NewsWhacker

Lithium in Afghanistan - How will that change the world?

2010-06-14T08:42:00.000-07:00

Is Lithium the Answer to Afghanistan’s Problems?

Time — Remote (and volatile) regions of the war-torn country may hold as much as $1 trillion in lithium and other minerals, according to a report in today’s New York Times.

The the deposits are so vast that a Pentagon memo says Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” the Times reports. Lithium is used frequently in battery production and in some medical applications. Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/06/14/is-lithium-the-answer-to-afghanistans-problems/#ixzz0qqJDAPZC
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Why Afghanistan's Lithium Discovery Excites Silicon Valley

CBS News — After all that it's suffered through since the late 1970s, Afghanistan could use a break. That's why this surprisingly hopeful discovery of vast mineral deposits could be one of the most important events in that country's history. Among the potential riches - and the one likely to excite the technology industry's interest - lithium.

The New York Times quotes a Pentagon memo suggesting Afghanistan could one day become "the Saudi Arabia of lithium."
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Afghanistan to become “Saudi Arabia of Lithium”

PC Advisor UK — A massive $1 trillion deposit of untapped minerals discovered in Afghanistan includes huge amounts of lithium, which is used in batteries for laptops and mobile phones such as the iPhone and BlackBerry.

A report in the New York Times states that American geologists working with the Pentagon have conducted ground surveys on dry salt lakes, looking for large deposits of lithium.
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Is Saudi Arabia working with Israel to attack Iran?

2010-06-13T09:53:00.000-07:00

Ahmadinejad: Israel, U.S. trying to sabotage Iran's relations with Saudi Arabia

Haaretz — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday charged Israel and the United States of trying to sabotage relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, a day after Riyadh denied a report in the Times claiming it had agreed to allow Israel to use its airspace to attack Iran.

"Undoubtedly, the U.S. and the Zionist regime are the enemies of Iran and Saudi Arabia, so they are trying to create a gap between Tehran and Riyadh," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said during a meeting with Saudi Arabia's new ambassador to Tehran.
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Saudis test clearing skies for Israel to bomb Iran: report

Agence France Presse — Saudi Arabia has conducted tests to stand down its air defences to allow Israeli warplanes to use its airspace in any bombing raid on Iran's nuclear facilities, The Times newspaper reported Saturday.

"The Saudis have given their permission for the Israelis to pass over and they will look the other way," a US defence source in the region told the paper.
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Saudis Upgrading Fighter Jets to Face Iranian Threat

Mid East Media Line — As it denies cooperating with preparations for a potential Israeli attack on Iran, Saudi Arabia prepares for strike of its own.

Saudi Arabia’s air force has signed a deal to upgrade its fleet of 150 strike aircraft and procure advanced weaponry to respond to an Iranian military threat while simultaneously denying reports that the country is coordinating with Israel over a possible strike against Iran’s nuclear sites.
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Toxic Oil Spill. Mysteries of the Deep. Corruption. Why is the Church getting invovled?

2010-05-29T13:24:00.000-07:00

Parish official to Obama: Stop moratorium on drilling

CNN — A Gulf Coast official is pleading with President Barack Obama to scrap the moratorium on new oil drilling and exploration as the investigation of the massive oil spill continues, saying the economic impact to her Louisiana parish would be too much to bear.

Charlotte Randolph, president of LaFourche Parish, said she spoke to Obama in person during his visit to the oil-stricken region Friday.
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Slimy doings weren't all at the oil well

Washington Post — Sounds as if it may be time for a top kill at the Interior Department.

A mile below sea level in the Gulf of Mexico, BP was trying on Wednesday to jam mud and concrete into its leaking oil well -- the so-called "top kill" -- to choke off the flow. At the same time, lawmakers on Capitol Hill were puzzling over how to contain the flow of corruption that has been oozing in recent years from the Interior Department -- specifically its Minerals Management Service, which is supposed to regulate oil drilling but instead seems to be a wholly owned subsidiary of the oil industry.
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In oil spill saga, mysteries of the deep persist

Associated Press — The impatient nation isn't getting answers fast enough in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster.

What exactly went wrong? Who messed up? How much oil is pouring into the Gulf? Can the oil get to Florida and even up the Atlantic coast? What will the environmental and economic consequences be? Will the chemicals used to disperse the oil leave their own destructive legacy?
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Does Britain Want The Euro To Fail?

2010-05-21T22:47:00.000-07:00

The death of the euro? Britain's hubristic leaders have only themselves to blame, argues Britain's former ambassador in Bonn

Daily Mail — The European Union is enduring its worst crisis since its inception almost 60 years ago. The problem is the eurozone and whether it can continue in its present form - or at all.

Although only 16 out of 27 member-states of the EU have replaced their old currencies with the euro, monetary union lies at the heart of the European project. Only yesterday, Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel, told her parliament that 'if the euro fails, then Europe too will fail'.
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Don't expect Britain to back a new EU treaty, Cameron tells Merkel

The Independent — David Cameron flatly ruled out the idea of Britain agreeing to any changes to the European Union's Lisbon Treaty that might involve ceding powers from Westminster to Brussels yesterday, during his first visit to Germany as Prime Minister.

His two hours of talks in Berlin with Chancellor Angela Merkel followed a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday, and Mr Cameron was able afterwards to live up to his reputation in Germany as a staunch Eurosceptic by delivering a robust defence of Conservative Party policy on Europe.
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Britain Won't hand any more powers to Europe.

The Sun — DAVID Cameron yesterday insisted Britain will NOT hand any more powers to Brussels.

In a visit to Berlin, the PM said any transfer of sovereignty was "not likely to happen" in the foreseeable future.

He assured German Chancellor Angela Merkel the UK would play a constructive role in Europe. But he also threatened to use Britain's veto to block EU plans in the future.
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Kagan' views

2010-05-11T08:34:00.000-07:00

How Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court could affect baseball

USA Today — Baseball's 2003 drug-testing program was meant to be an anonymous survey to determine the prevalence of performance-enhancing drug use in the game. But we now know the results were far from anonymous -- federal agents seized the samples before the union destroyed them and in the past 15 months, superstars Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were outed as testing positive in the survey.

Now, the nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court may impact the fate of those samples.
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Sessions: Kagan Won't Shift Court on Abortion

CBS News — The leading Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee said this morning that it was important to examine whether, if confirmed, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan would say no to the Obama administration.

"I think the Congress and the Senate needs to examine her record carefully," Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said on CBS' "The Early Show." "This is not a coronation. She'll be subjected to scrutiny. We need to know whether or not [if] she obtains that robe and sits on that bench, will she be an objective person? Will she say 'no' even to the Obama administration and some of their agenda items if they're unconstitutional? She's got to demonstrate that or she shouldn't be given a lifetime appointment."
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Kagan's Legal Record Portrays a Cautious Liberal

FOX News — Elena Kagan's legal record is thinner than most other U.S. Supreme Court nominees. She hasn't served as a judge or taken sharp positions on many constitutional and other legal issues that often trip up potential justices.

As senators pick through her scholarly writings, speeches and decisions as dean of Harvard Law School, some themes are likely to emerge. Ms. Kagan generally takes liberal stands when she delves into social issues, but does so cautiously and with nuances that leave some liberals less than thrilled with her nomination.
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Apple; Antitrust, 1984, Flash?

2010-05-05T21:50:00.000-07:00

Apple Facing Possible Antitrust Inquiry

Information Week — Last week, Apple CEO Steve Jobs explained why his company does not allow applications created with Adobe's Flash technology on its iPhone, iPod and iPad devices. Flash, he said, is proprietary, insecure, energy inefficient, and ill-suited for touch devices.

Most significantly, he argued that third-party tools such as Flash lead to sub-standard applications and prevent developers from implementing new iPhone OS SDK technologies until tool makers support those features.
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Apple's Behavior a Throwback to 1984, Adobe CTO Says

PC World - BusinessCenter — Apple's refusal to allow Flash on the iPhone hurts innovation and is "like 1984 in a lot of ways," Adobe Systems' CTO said on Wednesday, implying that Apple has become the "Big Brother" it rebelled against in its iconic TV ad from that year.

"The story is bigger than HTML versus Flash. It's about freedom of choice on the Web," CTO Kevin Lynch said at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco Wednesday, when he was asked to comment on "the elephant in the room" during an on-stage interview
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Microsoft agrees with Apple on Adobe Flash

KNDO/KNDU — In what may either be a hint that Adobe's Flash is in real trouble, or sign that the apocalypse is indeed coming, Apple and Microsoft actually agree on something.

On April 29th, Steve Jobs posted an open letter outlining in no uncertain terms why he thinks Adobe's Flash sucks. Jobs listed several reasons why the technology is not going to be included as part of Apple's mobile OSs, and he went on to sing the virtues of HTML5 as the future.
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Will China Strengthen The Yuan? How will that change the world?

2010-04-13T07:58:00.000-07:00

Goldman Says China Trade Deficit Won’t Last, Yuan Gain Likely

Business Week — China’s March trade deficit is temporary and the pressure for the yuan to gain remains intact, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

“The weak exports in March were likely due to the Lunar New Year effects as exporters suspend production for an extended period after the holiday,” wrote Hong Kong-based analysts Song Yu and Helen Qiao in a report on April 10. “Given the strong underlying exports growth and rising overheating pressures, we believe a modest yuan revaluation is still on the agenda.”
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Yuan Rise Would Boost Asian, Commodity-Backed Currencies

Wall Street Journal — Any appreciation of the Chinese yuan should lift other Asian currencies along with it, while helping to diffuse the recently stressed tenor of Sino-U.S. relations.

Speculation is increasing that China will allow the yuan to strengthen, but the country's leaders aren't likely to make a huge adjustment for fear of shocking markets and derailing a nascent economic recovery. Assuming the government releases the yuan from its current tight range versus the dollar, analysts expect the Chinese currency to appreciate 1% to 3% against the dollar over the following 12 months.
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Stronger yuan may deal another blow to euro

Reuters — A loosening in China's yuan policy that lets the currency rise while keeping it pegged to the dollar may deal another blow to the battered euro as such a move is seen slowing China's accumulation of foreign reserves.

The euro has weakened about 7 percent versus the dollar and the yen this year on concerns Greece may face problems servicing its debts, and demand for euro assets will shrink further if a possible yuan move results in less euro buying by China.
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Poland's Top Government Officials Wiped Out In Russian Plane Crash

2010-04-10T18:14:00.000-07:00

For Poland, plane crash in Russia rips open old wounds

Los Angeles Times — The plane crash that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski on Saturday gutted a nation's leadership and silenced some of the most potent human symbols of its tragic and tumultuous history.

It was, literally, a nation colliding with its past: The aircraft ran aground on a patch of earth that has symbolized the Soviet-era repressions that shaped much of the 20th century, near the remote Russian forest glade called Katyn where thousands of Polish prisoners of war were killed and dumped in unmarked graves by Soviet secret police in 1940.
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Plane Crash ‘A Second Katyn’ Massacre, Says Priest

The Epoch Times — Among the victims of Saturday’s plane crash that killed the Polish president, were many prominent members of the Polish clergy. The entire entourage was on its way to the Katyn forest in Western Russia to observe the 70-year anniversary of the mass execution of 20,000 elite Polish officers during World War II.

Father Jan Kaczmarczyk, a retired deacon and parson of parish in Sochaczew, about 30 miles outside of Warsaw, shares his reaction to the death of his close friends and colleagues.
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Air traffic control told Polish president's plane not to land - paper

RIA Novosti — Russian air traffic controllers advised the pilot of a plane carrying Polish President Lech Kaczynski not to attempt to land, the Polish Gazeta Wyborcza said on Saturday.

All 96 people on board a Soviet-made Tu-154 were killed earlier on Saturday when the plane hit trees as it approached Smolensk airport in thick fog.

The paper said the pilot and Kaczynski were advised to turn around and head for Minsk, the capital of neighboring Belarus, as the Smolensk military aerodrome lacks the necessary navigational equipment to receive planes in heavy fog.
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Nuclear Treaty

2010-04-07T11:19:00.000-07:00

Rudy Giuliani Calls Obama Nuclear Policy "Left-Wing Dream"

CBS News — Conservatives are lashing out against President Obama's new nuclear policy, claiming the revised strategy is, at best, an empty gesture, and at worst a threat to U.S. safety.

The new strategy eliminates some of the ambiguity in the nation's previous nuclear policy by asserting -- with large caveats -- that the United States will not use nuclear weapons to respond to a chemical, biological or cyber attack. The White House's nuclear initiatives are intended to encourage other nations to reduce and stop development of their nuclear stockpiles.
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In Eastern Europe, Pact With Russians Raises Old Specters

New York Times — As President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia and President Barack Obama prepare to arrive in Prague on Thursday to sign a landmark arms control treaty, Marcela Balounova, like many Czechs, remains haunted by her memories of 1968, when nearly one million Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia, ushering in a period of political repression.

“The Russians invaded us before and they are invading us again,” Ms. Balounova, 50, said from her art gallery in this picturesque spa town, where Peter the Great first came for a treatment in 1711 and which has since become so popular with Russians that most signs offering luxury products and services — from million-euro villas to colonic irrigation — are in Russian. “I still remember crying when the Russians came here. And now here we are more than 40 years later and this place has become a Little Moscow.”
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New US Nuclear Policy Focuses on Terrorists, Rogue States

Voice of America News — The United States on Tuesday announced a new nuclear weapons policy that gives top priority to fighting terrorism and proliferation, rather than deterring or responding to a nuclear attack by a foreign country. The policy promises not to use atomic weapons against non-nuclear states, but issues a stern warning for countries that ignore global non-proliferation rules. Initial reaction among experts and members of Congress has been mixed.

The policy document called the Nuclear Posture Review specifically says the United States will reduce the role of nuclear weapons in the nation's security strategy. It lays out a plan to expand conventional capabilities, to rely on existing stockpiles of nuclear weapons for deterrence against nuclear powers like Russia and China, and to focus on preventing terrorists and rogue states from acquiring such weapons.
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Pressure is Building Against Iran

2010-03-30T10:09:00.000-07:00

Israel to focus on key Iran nuclear targets in any strike

Reuters — Should Israel attack Iranian nuclear facilities, it would probably carry out precision strikes while making every effort not to hit the oil sector or other civilian sites.

Past Israeli operations, such as the 1981 bombing of Iraq's Osirak atomic reactor and a similar sortie against Syria in 2007, suggest a strategy of one-off pinpoint raids, due both to military limitations and a desire to avoid wider war.
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Clinton: China to be 'involved' in Iran sanctions push

Agence France Presse — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said China will play a role in international efforts to pen sanctions against Iran at the United Nations, and that Beijing recognizes the threat of Iran's nuclear program.

"I think as the weeks go forward and we begin the hard work of trying to come up with a Security Council resolution, China will be involved," Clinton said Monday in an interview with Canadian television.
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Russia still support diplomatic means to resolve Iran's issue

UNN India — President Dmitry Medvedev said on Russia still supported diplomacy to resolve the dispute over Iran's nuclear program but sanctions should not be ruled . We are convinced that the path of sanctions is not optimal,Medvedev said in a message to the Arab League conference in Sirte Libya.

At the same time, such a scenario cannot be excluded," he added, Russia which, together with China, had been reluctant to endorse broader sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program, has softened its stance on punitive measures against the Islamic Republic in recent months.
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U.S. and Russia agree on Nuclear Arms Treaty

2010-03-25T11:03:00.000-07:00

Russia claims breakthrough in historic nuclear reduction agreement with US

Guardian UK — Barack Obama's ambitious goal of freeing the world of nuclear weapons won a significant boost tonight when Russia indicated that it had reached agreement with the United States on a historic nuclear arms reduction treaty.

Kremlin officials said that a document to replace the 1991 Start treaty had been agreed with Washington. A signing ceremony between Obama and Russia's president, Dmitry Medvedev, is likely to take place early next month in the Czech capital Prague, they said.
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U.S. Senate to discuss arms treaty with Russia in April-May

RIA Novosti — The U.S. Senate plans to hold hearings on ratifying a new signed arms reduction deal with Russia in April-May, a leading U.S. senator has said.

A signed Russian-U.S. treaty has to be ratified by the two states' parliaments to go into effect.

"We intend to begin hearings between Easter [April 4] and Memorial Day [May 31] on the historical record of strategic arms control," Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry said in a statement.
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A START towards Undermining Our Nuclear Security

The Heritage Foundry — Yesterday the Kremlin announced that the Obama administration and Russia had reached agreement on a new nuclear arms agreement intended to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). The declaration appeared to surprise the White House, as Press Secretary Robert Gibbs could only confirm that the two sides were “close” to a treaty. But U.S. officials confirm that “all major obstacles” in negotiations with Moscow have been cleared.

Russian approval of a new START agreement has been the cornerstone of President Barack Obama’s “long road toward eliminating nuclear weapons” policy. President Obama’s desire to appease Russia is why he began negotiations by unilaterally surrendering to Kremlin demands that the United States betray our Czech Republic and Polish allies by going back on our promise to build ballistic missile defense facilities in Eastern Europe. Russians took President Obama’s easy and early capitulation on missile defense as a sign of naivete and weakness and concluded that the Obama administration was far more desperate for a new nuclear treaty than they were and, as The Los Angeles Times reports, “used that fact in negotiations.”
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People with Healthcare account for 45% of personal bankruptcies

2010-03-23T12:43:00.000-07:00

New Study: Bankruptcy Tied To Medical Bills

Washington Post — Sixty-two percent of all bankruptcies filed in 2007 were linked to medical expenses, according to a nationwide study released today by the American Journal of Medicine. That's nearly 20 percentage points higher than that pool of respondents reported were connected to medical costs in 2001.

Of those who filed for bankruptcy in 2007, nearly 80 percent had health insurance. Respondents who reported having insurance indicated average expenses of just under $18,000. Respondents who filed and lacked insurance had average medical bills of nearly $27,000.
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Health Care Without Bankruptcy, Please

Huffington Post — What kind of an America would we suddenly create if the President were to sign into law a health care bill with a mandate to buy private insurance? An America where millions would be covered, but bankrupt, broke, financially kaput. And unhealthy, too.

Wait--what?

You guessed it. All the fever-pitched, media-amplified ranting about "death" that has dominated the health care debate has likely done little more than obscure the ultimate sticking point for many Americans: a bill that would mandate--require by law--all Americans to buy private health insurance.
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Health care related bankruptcy is on the rise, study says

Consumer Reports — Americans are increasingly at risk of financial ruin due to illness and medical expenses, according to a new study released yesterday by the American Journal of Medicine. The researchers found that illness or medical bills contributed to nearly two thirds, or 62 percent, of all bankruptcies in 2007—before the major impact of the housing collapse and current economic downturn. That’s a 50 percent increase over a similar survey in 2001 by the same researchers.

Most of the debtors are middle aged, middle class and have a college level education, and each of them has their own story. Take Donna, from Chicago (right) who told us her bankruptcy story during our Cover America Tour. Donna’s husband had already been diagnosed with a heart condition, and when she found out she had uterine cancer, their out-of-pocket costs shot up to $9,000 a year. When they fell behind on their bills, one of her doctors sued to garnish her wages, which forced her and her husband into bankruptcy. They ended up losing their house, she gave up her job at a newspaper, and they moved into their daughter’s basement until they could afford a small apartment.
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Retired U.S. General links Gays in Military to Massacre in Bosnia.

2010-03-19T08:51:00.000-07:00

Retired general links gays in Dutch military to massacre

CNN — A retired U.S. general said Thursday that the Dutch policy of allowing openly gay soldiers to serve in its military led, in part, to its failure to halt the massacre of Muslims in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in 1995.

Immediately afterward, the Dutch ambassador to the United States issued a sharp denial.
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Dutch fuming at retired US general's gay comment

The Washington Post — The Dutch prime minister Friday denounced as "irresponsible" a claim by a retired U.S. general that gay Dutch soldiers were partly to blame for allowing Europe's worst massacre since World War II.

Dutch officials, from the Cabinet to the military, were outraged by retired Gen. John Sheehan's remarks at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
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Netherlands to Gen. John Sheehan: You're Stupid, Stop Talking

Queerty — It's not like U.S. military forces are necessarily "scared" of the Dutch military, but former NATO Commander Gen. John Sheehan's comments at yesterday's Don't Ask Don't Tell hearings, where he blamed the Netherlands' military's supposed failure in Bosnia in 1995 on their allowance of openly gay soldiers, is a thing of ridiculousness so grand, even the Pentagon should be furious over Sheehan's remarks.

For now, though, it's the Dutch administration responding: Stop talking, you fool.
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Health Insurance - Losing Coverage

2010-03-17T09:26:00.000-07:00

Utahns paying a lot more for much less health insurance

Deseret News — Utahns are losing their workplace-based insurance at a faster rate than most Americans, and those who manage to keep it are paying a lot more and getting markedly less, a new state-by-state report released Wednesday shows.

Looking at data between 2000 and 2008 and slicing it 10 different ways, the nonpartisan Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's "Barely Hanging On: Middle-Class and Uninsured" statistically verifies what most working Americans already know: Health care insurance premiums are eating away household and employer incomes, and it's only going to get worse.
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Middle-class Texans slammed by loss of health insurance

Texas Star-Telegram — The number of middle-class Texans without health insurance increased 41 percent between 2000 and 2008, with nearly 500,000 middle-class workers no longer covered through their job or private insurance, according to a study released today by the nonpartisan Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Texans made up about 1 in 5 middle-class Americans who lost health insurance during that period, according to the study.
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About 1 in 4 in California lack health insurance, a UCLA study finds

Los Angeles Times — Nearly 1 in 4 Californians under age 65 had no health insurance last year, according to a new report, as soaring unemployment propelled vast numbers of once-covered workers into the ranks of the uninsured.

The state's uninsured population jumped to 8.2 million in 2009, up from 6.4 million in 2007, marking the highest number over the last decade, investigators from UCLA's Center for Health Policy Research said.
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Child Sex Scandals - Is Celibacy Over?

2010-03-16T09:17:00.000-07:00

German Catholics fume at pope's 'silence'

Sydney Morning Herald — German Catholic groups have hit out at the pope's silence over a snowballing paedophilia priest scandal rocking his native country's Church.

The scandal "affects people, whether they are religious or not," said Dirk Taenzler, head of the Federation of German Catholic Youth (BDKJ), in the Berliner Zeitung daily.

"The Holy Father should make a statement about this."
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Churches acted 'decisively' in child sex scandals: Vatican

Taiwan News — Vatican officials moved to stem the rising tide of anger as details emerged of separate paedophilia scandals involving Catholic priests in several European countries.

Spokesman Federico Lombardi defended the response of churches to paedophile priest scandals emerging in Austria, Germany, The Netherlands and elsewhere, saying Roman Catholic leaders had reacted swiftly and decisively.
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German bishops call for end to celibacy mandate

Deutche Welle — Few if any Catholic priests or bishops are likely to say their church's vow of celibacy for priests is a direct cause of child sexual abuse. Yet the most recent wave of abuse allegations across Germany and Europe has reignited an ongoing debate in the Church over whether priests should be allowed to marry.

Hamburg Bishop Hans-Jochen Jaschke told the daily newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt on Saturday that coexistence between celibate and married priests should be possible. He added that while he saw no direct connection between the large number of abuse cases and priest celibacy, "the celibate lifestyle can attract people who have an abnormal sexuality."
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Seeds, Food Prices, Monsanto, Anti-Trust, Seed Banks

2010-03-12T08:47:00.000-08:00

Rising food prices may start with seeds

Los Angeles Times — For 40 years, farmer Todd Leake and his family have battled bitter cold, hungry pests and a short growing season to coax soybeans out of their fields in eastern North Dakota.

The one thing they never had to fight for, though, was their seeds.
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Monsanto’s Seed Patents May Trump Antitrust Claims, Lawyers Say

Business Week — Monsanto Co., facing antitrust probes into its genetically modified seeds, may benefit from previous court rulings in which intellectual property rights trumped competition concerns, antitrust lawyers say.

The Department of Justice and seven state attorneys general are investigating whether the world’s largest seed company is using gene licenses to keep competing technologies off the market. At issue is how the St. Louis-based company sells and licenses its patented trait that allows farmers to kill weeds with Roundup herbicide while leaving crops unharmed. The company’s Roundup Ready gene was in 93 percent of U.S. soybeans last year.
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Arctic Seed Vault largest in the world

Norway Post — Just days after celebrating its second anniversary, the Svalbard “Doomsday” Global Seed Vault has this week received thousands of new seeds that will push its collection to more than half a million unique samples.

This makes the Svalbard Seed Vault the most diverse assemblage of crop diversity ever amassed anywhere in the world, according to the Global Crop Diversity Trust.
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Does Israel Want Peace?

2010-03-10T08:18:00.000-08:00

Mishaps galore as Israel tries to welcome U.S. Vice President

Haaretz — U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Jerusalem Tuesday was not free of embarrassing moments.

The first occurred at the President's Residence, at the start of a meeting between Biden and President Shimon Peres. The plan called for brief remarks, which usually means a few minutes. But Peres spoke for no less than 25 minutes.
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Israeli minister apologizes for bad timing of East Jerusalem expansion plan

Xinhua — Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai Wednesday apologized for the raging storm generated by his ministry's approval for 1,600 new Jewish homes in East Jerusalem, saying that he had no intention to embarrass visiting U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.

In an interview with local Israel Radio, Yishai said he was not informed beforehand of the decision, announced Tuesday night by the ministry's district committee, and that the matter was only a routine and technical procedure of the building plan which has been in the works for over three years.
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Biden holds Palestinian talks after condemning Israel

ABC News — The US vice-president Joe Biden is holding talks with Palestinian leaders, a day after condemning Israel's announcement of 1,600 new homes for Jewish settlers in east Jerusalem.

Israel's announcement coincided with Mr Biden's arrival and came days after Palestinians agreed to re-enter indirect peace talks with Israel.
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Biden, Israel, Palestine = Peace?

2010-03-09T08:32:00.000-08:00

US reassures Israel over security

Aljazeera — Joe Biden, the US vice-president, and Benyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, have held talks over the percieved threat posed by Iran and on reviving the Middle East peace process.

After the meeting in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Biden reassured Israel that the US stood alongside them in terms of security.
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Biden: US to prevent nuclear Iran

Jerusalem Post — US Vice President Joe Biden expressed America's "absolute, total, unvarnished commitment to Israel' security" at a press conference in Jerusalem following a meeting with Prime Minster Binyamin Netanyahu Monday morning.

As such, Biden said, Washington was "determined to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and we are working with many countries around the world to convince Iran to meet its international obligations to cease and desist."
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Joe Biden: Israel and Palestine peace talks at 'moment of opportunity'

UK Telegraph — Mr Biden was meeting top Israeli officials today and throwing his weight behind a renewal of Middle East peace talks more than a year after negotiations shuddered to a halt.

He said: "I hope the beginning of what is referred to as indirect or proximity talks, I hope it is a vehicle, a vehicle by which we can begin to allay that layer of mistrust that has built up in the last several years," Biden said as he went into a meeting with President Shimon Peres. "I think we are at a moment of real opportunity and I think that the interests of the Israeli and Palestinian people, if everybody stops and takes a deep breath, are actually more in line than they are opposites," he said.
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D Representative Eric Massa Ousted!

2010-03-08T10:02:00.000-08:00

Eric Massa: Democrats ousted me over health care

Politico — Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) says the House ethics committee is investigating him for inappropriate comments he made to a male staffer on New Year's Eve — and that he's the victim of a power play by Democratic leaders who want him out of Congress because he's a "no" vote on health care reform.

"Mine is now the deciding vote on the health care bill," Massa, who on Friday announced his intention to resign, said during a long monologue on radio station WKPQ. "And this administration and this House leadership have said, quote-unquote, they will stop at nothing to pass this health care bill. And now they've gotten rid of me, and it will pass. You connect the dots."
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Massa Details 'Salty' Comment That Led to Resignation, Slams Dem Leaders

Fox News — A "salty" comment made in the company of drunken staff members at a wedding reception on New Year's Eve was all the Democratic "forces that be" needed to push him out of the House of Representatives and prevent him from possibly casting the vote that would kill health care reform, says outgoing New York Rep. Eric Massa.

Massa, while acknowledging he made an "inappropriate" remark, defended himself Sunday against the firestorm of criticism he's endured since it was revealed last week that he was the subject of a House ethics probe. Speaking on his local radio show on WKPQ-FM, he accused House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of lying and the Democratic Party of pushing him out of Congress over sexual harassment allegations in order to pass health care reform.
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Massa Details Sexual Harassment Complaint

The Advocate — Congressman Eric Massa of New York took to the airwaves Sunday to explain charges that he sexually harassed a male staffer, which prompted his resignation from the House effective Monday afternoon.

The first-term Democrat announced Wednesday that he would not seek reelection because of health considerations, but afterward, news of the sexual harassment complaint broke. According to City Hall News, during his final weekly radio show Sunday morning, Massa claimed the sequence of events represented a conspiracy on behalf of Democratic leadership, which wanted to remove him before reconciliation votes on health care reform because he voted against the bill in November.
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Same-Sex Marriage in D.C.

2010-03-03T13:16:00.000-08:00

Businesses cash in on D.C.’s gay marriages

Washington Business Journal — Throngs of same-sex couples streamed into the District of Columbia’s marriage bureau on Wednesday, eager to be among the first to claim marriage licenses under D.C.’s new same-sex marriage law.

They were besieged by dozens of reporters, a small clump of vocal opponents and a handful of D.C. businesses offering their support and discounts.
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High Court Denies Request to Block D.C. Gay Marriage

The Christian Post — Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday denied a last-minute request by traditional marriage supporters to stop Washington, D.C.'s same-sex marriage law from taking effect.

As a "matter of judicial policy," Roberts said in an opinion that it has been the practice of the U.S. Supreme Court not to intervene in local matters.
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In DC, blacks were crucial to gay marriage debate

Associated Press — Gay and lesbian couples will soon be able to marry in Washington, but the debate over same-sex marriage has sounded different here, with references to interracial marriage and Martin Luther King.

Over the past year, both sides have courted the support of Washington's black community, a majority of the city's 600,000 residents and one traditionally perceived as opposed to same-sex marriage.
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Health Insurance Rates and Executive Salaries Go Up.

2010-02-26T08:41:00.000-08:00

Insurance company proposed 39% rate hike as executives got bonuses

Miami Herald — While Anthem Blue Cross proposed a 39 percent rate increase on thousands of its California customers, its parent company gave 39 of its executives more than $1 million each and spent more than $27 million on 103 lavish executive retreats, congressional investigators said Wednesday.

"One question we asked is where does all of this money go? ... Corporate executives at WellPoint are thriving, while its policyholders are paying the price," Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said at a House of Representatives subcommittee hearing Wednesday.
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Despite outcry, Anthem Blue Cross to go ahead with big rate hike

Christian Science Monitor — Anthem Blue Cross, the health insurer that plans to boost rates by as much as 39 percent in California this year, has become a lightning rod in the national debate over healthcare reform.

In President Obama’s healthcare summit Thursday, both Republicans and Democrats held up the company as an example of why the federal government needs to take steps to keep rising insurance premiums in check.
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Lawmakers Lay Into Wellpoint Over Rates

Wall Street Journal — Insurers faced harsh criticism Wednesday during a congressional hearing on steep premium increases by a Wellpoint Inc. unit in California.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D., Calif.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, pointed to internal company documents he said demonstrated that profit influenced the decision by WellPoint's Anthem Blue Cross unit to raise prices on individual insurance plans by as much as 39%.
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Repulican Strategy on the Health Plan

2010-02-25T08:10:00.000-08:00

Karl Rove: What the GOP Should Say at the Health Summit

Wall Street Journal — The congressional Republicans at today's televised health-care "summit" at the White House naturally want to prevent the president from turning it into a PR stunt. This is no easy task. They'll not only have to point out problems with his plan and offer their own ideas, but correct the president when he makes statements that are not true.

The GOP participants appear ready for the first two tasks. In an unusual approach, House and Senate members prepped together the way a candidate preps for a presidential debates—by pulling together debate books and conducting mock sessions. But the third task is the most critical and the most difficult.
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Gingrich: Summit 'good practice run' for GOP at majority rule

USA Today — Former Republican House speaker Newt Gingrich said this morning that the White House health-care summit could be a trial run for Republicans on how to act if they take control of Congress in the fall. Gingrich has urged Republicans to engage in "principled, responsible bipartisanship" on issues like education reform, and he has joined with former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle to propose bipartisan health-care solutions.

Gingrich said at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast that he learned from the showdown with President Bill Clinton in 1995 and 1996, which resulted in a government shutdown, that voters will reward bipartisanship. He pointed to deals that Republicans made with Clinton after the government shutdown to reform welfare and Medicare and balance the federal budget.
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GOP Headed to White House Hopeful But Hesitant

Fox News — Republicans are going to show up Thursday for a meeting on health care reform with President Obama and congressional Democrats, but they aren't going to accept whole cloth a bill outlining Democratic plans that is being posted on the White House Web site Monday.

"If they are going to lay out the plan they want four days in advance, what are we discussing?" Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., asked on "Fox News Sunday."
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Support for War in Afghanistan Withers as Dutch Government Collapses.

2010-02-22T08:38:00.000-08:00

Dutch cabinet collapses in dispute over Afghanistan

BBC — The Dutch government has collapsed over disagreements within the governing coalition on extending troop deployments in Afghanistan.

After marathon talks, Christian Democratic Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende announced that the Labour Party was quitting the government.

He offered his government's resignation to Queen Beatrix in a telephone call.
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Nato Afghanistan mission in doubt after Dutch withdrawal

Guardian UK — The Dutch government collapsed at the weekend, making it the first European and Nato administration to fall because of the war in Afghanistan.

The fourth fall of a government under the prime minister, Jan-Peter Balkenende, in eight years could end his career and is certain to usher in a period of political uncertainty that could bring big gains for the extreme anti-Muslim right.
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Dutch government collapse: Will other European troops now leave Afghanistan?

Christian Science Monitor — The collapse of the Dutch government this weekend, largely over keeping Dutch troops in Afghanistan, threatens to undermine the NATO mission in the central Asian nation. And, it may signal tougher political climes ahead for other European leaders supporting a troop presence in Afghanistan.

The Dutch pullout, scheduled for August, comes at a time when NATO is undertaking a key offensive in Marjah and implementing a “hearts and minds” plan coordinated by the US administration.
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A New Nuclear U.S.?

2010-02-20T09:50:00.000-08:00

Obama unveils loan guarantees for 1st U.S. nuclear plant in 3 decades

Japan Today — U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced $8.33 billion loan guarantees for the construction of the first U.S. nuclear power plant in more than 30 years, a move that could create opportunities for Japanese companies involved in building such facilities.

‘‘We’re going to have to build a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in America,’’ Obama said in a speech at the Lanham, Maryland-based job-training center of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, a labor union.
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Budget Wielded to Cut Greenhouse Gases

Wall Street Journal — President Barack Obama's 2011 budget calls for an array of regulations, subsidies and taxes aimed at cutting emissions of greenhouse gases, even as a sweeping climate bill sits on ice in the Senate.

Mr. Obama's budget calls for $39 billion in tax increases on fossil-fuel producers over 10 years. It also includes an estimated $1.4 billion to help developing countries address the impacts of climate change, reduce deforestation and shift to low-carbon energy sources. And it proposes tripling federal support for nuclear energy, by adding $36 billion in new loan authority for an Energy Department program aimed at speeding the construction of new reactors.
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Environmental Advocates Are Cooling on Obama

New York Times — There has been no more reliable cheerleader for President Obama’s energy and climate change policies than Daniel J. Weiss of the left-leaning Center for American Progress.

But Mr. Obama’s recent enthusiasm for nuclear power, including his budget proposal to triple federal loan guarantees for new nuclear reactors to $54 billion, was too much for Mr. Weiss.
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Is The Tea Party Too Far Right For The Right?

2010-02-17T08:14:00.000-08:00

Tea Party Lights Fuse for Rebellion on Right

New York Times — Pam Stout has not always lived in fear of her government. She remembers her years working in federal housing programs, watching government lift struggling families with job training and education. She beams at the memory of helping a Vietnamese woman get into junior college.

But all that was before the Great Recession and the bank bailouts, before Barack Obama took the White House by promising sweeping change on multiple fronts, before her son lost his job and his house. Mrs. Stout said she awoke to see Washington as a threat, a place where crisis is manipulated — even manufactured — by both parties to grab power.
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Tea party to protest Republicans

The Herald Tribune — Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele was still at a summit with tea party activists in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, when people connected to the movement hatched plans to protest his arrival in Charlotte County for meetings with top Republican fundraisers later this week.

Englewood resident Randy McLendon said he and other tea party groups are planning to line the Boca Grande Causeway and other locations on the island with signs on Friday to make sure Steele and other GOP leaders know how upset they are with the party.
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Tea Party Revolution Could Undermine Republican Jewish Outreach

The Jewish Week — An angry “Tea Party” movement that Republican leaders hope to harness to boost their party’s chances in the 2010 congressional midterm elections could also be a potential blow to GOP outreach to minorities — including Jewish voters.

But Republican leaders, too, are in the movement’s cross hairs, and some Jewish leaders worry that the movement could transcend traditional politics entirely and create an extremist surge that is threatening to all minorities.
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Clinton Ramps Up Rhetoric Against Iran

2010-02-15T07:14:00.000-08:00

Iran leaves world ‘little choice,’ says Clinton

Jewish Telegraphic Agency — The world has "little choice" but to impose "greater costs" on Iran for its refusal to cooperate on the nuclear issue, Hillary Rodham Clinton said.

The rebuff of a U.S.-led offer to enrich uranium for medical research in exchange for greater transparency and a refusal to deal with United Nations nuclear inspectors "have caused us to wonder: What does Iran have to hide?" the U.S. secretary of state said Sunday, addressing the U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Qatar, an event organized by the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank with close ties to the Obama administration.
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Clinton says U.S. fears Iran is becoming a military dictatorship

The Washington Post — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that the United States fears Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has gained enough power to potentially supplant the Tehran government.

Speaking to Arab students at Carnegie Mellon's Doha campus Monday, Clinton made comments about the Guard's increasing role in the country's economic and political life that went further than previous administration statements.
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Clinton warns Iran not to 'build their bomb'

BBC — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the US would welcome peaceful engagement with Iran but not "while they are building their bomb".

She spoke at the US-Islamic World forum in Qatar during a trip to rally Arab support for tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.
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Sellers vs. Publishers; the Amazon - Macmillan War

2010-02-10T11:13:00.000-08:00

Amazon's Grip on E-book Pricing Slackens, But the War's Not Over

Bnet — The e-book pricing war between Macmillan and Amazon (AMZN) is still raging but Amazon’s lost two more battles, further loosening the online retailer’s choke hold on the $9.99 price point for digital books.

Publishing heavyweight Rupert Murdoch voiced his displeasure during a News Corp. (NWS) earnings call on Tuesday.
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Has Amazon Moved Your Buy Button?

New York Times — You may have read about the standoff between Amazon.com and the Macmillan publishing company. Macmillan had objected to Amazon’s pricing, particularly its loss-leader $9.99 e-book price for new books. In turn, Amazon.com temporarily halted the sale of all Macmillan books. This meant Amazon customers could only buy such books from third-party vendors; the regular Amazon “buy” button had been moved.

A few days later, Amazon began to sell Macmillan’s books again. But the Authors Guild wants to protect its members against such future actions. Here is the notice the Guild recently distributed; it plainly views Amazon as something less than a trusted partner:
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FAQ: Amazon vs. Macmillan -- The IPad Wins

PC World — When Apple Inc. introduced the iPad last week, it launched a lot more than a tablet device. The announcement included the Apple iBook store, which in subsequent days provoked an e-book pricing firestorm , leading Amazon.com to temporarily halt sales of Macmillan e-books and paper books over the weekend.

Reactions to Amazon's pulling the plug on Macmillan, and Amazon's subsequent capitulation, took off in all directions. Macmillan authors, notably science fiction writer John Scalzi, were outraged by Amazon's action. Meanwhile, some Amazon.com e-book buyers blasted Macmillan, vowing they won't pay more than $9.99 for a first-release e-book, and will take a pass on e-books that cost as much as $14.95, the price Macmillan is proposing.
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Israel - Syria --- War -Peace?

2010-02-08T09:01:00.000-08:00

Israel, Syria talk up war, peace

China News — While most of recent headlines regarding Israel's relationship with Syria are echoes of war drums, there is also seemingly a push right now to resume peace talks between the old foes.

During the last few days, senior officials from the two countries have been talking of military confrontation. Yet, calls for peace talks also can be heard in Israel, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday saying that his country is " open for the renewal of negotiations with Syria."
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Netanyahu: Israel open to peace talks with Syria

Washington Post — Israel's prime minister attempted to end a war of words with Syria on Sunday, saying his country is open to peace talks with its longtime enemy.

Israeli and Syrian officials have traded threats over the past week, raising concerns of an escalation between two countries that have officially been at war for more than 60 years.
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A devastating war between Israel & Hezbollah is on the horizon

International Market Analyst — While the war of words is escalating around the clock between Israel on the one side and Hezbollah and Syria on the other, analysts in the Middle East and Europe strongly believe that war is inevitable and will break out within a few months.

In this scary context, senior Lebanese sources told the Saudi daily Al-Okaz that Hezbollah has announced emergency readiness in all areas of the country where it operates. Senior figures of the organization were asked to exercise greater caution in their movements amid fears they would be targeted by Israel. Hezbollah’s leaders are bragging that they are capable of defeating, humiliating and destroying Israel’s war machine.
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Obama's Budget - Energy, Jobs, Deficit, War?

2010-02-01T09:34:00.000-08:00

Jobs, spending cuts and war top 2011 Obama budget

Reuters — President Barack Obama on Monday sent a $3.8 trillion budget request to Congress that would narrow the federal deficit by curbing 120 federal programs but set aside $100 billion to tackle unemployment.

The budget plan, which would take effect when fiscal year 2011 begins on October 1, projects a record fiscal deficit of $1.56 trillion this year but predicts the red ink will subside to $1.27 trillion in 2011 and half that in 2012.
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US 2011 Budget Targets Oil And Coal, Boosts Nuclear

Wall Street Journal — The Obama administration's proposed fiscal year 2011 budget targets the fossil fuel industry, aiming to cut around $39 billion in tax benefits over the next decade, but plans to boost the nuclear and renewable sectors.

Unlike the previous budget, the Administration didn't include specific projected revenues under its plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

It proposed adding $36 billion in loan guarantee authority for nuclear power plants and up to $5 billion loan guarantee authority for renewable energy.
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Obama Sends Congress $3.8 Trillion Budget, Soaring Deficits Projected

FOX News — President Obama sent Congress a $3.8 trillion budget Monday for fiscal year 2011, pushing a plan that includes new jobs-creation programs but is projected to add nearly $1.3 trillion in deficit spending on top of the current year's projected $1.6 trillion deficit.

According to the plan, the 2011 deficit of $1.267 trillion would fund nearly the entirety of the year's discretionary spending, which is $1.415 trillion or 37 percent of the government's total outlays. Mandatory spending on items such as entitlements and interest payments make up the rest.
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Obama maps route to lower deficits

CNN — In his $3.8 trillion budget for next year, President Obama on Monday laid out how Congress can lighten the country's debt load.

Specifically, he outlined a plan to reduce the nation's debt by $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years, and to get annual deficits as a percent of the economy down from 10.6% today, to 3% by 2015.
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Supreme Court - 1st ammendment rights for corporations

2010-01-22T16:33:00.000-08:00

First Amendment Upheld

Wall Street Journal — Thursday's Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, in which the Court struck down a blanket government prohibition on corporate political speech, is a wonderful decision that restores political speech to the primacy it was intended to have under the First Amendment.

To truly appreciate the stakes in Citizens United, one must remember the government's legal position in the case. Implicit in its briefs but laid bare at oral argument, the government maintained that the Constitution allows the government to ban distribution of books over Amazon's Kindle; to prohibit a union from hiring a writer to author a book titled, "Why Working Americans Should Support the Obama Agenda"; and to prohibit Simon & Schuster from publishing, or Barnes & Noble from selling, a book containing even one line of advocacy for or against a candidate for public office. As David Barry would say, "I am not making this up."
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Supreme Court OKs unlimited corporate spending on elections

Los Angeles Times — Reporting from Washington - Overturning a century-old restriction, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that corporations could spend as much as they wanted to sway voters in federal elections.

In a landmark 5-4 decision, the court's conservative bloc said that corporations had the same right to free speech as individuals, and for that reason the government could not stop corporations from spending to help their favored candidates.
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Justice Stevens bemoans changed court

USA Today — When liberal Justice John Paul Stevens dissented Thursday as the Supreme Court permitted new corporate spending in elections, he invoked the names of influential and long-gone justices.

He began with retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, with whom he had worked on a 2003 case the majority was partially overruling. He referred to the late Justice Thurgood Marshall's warning in a 1990 case, also overturned, about how corporate money can distort political debate. Stevens then cited the late Justice Byron White about the importance of deferring to Congress, which had passed the law the majority discarded Thursday.
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Obama Bank Overhaul

2010-01-21T13:36:00.000-08:00

A return to sanity in banking

WSJ Marketwatch — The sweeping reform President Barack Obama unveiled Thursday is short on detail, but in its broadest terms it aims to both preserve Wall Street's ability to take risk and strengthen the money system at the core of banking.

Finally, someone with the power to make it happen is talking about a response equal in scope to the system's failure.

Let's start with some of the problems of this vague plan. First, it's not Glass-Steagall, the 1933 legislative wall thrown up between commercial and investment banking. It's not a pure divide between investing and the credit system.
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Big Bank Shares Hammered After Obama Proposal

ABC — A new proposal from President Barack Obama to limit the size and trading capabilities of big banks is sending shares of major financial institutions plummeting.

At the White House Thursday, Obama vowed to fight big banks with tougher regulations that he believes would head off the cascading failures that required billions bailout funds for Wall Street.

He wants new rules that would restrict banks in the use of depositor money and also limit how big financial institutions can become.
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Obama's bank reform plans scare the markets

BBC — US and European stocks have fallen sharply after President Barack Obama proposed significant limits on how banks can operate.

The main US share index, the Dow Jones, fell more than 200 points or 2% as the president delivered his speech, with banking stocks most affected.
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Senate-Elect Brown vs. Healthcare

2010-01-20T11:58:00.000-08:00

Democrats scramble on health care after GOP win

CNN — Nervous Democrats debated Wednesday how to save a health care reform plan suddenly pushed to the brink of defeat by an upset GOP Senate win in Massachusetts.

Senator-elect Scott Brown's victory in one of the most progressive states in the nation raised already-high anxiety levels among Democrats looking ahead to midterm elections. It also stripped Democrats of their 60-seat Senate supermajority, giving Republicans enough votes to block any measure in the chamber.
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US Health Insurers Enter Earnings Season With Changed Climate

Wall Street Journal — UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) and its peers seem to face a more temperate political climate than anticipated as the health insurer opens the industry's earnings-reporting season Thursday.

Following Republican Scott Brown's upset victory in the Massachusetts special U.S. Senate election Tuesday, investors are likely to be at least as focused on UnitedHealth's thoughts on the health-care reform outlook and other trends for this and future years as on how the company performed in the fourth quarter of 2009. UnitedHealth is the largest U.S. managed-care company by revenue and is considered an industry bellwether.
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White House Reduces Expectation of Passing Health Care Reform This Year

Fox News — The Obama White House, shell-shocked by the victory of Republican Scott Brown in the Massachusetts U.S. Senate special election, no longer predicts Congress will pass health care this year.

"I think it's always hard to tell how these things sort out in the first hours," President Obama's senior adviser David Axelrod told Fox News on Wednesday when asked if health care was now dead. "I think people are trying to figure this out. We'll know more soon. I don't believe we came all this way and are going to walk away from it. I think it would be a terrible mistake."
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Google vs. China

2010-01-18T11:32:00.000-08:00

Google-China showdown may alter tech game

San Francisco Chronicle — Few expect Google Inc.'s stare-down with China to usher in a new era of openness across the Asian nation, but some believe - or hope - it could pressure the government to improve relations with foreign technology companies.

The Mountain View Web giant called out the country in a surprisingly forthright manner last week, publicly venting frustrations common among many U.S. businesses operating there. The company said it would stop censoring search results in China even if that means it's forced to leave, after disclosing a sophisticated cyberattack on the e-mail accounts of advocates of human rights in the nation.
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Google cyber-attack from China 'an inside job'

London Times — Google employees may have assisted hackers who launched a cyber-attack from China, prompting the company’s threat to leave the country, it has emerged.

The world’s most popular search engine is believed to be investigating whether one or more of its own workers bases in the Chinese offices helped those attempting to break into the e-mail accounts of human rights activists last month.
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Google says 'business as usual' in China

Sydney Morning Herald — Google says it is 'business as usual' in China, after reports that the US internet giant was stopping some local staff from working following its threat to pull out of the country.

Google says it is "business as usual" in China, after reports that the US internet giant was stopping some local staff from working following its threat to pull out of the country.
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Sea Shepherd vs. Japan's Whaling Industry

2010-01-08T08:45:00.000-08:00

Whalers now claim Ady Gil was armed

The Australian — JAPANESE whalers have accused the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society of carrying weapons on the Ady Gil, rejecting claims by the protesters that their state-of-the-art speed-boat had sunk.

The Institute of Cetacean Research released photographs last night of four large arrows they claim were found floating near the Ady Gil, which collided on Wednesday with the Japanese vessel the Shonan Maru No 2.
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Sea Shepherd sues Japanese whaling ship crew

Kyodo News — The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society on Friday filed a complaint of piracy with a Dutch court against the crew of the Japanese whaling vessel Shonan Maru No. 2, lawyer Liesbeth Zegveld for the anti-whaling group told Dutch press agency ANP.
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Australia presses Japan on whaling safety

Reuters India — The futuristic anti-whaling protest boat struck by a Japanese harpoon vessel near Antarctica finally sank on Friday, prompting Australia to voice official concern about safety in the remote Southern Ocean.

Senior diplomats in Tokyo made "high-level representations" about safety in Antarctica's frigid waters. They also raised concerns about "spy flights" organized by Japanese whalers from Australian airports to track and foil protesters, Australia's Environment Minister Peter Garrett said.
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Former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni faces arrest for war crimes if she visits UK.

2010-01-06T10:41:00.000-08:00

UK Muslim body: Israeli officials should face arrest

Iran Press TV — A leading Muslim organization in Britain has voiced outrage at the UK government's promise to reverse the British legal system's jurisdiction over suspected Israeli war criminals.

The apologetic move by the British government came after a Westminster magistrates' court convicted former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni of links to Israel's atrocities in the Gaza Strip at the turn of the year. The tribunal, accordingly, issued Livni an arrest warrant.
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Apology For Livni’s Arrest: A Blow to Justice?

Islam Online — The recent warrant arrest of the former Israeli foreign minister and the head of the opposition Kadima party, Tzipi Livni caused a huge uproar within the Israeli community. Although the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown apologized and promised to change the British law, the Israeli citizens threatened to boycott British products in a response to such a huge offense.

Should Livni be tried as a war crime for her role in Gaza massacre which happened around this time last year? Why is Britain so adamant on changing established laws to protect Israeli officials? What is the future unfolding for the Palestinians after this hard blow of bending and breaking laws of justice?
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Brown says Livni 'most welcome' in UK

YNetNews — British Prime Minister Gordon Brown telephoned Opposition Chairwoman Tzipi Livni on Wednesday and told her he strongly opposes the arrest warrant issued against her by a British court earlier this week.

According to a statement issued by the Kadima leader, Brown said that Livni was "most welcome" in Britain at any time and that he planned to work to change the current legal situation.
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Should Public Healthcare Be Negotiated In Private?

2010-01-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

The Democrats' Secret Plan to Pass Health Care Reform

Associated Content — Ordinarily when a bill such as health care reform passes the House and the Senate in different forms, a House-Senate Conference Committee is formed to reconcile the differences, with a single bill being drafted to be passed by the House and Senate.

But health care reform is not ordinary legislation nor are these ordinary times. The House and Senate Democratic leadership have concocted a scheme to create a new bill in secret, without either Republicans or dissident Democrats, and The Democrats' Secret Plan to Pass Health Care Reform then ram the new bill through the House and the Senate.
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Health care: Shutting out the GOP?

The Week — House and Senate Democrats are "almost certain" to sidestep a formal conference committee and negotiate informally to reconcile the health-care reform bills they have passed, two top congressional staffers told The New Republic. By "ping-ponging" the legislation back and forth, Democrats reportedly hope to avoid a series of procedural steps requiring votes and full debates that Republicans could use to delay negotiations. Would foregoing a conference committee shut out Republicans, or just save time before an inevitable showdown over the final vote?
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C-SPAN: Health Care Talks Should Be Televised

ABC News — The C-SPAN television network is calling on congressional leaders to open health care talks to cameras — something President Barack Obama promised as a candidate.

Instead the most critical negotiations on Obama's health plan have taken place behind closed doors, as Republicans repeatedly point out. In a Dec. 30 letter to House and Senate leaders released Tuesday, C-SPAN chief executive Brian Lamb asked for negotiations on a compromise bill to be opened up for public viewing, as Democrats work to reconcile differences between legislation passed by the two chambers.
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Obama, Nobel, Peace, War?

2009-12-11T13:36:00.000-08:00

Anti-war forces bristle at Obama's Nobel speech

Washington Times — President Obama's acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize won praise from conservatives, but some anti-war Democrats in Congress bristled at the commander-in-chief's ruminations about waging a "just war."

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a leading critic on the left of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Friday that the president's musings about the inevitability of war and "war's instrumentality in pursuit of peace" threatened to lead the United States into more bloody conflicts.
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Barack Obama: War President?

Fox News — Col. Ollie North -When I was a young Marine, we were encouraged to read Sun Tzu's "Art of War" as a primer on conflict. Our mentors were officers and senior non-commissioned officers who had served in World War II, Korea and the early days of the conflict in Indochina. These were serious men for whom the profession of arms was no trivial matter. They taught us that the 6th Century B.C. tome was relevant to the fight we were headed for in Vietnam and would serve us well in the future.

According to Sun Tzu, "The art of war is of vital importance to the state. It is a matter of life and death, the path to safety or ruin. Therefore, it is a subject that must be seriously studied." The most recent recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize appears to have ignored this sage advice.
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Left and right, pundits applaud Obama Nobel Peace Prize speech

Christian Science Monitor — If nothing else, the American punditocracy largely agreed on one aspect of President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize speech: that it was eloquent.

In offering a tutorial on just war theory, laid out in clear prose and compellingly delivered, Mr. Obama and his speechwriters showed once again that they know how to knock one out of the park.
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Herman Van Rompuy, new head of the EU

2009-11-21T08:28:00.000-08:00

Herman Van Rompuy: quirky exterior conceals sharp operator

London Telegraph — During his candidacy, he was portrayed as the perfect conciliator with valuable experience as Belgium's Prime Minister of bridging the divide between the warring Flemish and Walloon communities and holding his country together.

The "ideal candidate", said Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, for bring "consensus and cohesion" to a fractious EU of 27 member states.

In reality, and behind his harmless, eccentric and literary persona, Mr Van Rompuy, 62, is a sharp political operator who is not above using dirty tricks to stymie his opponents.
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New EU president wins fans in Japan -- as a poet

Reuters — Herman Van Rompuy, the European Union's new president, may not be very well known around the world but he's already winning fans in Japan -- as a poet rather than a politician.

Belgium's low-key prime minister is fond of writing haiku -- three-line Japanese poems of just 17 syllables -- and is building a reputation with Japanese poets less than 24 hours after he got the newly-created job.
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New EU president raises fears in aspirant Turkey

Reiuters — Herman Van Rompuy's appointment as the first European Union president provoked fears in Turkey that he might hinder Ankara's hopes of joining the bloc, with some media declaring outright that he is anti-Turkish.

Turkish newspapers were quick to dig out past comments attributed to Van Rompuy that the EU's Christian values would lose vigor if Muslim Turkey were let in.
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Health Care - Pelosi - Abortion

2009-11-09T15:05:00.000-08:00

Pro-choice advocates furious over abortion amendment in Health care bill

NY Daily News — Pro-choice advocates were furious Sunday after House Democratic leaders allowed a deal to ban insurance coverage for abortions to be part of their health care reform bill.

"It's time that women stopped believing that the Democratic Party is always on their side," said Marcia Pappas, president of New York State"s chapter of the National Organization for Women. "This is a horrific move."
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Pelosi Faces Competing Pressures on Health Care

NY Times — As House Democratic leaders were assembling their health care bill last month, Speaker Nancy Pelosi left Washington on a political fund-raising tour.

Accompanying her on the US Airways flight to her first stop, Cleveland on Oct. 2, was a prominent health care lobbyist, Frederick H. Graefe, who represents hospitals, medical equipment companies, a few drug companies and others in the industry.
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Pelosi Dances on Health Care's Grave

Fox News — What was Speaker Nancy Pelosi thinking as she reveled in the passage of the House’s health care bill? Does she really imagine that this monstrous legislation will improve the lives of most Americans? Does she expect that creating 111 new government bureaucracies and offices will make it easier for most of us to receive medical treatment? Does she think that sharply raising marginal tax rates for our highest-earning citizens and small businesses will spur productivity and hiring?

No, I imagine that she was thrilled by the taste of victory. Somewhere along the way, this push became all about personalities and contest; the original goal of reining in health care costs was abandoned, and the prize at the end became passage of a landmark bill. Nancy Pelosi envisions herself forever sculpted into liberalism’s Mt. Rushmore.
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Abbas is not seeking a second term

2009-11-07T09:50:00.000-08:00

Abbas step-down will help Palestinian cause

Press TV Iran — Hamas says Mahmoud Abbas' departure from his position, as acting Palestinian Authority Chief will help the Palestinian cause.

"There are many Palestinians who are ready to take on the responsibility of leading the Palestinians people," senior Hamas official Mushir al-Masri said in an inclusive interview with Press TV on Friday, adding, "Those replacing Abbas may even elevate the Palestinian cause to the next level."
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Supporters urge Abbas to run again

Aljazeera — Supporters of Fatah, the Palestinian faction led by Mahmoud Abbas, have taken to the streets in the West Bank city of Ramallah in an attempt to force the Palestinian president to reconsider his decision not to seek re-election.

Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah, said supporters who wanted Abbas to run again rallied on Friday following his announcement a day earlier that he would not stand in presidential elections scheduled for January.
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Mahmoud Abbas gives up his leadership in fresh blow to peace process

Times Online London — Mahmoud Abbas, the increasingly isolated Palestinian President, announced yesterday that he would not stand for re-election in polls due in January, dealing a further blow to the US-sponsored peace process.

The announcement, made as Mr Abbas’s political standing hit an all-time low, exposed Palestinian frustrations at the Obama Administration’s failure to halt Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank.
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Swine Flu - Vaccine late - Infections down - Profits Up.

2009-10-28T13:29:00.000-07:00

Swine flu peaks out before vaccines even make it into widespread distribution

Natural News — Swine flu infections have peaked out in the USA, even before drug companies could get their vaccines injected into everyone. According to CDC findings announced recently in Atlanta, one in five U.S. children have already experienced the flu this month, and most of those were likely H1N1 swine flu cases, the CDC says.

This comes from a survey of over 10,000 U.S. households conducted by the CDC.
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Glaxo profits soar 23 per cent on swine flu fears

London Mail — Drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKilne saw profits rise 23 per cent during the third quarter of the year following a sharp increase in sales of its flu vaccine Relenza.

The firm issued its Q3 results today and reported that pre-tax profits hit £2.07billion - posting a small rise compared to the £1.88billion recorded in the same period last year. Sales rose three per cent to £6.76billion.
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The swine flu conspiracy conspiracy

National Post — "U.S. President Barack Obama has now declared a national emergency over swine flu infections. The reasoning behind such a declaration? According to the White House, it’s designed to “allow hospitals to better handle the surge in patients” by allowing them to bypass certain federal laws.

That’s the public explanation for this, but the real agenda behind this declaration may be far more sinister. Declaring a national emergency immediately gives federal authorities dangerous new powers that can now be enforced at gunpoint, including:"
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Cheney, Rove attack Obama over Afghanistan

2009-10-23T10:30:00.000-07:00

Cheney vs. Obama White House: War of Words Heats Up

ABC News — As the war of words heats up between the White House and former Vice President Dick Cheney, pundits on both sides of the political aisle point fingers at the Obama and Bush administrations for doing too little in the war in Afghanistan.

"When it comes to Afghanistan, this is an issue where the Bush administration got it wrong," James Rubin, a former State Department official for the Clinton administration, said on "Good Morning America" today.
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ROVE: Obama Goes Wobbly on Afghanistan

Wall Street Journal — In an interview with CNN's John King on Sunday, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said President Obama is now asking tough questions about Afghanistan "that have never been asked on the civilian side, the political side, the military side and the strategic side." It was a not so subtle dig at Mr. Obama's predecessor and was meant to distract from the White House's mishandling of the war.

The Bush administration did in fact conduct a top-to-bottom strategic review of Afghanistan in 2008. That review was provoked by two developments.
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Pelosi Jumps Into Obama, Cheney Feud Over Afghan War

FOX News — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday joined the battle between former Vice President Dick Cheney and Obama administration officials over the strategy of the war in Afghanistan.

Pelosi chided Cheney for asserting Wednesday that President Obama is "afraid" to make a decision about whether to ramp up war at the request of his military advisers or scale back the effort and focus on going after Al Qaeda in Pakistan, as some of his political advisers are urging.
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U.N. War Crimes report judges against Israel

2009-10-19T21:46:00.000-07:00

Tide is turning against Israel

Arab News — Now even the United Nations Human Rights Council is “anti-Semitic.” Well, that’s the view of Israel’s Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, who is outraged that the body rubber-stamped the Goldstone Report on war crimes committed in Gaza. Some years ago, that accusation would have had enormous shock-value, whereas, nowadays, the label has been so propagandized the only thing it elicits is a yawn.

Anti-Semitism is a genuine scourge on humankind in the same that racism and bigotry are and should be eradicated, but Israel is in danger of devaluing the term by attaching it to anyone who doesn’t agree with its policies. Moreover, when used loosely as an insult, it doesn’t help Israel’s cause or standing in the world.
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Obama joins Netanyahu in shielding Israel from war crimes charges

Tehran Times — The United Nations Human Rights Council has endorsed a report into Israel’s 22-day assault on Gaza in December and January, accusing Israel of war crimes.

Israel’s premier, Binyamin Netanyahu, predictably denounced the report as biased against Israel and unjust and insisted that he would not allow any Israeli officials to face trial for war crimes. The Obama administration echoed Israel, calling the report unbalanced, and said that its adoption would damage the possibility of resuming talks between Israel and the Palestinians. The talks are a necessary fig leaf for bringing the Arab regimes on side against Iran.
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Love for Israel Obligated War Crimes Probe

Fox News — The internationally renowned jurist who compiled a U.N. report accusing Israel of committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip says he carried out the probe because of his deep attachment to the Jewish state.

South African jurist Richard Goldstone delivered his message Monday in an op-ed piece published in the Jerusalem Post, an English-language Israeli daily. It was the first time he has reached out to the Israeli public since his report was published last month.
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Global hunger worsening

2009-10-17T12:55:00.000-07:00

Promoting right to life requires fighting world hunger, pope says

Catholic News Service — Defending the right to life requires promoting and establishing food security, Pope Benedict XVI said. >br>
The current economic crisis has hit agriculture particularly hard, and governments and the world community must "make determined and effective choices" in investing in agriculture in the developing world, he said.
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Fight against hunger key to security: Clinton

Agence France Presse — Eradicating world hunger is a key step towards establishing global security, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday marking the UN's World Food Day.

"Food security is about economic, environmental, and national security for our individual homelands and the entire world," she said in statement.
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Get sustainable agriculture right this time, experts urge

Seattle Times — Food quantity or food quality? Can the world quell starvation now and still have a healthy ecosystem over the long term?

Tough questions for anyone concerned about agriculture and its relation to hunger and poverty.

In a keynote speech at the World Food Prize symposium today, Bill Gates said he supports sustainable agriculture, welcome words to experts in the field, who say there is no short term fix.
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Czech Republic stalls EU reform treaty

2009-10-15T15:27:00.000-07:00

Vaclav Klaus: How Czech president is fighting on to stop Europe in its tracks

Guardian UK — For a man standing alone between Europe and its future, Vaclav Klaus is playing hard to get. Last week a trip to Albania, this week Russia; the Czech president has performed a vanishing act just when he has the rest of Europe dancing to his tune.

He relishes being at the centre of a showdown. But it appears he is currently more interested in selling copies of his tract on global warming denial.
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The EU turns its hideous strength against Václav Klaus

UK Telegraph — Can this really be true? The French and German governments attempting to oust the head of state of a neighbouring democracy? Czech politicians being told to bring impeachment proceedings against their President – not on grounds of corruption or abuse of office, but because he is sticking to a position that he had very publicly adopted prior to becoming President?

Klaus himself has written of the intolerant, authoritarian nature of the doctrine he calls “Europeism”. Now he is all that stands in its way, and is sustaining its full force. I have written many times of what I call the EU’s “hideous strength“: the way in which, as well as being undemocratic in itself, it requires its member nations to sacrifice a measure of their internal democracy; the way in which it makes otherwise good people do bad things. I hope that Klaus’s stand will convince people – not just in Czech Republic or Britain, but across the EU – of the nature of what we are dealing with.
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Klaus taps into buried fear of German menace

Financial Times — Vaclav Klaus may be the bugbear of European politics for his steadfast refusal to sign the Lisbon treaty, but his reanimation of the German menace as a justification for not doing so has struck a chord with his fellow Czechs.

His previous efforts to throw up roadblocks to the treaty reforming the workings of the European Union had not garnered widespread local support. Complaints about Ireland re-running its referendum, the erosion of the Czech Republic’s voting power under the new Lisbon rules and the loss of sovereignty to Brussels are not nearly as emotive in a country where most people are happy with belonging to the EU.
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Hillary is in the news - everywhere.

2009-10-12T15:10:00.000-07:00

Hillary Clinton meets Gordon Brown amid mounting tensions over Iran

London Times — Hillary Clinton hailed the historic special relationship between Britain and America yesterday as she flew into London on a whirlwind visit to consult on the crises in Afghanistan and Iran.

Mrs Clinton arrived on her first solo visit to London as Secretary of State amid mounting tensions over the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the future of Nato’s military campaign in Afghanistan, which is still to be decided after a doom-laden review by the United States’ most senior commander.
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Clinton to press Russia on Iran

BBC — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Moscow on the final leg of her European visit.

Mrs Clinton is due to hold talks with President Dmitry Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday.

She is said to be hoping to win Russian support for the US government's stances on Iran's controversial nuclear programme and global arms control.
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Clinton says she won't run for president again

China News — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in an interview broadcast Monday that she would not run for president again.

Clinton, who lost the Democratic presidential nomination to U.S. President Barack Obama in 2008, said "No" several times when asked by NBC's Ann Curry "Will you ever run for president again? Yes or No?"

"This is a great job. It is a 24-7 job. And I am looking forward to retirement at some point," she said.
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Healthcare Bill, The Deficit and Stock prices.

2009-10-08T15:29:00.000-07:00

Baucus healthcare bill would lower the deficit, analysts say

Los Angeles Times — Reporting from Washington - Senate Democrats pushing healthcare legislation received a boost Wednesday from congressional budget experts, who estimated that a bill being debated by the Senate Finance Committee would substantially expand coverage and lower the federal deficit.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office calculated that the legislation, written by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), would cost $829 billion by 2019. But because that tab would be offset by spending cuts elsewhere and by new revenue, the bill actually would lower the deficit by $81 billion over the next decade -- and potentially even more in later years -- the budget office concluded.
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Managed-Care Stocks Off, Hospitals Up, On Health Bill

Wall Street Journal — Managed-care stocks tumbled and hospital shares climbed Thursday as an analysis of the Senate Finance Committee's health-reform bill increased chances that the measure, which one analyst called "onerous" for health insurers, will advance.

Contributing to the managed-care sell-off, apparently, were House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's comments expressing interest in exploring a windfall-profit tax on insurers to fund an expansion of health coverage.
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Offshore tax bill sought as health bill add-on

Reuters — A prominent Democrat will offer a controversial bill to target tax evasion by U.S. citizens and corporations to the main healthcare reform legislation in the Senate, an aide said on Wednesday.

Democrat Senator Carl Levin will offer his Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act as an amendment to the Senate Finance Committee's healthcare bill when it reaches the Senate floor, according to a Levin aide.
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A Nuclear Iran

2009-10-07T16:31:00.000-07:00

Iran 'co-operation' draws praise

BBC — The US and the UN have given an upbeat assessment of the possibility of settling the nuclear dispute with Iran.

US National Security Adviser Jim Jones said Tehran was now "willing to come to the table", following talks this week between Iran and major powers.

The head of the UN's nuclear agency, who is in Tehran, said there had been a "gear shift" towards co-operation.
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Iran to buy nuclear fuel from any supplier, even from U.S.

Chinaview — Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that Iran is ready to buy its needed nuclear fuel from any country even from the United States, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Talking to the reporters, Ahmadinejad said that "If the Americans have announced that they want to provide our needed (nuclear) fuel, there is no problem. We think it is a good point. We want to buy our fuel from any supplier in the world. It makes no difference, the United States can be one of the suppliers."
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Iran could make an atom bomb, according to UN report's 'secret annexe'

London Times — Iran has the know-how to produce a nuclear bomb and may already have tested a detonation system small enough to fit into the warhead of a medium-range missile, according to confidential papers.

The “secret annexe” to this year’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on Iran summarises information submitted by intelligence agencies about the country’s work on warheads, detonators and nuclear fuel enrichment. It is based partly on evidence thought to have been smuggled out of Iran by the wife of a spy recruited by German intelligence.
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Chinese Prime Minister Visits North Korea

2009-10-05T08:16:00.000-07:00

‘Dear Leader’ welcomes Chinese comrade to boost hopes of a nuclear agreement

London Times — The Chinese Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao, arrived in North Korea for talks with its reclusive leader Kim Jong Il yesterday amid hopes of advancing nuclear disarmament by the pariah state after months of tension.

Mr Kim made the unusual gesture of greeting Mr Wen in person, embracing him as he arrived at Pyongyang airport. The visit appeared to end one of the worst periods in relations between East Asia’s two nuclear powers. The countries — once described by Mao Zedong as being “as close as lips and teeth” — have had frosty relations since April, when North Korea launched an intercontinental rocket, which was followed in May by an underground nuclear test. China ended support for its long-time ally and backed condemnation and sanctions by the UN Security Council.
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North vows not to give up its nuclear weapons

JoongAng Daily - South Korea — North Korea vowed Wednesday not to be bound by the latest United Nations resolution on non-proliferation and disarmament, saying it will never give up its nuclear weapons under any circumstance.

A spokesman for the North’s Foreign Ministry told the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) that the prerequisite to global denuclearization is the United States and other heavy possessors of nuclear weapons carrying out their own disarmament.
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N. Korea says ready to discuss denuclearization of Korean Peninsula

RIA Novosti - Russia — Pyongyang is ready to discuss with foreign mediators the nuclear problem on the Korean Peninsula in bilateral and multilateral formats, the official N. Korean news agency KCNA said on Monday.

The announcement came during a meeting between the North Korean officials and a Chinese delegation, led by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, which arrived in Pyongyang early on Sunday.
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Russia or Georgia - who's at fault?

2009-10-02T00:09:00.000-07:00

France accuses Russia of failing to meet EU-backed Georgia truce

RIA Novosti Russia — Russia is not meeting its obligations under the peace plan aimed at resolving the conflict between Georgia and Russia over breakaway regions of S. Ossetia and Abkhazia, the French foreign minister said Thursday.

The so-called Medvedev-Sarkozy ceasefire plan stipulates that EU observers should be able to monitor the situation on the border between Georgia and its former regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but so far only Georgia has allowed their deployment.
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Georgia 'started unjustified war'

BBC UK — The war in Georgia last year was started by a Georgian attack that was not justified by international law, an EU-sponsored report has concluded.

However, the attack followed months of provocation, and both sides violated international law, the report said.
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Georgia points to Russia 'invasion'

Aljazeera — It was all quiet at the Georgian checkpoint on the edge of South Ossetia as the European Union-sponsored commission published its investigation into last year's war.

Georgian policemen in camouflage fatigues chatted amiably with EU ceasefire monitors, who have stepped up their patrols around the publication of the report in case of renewed outbreaks of violence.
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People's Republic of China celebrates its 60th Anniversary

2009-09-30T13:15:00.000-07:00

Chinese pay tribute to motherland's birthday

Chinaview Xinhua — As the People's Republic of China celebrates its 60th founding anniversary, patterns of the number "60", and the national flag -- the five-star red flag -- can be seen everywhere throughout the country, even on children's heads.

In a barbershop in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Huang Xianlong, 5, smiled at his new hair style comprising four Chinese characters "Guo Qing Kuai Le", which means "Happy National Day".
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Nixon library will be target of Mao protest

Orange County Register — A statue of deceased Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong at the Nixon Presidential Library &Museum is the subject of a protest planned for Thursday, on the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

The statue has been in the Hall of World Leaders since the Nixon Presidential Library opened. Kai Chen – a Chinese-American organizing the protest – is the first person to launch a complaint about it, said Sandy Quinn, assistant director of the Nixon Library &Birthplace Foundation
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Mao's Grandson May Be Major General Next Year

New York Times — The grandson of Chairman Mao Zedong could be promoted to major general next year, the China Daily said on Tuesday, contradicting other reports saying the 39-year-old had already risen in rank.

Rumours of the promotion have been buzzing around websites in China, where Mao's descendants have not played a prominent role in politics.
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Iran's Nuclear Program

2009-09-28T23:04:00.000-07:00

U.S. to Iran: Prove your nuclear program is peaceful

CNN — The United States wants Iran to provide international inspectors with full access to a newly disclosed underground uranium enrichment plant that Obama administration officials say is both illegal and probably intended for developing weapons.

However, an Iranian official called U.S. accusations about the planned facility -- which Iran disclosed to the International Atomic Energy Agency last week -- a propaganda effort to discredit his country before crucial talks with the international community on its nuclear energy program.
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Iran defiant amid new nuclear row

BBC — Iran's newly-revealed nuclear facility is open for inspection by UN experts, the country's president has said.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisted that the plant, thought to be under construction near the holy city of Qom, was being built in line with UN regulations.
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Gates favors diplomacy not military action on Iran

Reuters — U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said diplomacy and sanctions rather than military action are the way to persuade Iran to change its nuclear program as divisions emerge in the Iranian leadership.

Iran's nuclear dispute with the West intensified last week after Tehran disclosed that it is building a second uranium enrichment plant.
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Elections in Germany

2009-09-25T08:35:00.000-07:00

The Enemy Within - Angela Merkel's Fight to Hold on to Power

Der Speigel — German Chancellor Angela Merkel may look set for another term in office, but her political future hinges on the election result. If her CDU party ends up having to form another grand coalition with the center-left SPD, it will spell the beginning of the end of her political career.

Angela Merkel is on a plane flying over the Black Sea. The German chancellor is on her way to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, but a curious mood pervades the flying conference room. The dimensions are somehow off. The seats are too small and people are perching uncomfortably on armrests. The temperature in the plane keeps changing -- it is always either too warm or too cold, but never quite comfortable. The aircraft is too crowded, so that journalists are forced to either sit on the floor or uncomfortably close to Merkel on a gray sofa.
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German Nuclear Plants’ Future at Stake in Merkel Election Fight

Bloomberg — Angela Seidler, a 41-year-old tour guide at E.ON AG’s Grafenrheinfeld nuclear-power plant in southern Germany, may have to find a new career before she retires.

“There are about six years of work” until the plant reaches a government-mandated production limit, Seidler said. After that, she said, “it’s over for Grafenrheinfeld” -- unless voters grant a reprieve in Sept. 27 elections.
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Gay leader drinks to future with Merkel at Oktoberfest

London Times — An openly gay politician who can survive the brutish ribaldry of the Munich Oktoberfest should have little trouble sitting down with the likes of Hamas, Muammar Gaddafi or other tough negotiating partners.

Perhaps that was what was buzzing through Guido Westerwelle’s mind yesterday as he sipped delicately from his litre of frothing beer, clearly wishing it was chilled prosecco.
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Obama's First Speech to the U.N.

2009-09-23T11:28:00.000-07:00

Obama pledges radical cuts in nuclear arsenal

Guardian UK — Obama has just said some striking things about US nuclear weapons policy in his first speech as US president to the UN general assembly. On the section on the atomic age: He said:

We will complete a Nuclear Posture Review that opens the door to deeper cuts, and reduces the role of nuclear weapons.

On Monday, The Guardian reported that Obama had rejected a first Pentagon draft of the Nuclear Posture Review, due to be completed by the end of the year, because the defence department had not been radical enough in envisaging the possible cuts in the arsenal, and in terms of nuclear doctrine. He wanted options that diminished the role of nuclear weapons in American security.
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Obama says U.S. leads in meeting climate change challenge?

Calgary Herald — U.S. President Barack Obama sounded the warning bell over many issues throughout this morning’s address to the United Nations – political, environmental and economic.

While some of the messages were predictable – the need to stabilize the global financial system and the need for peace in the Middle East – it was his position on the environment that might have raised a few eyebrows.
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The UN loves Barack Obama because he is weak

London Telegraph — Barack Obama’s Gallup approval rating of 52 percent may well be lower at this stage of his presidency than any US leader in recent times with the exception of Bill Clinton. But he is still worshipped with messiah-like adoration at the United Nations, and is considerably more popular with many of the 192 members of the UN than he is with the American people.

The latest Pew Global Attitudes Survey of international confidence in Obama’s leadership on foreign affairs shows strikingly high approval levels for the president in many parts of the world – 94 percent in Kenya, 93 percent in Germany, 88 percent in Canada and Nigeria, 77 percent in India, 76 percent in Brazil, 71 percent in Indonesia, and 62 percent in China for example. The Pew survey of 21 countries reveals an average level of 71 percent support for President Obama, compared to just 17 percent for George W. Bush in 2008.
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U.S. Missile-Defense Plan for Europe

2009-09-22T08:32:00.000-07:00

A Colossal Sign Of U.S. Weakness

CBS News — President Obama's decision to cancel plans for U.S. missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic is a knife in the back for those countries. The implications for U.S. security and the transatlantic relationship are profound. Critics rightly note that the sudden announcement Thursday sends a dangerous message to allies, both in Europe and elsewhere, who rely on U.S. security guarantees.

Even those who agree with the administration's approach concede that the rollout was clumsy--middle of the night phone calls and little prior consultation. In July 2007, Senator Obama criticized his predecessor for this very thing. The Bush administration, he said, had "done a poor job of consulting its NATO allies about the deployment of a missile defense system that has major implications for all of them."
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Obama Makes Right Call on Europe Missile Defense

Korea Times — President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and administration associates deserve commendation for making the right call concerning deployment of anti-missile weapons in Europe.

The Bush administration plan to place radar and missile installations in the Czech Republic and Poland has been canceled. Instead, the U.S. will rely on a mobile sea-based system, with land-based mobile radars.
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Russia, US could deploy joint missile shield against Iran

Indian Express — Russia and the US could deploy a joint missile shield to protect Europe from Iranian long-range missiles in future, a former Russian general has said.

"Russia and the US could jointly turn to this topic again in the future if Iran gets such a weapon (long-range ballistic missile), but this won't happen until at least 2015," Col Gen (retd) Viktor Yesin said.
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Afghanistan questions

2009-09-21T11:33:00.000-07:00

Top U.S. commander in Afghanistan pleads for more troops in classified report

China View Xinhua — Top U.S. commander in Afghanistan Stanley A. McChrystal said explicitly in a classified report that the Afghan war "will likely result in failure" without increasing U.S. troop levels in that country.

The report was submitted to the Obama administration on Aug. 30 and the Washington Post disclosed its content on Monday after obtaining a copy of the report.
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Will Obama 'Do a Rumsfeld' In Afghanistan?

FOXNEWS — When I was in Afghanistan earlier this year it was clear we didn't have enough troops to do anything more than tread water. Things have only gotten worse.

President Obama is offering up a muddled message about what he wants to accomplish there-- before he decides what the troop levels should be, he has to decide what his goal is. Is it to win hearts and minds? Defeat Al Qaeda and the Taliban? Does he want to buy time so that the Afghan army can take charge?
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Obama Questions Plan to Add Forces in Afghanistan

Wall Street Journal — President Barack Obama on Sunday voiced skepticism that more troops would make a difference in Afghanistan, suggesting he might not rubber-stamp military officials' expected request to send more forces to that country.

"I don't want to put the resource question before the strategy question," Mr. Obama told CNN's "State of the Union." "There is a natural inclination to say, 'If I get more, then I can do more.' But right now, the question is—the first question is—are we doing the right thing? Are we pursuing the right strategy?"
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Japan's new Prime Minister

2009-09-19T12:01:00.000-07:00

Japan’s Victors Warily Prepare for Power

New York Times — As the newly elected Democratic Party works to assemble what will be only the second government in Japan’s postwar history not to be led by the Liberal Democratic Party, it is treading carefully to avoid infighting that could split the ideologically diverse party or drive a wedge between it and its coalition allies.

Since smashing the Liberal Democrats’ nearly uninterrupted half-century monopoly on power two weeks ago, the center-left Democrats and their leader, Yukio Hatoyama, 62, have hurried to fill top posts in the party and his incoming cabinet and to cobble together a coalition with other parties before their government’s formal accession to power on Sept. 16.
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Clinton Optimistic About Ties With New Japanese Government

Voice Of America News — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday she is relaxed and optimistic about the future of U.S. relations with the new Japanese government despite potential problems over Afghanistan and the relocation of American forces based in Japan. The Obama administration has sent a senior envoy to meet officials of the new left-leaning government just installed in Tokyo.

Clinton says the new leaders in Japan may govern more pragmatically than some of their campaign rhetoric has indicated. And she is expressing confidence that the decades-old U.S.-Japanese alliance will remain solid despite expected policy changes by the government of new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
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Will Japan's global ties change?

BBC — Days before his landslide election win, Yukio Hatoyama ruffled feathers in Washington with an essay in the New York Times.

Hitting out at US-led globalisation, he said many Asian nations wanted to see America's "political and economic excesses" restrained.

US military might was key to regional stability, he said, but stronger ties with regional neighbours were also needed to safeguard Japan's interests.
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Carter Calls it Racism

2009-09-17T08:24:00.000-07:00

Obama and WH Team Turn Deaf Ear to Carter’s Racism Allegations, Deny ‘National Conversation’ on Race ‘Going on Right Now’

Fox News — The presidency, as the cliché goes, is a fraternity. It's a bipartisan one, if most presidential historians are to be trusted, in which the sacred, unspoken code is that former presidents do not intentionally complicate politics or policy for current presidents.

Jimmy Carter broke a lot of political codes to win the White House (the first born-again Christian, the first to have granted an interview to Playboy, the first to have been born in a hospital, and first to turn a no-chance campaign into a juggernaut by sleeping in other people's bedrooms -- in Iowa). More on the code of conduct of former presidents in a minute.
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Jimmy Carter racism charge triggers next US race debate

Christian Science Monitor — Former President Jimmy Carter’s assertion that racism is behind much of the political opposition to President Obama marks a stunning moment in America’s centuries-old racial drama.

In essence, one of the nation’s political elder statesmen has joined a chorus of Democrats, liberal pundits, and mainstream media asserting that the “birther” movement, Tea Party protests, town hall raucousness, and Rep. Joe Wilson’s “You lie!” outburst reflect a “Southern strain” of Americans who can’t support an “uppity” black as chief executive.
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Jimmy Carter, Anti-Semite, Sees Racism In Obama Foes

Post-Chronicle — ormer President Jimmy Carter has joined a legion of liberal colleagues and mainstream media types who have deliberately sought to muddy the waters with the 'R word' when it comes to defending the failed presidency of one Barack Obama.

In doing so, Carter risks further alienation of an increasingly skeptical American electorate.
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Is Venezuela ramping up a War Machine?

2009-09-16T00:26:00.000-07:00

Venezuela confirms deals on Russian tanks, missiles

Chinaview Xinhua — President Hugo Chavez has confirmed that Venezuela and Russia have agreed on deals to buy Russian tanks and anti-aircraft missiles with a 2.2-billion-U.S.-dollar Russian credit.

"The weapons purchase is possible to increase our defense capacity" and the soldiers' morale would also be raised, Chavez said in his TV/radio program "Hello, President" on Sunday.
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Venezuela pushes for nuclear power

Aljazeera - Venezuela's president has announced the creation of an atomic energy commission and plans to lead the South American nation into the nuclear era.

Following a visit to Moscow, Hugo Chavez said on Tuesday his government would catch up with the continent's only other nations who possess nuclear power stations - Brazil and Argentina.
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U.S. fears Venezuela could trigger regional arms race

CNN — The United States fears recent weapons purchases by Venezuela could fuel an arms race in South America, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday.

"They outpace all other countries in South America and certainly raise the question as to whether there is going to be an arms race in the region," Clinton said about Venezuela's arms deals, after a meeting with Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez.
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Is Medicare a good model for Health Care Reform?

2009-09-15T10:24:00.000-07:00

Medicare Would Rather Buy $8000 Computer than $150 iPhone App

Gizmodo — Say that, all things equal, you could fix a problem for $8000 or fix the same problem for $150. Which would you choose? Clearly, you are not Medicare.

Proloquo2Go is a text-to-speech iPhone app that's meant to aid those with autism, cerebral palsy, ALS, Down Syndrome—pretty much anyone who has a disability that makes speaking a difficult venture. It costs $150.
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Questions Over How to Pay for Health Reform

Newsweek — How is the government going to pay the upfront 10-year costs of health-care reform (a.k.a. health-insurance reform)? Well, despite months of hearings, committee markups, and backstage negotiating, the White House and Hill Democrats are still making up the answer as they go along. That's my conclusion based on what I was told─and not told─during and after a White House background briefing before the president's address to Congress last week. As outlined, Barack Obama's preferred compromise plan would cost $900 billion over 10 years. At the briefing, I and a group of other reporters and columnists were told that $600 billion of that cost would be recouped through savings in the administration and the medical practices of Medicare, Medicaid, and other existing (and presumably very wasteful and poorly designed) programs. Another $200 billion, we were told, would come from proceeds of a new "fee" on high-end "Cadillac" health-care plans.
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Why Small-Government Proponents Champion Medicare

New York Times — If the tax system is wildly wasteful and public services are mediocre, then there will be little public enthusiasm for expanding the size of the state. Can this explain why some advocates of limited government have become the archdefenders of Medicare’s largess? After all, if health care stays enormously expensive, then this will surely limit Americans’ appetite for expanding the entitlement to health care.
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Sarkozy: Happiness Index

2009-09-14T10:18:00.000-07:00

France: 'Measure well-being, not just growth'

Economic Times India — French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared on Monday that statisticians should find a way to measure the general well-being of the population rather than just raw economic growth.

Speaking at the launch of a report that he commissioned from Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, Sarkozy said France would pioneer the new technique and urge other countries to follow suit.
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Sarkozy may quit G20 if limitation on bankers bonuses failed

China View Xinhua — French President Nicolas Sarkozy may quit the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, the United States, next week if leaders fail to make any progress on limiting the bonuses of bankers, French media reported on Monday.

"If there is no concrete decision, I will leave," Sarkozy was quoted by French daily Le Figaro as saying.
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Sarkozy attacks focus on economic growth

London Guardian — Nicolas Sarkozy called for a "great revolution" in the way national wealth is measured today, throwing his weight behind a report which criticises "GDP fetishism" and prioritises quality of life over financial growth.

Speaking days before the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, France's president urged the rest of the world to follow his example as he ordered a shake-up in research methods aimed at providing a more balanced reading of countries' performance.
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Wilson Shouts Protest at Obama Health Care Speech

2009-09-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

Joe Wilson's "You Lie!" Spurs Support, Criticism

CBS News — Democratic leaders in the House are planning to vote next week on whether to admonish Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) if he does not apologize -- on the House floor -- for interrupting President Obama's Wednesday night speech to Congress, the Associated Press reports.

After President Obama on Wednesday said his proposed health care reforms would not apply to illegal immigrants, Wilson (R-S.C.) shouted out, "You lie!" The congressman quickly apologized for his behavior, and the president accepted his apology.
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Obama accepts Wilson's apology for outburst

USA Today — President Obama accepted Rep. Joe Wilson's apology Thursday, but the furor over the South Carolina Republican's outburst during the president's health care address to Congress persisted.

Democratic leaders will vote early next week on whether to admonish Republican Rep. Joe Wilson if he does not apologize on the House floor for yelling "You lie!" during Obama's health care address.
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Wilson raises more than $200,000 after outburst

CNN — Less than a day after Rep. Joe Wilson formally apologized to President Obama over his "you lie" outburst, a campaign aide confirms that the South Carolina Republican has raised "more than $200,000" after the now-infamous moment.

News of that cash haul comes after Wilson directly asked in a Web video for campaign cash to fend off attacks from political opponents and said he's standing by his opposition to Democratic efforts at health care reform.
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Russia Economy

2009-09-09T14:55:00.000-07:00

Medvedev lauds gov't's efforts to handle economic crisis

China View (Xinhua) — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday praised the government's efforts to cope with the current economic crisis and said it was too early to curtail anti-crisis measures.

Medvedev, at a government meeting on economic issues, said the Economic Development Ministry had noticed signs of recovery.
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Russia not yet in sustainable recovery: Medvedev

Agence France Presse — President Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday it was too early for Russia to scrap stimulus measures, even if signs of recovery from the country's worst economic crisis in a decade were beginning to appear.

"These so far are just general signs of improvement, we can't speak of sustainable positive dynamics, all the more so because these signs are not as significant in scale as we'd like them to be," Medvedev said.
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Russia state and state-aided banks drive lending

Reuters — Russia's state banks and those who received subordinated credits from the government were responsible for 50 percent of the corporate loans made in the country in the first half, data showed on Wednesday. The government has been counting on banks to help Russia out of recession, calling on them to step up lending and to pass on official interest rate cuts to end-borrowers.

Of the 9.2 trillion roubles ($295 billion) lent to Russian companies in the first six months of the year, 2.7 trillion roubles came from state-controlled banks and 1.9 trillion roubles was lent by privately-owned recipients of government funds through subordinated loans.
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West Bank Settlement Expansion

2009-09-07T07:56:00.000-07:00

Israel gives go ahead for new construction in West Bank

RIA Novosti Russia — Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak sanctioned on Monday the construction of 455 new homes in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the ministry's press service said.

This is the first new government-approved construction project in the West Bank since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanhyahu took office in March and is in defiance of U.S. pressure to halt all building work.
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Israel defies US over settlements

Aljazeera — Israel has officially approved the construction of 455 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, defying demands by the US and others for a freeze on settlement building.

Israel's defence ministry announced the decision to continue with settlement building on Monday.
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Poll shows surge of support for Israel in US

Jerusalem Post — In stark contrast to the cable leaked last month by Israel's consul-general in Boston saying support for Israel in the US has declined, a recent poll for The Israel Project shows support has bounced back significantly after slipping in the aftermath of US President Barack Obama's Cairo speech.

The poll, conducted by Neil Newhouse of Public Opinion Strategies and Stan Greenberg of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research (GQRR), asked some 800 likely US voters the following question: "Thinking about the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in the Middle East, please tell me whether, in general, you consider yourself to be an Israel supporter, Palestinian supporter, or neither/undecided."
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Obama Speech to Students

2009-09-05T15:54:00.000-07:00

Many conservatives enraged over Obama school speech

CNN — The White House found itself on the defensive Friday over what would ordinarily be considered the most uncontroversial of events: a back-to-school speech to the nation's children.

The White House said the address, set for Tuesday, and accompanying suggested lesson plans are simply meant to encourage students to study hard and stay in school.
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Obama's back-to-school message is responsibility

Associated Press — Classrooms are filling up as kids head back to school, and Education Secretary Arne Duncan's two children are among them.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Duncan said students should take more responsibility for doing well in school, and he called on their parents to step up, too.
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Florida schools to leave children behind on Obama speech

Los Angeles Examiner — In keeping with George W. Bush’s tradition of leaving every child behind, Florida school superintendents have now decided to teach their students a lesson in treason.

President Barack Obama, in his effort to connect with children in a 15-minute televised education speech next week, will, in the opinion of certain superintendents, be armed with too much liberal propaganda for students to bear.
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Obama's War in Afghanistan

2009-09-04T07:45:00.000-07:00

Obama's War?

Fox News — Violence has been on the rise across much of Afghanistan since President Obama ordered 21,000 U.S. troops to the country, shifting the focus of the U.S.-led war on Islamic extremism from Iraq. Now some are calling Afghanistan "Obama's war." Do you agree?
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Afghanistan Is Not 'Obama's War'

Wall Street Journal — In his column for the Washington Post on Tuesday, the influential conservative George Will provided intellectual fodder for the campaign among some Republicans to hang the Afghanistan war around the Obama administration’s neck. Washington, he wrote, should “keep faith” with our fighting men and women by “rapidly reversing the trajectory of America’s involvement in Afghanistan.” “Obama’s war,” a locution one is now beginning to hear from other conservatives, is an expression of discontent that has been smoldering beneath the surface for several months.
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Gates Says Afghan War ‘Not Slipping,’ U.S. Has ‘Right Approach’

Bloomberg — Defense Secretary Robert Gates said an assessment of the military situation in Afghanistan has been forwarded to President Barack Obama and that any request for additional U.S. forces or money will be to “effectively implement” current strategy, not to “launch a new one.”
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Afghan Elections

2009-09-02T12:34:00.000-07:00

US wants fair Afghan vote, no problem with run-off

Reuters India — U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke said on Wednesday it did not matter to the United States if there was a run-off vote in the Afghan election but a fair ballot procedure was vital.

"The post-election phase, the phase of determining who won, is going to be critical in determining the future of Afghanistan," said Holbrooke, speaking before a meeting in Paris of international experts on Afghanistan.
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Afghan Meeting In Paris Overshadowed By Vote Fraud Claims

Radio Free Europe — U.S. President Barack Obama's special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, is meeting representatives from 26 nations in Paris to compare notes on the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan.

Discussions are being overshadowed, however, by growing allegations of fraud in the country's recent presidential and regional elections.
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Karzai leads Afghan vote with nearly half ballots counted

RIA Novosti Russia — With 43.81% of ballots counted in last week's presidential elections Afghanistan's incumbent president, Hamid Karzai, is ahead with 1,317,121 votes, the country's Central Election Commission said on Monday.

Daud Najafi, chief electoral officer, said Karzai's nearest rival, former foreign minster Abdullah Abdullah, has 965,256 votes.
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40 Year Celebration of Gadaffi and Libya

2009-09-01T08:13:00.000-07:00

Lockerbie bomber on show at Gaddafi’s 40th anniversary celebrations

Times UK — Libya is set to flaunt the Lockerbie bomber’s release at the climax of today’s celebrations marking Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's 40 years in power.

The Times gained access last night to the dress rehearsal of a spectacular two-hour show which extols Colonel Gaddafi for reviving his country and restoring Arab pride. As the finale approaches, the screen at the back of the giant stage in Tripoli’s Green Square shows Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi stepping off the plane which brought him home from his Scottish prison two weeks ago. His arms are raised aloft by Colonel Gaddafi’s son, Saif, as he acknowledges the joyful reception from the crowd below.
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Gaddafi's turbulent US relations

Aljazeera — A weedy, overgrown backyard in Englewood, New Jersey seemed likely for a time last week to become the scene of the latest flashpoint in Libyan-US relations.

Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, is planning his first visit to the US since he seized power in a military coup 40 years ago. He is set to address the yearly UN General Assembly in September.
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Gadhafi Blames Israel for Africa's Problems

Voice of America — Libya is hosting a special session of the African Union Assembly in an effort to resolve conflicts on the continent. AU chairman and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi told the heads of states gathered for the meeting one of the greatest dangers facing the war-torn region is the presence of Israel.

Colonel Gadhafi opened the session by saying conflicts such as that in Sudan's Darfur region are internal matters, and that much of the history of African countries involve infighting over power. The Libyan leader said the African Union could help parties negotiate a solution, but that the wars pose no real danger.
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Iran Nuclear Enrichment

2009-08-29T10:02:00.000-07:00

US Says Iran Still Not Addressing International Nuclear Concerns

Voice of America — The State Department said Friday the latest International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on Iran's nuclear program shows it is still not being responsive to concerns that it might be seeking nuclear weapons. Senior diplomats from major world powers meet next week in Germany to discuss nuclear diplomacy with Iran.

U.S. experts are still studying the lengthy IAEA document, but officials here say it is already clear from the report that Iran is still not being forthcoming with the U.N. agency on its nuclear intentions.
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West wants Russia, China to back tough Iran steps

Reuters India — The U.N. nuclear watchdog's new report on Iran sets the stage for a showdown between Western powers who want to hit Iran's energy sector with sanctions and Tehran's protectors -- Russia and China.

The report by the Vienna-based U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency said that Tehran had failed to heed U.N. Security Council demands that it stop enriching uranium and cooperate with the agency's investigation "to exclude the possibility of military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program."
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Israel not to attack Iran 'in near term'

Iran Press TV — Amid Israeli concerted efforts to halt Iran's nuclear work, a US defense official says Tel Aviv is not going to launch an attack on Tehran in the near term.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East Colin Kahl said in an interview with al-Hayat published on Friday that Israel was 'concerned' about Iran's nuclear program but was unlikely to unilaterally strike Tehran before the end of the year if negotiations don't start.
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Zuma Zimbabwe

2009-08-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

Zuma: Zimbabwe’s Problems not ‘insurmountable’

Newstime Africa — South Africa’s President, Jacob Zuma, is in Zimbabwe for talks with the country’s leaders. This is his first visit to the country since he became President of South Africa. Mr Zuma met with President Mugabe and Prime Minister Tsvangirai and had talks with both leaders on ending the stalemate in the Unity Government. There are hopes the Mr Zuma will pressure Mugabe to rein in on hard-line ZANU-PF supporters who are bent on derailing the Unity administration.

As current chairman of SADC, the region’s economic community, Mr Zuma will use his clout to ensure that the fragile unity government does not collapse. He will admonish the two leaders that it is of Zimbabwe’s vital interest that they work together to remove the impasse that has prevented progress in the unity government.
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Zimbabweans look to Zuma for help

Aljazeera — Jacob Zuma, the South African president, is likely to face one of the toughest political challenges of his career when he arrives in Zimbabwe on his first state visit.

Zimbabwe's inclusive government, now just over six-months old, is on shaky ground. Tensions between long-time rivals Robert Mugabe, the president, and Morgan Tsvangirai, the prime minister, could cripple the new coalition government.
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Zuma says Zimbabwe's coalition government is working

UK Guardian — South Africa's president, Jacob Zuma, has given an upbeat assessment of Zimbabwe's unity government, saying he believes the worst of the country's troubles are over.

Zuma held talks in Harare with President Robert Mugabe, who looked well despite speculation over his health, and the prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, in a bid to end feuding between the coalition partners.
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Japan Elections

2009-08-27T14:11:00.000-07:00

Japan's long-ruling government braced for election defeat

U.K. Guardian — Shinjiro Koizumi could hardly have chosen a worse time to run in an election on a Liberal Democratic party (LDP) ticket.

After the votes in Sunday's general election have been counted, the 28-year-old will probably win his seat south of Tokyo, thanks largely to his name: the constituency's most recent MP was his father, Junichiro Koizumi, one of Japan's most popular postwar prime ministers.
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Japanese ex-premier fights uphill battle for reelection

L.A. Times — Veteran voters here have rarely witnessed a gloves-off election battle -- or political campaigning of any kind, for that matter.

In this regional transportation hub of 350,000 residents, confident incumbents with the nation's ruling Liberal Democratic Party had only to list their names on the ballot to virtually guarantee a landslide victory.
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Japan seen muddling toward middle ground with U.S.

Reuters India — Japan's populist opposition Democratic Party, forecast to win Sunday's election, will likely bring confusion rather than dramatic foreign policy changes to the United States' main Asian ally.

Polls show the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) could win by a landslide, ending more than 50 years of rule by conservatives who kept Japan in lock-step with Washington on security policy in return for the shelter of its "nuclear umbrella".
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U.S. Middle East Peace Talks

2009-08-26T08:48:00.000-07:00

'Better For Israel To Be Respected Than Loved'

The Jewish Press — Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and a 2008 Republican presidential candidate, completed a three-day tour of some of Israel's holiest and most contentious sites last week with leaders of Ateret Cohanim.

During his eleventh visit to Israel since 1973, Huckabee toured Jewish neighborhoods within East Jerusalem and Samaria and consistently affirmed his support for Jews living in any and all parts of the Jewish homeland.
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US and Israel spar over settlements

Aljazeera — Talks between Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, and George Mitchell, the US Middle East envoy, are continuing behind closed doors in London amid disagreement over West Bank settlements.

Netanyahu has said he wants an agreement that allows Israel to proceed with some settlement construction and to restart peace talks with Palestinians.
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Palestinians Seek State by 2011

Fox News — Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad released a government plan Tuesday calling for the establishment of a de facto Palestinian state by the end of 2011 regardless of the outcome of negotiations with Israel.

The plan faces significant practical hurdles and raised worries that Fayyad was advocating the sort of unilateral actions toward statehood long opposed by the U.S. and Israel. Implementing it would mean overcoming likely Israeli opposition to key elements and Fayyad's own weak domestic political standing, and would also require hefty financial-aid commitments from foreign donors, such as the U.S., European Union and Arab states.
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Bernanke Reappointed as Fed Chief

2009-08-25T12:14:00.000-07:00

Bernanke's Fed Confirmation May Focus on Slow Crisis Response

Bloomberg — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, likely to win confirmation to a second term, will confront critics in Congress who fault his response to the financial crisis and ad hoc bailouts for the industry.

Bernanke, nominated today by President Barack Obama for a four-year term beginning Jan. 31, also will defend the central bank’s independence as the administration and lawmakers seek to strip its power to protect consumers.
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Was Bernanke the Wrong Choice for Fed Chair?

The Atlantic — President Obama has re-nominated Ben Bernanke to serve as chairman of the Federal Reserve and everybody expects the Senate to confirm him. Although Bernanke has been widely praised for driving the expansionary monetary many think saved the financial system, he has his detractors. After all, you can't preside over the largest financial collapse since the Great Depression, extend trillions of dollars to keep our bedeviled banking system afloat and manage to escape criticism entirely. So here's one surprising critic: Stephen Roach, the chair of Morgan Stanley Asia, who writes: "It is as if a doctor guilty of malpractice is being given credit for inventing a miracle cure." Ouch!
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Global stocks gain on Bernanke, data

Reuters — World stocks surged to 10-month highs on Tuesday after upbeat U.S. economic data and Ben Bernanke's renomination as Federal Reserve chief spurred optimism, but increased risk-taking weakened the U.S. dollar.

U.S. Treasury debt prices fell as the renewed gains on Wall Street and data on U.S. home prices and consumer confidence reduced a safety bid for bonds..
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Iran's Nuclear Rights

2009-08-24T09:41:00.000-07:00

MP highlights Iran's inalienable nuclear rights

Tehran Times — An Iranian lawmaker on Saturday blasted the remarks by German chancellor on Iran, and underlined the country's inalienable right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

""If Iranians are asked about the country's nuclear program, they will call it (nuclear energy) their country's indispensible right,"" Mohammad Karim Abedi, a member of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, told FNA.
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Iran 'will co-operate with IAEA'

BBC — Iran will continue to co-operate with the United Nations nuclear agency, a foreign ministry spokesman has said.

Hassan Qashqavi appeared to confirm reports last week that UN inspectors were allowed access to Iran's nearly complete nuclear reactor at Arak.
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'Sanctions won't prevent Iran from legal rights'

Iran Press TV — Iran has taken a swipe at Germany over calling for sanctions on Iran's energy sector, saying that sanctions won't prevent Tehran from pursuing its legal rights.

“Experience has proved that sanctions are futile and won't prevent Iran from pursuing its legal rights,” Qashqavi said at his weekly press conference on Monday.
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U.S. Health Care

2009-08-21T18:11:00.000-07:00

'Tea Party' Organizers Plan Anti-'Obamacare' Rallies Across the Country

Fox News — If Democratic lawmakers thought all the furor over President Obama's health care plan expressed this month at town hall meetings was dying down, they might be in for a surprise Saturday.

That's when citizens are planning anti-"Obamacare" rallies across the country Saturday in all 435 congressional districts.
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Obama Faults GOP in Health Debate

Wall Street Journal — President Barack Obama, seeking to rally his base, accused Republican leaders Thursday of trying to block a health-care overhaul from the start and again threw his weight behind a government-run insurance plan.

During a radio call-in show and at a town-hall meeting of supporters, Mr. Obama tacked to the left as Democratic allies inched toward trying to pass a health-care bill on their own.
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Poll: Hits on health care hurting faith in Obama

Boston Globe — In the Washington Post/ABC News survey, 49 percent of Americans say they believe Obama will be able to drive significant improvements in the health care system, down nearly 20 percentage points from before he took office.

As Republicans and other critics continue to hammer his health care proposals, confidence in Obama's overall leadership is also eroding, according to the poll: 49 percent of respondents express confidence that he will make the right decisions for the country, down from 60 percent at the 100-day mark in his presidency.
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U.S. Afghanistan War Poll

2009-08-19T19:20:00.000-07:00

Afghan war poll triggers Obama political alarms

L.A. Times — As President Obama concludes weeks of intense -- and increasingly desperate -- salesmanship on his keystone and embattled healthcare reform plans, a discouraging alarm arrived today that he may soon have to devote his selling skills toward a less interesting but more dangerous area of concern for him:

The war in Afghanistan.

Secure parts of that country vote in a presidential election Thursday. And quietly coming through the bureaucratic defense pipeline is a request for even more U.S. troops, on top of the compromise 17,000 additional Obama approved last winter.
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We ignore Afghanistan at our strategic peril

The Australian — 2nd articleThose who seek to discredit the Afghan elections are not doing its people any favours

IN many ways, it is a tale of two armies. Perhaps the most important mistake the Bush administration made after the invasion of Iraq was to disband that nation's army.

A Lebanese friend of mine, a man steeped in all the ways of his region, told me recently: "It was necessary for the Americans to get rid of Saddam Hussein. But in Iraq, they only needed to change the decision maker, they shouldn't have destroyed the one institution that bound the country together."
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Obama defends Afghan war as 'necessity'

Belfast Telegraph — US President Barack Obama has defended the ongoing war in Afghanistan following a significant rise in US-British fatalities in the country in recent months.

In a speech to US military veterans yesterday, Mr Obama said the fight against insurgents would not be easy and the Taliban would not be defeated overnight.

However, he insisted that the conflict was a "necessity" and was a war worth fighting.
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Japanese Elections

2009-08-18T11:17:00.000-07:00

Japan's Twitter-Free Election Campaign

Time Magazine — Campaigning officially kicked off Tuesday in Japan as candidates for the Diet's upcoming elections took to the streets to canvas for votes. And while the Aug. 30 general election could be revolutionary — with Japan on the cusp of a regime change that could end nearly 54 years of virtually unbroken rule — candidates' official campaigning methods are far from it. With 12 days to go until national elections, candidates rode in vans, armed with banners, leaflets and loudspeakers for soapbox speeches at train stations and street corners across the nation. But as their names were blared out on the first day of political open season, their campaigns on Twitter and Facebook were silent. One thing that Japanese politicians aren't armed with is the Internet.
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Japan’s Opposition May Press BOJ to Buy More Government Bonds

Bloomberg — Japan’s opposition party may press the central bank to purchase more government bonds should it win this month’s general election, economists say.

Lawmakers from the Democratic Party of Japan, which is favored to gain power for the first time after the Aug. 30 election, have said they value the Bank of Japan’s autonomy. That respect would be tested if the party’s pledge to spend more on social programs forces the Finance Ministry to increase bond sales. Analysts say the DPJ would be tempted to urge the central bank to buy the debt to contain an increase in yields.
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Hatoyama's 'new politics' threaten to obliterate Aso

The Australian — IT may well produce a historic result but Japan's general election campaign was officially launched yesterday in familiar style, with Opposition Leader Yukio Hatoyama offering "new politics" and Prime Minister Taro Aso asking: where's the money coming from?

"The day to make history has finally come," said Mr Hatoyama at a street meeting in Osaka, the start of a six-city barnstorm finishing in Tokyo yesterday evening.
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U.S. Iraq Exit Strategy

2009-08-17T19:03:00.000-07:00

One Step Backward, Two Steps Forward

Newsweek — For all appearances, the U.S. presence in Iraq is slowly winding down. A brigade of U.S. troops (about 3,500 of the 130,000 here) will leave this month and not be replaced; another will follow in the fall. Meanwhile, the Iraqi cabinet today proposed a referendum on the U.S. presence of during national elections in January, which could force an even quicker exit. But even as the United States wraps up here, America's top general in Iraq is contemplating a high-profile, high-risk new assignment for U.S. troops, putting them into the breach between Arab and Kurdish armies, attempting to quell (but possibly inflaming) ethnic tensions. It's a sort of Godfather moment for American forces: just when they think they're getting out, they get pulled back in.
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US Commander Wants More Troops in Northern Iraq

Voice Of America — The top U.S. commander in Iraq says he wants to station more American soldiers in disputed areas of northern Iraq where there has been a recent spike in violence.

General Ray Odierno said Monday U.S. soldiers would partner with both Iraqi government and Kurdish troops to secure the region marked with tension between Arabs and Kurds.
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US troops to return to Iraq despite Barack Obama’s withdrawal plan

London Times — The US military plans to send thousands of American soldiers back to the oil-rich north of Iraq to prevent a civil war between Arabs and Kurds.

The emergency move, which partially reverses a recent drawing- down, is the first major sign that President Obama’s withdrawal plan may not work. He wants all US combat troops out of Iraq within 12 months.
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Hillary Clinton's Africa Trip

2009-08-15T16:35:00.000-07:00

Clinton's Africa trip highlights importance US attaches to the continent

Deutche Welle — Hillary Clinton kicked off the 11-day trip in Kenya and US officials were keen to emphasize that her trip to Africa was the earliest by a secretary of state to the continent of any administration.
Dominic Johnson, who writes on African affairs for the German TAZ newspaper, told Deutsche Welle that, "the purpose of the tour is for the US to establish contact with Africa and provide high visibility for US policy. Hillary Clinton will say what she thinks of African governing policies. It's not to establish trade ties as no contracts have been signed."
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Clinton’s agenda makes women’s issues a priority

The Boston Globe — She talked chickens with female farmers in Kenya. She listened to the excruciating stories of rape victims in war-torn eastern Congo. And in South Africa, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited a housing project built by poor women, where she danced with a choir that was singing her name.
Clinton’s seven-country trip to Africa, which ends today, has sent the clearest signal yet that she intends to make women’s rights one of her signature issues and a higher priority than ever before in American diplomacy.
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Secretary Clinton's Opportunity: Ending the World's Two Deadliest Wars

The Huffington Post — n the aftermath of Secretary of State Clinton's trip to Africa, the U.S. has a chance to help bring an end to two of the great unfolding tragedies of the 21st century. Together, Sudan and Congo represent two of Africa's largest countries, two of Africa's richest natural resource bases, two of Africa's longest wars, two of the world's deadliest conflicts in the past half century, two of the continent's most predatory governments, and two of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman or a girl. That is a legacy that deserves and demands a rethink of the international response, which has allowed these wars to burn for years.
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The Future of Fatah

2009-08-12T16:15:00.000-07:00

Gaza Fatah leaders quit in protest

Arab News — Eleven senior leaders from the Gaza Strip of President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party resigned in protest on Wednesday over the election process and results of their movement’s top decision-making body.
The 11 members of Fatah’s highest committee in the Gaza Strip complained that Fatah members from the Gaza Strip were underrepresented in the newly elected, 23-member Central Committee.
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Fatah Party Election Brings in a New Generation

New York Times — Fatah, the mainstream Palestinian nationalist party, elected a mostly new leadership committee, ushering in a younger generation and ousting some prominent veterans, according to preliminary results released here on Tuesday.
The new leaders are considered more pragmatic than their predecessors and grew up locally, in contrast to the exile-dominated leadership they are replacing. But many are familiar names who have already played active roles in Palestinian society and the peace process, and their election to the committee is not expected to bring about significant changes in Fatah policies.
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Fatah vote gives boost to Abbas

The Jerusalem Post — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has emerged victorious from the elections for Fatah's Central Committee, as almost all his preferred candidates won seats in the key decision-making body.
The elections were held in the context of Fatah's sixth General Assembly, which convened for the first time in 20 years in Bethlehem last week.
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Obama - Health Care

2009-08-11T12:27:00.000-07:00

Obama attacks healthcare insurers

Aljazeera — The US president has launched an attack on insurance companies who he accuses of limiting people's access to medical care, during a town hall session on health reform.
Barack Obama said on Tuesday that Americans are often "held hostage" by insurance companies that deny or drop clients' coverage or charge excessive fees.
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Obama defends ability of government on health care

Associated Press — President Barack Obama says Americans wary of a government-run health care plan should look no further than Medicare.
Critics of Obama's overhaul effort say creation of a public plan to compete with private insurance adds up to a government takeover. Obama told a New Hampshire town hall Tuesday that he received one letter from a woman who said "keep your hands off my Medicare."
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High Fees Common in Medical Care, Survey Finds

New York Times — A patient in Illinois was charged $12,712 for cataract surgery. Medicare pays $675 for the same procedure. In California, a patient was charged $20,120 for a knee operation that Medicare pays $584 for. And a New Jersey patient was charged $72,000 for a spinal fusion procedure that Medicare covers for $1,629.
The charges are among a long list of high fees cited in a survey released online Tuesday by America’s Health Insurance Plans, which represents 1,300 health insurance companies. The group said it had used Medicare payments for comparison because Medicare was so familiar and payments are, on average, about 80 percent of what private insurers pay.
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North American Summit

2009-08-10T09:10:00.000-07:00

Drugs gangs, flu dominate North American summit

Agence France Press — US President Barack Obama joined the leaders of Canada and Mexico on Monday to fine tune the fight against swine flu, murderous drugs gangs and economic recession at the North American summit.
At the quick summit in the western city of Guadalajara Obama, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper targeted incremental change rather than breakthroughs.
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Canada to train Mexican officers fighting drug cartels.

Canada.com — Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Sunday that Canada will train Mexican police officers to assist Mexico in its brutal war against rival drug cartels.
The announcement came as the prime minister touched down here for a two-day summit with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and U.S. President Barack Obama.
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Obama Promises Calderon Solution to U.S.-Mexico Trucking Spat

Bloomberg — President Barack Obama told his Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderon that he is committed to resolving a dispute over truck access to U.S. highways.
Obama said he will also address safety concerns about the trucks raised by the U.S. Congress, an administration official said after the two leaders met in Guadalajara yesterday at a summit of North American leaders. Calderon told Obama that the dispute has hurt trade, raised consumer costs and reduced job creation, according to a statement from his press office.
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IRAN: Ahmadinejad sworn in as president

2009-08-08T07:46:00.000-07:00

Pro-Mousavi Iranians chant death to the dictator

Malaysian National News Agency — Hundreds of supporters of Iranian opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi chanted "death to the dictator" in Tehran on Thursday, a witness said, a day after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sworn in as president.
The renewed protests come despite a heavy police presence and the mass trial of some 100 leading reformers accused of fomenting the unrest that has continued for eight weeks since disputed June 12 polls returned hardliner Ahmadinejad to office.
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Cleric: Iranian nation is united and vigilant

Tehran Times — Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani has said that the Iranian nation is “united and vigilant” and that is why all plots against the Islamic Republic have failed so far.
He made the remarks in a sermon at Friday prayers in Tehran.
Ayatollah Kashani also stated that the Supreme Leader’s approval of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s presidency on Monday was an endorsement of the fact that “republicanism and Islamism” are inseparable in Iran.
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Defiant Iran president takes oath

Agencia AngolaPress — Iran- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been sworn in for a second term as Iran's president, after weeks of post-election unrest.
In an address after the ceremony, he criticised foreign powers who have cast doubt on the validity of the election, saying Iran would resist them.
Opposition supporters protesting outside parliament were met by hundreds of riot police.
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Sri Lanka - Tamil Tiger Leader Arrested

2009-08-07T07:23:00.000-07:00

Another hit for Tigers as new leader arrested

Sydney Morning Herald — THE new head of the Tamil Tigers, Kumaran Pathmanathan, was being interrogated in Sri Lanka last night after being arrested outside the country and flown to the capital, authorities have said.
The arrest is a fresh blow to the separatist group, which was routed on the battlefield in May after more than two decades of armed struggle. Pathmanathan's detention comes a little over a fortnight after he was announced as the group's new leader.
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UPDATE 1-S.Lanka bourse at 14-mo high after Tamil Tiger arrest

Reuters — Sri Lanka's share market .CSE rose to its highest in more than 14-months on Friday before retreating to close up marginally amid a lack of foreign buying, after the arrest of the new Tamil Tiger leader the night before.
The new head of the Tamil Tigers, the separatist group defeated by the Sri Lankan military after 25 years of war, was being held in the capital Colombo, the military said on Friday.
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Australian Sri Lankan Disapora needed back home

Radio Australia — The Sri Lankan government has begun allowing people displaced by the civil war with the Tamil Tiger rebels, to return home, but a major de-mining operation is required before large-scale re-settlement can begin.
THOMAS: Look the Government has a program on resettling people within 180 days. Which may be an oportunist approach because there's such a large number of people across a large area, it's a very slow process, the roads are very slow, so I applaud their enthusiasm but I think it's going to be an enormous task to resettle these people back to their homes.
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Georgia - Russia One Year Later

2009-08-06T15:28:00.000-07:00

Georgia Draws Gains, Not Lessons, From War

Moscow Times — Exactly one year after the war over South Ossetia, Georgia’s chances of becoming a NATO member have been reduced to almost zero, but the South Caucasus nation might actually be safer and is putting greater hopes into political integration with the West. Despite the fact that key European powers continue to be skeptical because Tbilisi’s standoff with Moscow remains fundamentally unsolved, President Mikheil Saakashvili is promoting his country as a regional champion.
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Did Russia pay high price for winning Georgia war?

Christian Science Monitor — Though the dispute over who started the war between Russia and Georgia has yet to abate, most experts agree that it erupted during the night of Aug. 7 with an apparently well-planned and massive Georgian attack on Tskhinvali, capital of South Ossetia, which had won its de facto independence from Georgia in a brutal civil war nearly two decades earlier.
About a dozen Russian peacekeeping troops died in that assault, prompting Moscow to send its North Ossetia-based 58th Army swarming through the Roki Tunnel the next day. Russian forces rapidly routed the Georgians and went on to briefly occupy a handful of Georgian towns such as Gori, where they destroyed Georgian weapons
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Russia urges Georgia to ink non-violence agreement

Xinhua — Russia insists that Georgia assume a legal obligation on the non-use of force with respect to its breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Thursday.
"We insist that Georgia take on the legal obligation on the non-use of force. The obligation should be unconditional, not in relation to Russia, but in relation to the neighboring republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia," Andrei Nesterenko told a briefing.
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NATO - Afghanistan

2009-08-05T12:10:00.000-07:00

New NATO chief vows to strengthen Afghan efforts

Agence France Presse — The new NATO chief vowed Wednesday to strengthen military efforts to counter an insurgency in Afghanistan but conceded peace talks with certain groups were an option to end mounting violence.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, making his first visit to Afghanistan as head of the 28-nation alliance, told a news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai that he was ready for "pragmatic steps" to improve security.
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Rasmussen wants Afghans to take more responsibility

Reuters — The new head of NATO said he wanted Afghan forces to assume lead responsibility for security within the next four years, but would not set a timeline for a complete pull out by alliance troops.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who took over as secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Saturday, faces many challenges but none more daunting than finding a winning strategy for the war in Afghanistan and improving relations with its former Cold War foe Russia.
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New NATO chief open to talks with Taliban

ABC Australia — The new head of NATO says the organisation's priority must be the war in Afghanistan and he says he is open to negotiations with moderate members of the Taliban.
As the new Secretary General of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen inherits a daunting task with tens of thousands of troops battling a fierce Taliban insurgency ahead of the Afghanistan presidential election.
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Bill Clinton goes to North Korea

2009-08-04T10:23:00.000-07:00

Bill Clinton seeks to free S.F. journalists held in North Korea

Sacramento Business Journal — Former President Bill Clinton flew to North Korea in hopes of freeing two San Francisco journalists held in that isolated country.
In June North Korea sentenced the two — Laura Ling and Euna Lee, employees of Current TV — to 12 years of hard labor. They were convicted of “committing hostilities against the Korean nation and illegal entry,” charges U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called baseless.
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White House mum on 'private' Clinton mission to NKorea

Agence France Presse — The White House Tuesday declined to comment on former president Bill Clinton's trip to North Korea, saying it did not want to jeopardize his "solely private mission" to negotiate the release of two US journalists.
"While this solely private mission to secure the release of two Americans is on the ground, we will have no comment," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said in a brief statement.
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Bill Clinton rewarding NKorea for bad behavior: Bolton

Agence France Presse — The Obama administration is rewarding North Korea for its bad behavior by sending ex-president Bill Clinton to Pyongyang to win the release of two US journalists, the former US ambassador to the UN said Tuesday.
John Bolton, an outspoken hardliner in the previous administration of George W. Bush, told AFP that Clinton's mission to Pyongyang undermines a number of public stands held by his own wife, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
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The U.S. Role in Afghanistan

2009-08-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

In Afghanistan, U.S. May Shift Strategy

The Washington Post — The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan is preparing a new strategy that calls for major changes in the way U.S. and other NATO troops there operate, a vast increase in the size of Afghan security forces and an intensified military effort to root out corruption among local government officials, according to several people familiar with the contents of an assessment report that outlines his approach to the war.

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US general may ask for more troops for Afghan war

Associated Press — The U.S. general in charge of turning around the war in Afghanistan is likely to recommend significant changes to U.S. and NATO operations, military officials and others familiar with his forthcoming report said. Those changes could include additional U.S. troops despite political headwind against further expansion of the war.
As Gen. Stanley McChrystal readies his assessment of the war, due next month, numerous U.S. officials and outsiders apprised of his thinking suggest McChrystal will request that more American troops, probably including Marines, be added next year.
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US forces fade into background for Afghan election

Associated Press — An Afghan going to the polls in the Aug. 20 presidential election will not see an American or NATO soldier — if all goes according to plan.
Although the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan has swelled to 62,000 — more than double this time last year — international forces plan to keep a low profile on election day to avoid any suspicion that foreigners are trying to influence the outcome.
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Iran Election Trial

2009-08-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

Iran tries 100 moderates over election unrest

Reuters — The trials began on Saturday of 100 prominent moderates arrested shortly after Iran's disputed June presidential election and charged with trying to overthrow the clerical establishment, Iranian media reported.
This is the first time since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution that dozens of senior officials, including former ministers, vice-presidents and lawmakers, have been put on trial.
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In Iran court, Abtahi 'disputes' vote fraud claims

Iran Press TV — Reformist figure Mohammad-Ali Abtahi, accused of provoking and taking part in deadly riots after the recent presidential election in Iran, has reportedly testified that the vote was "clean".
The first court session for opposition activists and protesters convened on Saturday in the Iranian capital Tehran with charges of rioting, threatening national security and conspiring against the ruling system being read against those in the dock.
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Iran reportedly frees 140 jailed election protesters

CNN — The Iranian government has released 140 people arrested in the aftermath of the Islamic republic's disputed presidential election, a semi-official news agency reported Tuesday.
Kazem Jalali, spokesman for the parliament's national security and foreign policy commission, said the detainees posted bail and were freed from northern Tehran's Evin Prison during an inspection of the prison by a task force made up of commission members, the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) reported.
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Israel Palestine

2009-07-31T17:52:00.000-07:00

Hamas leader: We will accept a Palestinian state within 1967 lines

Haaretz — Hamas leader-in-exile Khaled Meshal says the Islamic militant group is ready to accept a Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines, according to an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Friday.
"We along with other Palestinian factions in consensus agreed upon accepting a Palestinian state on the 1967 lines," Meshal told the Wall Street Journal, adding "this is the national program. This is our program. This is a position we stand by and respect."
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Hamas Chief Outlines Terms for Talks on Arab-Israeli Peace

Wall Street Journal — The chief of Palestinian militant group Hamas said his organization is prepared to cooperate with the U.S. in promoting a peaceful resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict if the White House can secure an Israeli settlement freeze and a lifting of the economic and military blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Khaled Meshaal, 53 years old, said in a 90-minute interview at Hamas's Syrian headquarters that his political party and military wing would commit to an immediate reciprocal cease-fire with Israel, as well as a prisoner swap that would return Hamas fighters for kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
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As US wades in, Israel to let Gaza get some cement

Reuters — Israel will allow some cement into the Gaza Strip for reconstruction, officials said on Wednesday, signalling flexibility on a blockade as Washington intensified efforts to broker peacemaking with the Palestinians.
After Hamas Islamists seized Gaza in 2007, Israel curbed imports that it said could be used to make arms or bunkers. The lack of cement and steel has been especially felt since Israel's December-January offensive, which devastated the coastal strip.
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Nigeria Attacks

2009-07-29T21:49:00.000-07:00

Army lays siege to Nigerian 'Taliban' in bid to crush rebels

Guardian UK — Government forces were closing in on the stronghold of a group dubbed the "Nigerian Taliban" last night after four days of violence that have left more than 200 dead and sent 4,000 fleeing their homes in the north of the country.
Around 100 women including mothers with newborn babies were freed by troops after being held hostage for almost a week by the Islamist sect Boko Haram, which is militating for sharia law and opposes modern education.
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Scores Die as Fighters Battle Nigerian Police

New York Times — Scores have been killed in clashes between the police and members of a fundamentalist Islamic sect in towns across northern Nigeria, a predominantly Muslim region that for years has had regular and often bloody outbreaks of sectarian unrest.
An obscure group opposed to Western education appears to be at the root of the current troubles. The Nigerian police accused it of attacks on police stations in at least two states on Sunday and Monday.
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Nigerian Islamists flee city as army overruns base: military

Agence France Presse — Members of a Nigerian Islamist fundamentalist sect fled the northern city of Maiduguri on Wednesday after the military overran their base, an army commander said.
The news came just hours after the army announced that another thousand soldiers had been sent to the region to reinforce troops battling sect members after four days of deadly clashes.
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Palin quits

2009-07-26T21:33:00.000-07:00

Sarah Palin leaving governor's post amid confusion, criticism

L.A. Times — Up here in Alaska, wildlife metaphors tend to be as abundant as their flesh-and-blood counterparts, and Gov. Sarah Palin has helped herself to them generously in explaining why she's stepping down today, barely halfway through her term.
She didn't want the state to be stuck with a "lame duck" chief executive, she said. She could hang around the Statehouse and go with the flow, she allowed, but "only dead fish go with the flow."
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Palin's Next Step Is Still a Mystery

Wall Street Journal — Sarah Palin will enter uncharted political waters when she leaves the Alaska stage Sunday.
Now the question is whether she will go on to become a viable presidential candidate in 2012, after having quit her governor's job with 18 months left in her term. Or will Ms. Palin instead choose to parlay her popularity among conservatives to become a power broker in the Republican Party, or quit politics altogether to cash in on her fame with books and TV contracts?
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Three reasons Palin’s move might be about money

Christian Science Monitor — Many Americans are still confused about the sudden resignation of Gov. Sarah Palin, who will leave her post at a picnic in Fairbanks today. But one clear message has emerged, say friends and foes of the former vice presidential candidate: It is, at least partly, about the money.
No. 1: Legal bills – the personal costs
It’s about a personal legal bill that the governor says has exceeded $500,000 to fight a barrage of more than 20 ethics charges.
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School Reform

2009-07-25T10:48:00.000-07:00

Obama's $4 Billion Education Prize: Incentive or Bribe?

The Atlantic — President Obama announced a new education initiative today that sets aside a pool of $4 billion to reward states for improving their school systems. The theme of his speech was twofold: We need better teachers, and we need better standards. We need to find better teachers by using data from student achievement to highlight effective teachers. And we need better standards to keep some states (ahem, Mississippi) from setting their education bar so low that they gut the word "standard" of all meaning.
One of the commonly lamented problems with No Child Left Behind is that the law tells states: Set a standard, any standard, and we'll reward you if your students pass it. The law encouraged states to set the a low bar. That's why Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says he stands behind the national standard -- as hard as it might be to get all 50 states on board.
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Obama May Disqualify Some States From School Grants

Bloomberg — States barring the use of student- achievement data to help set teacher pay would be ineligible for $4.35 billion in education stimulus funds under guidelines proposed by President Barack Obama today.
The measure would disqualify states such as California, New York and Wisconsin from applying for the grants unless they change laws excluding student-performance data from evaluations of teachers and principals.
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Obama chides California for not using test scores to evaluate teachers

L.A. Times — President Obama singled out California on Friday for failing to use education data to distinguish poor teachers from good ones, a situation that his administration said must change for the state to receive competitive, federal school dollars.
Obama's comments echo recent criticisms by his Education secretary, Arne Duncan, who warned that states that bar the use of student test scores to evaluate teachers, as California does, are risking those funds. In an announcement Friday at the Education Department in Washington, Obama and Duncan said the "Race to the Top" awards will be allocated to school districts that institute reforms using data-driven analysis, among other things.
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Afghanistan

2009-07-23T07:47:00.000-07:00

Afghan war in interest of US, UK: Biden

Zee News India — The war in Afghanistan is in the interests of the US and the UK, US Vice President Joe Biden has said in an interview.
While talking to BBC's Jonathan Beale, Biden maintained that Afghan war is “worth the effort we are making and the sacrifice that is being felt".
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More troops will die in Afghanistan, says Joe Biden

Guardian UK — More British and American troops will die in Afghanistan, but the war against the Taliban is in the national interests of both countries, the US vice-president, Joe Biden, said today.
Speaking in the deadliest month for British troops since the US-led invasion in 2001, Biden insisted that the current offensive against the Taliban in Helmand province was worth the effort and was a "prerequisite" to get the country ready for presidential elections next month.
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The Afghanistan industry

Guardian UK — For ordinary Afghans, the west is part of the machinery of corruption that thrives on the conflict
When the Taliban arrived in a village in Farah in May, the village elders approached them and asked them to leave. They told the Taliban that if the fighters stayed, the foreigners would bomb their village. The Taliban said: "We are fighting and dying for Islam and so should you. Why should you be spared death? Is your blood redder than ours?"
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Senate Gun Bill

2009-07-22T12:37:00.000-07:00

Senate Rejects Republican Bid to Loosen Weapon Laws

Bloomberg — The U.S. Senate defeated a Republican bid to expand gun ownership rights by letting people carry concealed weapons across state lines.
The Senate voted 58-39 for the proposal by John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, two votes short of the 60 needed. It would have allowed truck drivers, salespeople and anyone else permitted to carry concealed weapons to take them into any of the 48 states that allow hidden firearms.
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Democrats Defeat Concealed Weapons Amendment

Washington Post — By the narrowest of margins, the Senate's liberal bloc of Democrats defeated an amendment that would have allowed gun owners to carry their weapons across state lines without regard for stricter laws in many jurisdictions, giving preference to states with looser standards.
In a 58-39 vote, supporters of the looser gun law -- including all but two Republicans and 20 Democrats -- fell two votes short of the 60 they needed under Senate rules to approve the measure. The amendment, sponsored by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), showed the bitter divisions among a Democratic caucus that now holds 60 seats, many of whom got to the Senate by winning in conservative states as they proudly supported gun rights. It also divided the party's leadership, as Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), campaigning for re-election in 2010, sided with gun rights supporters. His top lieutenants, Sens. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), led the push against the measure.
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Senate vote on concealed weapons proves again there is no 2nd amendment right to own a gun

L.A. Examiner — The Senate by a 58-39 vote, defeated a bill that would have made concealed weapons permits in one state valid in other states. The bill needed 60 votes to pass.
But the fact that there was even a vote at all proves beyond a doubt that the 2nd amendment has nothing to do with an individual's right to own or carry a gun. A point I've been making for quite some time.
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U.S. Sanctions on North Korea

2009-07-17T09:32:00.000-07:00

U.N. Slaps Sanctions on North Korean Firms, Individuals

NTI — The U.N. Security Council yesterday released its much-anticipated list of North Korean firms and individuals to be sanctioned for their role in aiding the nation's nuclear and missile activities, the Wall Street Journal reported (see GSN, July 16).
The new blacklist covers five people and five companies.
"We are pleased with the new international sanctions agreed upon today in response to North Korea's nuclear tests and recent missile activity," said Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. "These new designations ... will serve to constrain North Korea from engaging in transactions or activities that could fund its WMD or proliferation activities."
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US urges N. Korea to return to dialogue

Iran Press TV — The United State calls on North Korea to return to the six-party talks, saying it is still "not too late" to resume the frozen talks on nuclear disarmament.
"We think it's important to send a collective message to North Korea that it's not too late and that we still wish them to return to the six-party talks and to hold responsible negotiations," Kurt Campbell, US Assistant Secretary of State, was quoted by Kyodo News as saying on Friday.
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New Sanctions Against North Korea: Too Little, Too Late?

Fox News — Is the United Nations doing anything to stop North Korea? Well, there is news tonight, the U.N. imposing new sanctions against five North Korean companies involved in the country's nuclear program. In addition, give North Korean individuals now face a travel ban and have had their assets frozen. And there is more. Two types of materials used in ballistic missile parts are now banned from being sold in North Korea. Do these sanctions matter to the North Koreans?
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Slain Russian Rights Activist

2009-07-16T10:55:00.000-07:00

Russian human rights activist kidnapped, killed

CNN — A leading human rights activist was abducted and killed in Russia Wednesday, the organization she worked for told CNN.
Natalya Estemirova, of the Russian human rights group Memorial, was kidnapped outside her home in Grozny, Chechnya, Oleg Orlov said, citing eyewitness reports.
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The murder of Natalia Estemirova is a dire warning

Telegraph UK — Our Russia research team say there used to be three key people when it came to uncovering human rights abuses in Chechnya - the journalist Anna Politkovskaya, the lawyer Stanislav Markelov, and the human rights researcher Natalia Estemirova.
In the space of less than three years, they’ve all now been murdered. These pivotal people supplied Amnesty with valuable information about Chechnya as well as neighbouring republics like Ingushetia, Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkari.
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Lawyers, activists and reporters killed in Russia

Associated Press — Some recent high-profile slayings of activists, reporters and lawyers who have challenged Russian authorities in recent years. There have been no convictions in any of the following killings.
July 15, 2009: Natalya Estemirova — a human rights activist who was found shot dead in Ingushetia after being kidnapped in Chechnya earlier in the day. She was 50.
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Nobucco Pipeline

2009-07-15T06:49:00.000-07:00

Pipeline deal is sweet music for Iran

Asia Times — How a trans-Caspian gas pipeline project came to be named after the 19th-century Italian Romantic composer Giuseppe Verdi's famous opera Nabucco remains obscure. The opera is based on a Biblical story about the tragic plight of persecuted Jews exiled from their homeland by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. Maybe, the opera's enchanting story of love and struggle or its tendency toward melodrama was considered an apt metaphor for the acute Caspian energy rivalry.
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Nobucco Pipeline Gets Turkish Assent

Business Week — The Nabucco project, designed to cut the dependence of energy-hungry Europe on Russian gas, will reach an important milestone later today (13 July) as EU governments and Turkey are set to sign a key transit pact.
"The signature will show that we are determined to make the Nabucco pipeline a reality as quickly as possible," European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said ahead of the signing ceremony, which would effectively end six months of intense negotiations on the use of the pipeline.
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Russia May Score Final Coup in Energy Battle

Moscow Tmes — The European Union is touting its deal with Turkey on Monday to realize the Nabucco natural gas pipeline project as a major coup in the quest for alternative energy routes that bypass Russia. The project’s major transit country, Turkey, may have been brought on board, but Ankara’s other energy interests in the Caucasus may still stand in the way of securing producer countries, namely Azerbaijan, for the project.
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Secret Counter-Terrorism" Program Uncovered

2009-07-12T10:07:00.000-07:00

Dick Cheney kept Congress in dark over CIA counterterrorism action

Guardian UK — The former US vice president Dick Cheney directed the CIA not to inform Congress about a counterterrorism programme that the CIA director, Leon Panetta, ended last month, according to revelations by US intelligence officials.
The programme, the nature of which is not known, was set up eight years ago after the 9/11 attacks, reported the New York Times, citing a former intelligence official and another government official familiar with Panetta's briefing to the House and Senate intelligence committees on 24 June.
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Democrats Say C.I.A. Deceived Congress

New York Times — The director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Leon E. Panetta, has told the House Intelligence Committee in closed-door testimony that the C.I.A. concealed “significant actions” from Congress from 2001 until late last month, seven Democratic committee members said.
In a June 26 letter to Mr. Panetta discussing his testimony, Democrats said that the agency had “misled members” of Congress for eight years about the classified matters, which the letter did not disclose. “This is similar to other deceptions of which we are aware from other recent periods,” said the letter, made public late Wednesday by Representative Rush D. Holt, Democrat of New Jersey, one of the signers.
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Cheney 'silenced CIA over spy plan'

Aljazeera — Dick Cheney, the former US vice-president, deliberately withheld details of a secret CIA spy programme from the US congress for eight years, a newspaper has reported.
Cheney, who was vice-president to George Bush between 2001 and January this year, ordered the CIA not to tell congress of a new "counter-terrorism" programme, The New York Times reported on Saturday.
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The British in Afghanistan

2009-07-11T10:26:00.000-07:00

Gordon Brown insists Afghan war being won

Times Online UK — Gordon Brown today insisted the UK is winning the war in Afghanistan despite a surge in the deaths of British soldiers.
The Prime Minister claims troop morale remains high despite the deaths of eight soldiers in the space of 24 hours.
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Brown defends Afghan strategy as deaths mount

Agence France Presse — Prime Minister Gordon Brown insisted on Saturday that Downing Street had the right strategy in Afghanistan after British military deaths surpassed the number of dead in the Iraq war.
Brown said the last few days had been "extraordinarily difficult" as British fatalities had risen to 184 after the announcement on Friday that eight men had been killed in a 24-hour period.
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Afghanistan proves deadlier for UK than Iraq

Iran Press TV — The British military's latest casualties have lifted the death toll in Afghanistan to above the number of troops killed in Iraq.
Over the past ten days, 15 soldiers have been killed in the troubled Helmand Province, bringing the death toll to 184 since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Nearly 179 British soldiers have been killed in Iraq.
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