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On the New York Mercantile Exchange on Thursday, Crude oil prices held steady above $76 per barrel.

Crude oil inventories rose by 2 million barrels in the week ending June 18, the U. S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, adding to pressure on oil trading that was initially pushed from its 2010 peak by the escalating debt crisis in Europe.

July delivery crude oil prices added 12 cents from a prior settlement to $76.47 per barrel.

According to media reports, Renhuang Pharmaceuticals, a Chinese developer of biopharmaceuticals and traditional Chinese medicines, has won a 1-year contract to supply Chinese military hospitals.

A company statement has said that the contract is worth an expected $600,000 this year, rising to around $1.2 million for 2011.

Renhuang will supply the Guangzhou Military District with plant-based shengmai granules, Tianma headache tablets, a number of Siberian ginseng products and an unspecified gynecological medication.

It has been reported that Canadian police made a third arrest on weapons charges in Toronto on Thursday as the city gears up for this weekend's G20 summit.

CNN has reported that a suspect whose name was not reported was arrested Thursday near the site of the summit with five gas cans, pellet guns, a crossbow and explosives in his car. There was no clear indication if the threat was directly linked with the summit.

The U. S. economy cannot continue to drive global growth and urged countries to reduce their deficits, U. S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday.

Geithner told the BBC on Thursday that the world "cannot depend as much on the (United States) as it did in the past."

According to the official reports, the U. S. Senate voted 99-0 Thursday to pass a measure imposing new sanctions on Iran.

The Hill has reported that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said on the Senate floor, "The world has watched as Iran has oppressed its own people, violated United Nations resolutions, challenged America and threatened Israel."

Britain's defense ministry said on Thursday that four British soldiers were killed in a collision in Afghanistan that submerged their armored truck underwater.

The ministry also revealed that the Wednesday night accident occurred near Gereshk, a town in Helmand Province on the Helmand River in central Afghanistan about 75 miles northwest of Kandahar.