Oil falls near $83 as Fed warns of economic risks

SINGAPORE (AP) — Oil prices plunged to near $83 a barrel Thursday in Asia, extending losses from the previous session after the U.S. central bank warned that already weak economic growth could deteriorate further.

Benchmark oil for November delivery was down $2.52 at $83.40 at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude dropped $1.00 to settle at $85.92 on Wednesday.

In London, Brent crude for November delivery was down $2.31 at $108.05 on the ICE Futures exchange.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday at the end of a two-day policy meeting that there were "significant downside risks" to the Fed's economic forecasts, and highlighted a weak labor market and high unemployment rate.

The Fed also sought to lower lending rates and spur economic growth with a $400 billion program to sell short-term Treasury bills and buy long-term debt — dubbed "operation twist" — but analysts said it falls short of the $600 billion bond-buying program that ended this year. Most short-term rates are already near zero percent, blunting the possible benefits of any decline in long-term interest rates.

"We expect it to have only a limited downward impact on longer-term interest rates and the impact on the wider economy will be even more modest," Captial Economics said in a report. "The cost of borrowing simply isn't the problem."

Plunging global equities also weighed on oil prices since traders often look to stocks as a barometer of overall investor sentiment. Dow Jones industrial average fell 2.5 percent Wednesday and Asian stock markets were down Thursday.

In other Nymex trading for November contracts, heating oil fell 5.8 cents at $2.89 per gallon and gasoline futures slid 6.4 cents to $2.59 per gallon. Natural gas for October delivery was steady at $3.73 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Pakistan orders detention of prominent militant

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Police say the Pakistani government has placed under house detention an Islamist militant accused in dozens of killings but released from prison two months ago.

Police officer Sohail Chatta says the Punjab provincial government issued the 10-day detention order against Malik Ishaq on Wednesday because he was exacerbating tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.

Another police officer said on Thursday that Ishaq has been stoking anger toward Shiites in public speeches. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Ishaq is a founder of the banned Sunni extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. He was freed on bail in July after 14 years in prison because there was not enough evidence to keep holding him.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

KHAR, Pakistan (AP) — A pickup truck carrying anti-Taliban militiamen hit a roadside bomb in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border on Thursday, killing five people, said a government official.

Another vehicle was damaged and eight people were wounded in the incident, which occurred in the Chamarkand area of the Bajur tribal region, said Adalat Khan, a local government administrator. Three of the dead were men who had taken up arms against the Taliban and the bomb was likely targeting them, said Khan.

The government has encouraged the formation of anti-Taliban militias, or lashkars, and their members have repeatedly been targeted by the militants.

Bajur is considered a militant stronghold and violence has persisted there since last year, when the military claimed that it had defeated Taliban and al-Qaida militants after more than a year of fighting.

Elsewhere in the northwest, security forces killed three militants and arrested two others who were holed up with weapons in a house in Mingora, the main town in the Swat Valley, said army spokesman Col. Arif Mahmood. Two of the militants were shot dead overnight by security forces, and the third blew himself up, said Mahmood.

The Taliban controlled Swat until the army launched a large offensive in 2009. Mingora has been fairly peaceful since then, but the clash could stoke fears of militant resurgence.

In the south, two children were killed and 11 others were wounded Thursday when an explosive they were playing with, likely a hand grenade, blew up, said police officer Abdullah Shaikh. The incident took place in Meo Takkar village in Sindh province, where hundreds of people have taken refuge to escape floods wracking large parts of the south. It is unclear where the children got the hand grenade, said Shaikh.

Yao Ming, Branson join to fight shark fin trade

SHANGHAI (AP) — Recently retired Chinese NBA star Yao Ming is taking the fight against eating shark fins back to his homeland, where demand for the traditional delicacy is soaring despite efforts to ban their use and trade.

Yao and British tycoon Richard Branson made an appeal Thursday in Shanghai against eating shark fins, which are a staple of high-class Chinese banquets, to a group of 30 of China's richest and most influential businesspeople.

"When demand happens, the buying happens and the killing happens," said Yao, a 7-foot-6 (2.29-meter) former center who retired in July after eight seasons with the Houston Rockets due to injuries.

Shanghai-born Yao is using his post-retirement free time to help campaign against the slaughter of 1.5 million sharks a week that is taking some of the species close to extinction.

The event, sponsored by the conservation group WildAid, is aimed at starting a conservation movement in China "not just to protect the sharks but to protect tigers, and to protect other species that are in peril of extinction," Branson said.

Critics say fishermen kill more than 70 million sharks each year for their fins, which can sell for $700 a pound (450 grams), while the soup can cost $80 a bowl. Usually, the fins are cut from the sharks and their bodies discarded, leaving them to die.

Although there have been moves to ban the trade and consumption of shark fins in California and elsewhere, 95 percent are consumed in China.

"There's been a massive increase in shark fin soup and the killing of sharks," said Branson, whose Virgin Airlines bans transport of shark fins. "The world is getting wealthier, particularly in China people are getting wealthier, and they can now afford to buy shark fin soup."

"We're trying to get other businesses to ban the transportation of shark fins," he said.

While shark fins have been used to make soup for hundreds of years, until recently consumption was limited to a small elite, said Yao, who gave up eating shark fin in 2006 and says he avoids events where it is served.

About 20 countries and regions have imposed regulations on finning or commercial shark fishing. Earlier this month, California imposed a ban on the trade. China regulates dealings in and harvesting of sharks but has not banned it.

"As far as shark finning is concerned the best way is to ... ban altogether shark fin soup from states and then countries. That's perhaps the only way to save the shark in the long term," Branson said.