Oxford Analytica

an asset sale to block a BHP Billiton takeover offer. BHP...Billiton and Rio Tinto own a variety of raw resources, including...see AUSTRALIA: BHP Billiton rides a commodities boom - September ##, ####...attention has focused on how a merger would affect the iron

Kingdom -- have been engaged in a diplomatic attempt to persuade Iran...approach are becoming increasingly clear, as Iran repeatedly spurns their offers...their offers in favour of a continuation of its uranium enrichment...EU# when allowed to play a leadership role within the EU

important commodity in East Africa, as well as Ethiopia. It was a favoured cash crop of colonial...governments similarly emphasised its production as key to their various modernisation...Bank have also seen it as crucial for economic growth: More...sorts of cash crops, such as cotton (see AFRICA: Soil fertility

crimes recorded, virtually the same as in ####, with murders falling...with some caution: there is a growing reluctance to report certain...Law enforcement?In March ####, a police lieutenant-colonel and former...arrested and charged with running a kidnap and extortion ring responsible

President Nestor Kirchner has gained a reputation for lacking interest in...in defaulted debt have presented a barrier to closer ties with...barrier to closer ties with a number of countries, as well as to any return to international...interests are likely to represent a shift in focus. Latin America

hit by severe flooding and a cyclone this year, weakening an...lost their lives in ####. As a result, an early warning system...areas where they already have a substantial presence, leaving other areas...Poor transport infrastructure, in particular a lack of ferries to cross

prioritiesCHINA: Politburo targets overheating, prices A Politburo meeting on November ##...the central leadership to issue a strongly worded political statement signaling...at slowing down inflation, such as restrictions on lending (see CHINA...Inflation continues to loom large as a major concern for the leadership

with political parties on forming a new government. The incumbent Croatian...of the ## needed for a majority. Nevertheless, its chances of...Nevertheless, its chances of forming a coherent coalition quickly are far...Prime Minister Ivo Sanader emerged as the largest party in parliamentary

Zawahri earlier this month issued a fresh call for jihad against...Mohammed VI. The risk of a terrorist attack is seen as high by Rabat, particularly after...The services have adapted to a new style of monarchy, most...and Reconciliation Board -- headed by a former dissident -- has looked into

with its rebels, pushing an as yet unsuccessful military solution. Mali...in each became increasingly restive as national economic growth failed to...until May this year when a smaller group of Tuareg dissidents...began on February # with a raid on an army garrison

activist Jesse Jackson is organising a major march on Wall Street...basis, leaving African-Americans with a vastly disproportionate share of all...homeowners. President George Bush set a goal of #.# million...new minority homeowners by ####, a target that had been half

week that Temasek has announced a divestment from a Chinese bank over concerns about...city-state#;s investment arm as part of the wider focus...and abilities have long been a source of contention with its...Chinese ethnicity have helped stoke a mixture of grievances, complaints and

in light of potential for a different post-Kyoto methodology. Global...up on the international agenda, as is the need for future...##, ####).Carbon trade As a result of the Kyoto Protocol...result of the Kyoto Protocol, a market has been created for

inflation target it set itself a few years ago (a #% twelve-month inflation rate...twelve-month inflation rate, with a #-percentage point deviation in...and will only change if a severe downturn in the United...with volatile prices and is a good indicator of the medium

efforts to address corruption in a competent and impartial manner. In...Bureau (CBA) against political rivals. A leak derailed a planned sting operation against Agriculture...his Self-Defence party, provoking a scandal (see POLAND: PiS names...releasing videotapes of Beata Sawicka, a former opposition MP, accepting a bribe from an undercover agent

candidate, Lee Myung-bak, retains a strong lead in opinion polls...is at present limited to a single five-year term.There...see SOUTH KOREA: Lee is a presidential possibility - March ##, ####...presidential possibility - March ##, ####). A former mayor of Seoul, Lee

Pervez Musharraf was today succeeded as army chief by Ashfaq Parvez...institution in the country at a critical time, with a weakened Musharraf facing an uncertain...Musharraf, who retains his position as supreme commander of the armed...rise so high, making him a popular choice as chief of army staff (two

and #.#% next year -- a significant increase from respective forecasts...oil prices; adverse factors such as slowing US imports; andthe Bank...s other larger economies, again as a result of more buoyant domestic...##.#% this year (against a #.#% forecast in April

and Abbas committed themselves to a negotiating process desig