All Entries in the "World" Category

China Becomes Second Biggest World Economy – CNBC

China has overtaken Japan to become the world’s second-largest economy, the fruit of three decades of rapid growth that has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.

Depending on how fast its exchange rate rises, China is on course to overtake the United States and vault into the No.1 spot sometime around 2025, according to projections by the World Bank, Goldman Sachs and others.

China came close to surpassing Japan in 2009 and the disclosure by a senior official that it had now done so comes as no surprise. Indeed, Yi Gang, China’s chief currency regulator, mentioned the milestone in passing in remarks published on Friday.

“China, in fact, is now already the world’s second-largest economy,” he said in an interview with China Reform magazine posted on the website of his agency, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

Cruising past Japan might give China bragging rights, but its per-capita income of about $3,800 a year is a fraction of Japan’s or America’s. (Check the latest US GDP report here)

“China is still a developing country, and we should be wise enough to know ourselves,” Yi said, when asked whether the time was ripe for the yuan to become an international currency.

Full Story: Economic growth – China Becomes Second Biggest World Economy – CNBC.

Poll: Nearly 6 in 10 Pakistanis view US as enemy

Despite billions in aid from Washington and a shared threat from extremists, Pakistanis have an overwhelmingly negative view of the United States, according to results of a Pew Research Center poll released Thursday.

The survey also found that Pakistanis have grown less fearful of extremists seizing control of their country, perhaps reflecting gains that government troops have made against militants since early 2009.

Most Pakistanis want improved relations with the United States, according to the poll. But most view the U.S. with suspicion, support for American involvement in the fight against extremists has declined, and nearly two-thirds want U.S. troops out of neighboring Afghanistan.

Full Story: Poll: Nearly 6 in 10 Pakistanis view US as enemy | Raw Story.

UN declares access to clean water a human right

The UN General Assembly on Wednesday recognized access to clean water and sanitation as a human right, a move hailed by water advocates as a momentous step toward a future treaty.

After more than 15 years of contentious debate on the issue, 122 countries voted in favor of a compromise Bolivian resolution enshrining the right, while the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and 37 other nations abstained.

The non-binding text “declares the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of the right to life.”

It expresses deep concern that 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water and that more 2.6 billion do not have access to basic sanitation.

It notes that roughly two million people die every year from diseases caused by unsafe water and sanitation, most of them small children.

Full Story: AFP: UN declares access to clean water a human right.

Israel linked to exiled sheikh’s bid for ‘coup’ in Gulf emirate of RAK

• UK ambassador advising Sheikh Khalid of Ras al-Khaimeh

• Tiny UAE state ‘aids trafficking of nuclear parts’ to Iran

Israel is aiding an exiled Arab sheikh who is vying to seize control of a strategically important Gulf emirate only 40 miles from Iran.

The Israeli ambassador to London, Ron Prosor, has met Sheikh Khalid bin Saqr al-Qasimi, the exiled crown prince of Ras al-Khaimeh (RAK), who asked him to help with his campaign to oust the leadership of the northernmost state in the United Arab Emirates.

The meeting took place in London in March and has been followed by phone calls and wider assistance and advice, according to records of the relationship seen by the Guardian.

Khalid, who has been based in London and has hired a solicitor from Ickenham as his agent, is bidding to replace his ailing father, Sheikh Saqr, and half brother, Sheikh Saud, to take control of RAK.

Full Story: Israel linked to exiled sheikh’s bid for ‘coup’ in Gulf emirate of RAK | World news | The Guardian.

U.S.-China Super-Power Collision Looming in South China Sea

Reports of untapped oil and gas reserves have kept tensions up around the waters of the South China Sea.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent passage through South-east Asia saw Washington close ranks with its former adversary Vietnam, sending a warning to Asian heavyweight China that its assertive foreign policy in the region will be challenged.

he diplomatic battleground is the South China Sea, a stretch of ocean that has a spread of reefs, coral atolls and slender slivers of land that hardly qualify as habitable islands but for decades have been the subject of a territorial dispute in the region.

This stretch of sea washes the coasts of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and China, which have overlapping territorial claims in the area. Over the years, China has used military force to have a toehold on the often-submerged spits of land.

Reports of untapped oil and gas reserves have kept tensions up around the waters of the South China Sea, including the Paracel Islands archipelago and the Spratly Islands, which are also key shipping lanes.

Full Story: U.S.-China Super-Power Collision Looming in South China Sea | World | AlterNet.

Sacked workers to open new wind turbine factory

Workers who lost their jobs when an Isle of Wight wind turbine factory closed down plan to open their own turbine plant on the same industrial estate as the former business.

More than 400 workers became redundant when Danish wind power giant Vestas shut its Isle of Wight factory last year, sparking an 18-day sit-in at the factory in Newport.

The new company, Sureblades, will start producing micro wind turbine blades in September and will employ a number of ex-Vestas workers, according to founder Sean McDonagh, who was one of the protest’s leaders.

Full Story: France24 – Sacked workers to open new wind turbine factory.

COLOMBIA-VENEZUELA: Severed Ties, Fresh Ground for New Problems

The break in diplomatic relations between neighbours Colombia and Venezuela, ordered Thursday by the latter’s President Hugo Chávez, bodes an escalation of tensions — the outcome of which largely will be decided by Colombia’s president-elect Juan Manuel Santos.

“This is a fateful day for the people of both countries, who are the losers in the severing of relations, and the first loser is Santos,” Carlos Romero, professor of international studies at the Central University of Venezuela, told IPS.

In his view, “the bilateral relationship will be marked by a heavy tension, and Santos will have to make an effort and perhaps sacrifice more to find a way to rebuild it. In the meantime the void will be filled with problems of border security, trade, and transit of peoples from one country to the other.”

Fellow international relations professor Adolfo Salgueiro believes the moves that led to the severing of ties were coordinated by Santos and out-going President Álvaro Uribe so that the new president can begin Aug. 7 to elaborate the terms necessary to repair relations.

Full Story: COLOMBIA-VENEZUELA: Severed Ties, Fresh Ground for New Problems – IPS ipsnews.net.

NKorea vows nuclear response to US-SKorea drills

North Korea vowed Saturday to respond with “powerful nuclear deterrence” to joint U.S. and South Korean military exercises poised to begin this weekend, saying the drills amount to a provocation that would prompt “retaliatory sacred war.”

North Korea routinely threatens war when South Korea and the U.S. hold joint military drills, which Pyongyang sees as a rehearsal for an attack on the communist North. The latest threat comes amid increased tensions on the divided peninsula over the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship that Seoul and Washington blame on Pyongyang.

The allies’ defense chiefs announced earlier in the week they would stage the drills to send a clear message to North Korea to stop its “aggressive” behavior. Forty-six South Korean sailors were killed in the March sinking of the Cheonan, considered the worst military attack on the South since the 1950-53 Korean War.

Full Story: NKorea vows nuclear response to US-SKorea drills | Raw Story.

Israel Gets Brutal With Media

NABI SALAH, Occupied West Bank, Jul 23, 2010 (IPS) – Palestinian activists are being jailed, Israeli activists are under surveillance, and the Israeli military is increasingly targeting journalists who cover West Bank protests.

The Foreign Press Association (FPA) in Israel issued a statement recently condemning what it sees as a change in Israel Defence Forces (IDF) policy in their treatment of journalists covering the growing number of West Bank protests against Israel’s separation barrier, illegal settlements and land expropriation.

“We would appreciate it were the authorities to remind the various forces involved, that open, unhindered coverage of news events is a widely acknowledged part of the essence of democracy.

“Generally speaking this would not include smashing the face of a clearly marked photographer working for a known and accredited news organisation with a stick, or for that matter aiming a stun grenade at the head of a clearly marked news photographer or summarily arresting cameramen, photographers and/or journalists,” said the FPA.

Full Story: Israel Gets Brutal With Media – IPS ipsnews.net.

Brazil donates $14 million for Gaza reconstruction

Ramallah – Ma’an – Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a decision granting $14 million for Gaza reconstruction efforts, Palestinian officials announced.

During a visit to Brazil, a Fatah delegation headed by Central Committee member Nabil Sha’ath met with da Silva, who applauded President da Silva’s positions toward Palestine.

“The question of Palestine runs in the blood vessels of every Brazilian. I will continue to fight for a just peace leading to establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital,” the president was quoted as saying.

Sha’ath said in a statement that da Silva would be willing to join international efforts to support the Palestinian stance, and would willingly participate in the peace process.

Full Story: Maan News Agency: Brazil donates $14 million for Gaza reconstruction.

Dengue epidemic threatens Caribbean, kills dozens

Mosquito-borne dengue fever is reaching epidemic stages across the Caribbean, with dozens of deaths reported and health authorities concerned it could get much worse as the rainy season advances.

The increase in cases is being blamed on warm weather and an unusually early rainy season, which has produced an explosion of mosquitoes. Health officials say the flood of cases is straining the region’s hospitals.

In the Dominican Republic, where at least 27 deaths have been reported, hundreds of health workers and soldiers went door-to-door Saturday to warn about the virus and destroy mosquito breeding areas.

Full Story: Dengue epidemic threatens Caribbean, kills dozens | World news | guardian.co.uk.

Germans contemplate cuts to social welfare system

As Germany plans severe austerity measures, the country’s generous welfare system is expected to take a deep hit. Critics say it places an unfair burden on the poor at a time of economic instability.

Unemployed mom Fee Linker lives on welfare benefits in a centrally located five-room flat that costs about $1,500 a month. The garden terrace looks out onto a lush wooded area where birds chirp in the trees.

“I wouldn’t get along without this government money, not with this apartment,” says Linker, who sends her 6-year-old daughter and two sons, 7 and 10, to a private school. “It’s my opinion that as a mother of three, I deserve a comfortable life.”

Full Story: Germans contemplate cuts to social welfare system – latimes.com.

Burmese Junta Funded By Chevron, Total, And PTTEP

The Burmese junta are using massive gas revenues from Chevron (US), Total (France) and PTTEP (Thailand) to fund it’s fledgling nuclear weapons programme, according to a report published this week by the Paris-based human rights watchdog EarthRights International (ERI).

The report relies on recent photographic evidence and other top-secret material smuggled out of Burma by defecting army Major Sai Thein Win, a former deputy commander of a top-secret military facility, based deep inside Burma.

It seems that Burma’s nuclear program is at an early stage, with scientists experimenting with laser isotope separation and gas centrifuge technology for uranium enrichment. Despite the fact that the program is still years away from achieving weapons capability, the growing threat of this rogue state is now coming to the attention of the international community.

Full Story: Scoop: Burmese Junta Funded By Chevron, Total, And PTTEP.

The EU Banking System Is In Big Trouble

The EU banking system is in big trouble. Many of the Union’s largest banks are sitting on hundreds of billions of euros in dodgy sovereign bonds and non performing real estate loans. But writing down their losses will deplete their capital and force them to restructure their debt. So the banks are concealing their losses through accounting sleight-of-hand and by borrowing money from the European Central Bank. This has helped to hide the rot at the heart of the system.

Presently, 170 banks are having difficulty accessing the wholesale markets where they get their funding,. Financial institutions are wary of lending to each other because they’re not sure who is solvent or not. It’s a question of trust.

ECB chief Jean-Claude Trichet has tried to keep the problems under wraps, but markets aren’t easily fooled. Stress gauges, like euribor, have been rising for the last two months. Investors smell a rat. They know the banks are playing hide-n-seek with downgraded assets and they know that Trichet is helping them out.

A week ago, stocks rallied on news that EU banks would repay most of the €442bn one-year emergency loan from the ECB. The news was mainly a publicity stunt designed to hide what was really going on. Yes, the banks borrowed significantly less that analysts had predicted (another €132bn), but just two days later, 78 banks borrowed another €111bn. The additional loans makes it look like Trichet cooked up the whole thing to trick investors.

Full Story: The EU Banking System Is In Big Trouble.

Bilderberg are terrified!

There’s a powerful organization holding a meeting in Spain, that features some of the world’s most-influential politicians, bankers and even military chiefs. But you won’t know what they’re up to because the Bilderberg Club gets together under a veil of secrecy. Critics say it’s making big, world-changing decisions behind people’s backs. RT is covering the meeting near Barcelona and has spoken to Daniel Estulin, author and investigative journalist, who recently revealed his findings about the Bilderbergs to the European Parliament.

The European right is capitalising on a crisis

Eurozone governments and European authorities are using the economy to justify pushing through rightwing policy changes

One thing should be made clear about the situation in the eurozone economies that is not clear at all if we rely on most of the news reports. This is not a situation where countries face a “dilemma” because they have overspent and piled up too much public debt. They do not face “tough choices” that will force them to cut spending and raise taxes while the economy is weak or in recession, in order to “satisfy financial markets”.

What is really going on is that powerful interests within these countries – including Spain, Greece, Ireland and Portugal – are taking advantage of the situation to make the changes that they want. Perhaps even more importantly, the European authorities – including the European commission, the European central bank and the IMF – who are holding the purse strings of any bailout funds, are even more committed than the national governments to rightwing policy changes. And they are further removed from any accountability to any electorate.

In 13 Bankers, by Simon Johnson (a former chief economist at the IMF) and James Kwak, the authors describe the emerging market crises of the 1990s and note that Washington used them to promote changes that it wanted: “When an existing economic elite has led a country into a deep crisis, it is time for a change. And the crisis itself presents a unique, but short-lived opportunity for change.” Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine, provides an excellent history of how crises have been used to introduce or consolidate regressive and unpopular economic “reforms”

Full Story: The European right is capitalising on a crisis | Mark Weisbrot | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk.

OPS: The Subtitle of this article should have been: A Crisis that they created

Max Keiser: ‘Lets impose trade sanctions on Britain until they clean up BP’s mess’

On the edge with Max Keiser:

Max Keiser talking to Damon Vrabel  on World Debt and the International Banking Cartel

Max Keiser is on the edge of the financial news where future financial scandals, market crashes and monetary crisis begin, be there before it happens.

Turkey threatens ‘to sever ties’ with Israel

Turkey warned Israel Monday it will cut ties unless it gets an apology for a deadly raid on Gaza-bound aid ships, but the Jewish state said it will never say sorry for defending itself.

Ankara had already closed its airspace to all Israeli military aircraft in reaction to the May 31 bloodshed on a Turkish ship in which nine Turks were killed, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told the daily Hurriyet.

The Israelis had three options, Davutoglu said in remarks published Monday.

Full Story: France24 – Turkey threatens ‘to sever ties’ with Israel.

Mexicans vote elections besieged by drug violence

More than a dozen Mexican states held elections Sunday after campaigning besieged by assassinations and scandals that displayed drug cartels’ power. The party that ruled Mexico for 71 years hoped to capitalize on frustrations over the bloodshed and gain momentum in its bid to regain the presidency in two years.

The elections for governors, mayors and other posts are the biggest political challenge yet for the government of President Felipe Calderon, who has deployed troops and federal police trying to wrest back territory from drug traffickers.

The Institutional Revolutionary Party, which held on to power for seven decades through a system of largess and corruption that many considered a quasi-dictatorship, has recovered popularity amid frustration with Mexico’s surging drug gang violence.

Full Story: Mexicans vote elections besieged by drug violence – Yahoo! News.

ExitExit Polls: Komorowski Takes Polish Presidency

Polls in Polish Election Give Komorowski Edge

Interim president Bronislaw Komorowski appeared to have held off a last-minute surge from the identical twin brother of the late president, who died in an April plane crash that shocked the country and forced Sunday’s early election.

Exit polls showed Komorowski with a slight edge over Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who essentially conceded defeat in the presidential run-off by declaring before supporters, “I congratulate the winner.”

A poll released Sunday by the TNS OBOP institute predicted Komorowski winning 53.1 percent of the vote, and Kaczynski winning 46.9 percent. A separate poll, by Millward Brown SMG/KRC, shows Komorowski with 51.8 percent and Kaczynski with 48.2 percent.

The exit polls have a small margin of error, and official results are not expected until Monday.

Full Story: Exit Polls in Polish Election Give Komorowski Edge.

Treasury orders cabinet ministers to brace themselves for 40% cuts

Shock demand comes as ministers step up emergency cost-cutting across public sector

Cabinet ministers have been ordered by the Treasury to plan for unprecedented cuts of 40% in their departmental budgets as the coalition widens the scope of its four-year austerity drive.

The eye-watering demand from the chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, was sent this weekend to cabinet colleagues ahead of a week in which ministers will step up emergency cost-cutting across the public sector.

The only departments not included in the Treasury trawl will be health and international development, which have been “ringfenced” for the current parliament. Education and defence will also escape lightly. Alexander has told the education secretary, Michael Gove, and the defence secretary, Liam Fox, to plan for two scenarios – cuts to budgets of 10% at best and 20% at worst over four years. All other departments – including the Home Office, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Transport – have been ordered to produce plans showing the impact of cuts of 25%, and at worst 40%.

Full Story: Treasury orders cabinet ministers to brace themselves for 40% cuts | Politics | The Observer.

Rioters Hit Puerto Rico’s Capital Over Budget Cuts

A police riot over budget cuts broke out in Puerto Rico’s capital Wednesday, with cops wielding batons and firing pepper spray on demonstrators.

The demonstrators, many of them students from the local university, attempted to enter the statehouse in San Juan to protest budget cuts and other laws under Gov. Luis Fortuno.

Authorities, who had closed the building after learning of the plan for a protest lined up shoulder-to-shoulder forming a barricade in front of the building.

Full Story: Rioters Hit Puerto Rico’s Capital Over Budget Cuts.

House committee passes bill that would end Cuba travel ban

A bill to end the effective ban on US nationals’ travel to Cuba, and allow Havana to buy US goods on credit, has been moving through a legislative panel, though it still has a long way to go before it could actually take effect.

The bill was passed in the House agriculture committee.

It would among other things, end the effective travel ban for US nationals; allow communist Cuba to use credit for purchases of US farm goods currently paid for only in cash; and allow direct transfers between US and Cuban financial institutions.

Now it still must make its way through additional commissions before a potential House vote.

The United States has had an economic embargo clamped on Havana for nearly five decades.

Full Story: House committee passes bill that would end Cuba travel ban | Raw Story.

Crumbling Coalition: Germans Anticipate a Collapse of Merkel’s Government

Pundits think that Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government is in trouble. A new survey has found that German citizens agree. Almost two-thirds think that the governing coalition in Berlin will not survive much longer.

Commentators and pundits in Germany were unanimous: Wednesday’s laborious election of Christian Wulff as the country’s new president was anything but helpful for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s already ailing coalition. A survey conducted by Infratest dimap seems to indicate that voters agree.

According to the poll, commissioned by public television station ARD, fully 68 percent of Germans believe that the election was a “disgrace” for Merkel and 77 percent feel that she no longer has complete control over her own governing coalition. Sixty-two percent believe that Merkel’s government, which pairs her conservatives with the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP), will not survive much longer.

Full Story: Crumbling Coalition: Germans Anticipate a Collapse of Merkel’s Government – SPIEGEL ONLINE – News – International.

Mexican murder suspect: US consulate infiltrated

The drug-cartel enforcer told an unsettling story: A woman who worked in the Mexican border’s biggest U.S. consulate had helped a rival gang obtain American visas. And for that, the enforcer said, he ordered her killed.

Nonsense, says a U.S. official, who said Friday the motive for the slaying remains unknown.

The employee, Lesley Enriquez, and two other people connected to the U.S. consulate in the city of Ciudad Juarez were killed March 13 in attacks that raised concerns that Americans were being caught up in drug-related border violence.

Jesus Ernesto Chavez, whose arrest was announced Friday, confessed to ordering the killings, said Ramon Pequeno, the head of anti-narcotics for the Federal Police. Pequeno said Chavez leads a band of hit men for a street gang tied to the Juarez cartel.

Full Story: Mexican murder suspect: US consulate infiltrated – Yahoo! News.

White People For ‘Rent’ In China

To some, it’s known as “White Guy Window Dressing.” Others call it “The Token White Guy Gig” or even a “Face Job.”

These are terms used to describe a recently established practice employed by Chinese firms, who are willing to pay high prices for fair-skinned expatriates to act as faux employees and white-collar business partners — all in an effort to impress other area businesses.

According to a blitz of news reports, the practice works as a complex, if bogus, promotional tool. To the Chinese public, the number of foreigners a company has is believed to have a direct correlation to its level of prestige, money and authority — which, in turn, increases their chances of securing additional business. In an increasingly globalized Chinese workforce, an office’s “diversity,” real or not, makes it seem more international.

Full Story: White People For ‘Rent’ In China.

Greeks strike on Tuesday, test government pension reform

Greek workers stage a new 24-hour strike on Tuesday that will gauge public discontent with government austerity measures, including a radical pension reform aimed at helping the country solve its huge debt crisis.

Transport will be disrupted while public offices, local media, schools and banks will close in the fifth joint walkout by major public and private sector unions this year. Hospitals will operate with emergency staff.

Thousands of civil servants and private sector workers are expected to march in Athens at about midday (5 a.m. EDT), as parliament starts to discuss the reform which raises the retirement age, cuts benefits and curtails early pensions.

“These measures won’t help. They will only lead to deeper recession and poverty,” said Despina Spanou, board member of public sector union ADEDY. “Workers will clearly answer the government and this reform which abolishes social security.”

Full Story: Greeks strike on Tuesday, test government pension reform | Reuters.

North Korea to convene communist party delegates, select new political leader

North Korea’s ruling communist party will convene a rare meeting of key party delegates in September to elect new leaders, Pyongyang’s official media reported Saturday.

It will be only the third such meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) since the communist state was founded in 1948 and will probably designate leader Kim Jong-Il’s son as his political heir, analysts said.

The session would be “for electing its (the party’s) highest leading body,” said the North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Full Story: North Korea to convene communist party delegates, select new political leader | Raw Story.

Anti-whaling leader on Interpol wanted list

Interpol this week placed the head of US-based anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd on an international wanted list at Japan's request, authorities in Tokyo said Friday.

The Japan Coastguard was informed by Interpol Thursday about the listing of Canadian Paul Watson, 59, for allegedly conspiring to harass whaling ships in Antarctic clashes in February, a coastguard spokeswoman said.

The coastguard filed the request with the French-based police service in April as part of Japan's long-running battle with militant environmentalists from Watson's Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

Full Story: Anti-whaling leader on Interpol wanted list | Raw Story.

French Strike Over Plans to Raise Retirement Age

French train drivers, teachers strike to protest Sarkozy’s plans to raise retirement age to 62

Trains stood still and children played instead of studied as workers around France went on strike Thursday to protest President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plans to raise the retirement age by two years to 62.

Neighboring countries suffered along with Paris commuters, as walkouts by drivers delayed or canceled trains from Italy and Switzerland. Some flights were dropped or delayed.

Boisterous crowds of protesters filled Marseille’s port and wide Paris avenues, as unions staged nearly 200 marches in several cities over a broad reform to the money-losing pension system, part of efforts around Europe to cut back on growing public debts.

“Sarkozy, Don’t Touch our Pensions!” read one banner at the Paris march, near a cardboard coffin marked: “Here lies Roger. He’s 60, and he died before getting his retirement.”

Full Story: French Strike Over Plans to Raise Retirement Age – ABC News.

Australia’s First Female Prime Minister

Australia got its first female prime minister on Thursday after the ruling party dumped Kevin Rudd and installed his deputy as leader.

Julia Gillard will lead the government to elections due within months.

She stood unopposed at a vote of the Labor Party’s 112 lawmakers at a meeting Thursday, hours after a revolt against Rudd.

“I feel very honored,” she told reporters afterward.

Rudd didn’t even stand for reappointment in the vote – a signal that he knew his support had collapsed.

Full Story: Julia Gillard: Australia’s First Female Prime Minister.

Soros says Germany could cause euro collapse

“German policy is a danger for Europe, it could destroy the European project,” he told German weekly Die Zeit.

Soros, who earned $1 billion in 1992 by betting against the British pound, added that he “could not rule out a collapse of the euro.”

“If the Germans don’t change their policy, their exit from the currency union would be helpful for the rest of Europe,” he said.

Chancellor AngelaMerkel unveiled plans earlier this month for 80 billion euros ($107 billion) in budget cuts over the next four years — a package she hopes will bring Germany’s structural deficit within European Union limits by 2013.

Full Story: Soros says Germany could cause euro collapse – Yahoo! News.

India to seek extradition of US Bhopal boss

With the state under fire for the slow pace of justice and inadequate clean-up after the gas leak, the world’s worst industrial accident, a panel of senior ministers has drawn up recommendations for fresh action.

The panel, whose advice will be discussed at a special cabinet meeting on Friday, has recommended renewing efforts to secure the extradition of the American former boss of the US chemical group at the centre of the case.

Full Story: India to seek extradition of US Bhopal boss – Yahoo! News.

Why China’s Currency Announcement is Hokum

Robert Reich :

The stock market is euphoric over China’s apparent decision to allow its currency to rise against the dollar.

Watch your wallets.

China isn’t really changing anything. It’s only doing the minimum to prevent Congress from listing China as a currency manipulator, leading to a squeeze on Chinese imports.

Over time – and I’m talking about months if not years – China will raise its currency to where it was before the global meltdown in 2008. Big deal.

Even then, a stronger yuan won’t generate lots of new jobs in the United States

Full Story: Robert Reich (Why China’s Currency Announcement is Hokum).

‘Arsenic in water poisoned 77 million Bangladeshis’

Up to 77 million Bangladeshis have been exposed to toxic levels of arsenic from contaminated drinking water, and even low-level exposure to the poison is not risk-free, The Lancet medical journal reported.

Over the past decade, more than 20 percent of deaths recorded in a study that monitored nearly 12,000 people in the Araihazar district of the capital Dhaka appear to have been caused by arsenic-tainted well water.

By some estimates, between 35 and 77 million people in Bangladesh have been chronically exposed to arsenic-contaminated water as a result of a catastrophically misguided campaign in the 1970s.

Millions of tube wells were drilled in the aim of providing villagers with clean, germ-free water. Many wells were inadvertently dug into shallow layers of soil that were heavily laced with naturally occurring arsenic.

Full Story: AFP: ‘Arsenic in water poisoned 77 million Bangladeshis’.

China Signals End to Yuan’s Peg to Dollar Before G-20 Summit

China said it will allow a more flexible yuan, signaling an end to the currency’s two-year-old peg to the dollar a week before a Group of 20 summit.

The decision was made after the world’s third-largest economy improved, the central bank said in a statement on its website yesterday, without indicating a timeframe for the change. It ruled out a one-time revaluation, saying there is no basis for “large-scale appreciation,” and kept the yuan’s 0.5 percent daily trading band unchanged.

“The recovery and upturn of the Chinese economy has become more solid with the enhanced economic stability,” the People’s Bank of China said. “It is desirable to proceed further with reform of the renminbi exchange-rate regime and increase the renminbi exchange-rate flexibility.”

Full Story: China Signals End to Yuan’s Peg to Dollar Before G-20 Summit – Bloomberg.com.

Medvedev Promotes Ruble to Lessen Dollar Dominance

Russia wants the ruble to be one of the world’s reserve currencies as President Dmitry Medvedev renews his push to reduce the dollar’s dominance and make Moscow a global financial hub.

“Only three, five years ago it seemed like a fantasy” to create a new reserve currency, Medvedev said yesterday in a speech in St. Petersburg, Russia. “Now we are seriously discussing it.”

Medvedev, who has repeatedly called for a supranational currency to match the dollar, said discussions with China are continuing on broadening the global options. Russia sold U.S. Treasuries for a fifth consecutive month in April, the U.S. Treasury Department said June 15. The world may need as many as six reserve currencies, Medvedev said.

Full Story: Medvedev Promotes Ruble to Lessen Dollar Dominance (Update1) – Bloomberg.com.

Middle East is Changing, and Ankara Knows It

“Even despots, gangsters and pirates have specific sensitiveness, (and) follow some specific morals.”

The claim was made by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a recent speech, following the deadly commando raid on the humanitarian aid flotilla to Gaza on May 31. According to Erdogan, Israel doesn’t adhere to the code of conduct embraced even by the vilest of criminals.

The statement alone indicates the momentous political shift that’s currently underway in the Middle East. While the shift isn’t entirely new, one dares to claim it might now be a lasting one. To borrow from Erdogan’s own assessment of the political fallout that followed Israel’s raid, the damage is “irreparable.”

Full Story: Scoop: Middle East is Changing, and Ankara Knows It.

Queensland police win new powers to fine for public nuisance offences

THOUSANDS of people could be slapped with fines for offences that would never have attracted police attention in the past under sweeping reforms to police powers.

Experts fear swearing in public, with a fine of $100, will be a major money spinner and could become the weapon of choice for frustrated officers on the beat.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh announced the new powers for the state’s police to issue on-the-spot notices for public nuisance offences.

Full Story: Queensland police win new powers to fine for public nuisance offences | News.com.au.

Cuba braces to contend with BP oil spill

Havana calls in Venezuelan experts to combat potential environmental disaster as tarballs spotted off island’s coast

Cuba is steadying itself for an ecological and tourism crisis as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill appears to be heading towards its pristine northern coast.

Authorities are preparing coastal communities to respond to the first sign of black slicks and have brought in Venezuelan experts to advise on damage limitation.

Patches of oil were reportedly spotted 100 miles north-west of the island, prompting concern that gulf currents will add Cuba to the list of casualties from the April 20 Deepwater Horizon rig explosion.

Should oil reach Cuba it will be the latest twist to decades of toxic diplomatic relations between Havana and Washington.

Full Story: Cuba braces to contend with BP oil spill | World news | The Guardian.

German government threatened with collapse

• German coalition faces trouble on several fronts

• Election of new president could prove to be catalyst

German chancellor Angela Merkel‘s centre-right coalition government looked to be close to collapse today, weakened by a string of disagreements and intense infighting over austerity cuts, policy reform and the departure of senior conservatives.

Less than eight months after it took office, the government was given only a narrow chance of running to a full term by the majority of Germans, 53% of whom said in a poll they expected it to fall.

“Either we get things sorted out in Berlin, or it will soon be the end for the coalition,” said Jorg-Uwe Hahn, head of the Hessen branch of the Free Democrats (FDP), the junior coalition allies of the Christian Democrat Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU. Renate Künast, leader of the opposition Greens, said: “The phrase ‘new elections’ is in the head and the heart of anyone who is thinking in a politically responsible way.”

Full Story: Angela Merkel’s government threatened with collapse | World news | The Guardian.

Moody’s Latest To Downgrade Greek Debt To Junk : NPR

Moody’s Investors Service slashed Greece’s credit rating to junk status on Monday in a new blow to the debt-ridden country that is under intense international scrutiny after narrowly avoiding default last month.

A Moody’s statement said it was cutting Greece’s government bond ratings by four notches to Ba1 from A3, with a stable outlook for the next 12-18 months. It was the second of the three major agencies to accord Greek bonds junk status. Standard & Poor’s did the same in late April.

The downgrades reflect concern that the country could fail to meet its obligations to cut its deficit and pay down its debt – which the Greek government says is out of the question.

Finance Ministry officials in Athens had no immediate reaction to the rating cut, which came as a delegation from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union started an interim review of the country’s efforts to pull itself out of a major debt crisis.

Full Story: Moody’s Latest To Downgrade Greek Debt To Junk : NPR.

BP oil spill: Canada suspends licenses for deepwater drilling

Just weeks before the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster BP was actively lobbying the Canadian government to ease some of the planned rules for Arctic Ocean oil and gas exploration.

Full Story: BP oil spill: Canada suspends licenses for deepwater drilling – Telegraph.

Report: Japan bribed countries ‘with cash, prostitutes’ to keep whaling

Japanese government agencies trying to loosen a 24-year-old moratorium on commercial whaling used cash and the offer of prostitutes to convince small countries to vote in favor of lifting the ban, a news report claims.

The UK’s Sunday Times reports it has film of officials from various governments admitting that Japan offered financial aid in exchange for a pro-whaling vote on the International Whaling Commission.

The IWC meets this month in Morocco to decide the fate of the moratorium on whaling, which Japan has largely skirted by classifying its annual whale hunt as “scientific research.”

The Times reports officials admitted:

Full Story: Report: Japan bribed countries ‘with cash, prostitutes’ to keep whaling | Raw Story.

Belgium votes in election that could split the nation

The flag tugs at the wrought-iron balcony railing as if to reach out to the other tricolore across the road.

Elegant Art Nouveau houses dominate the avenues of Ixelles, this leafy neighbourhood of Brussels, but Belgian flags have also suddenly become a ubiquitous feature in the streetscape. Since the fall of the government in April, the black, red and yellow Belgian flag has been fluttering about window sills and above shop signs.

“When I heard that the government had fallen yet again I was totally shocked and started to worry about the future of this small country of ours,” said Ariane, a French-speaking resident. “So I put out the flag to show my concern and to express my sense of belonging to Belgium.” Casting a worried glance upward towards the symbol of unity she added: “The problem is that our politicians seem bent on wrecking our country.”

Full Story: Belgium votes in election that could split the nation – Europe, World – The Independent.

Poles arrest alleged Mossad agent in Dubai killing

Polish authorities have arrested at the request of Germany a suspected Mossad agent thought to have played a role in the Dubai assassination of a Hamas commander, German prosecutors said Saturday.

“He was arrested in Warsaw and is suspected of being involved in illegally obtaining a (German) passport,” a spokesman for German federal prosecution said, confirming a report in German magazine Der Spiegel.

“It’s now up to the Poles to decide if they are going to hand him over to Germany.”

According to an article to be published Monday in Der Spiegel, the suspect identified as Uri Brodsky was arrested early June on arrival at Warsaw’s airport on suspicions that he helped a member of the hit squad get a German passport in June 2009.

Full Story: Poles arrest alleged Mossad agent in Dubai killing | Raw Story.

Honda Lock strike in China continues as industrial unrest spreads

Strikes at Honda’s transmission and exhaust system plants in the southern Chinese city of Foshan that won significant pay rises, and ongoing industrial action by Honda Lock workers in Zhongshan, have been followed by strike action in other parts of the country. Workers are demanding higher wages, better conditions, and secure jobs in cities including Shanghai, Zhuhai and Xian, in both foreign- and state-owned enterprises.

The Honda Lock strike, involving 1,700 workers, appears to be intensifying, with employees yesterday morning rallying outside the factory before staging a short protest march, in defiance of black-clad riot police. Police left without clashing with workers. Honda nevertheless threatened workers over loud speakers that they would face “serious consequences” unless they accepted the offered 100 yuan pay rise. Many Honda Lock workers currently earn the local official minimum wage of 900 yuan a month, $US132, for a 42-hour week. They are demanding an additional 800 yuan a month, 89 percent more.

On Thursday, the South China Morning Post reported, workers chanted at a factory fence: “Are we settling for 200? No way. 300? No! How about 400? No way.” A 32-year-old female worker from Hunan said: “We want the same wage level as Nanhai Honda workers. Not a single cent less.” A 33-year-old worker from Guangxi told the newspaper why she had joined the strike: “I am in the paint spraying unit,” she explained. “The air quality is terrible inside. I’ve been sniffing toxic fumes for four years and only earn 1,800 yuan a month. The wage level is too low.”

Full Story: Honda Lock strike in China continues as industrial unrest spreads.

Strangulation Economics

By MIKE WHITNEY:

Europe Chooses Depression

Forget about a smooth recovery. Finance ministers and central bank governors of the G-20, met this weekend in Busan, South Korea and decided to substitute “tried and true” expansionary fiscal policies for their own strange brew of belt-tightening and austerity measures. The EU members are eager to restore the illusory “confidence of the markets”, something that will surely be lost when the eurozone slides back into recession and the hobbled banking sector begins hemorrhaging red ink. Trimming deficits while the economy is still on the mend will weaken demand and force businesses to lay off more workers. That will decrease economic activity and slow growth. It’s a prescription for disaster.

Here’s the final paragraph from the G 20 communique:

“The recent events highlight the importance of sustainable public finances and the need for our countries to put in place credible, growth-friendly measures, to deliver fiscal sustainability, differentiated for and tailored to national circumstances. Those countries with serious fiscal challenges need to accelerate the pace of consolidation. We welcome the recent announcements by some countries to reduce their deficits in 2010 and strengthen their fiscal frameworks and institutions. Within their capacity, countries will expand domestic sources of growth, while maintaining macroeconomic stability.”

EU finance ministers show that they still do not understand the origins of the credit bubble that triggered the financial crisis and subsequent recession. Greek bonds are no more to blame than subprime loans. When banks issue loans or purchase bonds it is incumbent on the lender to do due diligence and to check the creditworthiness of the borrower. Traditionally, banks have been very good at getting their money back because they have followed standardized procedures. The rise of shadow banking changed all that. Securitization and repo market transactions create powerful incentives for repackaging dodgy loans so banks can heap huge amounts of leverage atop bad paper. The quality of the loan no longer matters. EU leaders believe the problem can be solved by gutting social programs and strangling the unions, but this misses the point entirely. The shadow system has to be strictly regulated so the threat of credit bubbles is minimized.

U.C. Berkeley economist Brad DeLong explains what the EU should be doing in his article “We Need Bigger Deficits Now”:

Full Story: Mike Whitney: Strangulation Economics.

Scoop: Sweden to launch weeklong boycott on Israeli ships

Sweden to launch weeklong boycott on Israeli ships

Swedish Port Workers Union says won’t handle Israeli ships in protest of Monday’s raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla

Associated Press

Swedish dockworkers are set to launch a weeklong boycott of Israeli ships and goods to protest Monday’s raid on a Gaza-destined aid flotilla, a union spokesman said Saturday

Nine activists died after Israeli troops intercepted the convoy. Nearly 700 activists had joined that operation, most of them aboard the lead boat from Turkey that was the scene of the violence.

Full Story: Scoop: Sweden to launch weeklong boycott on Israeli ships.

Senior Israeli Army Commander: Turkish Attempt To Break The Siege Would Be “Act of War” :: www.uruknet.info :: informazione dal medio oriente :: information from middle east :: [vs-5]

A senior commander in the the Israeli military has stated that he believes that action taken by the Turkish government in protecting an upcoming flotilla to Gaza would be considered an act of war.

Major General (Res.) Uzi Dayan stated, whilst speaking with the army radio station that, “If he [Prime Minister Erdogan] comes here with Turkish warships there can be no doubt that it would amount to a declaration of war. We need to draw a clear line and say that whoever crosses it will not be boarded but sunk.”

The Major General’s comments come in response to a report issued in Lebanon, on Saturday, saying that the Turkish PM is considering traveling aboard a Turkish Navy vessel in support of a forthcoming flotilla to Gaza, in another attempt to break the Israeli siege that has been in place since 2006 and tightened in 2007.

Full Story: Senior Israeli Army Commander: Turkish Attempt To Break The Siege Would Be “Act of War” :: www.uruknet.info :: informazione dal medio oriente :: information from middle east :: [vs-5].

Bhopal tragedy: Victims furious over verdict

Victims and activists were furious that seven officials of Union Carbide were on Monday convicted only for criminal negligence, which is punishable with a maximum of two years in jail, despite the enormity of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.

“Today’s verdict is a disaster… They’ve made it look like a traffic accident,” said Satinath Sarangi of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action, an NGO representing the survivors and an activist who has been involved with the victims since the 1984 disaster.

“The charges have been diluted. The victims are disappointed,” Sarangi said

Full Story: Bhopal tragedy: Victims furious over verdict.

Israeli Ambassador To U.S., Michael Oren, Rejects International Investigation Of Flotilla Deaths

One of the few ways the Obama administration has attempted to show it’s displeasure with Israel following the death of pro-Palestinian activists aboard a flotilla was by stressing its support for an international investigation into the incident.

On Sunday, however, Israel’s ambassador to the United States stated firmly that the country wouldn’t go along with that type or probe and even threw a subtle dig at U.S. officials who felt it was a necessary course of action.

“Israel is a democracy,” said Michael Oren, during an appearance on Fox News Sunday. “Israel has the ability and the right to investigate itself, not to be investigated by any international board. I don’t think the United States would want an international inquiry into its military activities in Afghanistan, for example.”

Asked flatly if he was rejecting the very idea of an international commission, Oren confirmed he was.

Full Story: Israeli Ambassador To U.S., Michael Oren, Rejects International Investigation Of Flotilla Deaths.

Egypt to strip men married to Israelis of citizenship

A Cairo court on Saturday upheld a ruling to strip Egyptian men married to Israeli women of their citizenship in a case that has highlighted national sentiment towards Israel.

Judge Mohammed al-Husseini, sitting on the Supreme Administrative Court, said the interior ministry must ask the cabinet to take the necessary steps to strip Egyptian men married to Israeli women, and their children, of their citizenship.

The court said that each case should be considered separately, in a ruling that cannot be appealed.

The ruling reflects Egyptian sentiment towards Israel, more than 30 years after Egypt signed an unpopular peace deal with the Jewish state.

Full Story: Egypt to strip men married to Israelis of citizenship | Raw Story.

Disaster in the Amazon

Bob Herbert:

BP’s calamitous behavior in the Gulf of Mexico is the big oil story of the moment. But for many years, indigenous people from a formerly pristine region of the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador have been trying to get relief from an American company, Texaco (which later merged with Chevron), for what has been described as the largest oil-related environmental catastrophe ever.

“As horrible as the gulf spill has been, what happened in the Amazon was worse,” said Jonathan Abady, a New York lawyer who is part of the legal team that is suing Chevron on behalf of the rainforest inhabitants.

It has been a long and ugly legal fight and the outcome is uncertain. But what has happened in the rainforest is heartbreaking, although it has not gotten nearly the coverage that the BP spill has.

Full Story: Op-Ed Columnist – Disaster in the Amazon – NYTimes.com.

Gaza flotilla activists were shot in head at close range

Exclusive: Nine Turkish men on board Mavi Marmara were shot a total of 30 times, autopsy results reveal

Israel was tonight under pressure to allow an independent inquiry into its assault on the Gaza aid flotilla after autopsy results on the bodies of those killed, obtained by the Guardian, revealed they were peppered with 9mm bullets, many fired at close range.

Nine Turkish men on board the Mavi Marmara were shot a total of 30 times and five were killed by gunshot wounds to the head, according to the vice-chairman of the Turkish council of forensic medicine, which carried out the autopsies for the Turkish ministry of justice today.

The results revealed that a 60-year-old man, Ibrahim Bilgen, was shot four times in the temple, chest, hip and back. A 19-year-old, named as Fulkan Dogan, who also has US citizenship, was shot five times from less that 45cm, in the face, in the back of the head, twice in the leg and once in the back. Two other men were shot four times, and five of the victims were shot either in the back of the head or in the back, said Yalcin Buyuk, vice-chairman of the council of forensic medicine.

Full Story: Gaza flotilla activists were shot in head at close range | World news | The Guardian.

NATO Aggravated Enuf to Recognize & Cut Its U.S. Puppet Strings?

Craig Murray was a member of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office for over 20 years. He served in 5 countries and took part in 13 formal international negotiations. As a result he declares:

I have in consequence a great many friends among ex-colleagues in both British and foregin [sic] diplomatic services, security services and militaries.

I lost very few friends when I left the FCO over torture and rendition. In fact I seemed to gain several degrees of warmth with a great many acquantances [sic] still on the inside. And I have become known as a reliable outlet for grumbles, who as an ex-insider knows how to handle a discreet and unintercepted conversation.

Mr. Murray asserts that NATO is terribly unhappy with what is happening, not only with Israel and the United States concerning the Gazan flotilla attack, but also with the U.S. in Afghanistan.

First the Israeli issue:

Full Story: NATO Aggravated Enuf to Recognize & Cut Its U.S. Puppet Strings? | Corrente.

Monsanto’s 475-ton seed donation challenged by Haitian peasants

Advocates for Haitian peasants said a U.S.-based company’s donation of up to 475 tons of hybrid vegetable seeds to aid Haitian farmers will harm the island-nation’s agriculture.

The advocates contend the donation is being made in an effort to shift farmer dependence from local seed to more expensive hybrid varieties shipped from overseas.

Haitian farmers and small growers traditionally save seed from season to season or buy the seed they desire from traditional seed markets.

However, an official from the St. Louis-based Monsanto Co. told Catholic News Service that the seed is simply a donation to the Haitian government. The first two shipments – 135 tons – of hybrid varieties of corn, cabbage, carrot, eggplant, melon, onion, spinach, tomato and watermelon arrived in Haiti during the first two weeks of May.

Full Story: »The Catholic Review Online | Catholic newspaper, Archdiocese of Baltimore, world and national Archdiocese news, CNS.

Severe Drought Causes Hunger for 10 Million in West Africa

A severe drought is causing increasing hunger across the Eastern Sahel in west Africa, affecting 10 million people in four countries, aid agencies warned today. In Niger, the worst-affected country, 7.1 million are hungry, with nearly half considered highly food insecure because of the loss of livestock and crops coupled with a surge in prices. In Chad, 2 million require food aid. The eastern parts of Mali and northern Cameroon have also been badly affected by the failed rains, says the UN World Food Programme, which described the situation as critical.The Sahel, a largely arid belt of land that stretches across Senegal to Sudan and separates the Sahara desert in the north from the savannah regions further south, is one of the poorest regions in the world. The WFP, which plans to assist 3.6 million people in the coming months, has described the humanitarian situation in the four affected countries as “critical”, and says the hunger season is expected to last at least until the next harvest in September.

Save the Children, which has launched an emergency appeal for Niger, says in some cases families have trekked more than 600 miles to reach the capital Niamey to find work or beg for food. Others have crossed the border in Nigeria. Similarly, desperate Chadians have sought food in Libya.

Full Story: Severe Drought Causes Hunger for 10 Million in West Africa | CommonDreams.org.

Turkish Prime Minister To Israel: International Community Is “Sick Of Your Lies”

Today in a speech to the Turkish parliament, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called Israel out on the carpet over its recent murder of at least 9 peace activists. Erdoğan told Turkish parliamentarians that Israel had “massacred the innocent” and the fact that it treats civilians like terrorists shows that “it knows no boundaries”. He said that since the Israeli government uses lying as state policy, the international community should conduct its own inquiry and lawfully punish those responsible.

In a clear swipe at the 62-year-old Jewish state, Erdoğan said “Turkey is not a young and rootless country” and that no one should test its patience. He said that the Free Gaza flotilla was carrying “the conscience of humanity” and Israel’s actions of “pouring blood and massacring was obviously state terrorism”.

Full Story: Turkish Prime Minister To Israel: International Community Is “Sick Of Your Lies” — Signs of the Times News.

Israelis opened fire before boarding Gaza flotilla, say released activists

First eyewitness accounts of raid contradict version put out by Israeli officials

Survivors of the Israeli assault on a flotilla carrying relief supplies to Gaza returned to Greece and Turkey today, giving the first eyewitness accounts of the raid in which at least 10 people died.

Arriving at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport with her one-year-old baby, Turkish activist Nilufer Cetin said Israeli troops opened fire before boarding the Turkish-flagged ferry Mavi Marmara, which was the scene of the worst clashes and all the fatalities. Israeli officials have said that the use of armed force began when its boarding party was attacked.

“It was extremely bad and very tough clashes took place. The Mavi Marmara is filled with blood,” said Cetin, whose husband is the Mavi Marmara’s chief engineer.

Full Story: Israelis opened fire before boarding Gaza flotilla, say released activists | World news | guardian.co.uk.

Europe’s Debt Crisis: A Country-By-Country Guide (PHOTOS)

Europe’s governments are struggling to deal with a mountain of debt made worse by the past three years of global financial and economic turmoil.

Here are thumbnail sketches of how some of the countries involved are faring — and what they’re doing to escape the crisis.

Full Story: Europe’s Debt Crisis: A Country-By-Country Guide (PHOTOS).

Guatemala Sinkhole Is MASSIVE, Swallows Building (PICTURE)

Torrential rains brought by the first tropical storm of the 2010 season pounded Central America and southern Mexico, triggering deadly landslides. The death toll stood at 15 Sunday but authorities said the number could rise.

Tropical Storm Agatha made landfall near the border of Guatemala and Mexico on Saturday with wind speeds of up to 45 mph (75 kph), then weakened into a tropical depression before dissipating over the mountains of western Guatemala.

Although no longer even a tropical depression, Agatha still posed trouble for the region: Remnants of the storm were expected to deliver 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 centimeters) of rain over southeastern Mexico, Guatemala and parts of El Salvador, creating the possibility of “life-threatening flash floods and mudslides,” the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said in an advisory Sunday.

Full Story: Guatemala Sinkhole Is MASSIVE, Swallows Building (PICTURE).

Japan Prime Minister Plans To Resign, Report Says

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama says he is resigning.

Hatoyama told a news conference broadcast nationwide on Wednesday that he will step down over his broken campaign promise to move a U.S. Marine base off the southern island of Okinawa.

After eight months in office, the embattled prime minister has faced growing pressure from within his own party to resign ahead of July elections.

His approval ratings have plummeted over the bungling of handling the Marine Air Station Futenma, reinforcing his public image as an indecisive leader.

Full Story: Japan Prime Minister Plans To Resign, Report Says.

NATO Wants Probe Of Israeli Raid

Pro-Palestinian activists sent another boat to challenge Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday and Egypt declared it was temporarily opening a crossing into the Palestinian territory after a raid on an aid flotilla that ended with Israeli soldiers killing nine activists.

The raid provoked ferocious international condemnation of Israel, raised questions at home, and appeared likely to increase pressure to end the blockade that has deepened the poverty of the 1.5 million Palestinians in the strip.

NATO on Tuesday joined calls for a “prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation” into the raid. “As a matter of urgency, I also request the immediate release of the detained civilians and ships held by Israel,” said NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in a statement after representatives of the alliance’s 28 nations had met.

Full Story: NATO Wants Probe Of Israeli Raid.

Israeli Commandos Raid Gaza Aid Flotilla, Netanyahu Cancels Meeting With Obama

The Associated Press reports that “Israeli naval commandos stormed a flotilla of ships carrying aid and hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists to the blockaded Gaza Strip on Monday, killing at least 10 passengers in a predawn raid that set off worldwide condemnation and a diplomatic crisis”:

Israel said the forces encountered unexpected resistance as they boarded the vessels. Dozens of passengers and at least five Israeli soldiers were wounded in the confrontation in international waters.

The Israeli military said in a statement: “Navy fighters took control of six ships that tried to violate the naval blockade (of the Gaza Strip) … During the takeover, the soldiers encountered serious physical violence by the protesters, who attacked them with live fire.”

The Israeli raid has “triggered widespread condemnation across Europe; many of the passengers were from European countries. The raid also strained already tense relations with Israel’s longtime Muslim ally Turkey, the unofficial sponsor of the mission, and drew more attention to the plight of Gaza’s 1.5 million people.”

Full Story: Think Progress » Israeli Commandos Raid Gaza Aid Flotilla, Netanyahu Cancels Meeting With Obama.

Nigeria’s agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill. The US and Europe ignore it

The Deepwater Horizon disaster caused headlines around the world, yet the people who live in the Niger delta have had to live with environmental catastrophes for decades

We reached the edge of the oil spill near the Nigerian village of Otuegwe after a long hike through cassava plantations. Ahead of us lay swamp. We waded into the warm tropical water and began swimming, cameras and notebooks held above our heads. We could smell the oil long before we saw it – the stench of garage forecourts and rotting vegetation hanging thickly in the air.

The farther we travelled, the more nauseous it became. Soon we were swimming in pools of light Nigerian crude, the best-quality oil in the world. One of the many hundreds of 40-year-old pipelines that crisscross the Niger delta had corroded and spewed oil for several months.

Forest and farmland were now covered in a sheen of greasy oil. Drinking wells were polluted and people were distraught. No one knew how much oil had leaked. “We lost our nets, huts and fishing pots,” said Chief Promise, village leader of Otuegwe and our guide. “This is where we fished and farmed. We have lost our forest. We told Shell of the spill within days, but they did nothing for six months.”

Full Story: Nigeria’s agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill. The US and Europe ignore it | Environment | The Observer.

International Court May Define Aggression as Crime

More than 100 nations, contingents of human-rights groups and lawyers from around the globe, will begin a meeting on Monday in Kampala, Uganda, tackling issues that could fundamentally expand the power of international law.

The thorniest question on the agenda, one certain to dominate the conference, is a proposal to give the International Criminal Court in The Hague the power to prosecute the crime of aggression.

If approved, it could open the door to criminal accusations against powerful political and military leaders for attacks the court deems unlawful. Those could range from full-scale invasions to pre-emptive strikes.

Full Story: International Court May Define Aggression as Crime – NYTimes.com.

German President Koehler quits amid row over military

German President Horst Koehler says he is resigning immediately, following criticism of remarks he made about German military deployments abroad.

Mr Koehler, whose job is largely ceremonial, had linked missions such as the Afghanistan deployment with the defence of economic interests.

His remarks drew criticism from a number of German politicians.

Mr Koehler, 67, was re-elected last year to serve a second five-year term as president.

Full Story: BBC News – German President Koehler quits amid row over military.

Irish state bankruptcy looms as unions push through strike ban

Such is the perilous state of the Irish economy that the rationale for the Croke Park pact between the Irish trade unions, the government and public sector employers has already been exposed as a fraud.

Croke Park set out terms in which the unions agreed to a four-year strike ban, huge productivity and flexibility demands, job losses on a “voluntary” basis in return for a cap on pay cuts for public service workers. Their claim that this would somehow prevent an economic meltdown lies in tatters. In reality the deal exposed the trade unions as a tool of the financial aristocracy for imposing the costs of the banking crisis onto the working class and opens the way for yet more savage attacks.

That is precisely why the provision to avoid further pay cuts was qualified by being “subject to no currently unforeseen budgetary deterioration” in Irish state finances.

Full Story: Irish state bankruptcy looms as unions push through strike ban.

Merkel Goes From Glories To Disgrace

It was only nine months ago that Forbes magazine named German Chancellor Angela Merkel the world’s most powerful woman for the fourth year in a row.

She impressed Germans and foreigners alike with her ascent to power – an East German pastor’s daughter who took control of the male-dominated conservative party and won elections in Europe’s economic powerhouse, becoming Germany’s first female chancellor in 2005.

She was lauded for hosting the world’s top leaders at the G-8 summit in Heiligendamm in 2007 with ease and professionalism. She repaired relations with the United States that were strained over the Iraq war, and she positioned herself as a political heavyweight on the continent. It seemed that no major political and economic decision could be made in Europe without Merkel’s approval.

Full Story: Merkel Goes From Glories To Disgrace.

China-India Water Shortage Means Coca-Cola Joins Intel in Fight

A fight breaks out as student Vikas Dagar jostles with dozens of men, women and children to fill buckets from a truck that brings water twice a week to the village of Jharoda Kalan on the outskirts of New Delhi.

Three thousand kilometers (1,900 miles) away, near Xi’an in central China, power-plant worker Zhou Jie stands on the mostly dry bed of the Wei River, remembering when he used to fish there before pollution made the catch inedible.

Dagar and Zhou show the daily struggle with tainted or inadequate water in India and China, a growing shortage that the World Bank says will hamper growth in the world’s fastest- growing major economies. It also is pitting water-intensive businesses such as Intel Corp.’s China unit and bottling plants of Coca-Cola Co. against growing urban use and the 1.6 billion people in China and India who rely on farming for a living.

Full Story: China-India Water Shortage Means Coca-Cola Joins Intel in Fight – Bloomberg.com.

Coalition rocked as Laws quits over cash for partner

The 18-day-old coalition looked fragile last night as the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, David Laws, resigned over expenses claims paid to his partner.

The 18-day-old coalition looked fragile last night as the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, David Laws, resigned over expenses claims paid to his partner.

Mr Laws, who friends said was “terrified” of being outed as gay, quit after it was revealed he claimed £40,000 in public money for rent paid to his long-term partner in apparent breach of House of Commons rules.

Full Story: Coalition rocked as Laws quits over cash for partner – UK Politics, UK – The Independent.

North Korea: We’re Heading To ‘The Brink Of War’

North Korea’s most powerful state organ said Friday that South Korea faked the sinking of one of its own warships and warned that the Korean peninsula was edging ever closer to war.

Pyongyang has made similar statements through state media since a multinational probe said last week that a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine downed the vessel, killing 46 sailors in the worst attack on the South Korean military since the Korean War.

This time, though, the comments were delivered at an extremely rare press conference in the North Korean capital presided over by a uniformed official with the secretive country’s National Defense Commission, which is headed by leader Kim Jong Il.

Full Story: North Korea: We’re Heading To ‘The Brink Of War’.

South Korea Begins Large-Scale Military Exercises

Military tension on the Korean peninsula rose Thursday after North Korea threatened to attack any South Korean ships entering its waters and Seoul held anti-submarine drills in response to the March sinking of a navy vessel blamed on Pyongyang.

Separately, the chief U.S. military commander in South Korea criticized the North over the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan in which 46 sailors died, telling the communist country to stop its aggressive actions.

North Korean reaction was swift. The military declared it would scrap accords with the South designed to prevent armed clashes at their maritime border, including the cutting of a military hot line, and warned of “prompt physical strikes” if any South Korean ships enter what the North says are its waters in a disputed area off the west coast of the peninsula.

Full Story: South Korea Begins Large-Scale Military Exercises.

Britain to scrap unpopular ID card program‎

The new coalition government is to scrap a national identity card scheme introduced by former prime minister Gordon Brown’s administration, it announced Thursday.

The scheme will be abolished within 100 days under legislation presented by Home Secretary Theresa May, the first bill to be introduced to parliament by Prime Minister David Cameron’s government.

The move, which will invalidate cards that have already been issued on a voluntary basis, should save 86 million pounds over the next four years.

Full Story: Britain to scrap unpopular ID card program‎ | Raw Story.

Raytheon 14 go on trial

Sandy Boyer co-host of Radio Free Eireann on WBAI in New York City and a veteran organizer for Irish political prisoners, reports on the start of a trial of antiwar protesters in Northern Ireland who targeted the weapons firm Raytheon.

NINE WOMEN and five men are on trial in Northern Ireland after they attempted to disarm the mainframe computer at the Raytheon plant in Derry. They could face up to several years in prison.

Raytheon is a leading U.S. arms manufacturer. It produces Tomahawk cruise missiles, Sidewinder missiles, Hellfire missiles, the “bunker buster” bombs, the delivery systems for cluster bombs, white phosphate and Napalm. The Derry plant manufactured guidance systems for Israeli missiles that have been used to kill and maim Palestinian and Lebanese people.

Full Story: Raytheon 14 go on trial | SocialistWorker.org.

Oil spill may reach Bahamas by weekend

The worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast is likely to reach local coastlines by the weekend, according to Chief Climatological Officer Michael Stubbs, who said a shift in wind patterns is expected to propel the oil slick towards The Bahamas.

In an interview with The Nassau Guardian yesterday Stubbs said that in pervious weeks weather conditions have kept the oil slick contained in the Gulf of Mexico.

“As it stands now the wind is not supporting movement out of the Gulf. It's keeping the oil particles that are floating along the surface in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Stubbs.

“However as Friday approaches we see the weather pattern changing and what would happen then is the winds in the area would be flowing clockwise, making it possible for oil floating on the surface to make it to the notorious loop current. So once the particles move into the loop current the chances are [higher] for it [the oil] to reach our area.”

Full Story: The Nassau Guardian Online Guide.

S.Korea says North ‘will pay price’ for ship attack

South Korea Monday halted trade with North Korea as part of a package of reprisals for the sinking of one of its warships, drawing strong US support but threats of attack from the communist state.

President Lee Myung-Bak also banned the North’s merchant ships from South Korean waters and said Seoul would refer the March 26 attack — which killed 46 sailors — to the United Nations Security Council for punishment.

In a nationally televised address, a sombre-looking Lee vowed an immediate military response to any future aggression, saying South Korea had in the past repeatedly tolerated the North’s “brutality.”

Full Story: S.Korea says North ‘will pay price’ for ship attack – Yahoo! News.

Global Leaders Express Concern Over Arizona’s New Immigration Law

Last week, following Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s speech before Congress, many conservatives blasted Calderon for slamming Arizona’s new immigration law and “meddling” in U.S. politics. “It’s about us. It’s about our citizenry,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). “I just think that’s a line I would prefer that he did not cross. He went farther than I’m comfortable with,” stated Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). A statement released by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) read, “It’s unfortunate and disappointing the president of Mexico chose to criticize the state of Arizona by weighing in on a U.S. domestic policy issue during a trip that was meant to reaffirm the unique relationship between our two countries.” However, Calderon isn’t the first international figure to voice his concerns over the law. In fact, he joins a loud chorus of global leaders who have criticized the drastic measures that Arizona is taking to lock out undocumented immigrants:

Full Story: Think Progress » Global Leaders Express Concern Over Arizona’s New Immigration Law.

British defence minister on Afghan visit calls for troop withdrawal

Senior British officials, including new Foreign Secretary William Hague arrived in Afghanistan Saturday with a warning that Britain wants to withdraw its troops as soon as possible.

Hague, Defence Secretary Liam Fox and International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell are set to meet President Hamid Karzai in their first visit to the country since a new coalition government took power in London this month.

Hague described Afghanistan — where around 10,000 British troops are helping fight a Taliban-led insurgency well into its ninth year — as “our most urgent priority” in comments released from London as the party touched down.

In an interview with The Times newspaper before arriving in Kabul, Fox made clear the visit would focus on speeding up the withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan, and that no new troops would be deployed.

Full Story: Channel NewsAsia – British defence minister on Afghan visit calls for troop withdrawal – channelnewsasia.com.

Whatever Germany does, the euro as we know it is dead

Angela Merkel’s ban on short-selling is just a distraction from the horror to come

For Angela Merkel, leader of the eurozone’s richest country, a queue is forming of high-quality adversaries. As she tips German Geld und Gut into the furnace of a rescue package for the euro, while going it alone in a misguided ban on market “manipulators”, the brass-neck Chancellor has infuriated domestic voters, angered her EU partners (in particular the French) and invited the so-called wolf pack of global traders to do its worst.

In one respect, Mrs Merkel is right: “The euro is in danger… if the euro fails, then Europe fails.” What she has not yet admitted publicly is that the main cause of the single currency’s peril appears beyond her control and therefore her impetuous response to its crisis of confidence is doomed to fail.

The euro has many flaws, but its weakest link is Greece, whose fundamental problem is that for years it spent too much, earned too little and plugged the gap by borrowing in order to enjoy a rich man’s lifestyle. It flouted EU rules on the limits to budget deficits; its national accounts were a moussaka of minced statistics, topped with a cheesy sauce of jiggery-pokery.

Full Story: Whatever Germany does, the euro as we know it is dead – Telegraph.

Civil unrest in Jamaica imminent

‘He is seen as a saviour – they are prepared to die for him’

The long-awaited extradition of drug kingpin Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke to the US is now threatening to spill over into violence on the streets of Kingston. David Usborne reports

He is only one man and, according to the authorities in the United States, a thoroughly crooked one. Yet he inspires to-the-death loyalty among his supporters and has brought the government of his country to the brink of collapse. Though for that, at least, Christopher “Dudus” Coke perhaps can’t be blamed.

The trouble in Jamaica, after all, has been brewing since last August, when the government of Prime Minister Bruce Golding got the call from the US Justice Department. Mr Coke, 41, was on America’s wanted list of global drug kingpins and they were formally requesting his extradition to the US to stand trial, and quickly.

The stalling lasted almost nine months. Then last week, the government, after being caught in an embarrassing lie about the hiring of an American law firm to lobby Washington to withdraw the extradition request, finally acquiesced. An arrest warrant for Coke was issued

Full Story: ‘He is seen as a saviour – they are prepared to die for him’ – Americas, World – The Independent.

Iran to ship uranium to Turkey in nuclear deal

Iran agreed Monday to ship most of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in a surprise nuclear fuel swap deal that could ease the international standoff over the country’s disputed atomic program and deflate a U.S.-led push for tougher sanctions.

The deal, which was reached in talks with Brazil and Turkey, was similar to a U.N.-drafted plan that Washington and its allies have been pressing Tehran for the past six months to accept in order to deprive Iran — at least temporarily — of enough stocks of enriched uranium to produce a nuclear weapon.

Iran, which claims its nuclear program is peaceful, dropped several key demands that had previously blocked agreement. In return for agreeing to ship most of its uranium stockpile abroad, it would receive fuel rods of medium-enriched uranium to use in a Tehran medical research reactor that produces isotopes for cancer treatment. It was not immediately clear what would happen to the stockpile once the fuel rods were received.

Full Story: Iran to ship uranium to Turkey in nuclear deal – Yahoo! News.

Hague Orders Probe Into Whether U.K. Agents Colluded in Torture

Foreign Secretary William Hague ordered a judicial inquiry into claims U.K. intelligence agencies were complicit in the torture of terrorist suspects overseas.

Hague, a member of the Conservative-led coalition that took power after May 6 elections, had supported calls for an inquiry while in opposition last year. Binyam Mohamed, a former Guantanamo detainee and U.K. resident, alleges he was tortured with the collusion of British officials while held in the Guantanamo Bay prison.

The previous Labour government rejected the claims and argued in a series of cases that releasing information about Mohamed’s treatment could damage relations with the U.S.

Full Story: Hague Orders Probe Into Whether U.K. Agents Colluded in Torture – BusinessWeek.

Bangkok Grows Calm, but Social Divisions Remain

Two months of tension and violence ended with a whimper on Thursday as the last exhausted group of protesters filed out of a Buddhist temple where they had taken refuge, bewildered and frightened, some in tears.

As they shuffled past a smear of blood on the ground that told of the recent fighting, a line of female police officers in black berets comforted them, touching their shoulders and murmuring: “Don’t be afraid. You’re safe now. Have a safe journey home.”

But it felt, on this morning after a political convulsion unlike anything anyone here has seen, that the country’s future was anything but safe.

“It was tragic,” said Anusart Suwanmongkol, a senator who supports the government. “Yesterday was the most tragic day in my memory, in Thai history. Nobody gained anything. Nobody won. The country lost.”

Full Story: Bangkok Grows Calm, but Social Divisions Remain – NYTimes.com.

US, Cuba discuss Gulf of Mexico oil spill

US and Cuban officials were meeting Wednesday to discuss the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a US official said Wednesday as experts warned it was being dragged eastward toward Florida and possibly Cuba.

“I can confirm that they are ongoing and they are going on at the working level,” Gordon Duguid, a State Department spokesman, told reporters when asked if US and Cuban officials were involved in talks about the spill.

However, he could give no details about when the talks began, where they were taking place, or who was involved.

In Paris, the European Space Agency said Wednesday that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has entered the Loop Current, a powerful conveyor belt that flows clockwise around the Gulf towards Florida.

Full Story: The Raw Story | US, Cuba discuss Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Chinese Restrictions Hurting Multinational Companies

The mercantilist practices of the Chinese government are rankling many executives of foreign multinational companies operating in China, making them feel as though the “deck is stacked against them,” according to The New York Times.

A growing sense of economic nationalism in China has led to a slew of policies that discriminate against multinational corporations while benefiting state-owned domestic businesses. In the past year alone, China has filed over a dozen trade-related cases against multinationals and the nations they operate out of, implemented a strict “buy Chinese” policy and limiting the export of some materials to force companies to move operations to China.

“There are some policies of the Chinese government that many countries have raised concerns about, including the United States,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said, according to The New York Times.

Full Story: Chinese Restrictions Hurting Multinational Companies | Economy In Crisis.

Successful Immigrant Returns To Ethiopia, Brings His Hometown Their First Ambulance

Sebri Omer emigrated from Ethiopia to the United States as a young man and began to seek the American Dream. He went to college and now has a family and a successful small business, as owner of a gas station.

When he returned to Ethiopia, however, he was shocked by what he saw. Rampant disease and a desperate need for a hospital in his hometown of Harar. He sold half of his businesses and began to fund such a hospital. Just recently, he delivered to Harar the town's very first ambulance.

Daryn Kagan reports on Omer's projects through her website and in her book, “What's Possible.”

WATCH:

Full Story: Successful Immigrant Returns To Ethiopia, Brings His Hometown Their First Ambulance.

US warns on Thailand travel, evacuating staff

The United States warned its citizens Saturday to avoid non-essential travel to Thailand and began evacuating non-essential embassy staff and families due to unrest in the country.

The State Department said in a statement it would allow non-essential US personnel and their dependents to leave Bangkok if they chose due to escalating violence.

“US citizens should defer all travel to Bangkok and defer all non-essential travel to the rest of Thailand,” a statement said.

“The Department of State has authorized the departure of all non-emergency US government personnel and eligible family members from Bangkok,” the statement added.

Full Story: US warns on Thailand travel, evacuating staff – Yahoo! News.

Bangkok tense after 16 die in clashes

Plumes of smoke could be seen over a tense Bangkok early Saturday as the death toll from the latest clashes between the Thai army and anti-government “Red Shirt” protesters hit 16.

Violence continued overnight after troops on Friday opened fire on demonstrators during a military lockdown of their vast fortified rally site in the heart of Bangkok.

Soldiers have blocked roads and set up checkpoints to seal off the area around the wider protest site, which extends for several square kilometres (miles).

The protesters, who are trying to bring down the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, threw stones, used slingshots and launched fireworks at the troops as the two-month standoff descended into more violence.

Full Story: Bangkok tense after 16 die in clashes – Yahoo! News.

Bankers jailed, sued as Iceland seeks culprits for crisis

More than a year and a half after Iceland’s major banks failed, all but sinking the country’s economy, police have begun rounding up a number of top bankers while other former executives and owners face a two-billion-dollar lawsuit.

Since Iceland’s three largest banks — Kaupthing, Landsbanki and Glitnir — collapsed in late 2008, their former executives and owners have largely been living untroubled lives abroad.

But the publication last month of a parliamentary inquiry into the island nation’s profound financial and economic crisis signaled a turning of the tide, laying much of the blame for the downfall on the former bank heads who had taken “inappropriate loans from the banks” they worked for.

On Wednesday, the administrators of Glitnir’s liquidation announced they had filed a two-billion-dollar (1.6-billion-euro) lawsuit in a New York court against former large shareholders and executives for alleged fraud.

Full Story: AFP: Bankers jailed, sued as Iceland seeks culprits for crisis.

Eyjafjallajokul Volcano Ash Closes Airports In Spain, Portugal, Italy

A plume of volcanic ash snaked its way through southern France, Switzerland and northern Italy Sunday, shutting down airports and disrupting flights across Europe.

Weather forecasts said the ash cloud will gradually weaken as it spreads to southern parts of Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria by Sunday night. The ash, stretching from the surface up to 20,000 feet (6,000 meters), has forced the closure of airports throughout much of northern Italy.

Separately, a finger of the main ash cloud – centered in the mid-Atlantic at altitudes of up to 35,000 feet (10,500 meters) – was still touching on parts of Portugal and Spain, affecting airports at Porto, La Coruna, Vigo, and Santiago.

Full Story: Eyjafjallajokul Volcano Ash Closes Airports In Spain, Portugal, Italy.

Greek Debt Crisis Raises Doubts About the European Union

Europe’s consistent inability to move quickly enough to get ahead of the financial markets during the Greece crisis is shaking the euro and the foundations of the European Union itself, as critics of the euro have long predicted would happen.

The question being raised with increasing urgency is whether the European Union can fashion a mechanism to speed decision-making before irreversible damage is done and the euro itself slips into history.

The delays are inevitable, most experts say, stemming from the nature of the European Union and its own institutional voids: no single government, no single treasury, no effective fiscal coordination, no mechanism for crisis management.

Full Story: News Analysis – Greek Debt Crisis Raises Doubts About the European Union – NYTimes.com.

Nuclear Proliferation in Latin America: Is Brazil Developing the Bomb?

Brazil has signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, but experts suspect it may be working on a nuclear bomb. The country is allowed to legally enrich uranium for its nuclear submarines, but nobody knows what happens to the fuel once it is on restricted military bases.

In October 2009, the prestigious American periodical Foreign Policy published an article titled “The Future Nuclear Powers You Should Be Worried About.” According to the author, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, Burma, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela are the next candidates — after Iran — for membership in the club of nuclear powers. Despite his interesting arguments, the author neglected to mention the most important potential nuclear power: Brazil.

Nowadays, Brazil is held in high esteem by the rest of the world. Its president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has become a star on the international stage. “That's my man right here,” US President Barack Obama once said, in praise of his Brazilian counterpart. Lula, as he is known, can even afford to receive Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with all honors and demonstratively endorse his nuclear program, for which Iran is now ostracized around the world

Full Story: Nuclear Proliferation in Latin America: Is Brazil Developing the Bomb? – SPIEGEL ONLINE – News – International.

Iceland arrests ex-chief of collapsed bank Kaupthing

The former chief executive of the collapsed Icelandic bank Kaupthing has been arrested, authorities say.

Hreidar Mar Sigurdsson is suspected of embezzlement, trading irregularities, and other breaches of banking laws, the special prosecutor’s office has said.

It is the first high-profile arrest since the country’s financial collapse in 2008.

Mr Sigurdsson is being held by police until a bail hearing on Friday at the Reykjavik District Court.

Kaupthing, once Iceland’s biggest bank, collapsed under a mountain of debt at the height of the country’s banking crisis.

Full Story: BBC News – Iceland arrests ex-chief of collapsed bank Kaupthing.

Can the Euro be Saved?

Joseph E. Stiglitz :

The Greek financial crisis has put the very survival of the euro at stake. At the euro’s creation, many worried about its long-run viability. When everything went well, these worries were forgotten. But the question of how adjustments would be made if part of the eurozone were hit by a strong adverse shock lingered. Fixing the exchange rate and delegating monetary policy to the European Central Bank eliminated two primary means by which national governments stimulate their economies to avoid recession. What could replace them?

The Nobel Laureate Robert Mundell laid out the conditions under which a single currency could work. Europe didn’t meet those conditions at the time; it still doesn’t. The removal of legal barriers to the movement of workers created a single labor market, but linguistic and cultural differences make American-style labor mobility unachievable.

Moreover, Europe has no way of helping those countries facing severe problems. Consider Spain, which has an unemployment rate of 20% – and more than 40% among young people. It had a fiscal surplus before the crisis; after the crisis, its deficit increased to more than 11% of GDP. But, under European Union rules, Spain must now cut its spending, which will likely exacerbate unemployment. As its economy slows, the improvement in its fiscal position may be minimal.

Full Story: Can the Euro be Saved? – Project Syndicate.

British Election 2010: Exit Polls Predict Hung Parliament

David Cameron’s rejuvenated Conservatives captured far more seats than Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s battered Labour Party but failed to win an absolute majority Thursday in Britain’s national election, according to television projections.

The exit polls did not bode well for Brown, Britain’s prime minister since 2007, and triggered uncertainty over who will form the next government. The country’s top three parties – the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats – immediately began jockeying to form alliances.

An analysis by Britain’s main television stations suggested the Conservatives will win 305 of the 650 House of Commons seats, short of the 326 seats needed for a majority. Labour was seen winning 255 seats and the Liberal Democrats 61, far less than had been expected after their support surged during the campaign.

Full Story: British Election 2010: Exit Polls Predict Hung Parliament.

New Riots Erupt In Greece (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

Greek police fired tear gas to repel stone-throwing protesters after lawmakers approved drastic austerity cuts Thursday needed to secure international rescue loans worth euro110 billion ($140 billion).

In New York, Dow Jones industrials plunged almost 1,000 points before recovering to a loss of 505 as investors succumbed to fears that Greece’s debt problems would halt the global economic recovery. Traders watched protests in the streets of Athens on TV.

The new clashes came a day after violent protests left three people dead after a bank was firebombed.

Greek lawmakers voted 172-121 to approve the austerity measures — worth about euro30 billion ($38.18 billion) through 2012 — that will slash pensions and civil servants’ pay and further hike consumer taxes.

Full Story: New Riots Erupt In Greece (PHOTOS, VIDEO).

The Greek Crisis

“Did Your Momma Tell You That?”

By DEAN BAKER

Keynes quipped in the General Theory that the world is ruled by the ideas of long dead economists. I was reminded of this comment when I heard a member of Germany’s parliament scornfully dismiss the suggestion that the European Central Bank should target a somewhat higher rate of inflation. This suggestion had been put forward by Oliver Blanchard, one of the world’s leading macroeconomists. Furthermore, he had proposed a higher inflation target in his role as the chief economist for the International Monetary Fund.

There is nothing wrong with disagreeing with an economist, no matter how prominent they are or where they work. But what was striking was the nature of the dismissal. The parliamentarian just asserted that: “inflation never solved anything.”

That’s a strong statement. Did he get that information from his parents? Or, as we used to say growing up in Chicago, “Did your momma tell you that?”

Blanchard and others arguing for a higher inflation target actually have very good reasons as to why higher inflation might be very helpful in solving the world economic crisis. First, a higher inflation rate will erode the real value of debt. This will benefit all debtors, households, businesses and countries.

Full Story: CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names.

Greek Protesters Storm The Acropolis As Anger Grows

A general strike Wednesday in Greece was halting flights, trains and ferries and paralyzing public services, as unions rally against major new spending cuts aimed at saving the country from bankruptcy.

All flights into and out of Greece stopped at midnight Tuesday. Schools, hospitals, tax offices and the Acropolis along with other ancient sites will be closed. There will be no news broadcasts, and shop owners have been called on to close their shutters during rallies.

More than 1,500 police will be on duty for Wednesday’s two protest marches in central Athens – the first major demonstrations since the new measures were announced Sunday.

Full Story: Greek Protesters Storm The Acropolis As Anger Grows.