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Markets: Mideast unrest sends oil soaring; Energy: BP plants its flag in India; Biotech: Sanofi finally lands Genzyme; Magazines: Time gives Griffin the boot; Retailing: Borders turns to Chapter 11

Markets: Mideast unrest sends oil soaring

The price of a barrel of oil this week rose to a two-year high, while gold shot past $1,400 an ounce, amid escalating tensions in the Middle East and North Africa, said Stephen Kirkland in Bloomberg.com. Brent crude oil, the European benchmark, hit $105.78 a barrel in London, up more than 4 percent since Feb. 1; West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. standard, jumped 6.4 percent in a single day—to $95.42 a barrel—in New York. International stock indexes began the week with precipitous falls in Paris, Frankfurt, and other trading centers. The Mideast and North Africa account for 36 percent of the world’s annual output of crude.

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