Egypt secures $3 billion IMF standby loan agreement
CAIRO, Egypt — The International Monetary Fund has agreed to a $3 billion standby loan to help the country bridge its deficit for fiscal year 2011-2012, Egypt’s finance minister said Sunday.
The loan announced comes days after Egypt announced a draft budget that projects the deficit increasing to nearly 11 per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product. The loan must still be approved by the IMF board at a meeting in July. Finance Minister Samir Radwan says the IMF loan carries a 1.5 per cent interest rate and spans the 12-month period for fiscal year 2011-2012.
Another breach at Sony; 120 passwords claimed hacked
LONDON — A hacker claims to have stolen names and passwords belonging to 120 users of Sony Europe’s website and published them to the Internet.
It’s the latest in a series of attacks which have hammered the electronics multinational. Security researchers have counted about a dozen breaches since the beginning of this year, including two particularly serious ones which exposed 100 millions users’ personal details. The latest attack was claimed by “Idahc,” who self-identifies as a Lebanese hacker. The Associated Press has been able to verify several of the exposed names. A U.S.-based spokeswoman for Sony Corp. has not returned an email seeking comment. The website allegedly hacked into was down for “scheduled maintenance” Saturday.
U.S. agency allows restart of Canadian oil pipeline
WASHINGTON — U.S. regulators have allowed a Canadian company to restart its Keystone oil pipeline after completing repairs and safety tests. Oil from the 1,300-mile (2,090-kilometre) pipeline that extends from Canada to Oklahoma and Illinois could begin flowing as soon as Sunday under a revised order from the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. The agency approved the revision on Saturday. The pipeline has been closed since May 29, when workers reported a 10-barrel leak in Kansas. That followed a leak of 400 barrels of oil in North Dakota on May 7.
The pipeline is owned by Calgary-based TransCanada Corp.
— The Associated
Press
