First Solar Signs 20-Year Pact With Edison International for Solar Power - Bloomberg

(Corrects third paragraph to show output of 250 megawatts of alternating current; corrects fourth paragraph to show 50 megawatts of alternating current.)

First Solar Inc., the world’s biggest maker of thin-film photovoltaic panels, said a unit of Edison International intends to buy almost three-quarters of the energy from a planned 340-megawatt solar plant in Nevada.

Southern California Edison will purchase 250 megawatts over 20 years, said Alan Bernheimer, a First Solar spokesman. The California Public Utilities Commission must approve the contract.

The First Solar plant, dubbed Silver State South, will consist of panels mounted on 2,500 acres near Primm, Nevada. It should be built and operational by 2014, with a maximum output of 250 megawatts of alternating current by 2017, the Tempe, Arizona-based company said in a statement.

The facility will dwarf First Solar’s adjacent Silver State North, which will produce 50 megawatts of alternating current. That plant will sell power to Nevada utility NV Energy Inc. under a 25-year contract signed a year ago.

First Solar declined to disclose the terms of the Edison agreement or the construction cost of Silver State South, which will connect to Rosemead, California-based Edison’s proposed Eldorado-Ivanpah 220-kilovolt transmission line.

First Solar, whose 38 percent increase this year outperformed the 23 percent gain in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, fell 1.4 percent to $156.27 as of 12:43 p.m. in Nasdaq Stock Market trading.

Edison International was little changed at $36.99.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ehren Goossens in New York at egoossens1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net.

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Iranian leader links risings in North Africa to Iran's revolution - CNN International

Iran's revolution in '79 toppled the shahSupreme leader calls Mubarak a Zionist "lackey"Ben Ali had been dependent on United States, Khamenei said

Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- Iran's supreme leader praised the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia Friday and said they echo his country's revolution more than three decades ago, state media reported.

"Today, developments in North Africa, (including) Egypt, Tunisia and some other countries have a special meaning for the Iranian nation," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said during a Friday prayer sermon, according to Press TV.

"This is what was always referred to as the Islamic awakening created by the victory of the great revolution of the Iranian nation."

Iran's revolution in 1979 toppled the shah of Iran and ushered in an Islamic republic.

But the ferment in North Africa has been fueled by secular concerns.

Protests against corruption and poor living conditions in Tunisia forced the ouster of the country's president. Demonstrations in Egypt have called for the departure of President Hosni Mubarak.

Khamenei said Tunisia's former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali had been dependent on the United States and the Central Intelligence Agency.

He called the Mubarak regime, which has diplomatic relations with Israel, a "lackey of the Zionist regime."

He referred to Egyptians' fight for "dignity and honor" and said that Mubarak's biggest transgression was to make Egypt an American tool.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has been adversaries with Israel and the United States since the Iranian revolution occurred.

Khamenei said Iran's enemies have been launching a psychological war against it for the past 32 years, and he said the country's enemies have been trying to undermine the Islamic revolution since the 2009 presidential election.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won a second term in what was regarded by many Iranians as a rigged election. That poll that stoked popular protests in Iran.

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Thein Sein is Myanmar's new president - CNN International

Myanmar names president and two vice presidentsThe new constitution now requires more than 100 military nominees in parliament.Myanmar held elections for the first time in 20 years but critics called it a shamMyanmar, also known as Burma, has been under military rule since 1962.

(CNN) -- Myanmar's parliament elected Prime Minister Thein Sein to be the country's new president Friday.

Tin Myint Oo and Sai Muak Kham will serve as vice presidents of Union Parliament.

Myanmar convened its first parliament in more than two decades on Monday in the capital, Naypyidaw.

The lawmakers came into office after elections were held in November for the first time in 20 years. The elections drew fire from critics who said the voting was aimed at creating a facade of democracy.

The regime refused to allow international monitors to oversee the race and would not allow international journalists to cover the voting from inside the country. Journalists who reported from inside Myanmar had to do so surreptitiously.

The military junta also recently overhauled Myanmar's constitution in a way that critics say was aimed at tightening the regime's grip.

The constitution now requires more than 100 military nominees in parliament. Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been under military rule since 1962.

Among those who boycotted the elections was opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, which described it as a sham.

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'Special treatment' to Davis challenged - The News International

LAHORE

A WRIT petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court, challenging the alleged special treatment being given to US citizen Raymond Davis, a double murder accused, and pleading that he be treated him as an ordinary accused.

Ishtiaq Chaudhry advocate filed the petition on Thursday, contending that the authorities concerned were treating Davis as a guest being a US national. He said on Thursday, the prosecution/police produced the accused before a magistrate at cantonment courts one hour earlier before the scheduled time.

He alleged that the said act of police was based on malafide intention and to cheat the family and lawyers of Qurtaba Chowk incident victims. He said that due to prosecutionís deceitful act, the defence lawyers had failed to contest the case, violating the spirit of complete justice.

The petitioner further submitted that Davis was to be produced before the magistrate concerned at the Model Town Courts but the prosecution had produced him at Cantonment Courts even on second hearing on Thursday. He pointed out that the police station where the case was registered against Davis fell within the jurisdiction of Model Town Courts but the prosecution with mala fide intention was not following the law.

The petitioner pleaded that the prosecution be directed to act strictly according to law and treat Davis like an ordinary accused.

Plea to try Davis for forgery: A writ petition has been moved in the Lahore High Court, seeking directions for government to prosecute US national Raymond Davis for committing forgery by applying visa under a fake name.

In his petition, Barrister Iqbal Jafree submitted that Davis had got a visa under a fake name which had made the whole process of visa doubtful and the his visa stood cancelled ab intio (from the beginning). He said Raymond Davis used excessive force while gunning down two Pakistani at the Qurtaba Chowk on January 27 that shifted all burden on him.

He pleaded that Davis deserved no special treatment and should be punished for killing and committing fraud. He said issuance of faked-name passport to Davis by the US government was telltale for us.

plea for foreigners’ data: The Lahore High Court chief justice on Thursday sought replies from federal and Punjab governments on a constitutional petition, seeking directions for ministries of interior and foreign affairs to provide the Punjab government complete information/functions about foreigners living in the province. CJ Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry directed a deputy attorney general and an assistant advocate general to ensure submission of replies within three weeks.

Noshab A Khan advocate had filed the petition under Article 199 of the constitution in the backdrop of murder of two Pakistani youths at Qurtaba Chowk by US citizen Raymond Davis.

The petitioner submitted that the scarcity of correct information about the accused was causing hardships for the public at large and him. He prayed to the court that the ministries of interior and foreign affairs be directed to supply all the necessary information, including their duties and functions, their whereabouts, movements and designs, to the Punjab interior secretary about foreigners in the province.

The lawyer further prayed that the Punjab government be directed to take all the necessary steps to safeguard the precious life and property of citizens, especially from foreigners.

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