Why Royal Dutch Shell oil is pulling out of Syria

Royal Dutch Shell said Friday that it will shut down all oil operations in Syria. On Friday, Syrian troops fired at anti-Assad demonstrators near Homs, Syria.

Royal Dutch Shell said on Friday it would cease operations in Syria Syria to heed new European Union sanctions against Damascus, deepening the international isolation of President Bashar al-Assad imposed over his violent crackdown on popular unrest.

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In continuing bloodshed, Syrian army defectors killed eight Air Force intelligence personnel in an attack on their base in the north of the country, according to an opposition group.

Thursday's incident suggested that armed deserters are turning increasingly from defending civilian protesters against violent repression by Assad's security forces to an offensive of ambushes and roadside bombs, raising the spectre of civil war.

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On Friday, Syrian troops fired at random into an anti-Assad demonstration after Muslim prayers in the village of Kfar Laha northwest of the city of Homs, killing one man and wounding 10 people, opposition activists said.

Western and Arab countries have been intensifying punitive sanctions to press Assad to carry out pledges to halt bloodshed by withdrawing forces from restive cities, admitting Arab League observers and starting transition talks with the opposition.

Royal Dutch Shell said it would be shutting down in Syria to comply with EU sanctions slapped on Syria's economically vital oil and financial sectors the day before.

A Shell spokesman said: "Our main priority is the safety of our employees ... We hope the situation improves quickly for all Syrians."

The EU on Friday extended sanctions to three Syrian oil concerns, including the state-owned General Petroleum Corporation (GPC) and Syria Trading Oil (Sytrol), to crank up the financial pressure on the Assad government.

The three oil concerns were among 11 entities and 12 Syrian leadership figures added to an EU blacklist now aimed in part at bringing the Syrian ventures of oil giants to a halt. Royal Dutch Shell was the first to bow out. [ID: nL5E7K50S9]

Syrian oil comprises under 1 percent of daily world output but accounts for a big chunk of Syrian government earnings.

The expanded EU sanctions list encompasses media companies and firms the EU says supply sensitive equipment to a research centre that supports Assad's suppression of dissent. The United States and the Arab League have also imposed an array of economic sanctions and banned travel by some Syrian VIPs.

CALL FOR INTERNATIONAL ACTION

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called for international action to protect Syria's civilian population from "continual ruthless repression that, if not stopped now, can drive the country into a full-fledged civil war".

More than 4,000 people have been killed, including 307 children, in the military crackdown on unrest since March and more than 14,000 people are believed to be held in detention, she told an emergency session of the U.N. Human Rights Council.

"In light of the manifest failure of the Syrian authorities to protect their citizens, the international community needs to take urgent and effective measures to protect the Syrian people," Pillay said in Geneva. "All acts of murder, torture and other forms of violence must be immediately stopped.

Pillay did not spell out what measures world powers should take. Russian and Chinese envoys, whose governments have blocked tougher U.N. sanctions on Syria, brushed aside her appeal.

"We would like to warn against illegal interference by outside forces even under the pretext of protecting human rights. "This will have serious and unforeseen consequences," Russia's Valery Loshchinin told the Council session.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/Lj-ml0feXKE/Why-Royal-Dutch-Shell-oil-is-pulling-out-of-Syria

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Romney meets with former President George Bush, but his campaign says no endorsement coming (Star Tribune)

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Doris Day still sings at 87, offers fans "My Heart" (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? At age 87, Doris Day is not exactly pop music's latest hot young artist. But this week the star of film, TV and music returns to the U.S. record world she conquered more than 60 years ago with a new album, "My Heart."

The CD, which hits record stores and websites December 2, is filled with old standards like "My Buddy," previously unreleased tunes such as "Stewball," about a race horse Day loved, and pop hits of the 1960s and '70s such as "Daydream" and "You Are So Beautiful."

"I like the music when I was working and singing," she told Reuters. "I think the writers were so incredibly brilliant, and when you sang a song of theirs that you loved, it really meant something. And love songs, I love love songs."

Day, whose first hit was 1945's "Sentimental Journey," went from big band singer to movie star of the 1950s and '60s. She became the quintessential All-American girl and a major box office draw with films such as "Calamity Jane" and "Pillow Talk," opposite Rock Hudson. In the late 1960s, she moved to TV where she starred in "The Doris Day Show."

But after that show ended in 1973, Day stepped out of the Hollywood limelight, moved to California's Central Coast and devoted herself to helping animals through various charitable groups, including the Doris Day Animal Foundation.

For the most part, she has stayed away from entertainment circles for more than 20 years since accepting a lifetime achievement honor from Golden Globe organizers in 1989.

Day recorded and released the songs for "My Heart" because she wanted to help animals -- sales proceeds go to her animal foundation -- and she dedicated the song "My Buddy" to her son, the late record producer and songwriter Terry Melcher, who died in 2004 after battling melanoma.

"He really was my buddy," Day said of her son. "I wanted that song to be there because it was for him and, well, all I can say is that I miss him very much."

PICKING SONGS SHE LIKES

Day's voice is sharp on songs such as "My One and Only Love" and "The Way I Dreamed It," and she says she picked the songs for the album simply because she liked them.

"It's difficult to explain," she said. "You pick the songs that you like and like a lot."

She agreed that she's lived a magical life -- from Ohio schoolgirl to Hollywood star -- but then remembered that not all was sunshine and sweetness.

While her years in music, movies and TV will be known for performing, Day's setbacks notably included being left deeply in debt after one husband and his business partner squandered her earnings. Still, she recovered.

"I had a lot of bumps, but each one led me to something better," she said.

Of all her endeavors, Day said she loved singing the most -- singing and the movies equally, on second thought. Of her favorite memories, she said, are those when she first became a singer in a big band with a swinging sound.

"My Heart" already has been released in Great Britain, and it landed in the top 10 on U.K. record charts, making Day among the oldest singers ever to earn that achievement.

Day said she thinks the key to her longevity is "laughing a lot ... My entire family has gone to heaven, so I'm all alone. But if I sat in my house and cried all the time, what kind of life would that be?"

She ends the album with the song "Ohio" -- a musical reference to the state where she was born, with its classic lyrics "Why, O why, O why-o//why did I ever leave Ohio?"

Day said she's not really sure exactly why she left home so many years ago, except that she simply loved to sing.

"I was going to marry a very nice man," she said. "I was going to have a nice little house and cook for him."

She pauses to reflect.

"I still don't cook," she said, then laughs.

(Editing by Sheri Linden)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111127/music_nm/us_dorisday

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