Free Republic

Predictions of $250 a barrel on fears for oil reserves, hopes of economic recovery and hedging against weak dollar The price of oil burst through the $71 a barrel mark today amid revelations that proven reserves had fallen for the first time in 10 years and predictions that the price could eventually hit $250. The latest high – from lows of $30 only four months ago – came on the New York Mercantile Exchange, where the cost of July deliveries rose by $1.35 to $71.36. This comes on top of a $2 rise the day before as investors rushed into...

.....Matthew Levitt, formerly a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and now deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury, has just published Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad. He notes that last September Israel arrested an Israeli Arab, Yakub Muhamad Yakub Abu Etzev, who played central militant, political, and financing roles for Hamas in coordination with what Israeli authorities described as a “Hamas command in Saudi Arabia.” Until he was arrested, Etzev was in contact via e-mail with senior Hamas officials in Saudi Arabia. According to Israeli authorities, Abu Etzev confessed to receiving...