Ever since Mexico became a major world oil producer in the mid-1970s, with the discovery of the super-giant Cantarell offshore field, the country has depended heavily on petroleum revenues to fund government spending. Today Pemex, the state-run oil monopoly, provides more than one third of the government’s total tax take. But oil production has dropped [...]

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Once again it is that time of year, where the minds of the world prognoses the future of humanity, for at least a year to come. In light of this tradition and for a second year running, I will endeavor to do the same.
… by the end of the year, oil will see a large [...]

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For many people around the world economic and social conditions will continue to deteriorate in 2010. An estimated 60m people worldwide will lose their jobs. Poverty rates will continue to rise, with 200m people at risk of joining the ranks of those living on less than $2 a day. But poverty alone does not spark [...]

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British citizens kidnapped by Iranian government operatives while in Iraq, and the British government does relatively little.
Britain, when are you going to get a spine? Unfortunately, the U.S. is not far behind Britain in the spine department.
The five British men kidnapped in Iraq were taken in an operation led and masterminded by Iran’s Revolutionary [...]

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Times correspondents from around the globe pinpoint the trouble spots, the changing alliances and the highs and lows of the next 12 months
Welcome to 2010: War, terrorism, football and an Oscar for aliens – Times Online

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Forget 2012. As far as many Mexicans are concerned, the ancient Mayas were being generous: the sky’s actually going to fall next year. Why? Because it’s 2010, Mexico’s bicentennial, and Mexican history has an eerie way of repeating itself. Mexico’s 1910 centennial, after all, saw the start of the bloody, decade-long Mexican Revolution, which killed [...]

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On December 29 the AP’s George Jahn reported on an effort by Iran to import clandestinely 1,350 tons of purified uranium ore from Kazakhstan. The information was contained in an intelligence report authored by an IAEA member state and obtained by Jahn.
That Iran would be seeking a new source of uranium ore is not surprising, [...]

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It is now permitted to announce the IDF is winding down a major military exercise in the north, one that simulated a difficult but possible scenario, in which soldiers were abducted across the northern border, resulting in an IDF response into Lebanon, followed by Hizbullah firing thousands of missiles into Israel. Syria does not sit [...]

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Once again, the Financial Times’ top pundits have assembled to pit their wits against the fickle future. Some of them are recklessly putting years of calm reflection and carefully built reputations at stake, piling up their chips on what they foresee for 2010. Others are simply taking a punt, going for broke as they scramble [...]

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Weston says that any attack by israel on Iran will be with the blessing of the United States. If Iran and its allies retaliate against Israel and the Middle East literally blows up, who do you think is going to be blamed?
If you are subsequently thinking about retaliation against Israel, who else is going to [...]

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