New York, NY, United States (AHN) – The battle to fill the top International Monetary Fund post vacated by the resignation of Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn has apparently been reduced to a war between Europe and developing nations.

Mexico’s Central Bank Governor, Agustin Carstens, took the struggle to a higher level on Tuesday by seeking the vote of developing countries to counter the solid support enjoyed by French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde from European nations.

Even the U.S. is apparently siding with Europe’s choice in a tit-for-tat political arrangement to ensure Washington keeps its grip on the top spot at the World Bank and the number two post in IMF.

Carstens criticized European leaders for imposing Lagarde on the rest of the world. The governor said that if the selection of Strauss-Kahn’s replacement would be treated as “business as usual,” changes would never take place.

Carstens pointed out that although there was no final list of candidates yet for the IMF managing director post, Europe has made up its mind in backing Lagarde. The IMF will close application for the position on Friday.

Lagarde, however, is also courting the vote of developing nations despite being frontrunner of the race. She met with Indian officials as part of her world tour to seek their support for her candidacy. The French minister even promised to represent the needs of emerging economies by partly “becoming an Indian.”

Lagarde will next try to convince Chinese officials to back her up, based on her merit. Carstens is holding his global tour and plans to court the votes of Indian, Chinese and Japanese officials.

Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said he agreed with Lagarde that the next IMF managing director should be picked based on merit and not geography. But he declined to indicate if India would support Lagarde or Carstens.

The IMF is expected to name Strauss-Kahn’s successor by the end of June. Another rival of Carstens and Lagarde for the position is South African former Finance Minister Trevor Manuel.

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Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – A day before Canada’s House of Commons tackles the federal budget proposal, the minority Conservative Party received a boost from a poll that shows the Harper government continues to enjoy public support.

The Canadian government is under threat from two fronts – the federal budget and two breaches of ethics complaints – which could trigger a spring election. However, the survey showed that even if the political opposition manages to oust the administration from power with either tool, the Tories would likely bounce back.

According to the Ipsos Reid survey conducted from March 11 to 15, 63 percent of survey respondents said their main criterion in voting for a party and its leaders would be one that could provide Canada an honest, open and trustworthy government. Another 37 percent said they would cast their ballot for a party that could ensure Canada’s continued economic recovery.

The poll also found that 28 percent of the respondents picked the Conservatives as the party that would provide Canada an honest, open and trustworthy government. Only 22 percent picked the New Democratic Party based on the same criterion, 15 percent pointed to the Liberals and 7 percent the Bloc Quebecois.

Darrell Bricker, president of Ipsos Reid, said that while the Liberals correctly picked honest government as their platform to battle the Tories in a possible no-confidence vote by Friday, the party failed to foresee that voters do not view them as the best party to provide honest and trustworthy governance.

Bricker opined that the Liberals are still bugged by the Adscam sponsorship scandal that hit the Chretien government several years ago. Liberal-friendly advertising firms in Quebec got funds for work that was questionable or ghost projects. There was also evidence of kickbacks among the ad firms that contributed to the Liberals.

The political opposition, in a bid to wrest power from the Tories, is leaving no stones unturned. According to reports, the Liberals have secured a plane, wrapped their campaign buses with signs of imminent victory in Parliament and launched an attack ad on the Tories. Similarly, the NDP put up election-style billboards in Montreal.

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News York, NY, United States (AHN) – The prime minister of the transitional federal government of Somalia, Mohammed Abdullahi Mohammed, has asked the United Nations for more African Union peacekeepers as the security condition on the ground continues to deteriorate day after day. Mohammed Abdullahi Mohammed made his plea in person with several U.N. officials including Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Speaking at a special U.N. meeting on Somalia, the premier told officials his new government is determined to bring peace back to war-torn Mogadishu within hundred days. To aid those efforts, the U.N. Security Council has recently authorized the African Union to increase peacekeepers from 8,000 to 12,000.

The Somali leader also met with U.S. Representative Susan E. Rice, U.N. Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs Lynn Pasco, Russian Representative Vitaly I.Churkin, Chinese Representative Min Wang, and other ambassadorial-level contacts.

“Mohammed requested the following needs; Budgetary support, increase of AMISOM, humanitarian assistance, institutional building, capacity building, service delivery, and technical assistance,” a statement from the office of the prime minister explained. The Somali leader was reportedly successful in obtaining assurances from foreign diplomats that they will receive additional support.

The prime minister briefed officials on the current situation in Somalia, reporting that the government now controls sixty percent of seaside Mogadishu. “Over that last week, seven al-Shabaab fighters, whose faces are haggard and their bodies very weak, surrendered to Somali government,” the prime minister told reporters in New York. Mohammed told U.N. about other improvements in the security sector, including how more soldiers are being paid.

All Officials welcomed the PM’s new initiatives and progress towards good governance, which included the preparation of the budget, which will help to increase the confidence and the image of TFG. The Officials wanted the Constitution process to be implemented and stressed the need for the TFG to come up a road map which clearly spells out the way forward.

On Wednesday, Mohammed met with the United Kingdom’s Permanent Representative Mark Lyall Grant. Grant said the U.K. is very satisfied with how Mohammed organized the country’s first cabinet since the fall of Somalia’s last true government in 1991, adding that he was also very pleased with his meeting. Grant told the Somali premier that the British government is committed to helping the Somali people.

“Nearly 2.5 million are on the verge of starvation. Unless we have immediate support – international support – definitely there will be a catastrophic situation in Somalia,” Mohammed told reporters.

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Arizona U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords was one of 19 Democrats to withhold support from their party’s leader, Nancy Pelosi, as the U.S. House of Representatives chose a new speaker Jan. 5.

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Why are support and resistance levels crucial when participating in the Forex day trading market?

Simply put, they represent key, strategic price points at which traders processed orders involving millions or even billions of dollars. No wonder price at times has a hard time getting past a previous high or low. Those levels are being fiercely defended by traders who have large amounts of money at stake and who do not want to see price break those levels.

For this reason anyone who engages in Forex day trading should learn how to trade support and resistance. The following checklist provides crucial guidelines:

1. Support and resistance levels are much more significant on the higher time frames. Pay particular attention to price highs and lows on the daily chart as this time frame is commonly used by big traders.

2. A price high or low has more significance when it has a number of candles either side of it which are lower (in the case of a price high) or higher (in the case of a price low).

3. Before you consider Forex day trading at a support or resistance level, see if there are more factors that would indicate this is a key price level.

For example, does a trendline intersect at the same point? Does the support or resistance line match up with a Fibonacci level, either a retracement or an extension? Does the support or resistance level coincide with a pivot point if you are in the practice (and it’s a wise one) of calculating pivot levels when Forex day trading?

4. Has a key support resistance level been broken? Then look to see if price will come back to test that level. Remember, resistance once broken can become support in the future and support once broken can become resistance in the future.

These Forex day trading scenarios can present excellent trading opportunities as you put an entry order in at the key level and wait for price to come back and pull you in. Within a short time your dealing spread is covered and you are in profit.

5. The market spends most of its time in trading ranges or consolidation channels. You need to accept that this is a characteristic of Forex day trading and adjust your mindset accordingly. Identify the high and low of the trading channel and manage your trades accordingly.

6. After identifying a trading channel or range and you see a trading opportunity, set your entry level at the base of the channel if you are going long or at the top of the channel if you are going short.

Don’t chase after price once it breaks out of the channel (although many who engage in Forex day trading do so). You will not get the optimal entry point. Waiting for price to take you in either at the top or bottom of the channel means you can have a smaller stop and your price target is closer.

7. Pay particular attention to the previous day’s high and low. Price will often hesitate and retrace at these levels. If you are a Forex day trading scalper, you can often grab a nice pull back of 10 pips or more at these strategic levels.

Note: Although there are various ways to calculate the previous 24 hour period depending on where you live, using GMT as a standard is often beneficial. Midnight GMT is a time when the market is generally very quiet and unlikely to make new highs or lows.

Succeed Or Fail?

It is unlikely you will succeed at Forex day trading if you fail to understand or take into consideration support and resistance. This indicator is that crucial! Yes there may be fancy indicators out there with all the bells and whistles, but this simple indicator, marking where price reached a high or low during previous trading sessions, can be one of the most powerful and effective Forex day trading tools available.

Be sure you spend sufficient time studying it, examining your charts, marking off the key levels each time you begin a new Forex day trading session.

Article written by Michael A. Jones