by Mrs. Kirchner. Argentina depends on trade with Brazil which is the largest buyer of Argentine goods. The slowdown in Brazil has hurt Argentina's economy.

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In a television debate Jan 18, 2017, Benoit Hamon, a 39 year old former Education minister is seen as the most effective of the French Socialist presidential candidates. He proposes a universal income that particularly supports and creates work for young people ages 18-25 years.

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A look at Israel at 70 by the Economist magazine shows a country that has combined early achievements of socialist governments such as free health care system and good education system with the addition of 1 million immigrants from the collapsing Soviet Union, to build a highly trained technically skilled workforce and international companies.  It says the Israeli Arabs are still poor and unable to integrate. With ultra Orthodox Jews they make up 30% of the population, and many of them who do not work. Infrastructure has suffered from lack of investment and public transport is in poor condition. About 4.5 million Palestinians in West Bank and Gaza remain a continuous source of tension with no settlement in sight. The shift of the capital to Jerusalem is recognized by the U.S. Trump administration, a win for Israel, but leaving the divisive politics of Mr. Netanyahu in place. So that with the growing economy, there are social problems and political division which need to be addressed as much as the economy. A problem left for another administration, another leader from possibly a revived Labor party and another day. ...

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The Karachi stock index was up 49.4% in 2013 as the pro-business policies of the Sharif government are attracting foreign investment. From the beginning of May 2013 when Sharif was elected prime minister to the end of 2013, foreign investment flows into Pakistan reached $283 million, according to the Clearinghouse of Pakistan. Pakistan's government bonds are also attracting investors with yields declining from 11.69% on the ten year bonds to 7.54% by the end of 2013. Additional upswing sentiment comes from the government paying off $5 billion in debt that hurt investment in the energy sector. The oil and gas sector is about a third of the Karachi Stock Index. Total market capitalization on the Karachi Stock Index is $52 billion, and the largest company is Oil and Gas Development Company.

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Jaap Hoop Scheffer outlines NATO's priorities including cybersecurity, energy security, terrorism, and relations with Russia.