For their companies, the fields that they won the rights to develop in two biddings rounds last year are their first foray into Iraqs oil sector in over three decades.
For Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the executives and their investments are a vital part of his bid to win a second term in March 7 elections. Al-Maliki has billed himself to voters as the leader that can ensure the development of Iraqs dilapidated oil sector and bring in billions of dollars to rebuild the countrys struggling economy.
Al-Malikis promises could take years to fulfill and many experts see his predictions for - - - - >

The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter it did not name, reported a deal could come in a week. Prudential would pay with a mixture of cash and stock, but the terms are still being negotiated, it reported. Talks of a deal were first reported by Sky News.
The Journal reported on its Web site that the deal could be worth about $30 billion.
AIG has said it plans to sell the unit, American International Assurance Co., or spin it off into a separate company through an initial public offering, part of an effort to - - - - >

But business groups opposing the idea maintain it would shut out smaller businesses from competing for more than $500 billion a year in federal contracts and increase government procurement costs.
The policy is known as “high road” contracting and could draw the Obama administration into a larger debate over whether the government should use public purse strings to strengthen the middle class and promote higher labor standards.
Advocates of the plan include unions. They say too many jobs financed by government contracts come with low wages and limited benefits and support companies that violate employment laws.
The Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think - - - - >

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was behaving like “one of the brand managers” for General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC, “running around ripping Toyota to shreds,” Rush Limbaugh said on his radio show.
The governors of four states with Toyota plants wrote to House lawmakers to complain about the federal governments “disturbing statements and hasty actions.”
For some critics, U.S. scrutiny of Toyota Motor Corp.s handling of vehicle defects is motivated by more - - - - >

So in recent weeks, when the amboobas stopped coming, the angry outcry spread fast.
A winter shortage has sent authorities scrambling to find a solution and has once again fueled criticism that the government of this key Mideast U.S. ally is unable to deal with the problems of its people. For many, it raises memories of acute shortages of cheap subsidized bread in 2008 that raised similar frustration and anger.
“Every year this butane crisis gets a little worse, so why doesnt the government take a stand and provide for its people,” said Mahmoud al-Askalani, a spokesman with the consumer group Citizens - - - - >

Complaints to a database maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the popular Toyota Prius hybrid grew by nearly 1,000 in just over a week.
On Monday, Transportation Department spokeswoman Olivia Alair said NHTSA is quickly gathering information to help guide the governments examination of sudden acceleration, the Prius braking system and other safety issues.
Toyota Motor Corp. has recalled 8.5 million vehicles globally during the past four months because of problems with gas pedals, floor mats and brakes, threatening the safety and quality reputation of the worlds No. 1 automaker. The government typically receives a surge in complaints following - - - - >

Manulife had C$12.5 billion ($11.9 billion) in Canadian government and agency bonds at the end of the fourth quarter, the Toronto-based company disclosed on Feb. 11. Thats up from C$10.8 billion a year ago. Holdings in residential mortgage- backed securities and asset-backed securities dwindled.
North Americas largest insurer is building capital, having sold about C$2.5 billion in stock in November and halving its quarterly dividend last year as it and other insurers such as Sun Life wait for Canadas financial-services regulator to give them guidance on minimum - - - - >

Its a stinging comparison nonetheless for a country that only a few years ago had burgeoning growth but is now lumped with other deficit-laden countries on a watch list for a Greek-style crisis.
The collapse of a real estate- and consumer-fueled boom has left Spain with a eurozone high jobless rate of nearly 20 percent, and the government ran up a deficit that in 2009 equaled 11.4 percent of GDP. That is way over the eurozone limit of 3 percent and earned Spain a place as the letter “S” in the inelegant PIGS acronym coined by analysts (the others are Portugal, - - - - >

The crackdown comes amid growing concern that China is a center for Internet crime and industrial espionage. Search giant Google said last month its e-mail accounts were hacked from China in an assault that also hit at least 20 other companies.
Police in Hubei province arrested three people suspected of running the hacker site known as the Black Hawk Safety Net that disseminated Web site hacking techniques and Trojan software, the China Daily newspaper said. Trojans, which can allow outside access to a computer when implanted, are used by hackers to illegally control computers. The report did not say exactly when - - - - >

Finance ministers and central bank presidents from the worlds seven major industrial countries - the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada - were scheduled to arrive Friday for discussions in this small snow-swept Canadian town about 200 miles south of the Arctic Circle.
The talks are expected to be dominated by the question of how much longer extraordinary government stimulus should be provided to lift economic growth.
The risks still facing the global economy were highlighted dramatically after bad economic news sent markets plunging around the world on Thursday.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell by 268 points or 2.6 - - - - >