Energy prices continued their recent rapid surge yesterday, with both oil and natural gas setting new nominal records in trading, as the state of Hawaii prepared to impose a cap on rising gasoline prices -- the first such move in the U.S. since the early 1970s.(WSJ)

SINGAPORE – Asia's economic growth is at risk from high oil prices, International Monetary Fund managing director Rodrigo Rato said Thursday, calling especially on Indonesia and the Philippines to combat inflationary pressures. WSJ)

The officer, Scott J. Phillpott, said in a statement on Monday that he could not discuss details of the military program, which was called Able Danger, but confirmed that its analysts had identified the Sept. 11 ringleader, Mohamed Atta, by name by early 2000. "My story is consistent," said Captain Phillpott, who managed the program for the Pentagon's Special Operations Command. "Atta was identified by Able Danger by January-February of 2000." (NYT)

The U.S., bucking a global trend, is the only major economic power these days with fertility rates high enough to keep the size of its work force relatively constant as the population ages, and that portends continued prosperity, a report says. (WSJ)

Mainland China has the distinction of being the first major economy to grow old before they grow rich," said Richard Jackson, director of the Global Aging Initiative of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. (WSJ)

09:06 ET Baidu forecasts a slowdown in revenue growth -- FT : Baidu.com, China's leading internet search company, expects revenues to rise by between 11 and 16 per cent in the third quarter compared with the previous three months, a marked slowing in the new Nasdaq star's sequential sales growth. The revenues mainly come from the sale of advertising links that appear alongside its website's search results, a model that emulates that of global search giant Google. Baidu has won plaudits for its success in building an effective marketing team in China and for adapting its search technology to the needs of users in a market very different from the US. However, questions have been raised about the sustainability of its "MP3" online music search service, which accounts for more than 20 per cent of traffic to the site but which has been targeted by music publishers for allegedly promoting piracy.(Briefing.com)

Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson called on Monday for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, calling him a "terrific danger" to the United States (AP)

You owe $145,000, and the bill is rising every day. That's how much it would cost every American man, woman and child to pay the tab for the long-term promises the U.S. government has made to creditors, retirees, veterans and the poor. (Robert Tanner AP, Arizona Republic)

Freedom is on the march in Cuba, and Fidel Castro seems nervous. Over the past month, he has intensified his crackdown on political dissenters, making arrests at a pace unseen since the last wave of repression in 2003. Now Rene Gomez Manzano, a dissident leader arrested in his bed on July 22, is starting a hunger strike to protest his unjust imprisonment, as The New York Sun's Meghan Clyne reported Friday. Mr. Gomez Manzano will join Akbar Ganji, the jailed Iranian journalist who also has gone on a hunger strike, as a hero of the struggle for democracy. (NY SUN)

Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) -- China National Petroleum Corp., the nation's biggest oil company, agreed to buy PetroKazakhstan Inc. for $4.18 billion, topping a bid by an Indian producer and securing supplies for the world's fastest-growing major economy.

Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. companies, which have been reluctant to part with their mountain of cash, may start spending more of it -- and spur the economy in the process. Flush from three years of soaring profits, the top U.S. corporations hold $634 billion in cash, the biggest hoard relative to their market value in 17 years, according to Standard & Poor's. Companies including Exxon Mobil Corp., Dell Inc. and Pfizer Inc. are hearing from investors who say it's time to either spend more to expand their business, or pay higher dividends.

Bottom line? With three weeks left to go, the broadcast nets are down a collective 10% among adults 18-49 vs. last summer -- and 15% in viewers 18-34. ABC is the only net up over last year, while Fox is flat; other four nets are down sharply. (Varitey.com)

"China's growing income gap is likely to trigger social instability after 2010 if the government finds no effective solutions to end the disparity," the Ministry of Labour and Social Security warned in the China Daily.

PRESSURE was intensifying on ministers last night to live up to their promised crackdown on Islamic fanatics by charging or deporting a Saudi radical who backs the killing of British soldiers in Iraq. MPs from all parties and several foreign governments have demanded action against Muhammad al-Massari, who has asylum in Britain. His radio station, al-Tajdeed, backs suicide attacks and his website shows the beheadings of Western hostages. (London Times.com)

COLOGNE, Germany (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, making a historic visit on Friday to a synagogue once destroyed by the Nazis, said Christians and Jews must join forces so the "insane racist ideology" that led to the Holocaust never resurfaces. (Reuters)

Pressure is mounting in Washington over the United Nations' support of anti-Israel propaganda distributed in the Gaza Strip, with New York's senior senator, Charles Schumer, entering the fray yesterday, demanding answers about the funding process that led to the United Nations bankrolling the materials. (NY SUN)

August 23, 2005 -- The status of housing as the least-taxed investment in the U.S., which has helped fuel an eight-year boom in real estate values, may be in jeopardy as a presidential commission considers changes to the federal tax code. The panel, which is headed by former Senators Connie Mack and John Breaux and due to report to President Bush by Sept. 30, is studying options to lower taxes on many types of investments to meet Bush's goal of spurring savings and economic growth. Changes to housing-related tax incentives will also be considered, Jeffrey Kupfer, the panel's staff director, said in an interview. Economists say such policies would have the effect of eroding the relative advantage housing has enjoyed over other investments since 1997, when Congress effectively made most sales of primary residences tax-free. (NY POST)

We were sitting in Nayeb restaurant in central Tehran. I’d been holding a piss through the hours of prayer service. So after I ordered my lunch, I excused myself to the men’s room. “Men’s” was written in Farsi above, and “Manly” in English below. I stepped into the water closet, grateful to just have to piss. If I’d had more serious business there, it would’ve been a squat job with no hook for one’s jacket. Now, that would’ve been manly. (Sean Penn Tehran)