Oil slumps as Iraq war uncertainty lifts: World oil prices

Oil slumps as Iraq war uncertainty lifts: World oil prices collapsed by up to 10 percent on Tuesday as the United States and Iraq made final preparations for war, easing uncertainty over the conflict which had driven prices up. Everything now points towards an easy U.S. victory over the world's seventh largest oil exporter, dealers said, which they expected to cause only a brief disruption to supply. International benchmark Brent crude oil slumped by as much as US$3.08 per barrel, or 10 percent, to a three-month low of $26.40. It later steadied at $27.45 per barrel by early afternoon in London, $2.03 or 6.9 percent down on the day. U.S. crude futures fell $2.40 to $32.53 per barrel, having touched a low of $31.75. -- Reuters

Serbian parliament backs reformer as new premier: Serbia's parliament voted in reformer Zoran Zivkovic as new prime minister on Tuesday in a move likely to allay fears of a power vacuum in the volatile Balkans after last week's killing of Zoran Djindjic. Zivkovic, a 42-year-old former Yugoslav interior minister, told parliament that police hunting the killers had so far detained more than 750 people in a sweep through the underworld and he pledged to crush organized crime. --Reuters

Palestinians back premier post, cut Arafat's power: The Palestinian parliament ratified the new post of prime minister on Tuesday after rebuffing President Yasser Arafat's bid to keep powers seen as impeding reforms sought by U.S.-led peace brokers. The 69-1 vote eroded Arafat's political dominance, stripping him of the authority to approve cabinet members who will serve under the new prime minister, expected to be Mahmoud Abbas, a leading moderate. U.S. President George W. Bush has pledged to unveil "roadmap" for Middle East peace once a premier with "real authority" takes office. --Reuters

Six ancient carriages unearthed in China: Six carriages more than 2,200 years old were unearthed in central China's Hubei province, state press reported on Tuesday. They were found in Linzhou city in tombs believed to date back to China's Spring and Autumns periods and the Warring state periods. The carriage frames were discovered facing east to west in the middle of a large pit. The bones of 16 horses were dug up east of the site Archaeologists discovered 24 bronze pieces in a nearby tomb last December, including cooking pots, mirrors and bells. --AFP

Center-left coalition likely in Finland: Finland's Center Party, which on Sunday won a razor-thin election, is likely to form a center-left coalition with the Social Democrats because it needs them to tackle its top priority of labor reform, observers said on Tuesday. "It's impossible to think of any major reform of the labor market without the Social Democrats in the government, they are the only ones able to deal with the trade unions," Risto Uimonen, a leading political commentator, said. Together, the two parties would control 108 seats in the 200-seat Finnish parliament, with the Center Party holding 55 and Social Democrats having 53. --AFP

Warrants out for absconding Sierra Leone war suspects: The prosecutor of a UN court trying crimes during Sierra Leone's 10- year civil war on Tuesday urged two prominent suspects to give themselves up, warning that international arrest warrants had been issued. David Crane, prosecutor at the UN special war crimes tribunal in Freetown, asked former rebel commando, Sam Bockarie, and ex-junta leader, Johnny Paul Koroma "to turn themselves in". UN radio quoted Crane as saying: "There is no place for them to hide." --AFP

French rail strike disrupts traffic across country: A 36-hour nationwide strike over the liberalization of the French rail freight sector caused major disruptions to train services across the country on Tuesday, the state-owned rail company SNCF said. The strike by seven unions, which began at 8 p.m. on Monday (2 a.m. Tuesday in Jakarta) and was due to last until 6 a.m. on Wednesday, forced two thirds of high-speed TGV trains and 75 percent of regional trains to a halt, the SNCF said. --AFP