15 Mar 10
Russia's ruling party wins regional elections
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's United Russia party won a number of regional and local elections, results showed on Monday.-
According to preliminary data from the Central Election Commission (CEC), United Russia won each of the eight regions' legislative polls, taking 183 parliamentary seats in the regional parliaments in total.The CEC said no serious complaints had been filed during Sunday's elections, which have been seen as a test to the popularity of the ruling United Russia party amid growing unemployment and utility prices.
Newly powerful China defies Western nations
China's government has embraced an increasingly anti-Western tone in recent months and is adopting policies across a wide spectrum that reflect a heightened fear of foreign influence.
The shift has accelerated as China has emerged stronger from the global financial meltdown, with a world-beating economic expansion rate and a growing nationalist movement.-"This is a fundamental shift, and I've been here a long time," said James L. McGregor, a senior counselor with the public affairs firm Apco China. "It's a change in national attitude."
South Pacific hit by cyclones
Thousands of Fijians have fled their homes as Cyclone Tomas sweeps across the island nation.
Tomas, a category four storm and bigger than Hurricane Katarina which destroyed New Orleans, is one of two powerful tropical cyclones that have formed in the South Pacific.
Ului, a category five storm, has brushed the southern Solomon Islands and is heading toward Australia but is expected to remain off the coast of the continent for at least the next few days.
EU top diplomat to discuss partnership deal in Damascus
Catherine Ashton, the European Union (EU) high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, will discuss a partnership agreement with Syrian officials during her upcoming visit to the country.
The Syrian-European Partnership Agreement would be undoubtedly presented on Ashton's agenda, EU ambassador to Syria Vassilis Bontosoglou was quoted as saying by Syrian daily Al-Watan on Monday.
Ashton will meet with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem on Monday evening and President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday morning followed by a press conference, Al-Watan reported.
Italian President Visits Syria This Week
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and his wife will pay a three-day state visit to Syria this week upon an invitation extended by President Bashar al-Assad.
During his visit, President Napolitano is scheduled to hold talks with President al-Assad and senior Syrian officials on bilateral relations, Syria's relations with Europe and the situation in the region.
Netanyahu: Israel Will Keep Building in Jerusalem
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said that Israel would continue to build in Jerusalem in the same way that it has over the last 42 years.
"The building in Jerusalem and in all other places will continue in the same way that has been customary over the last 42 years," said Netanyahu during a Likud party meeting. - "For the past 40 years, no Israeli government ever limited construction in the neighborhoods of Jerusalem," he said in a speech to the Knesset, citing areas in the West Bank that Israel captured during the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed to the city.
Europe 'Determined' in Push for Middle East Peace Talks
At the start of her first official trip to the Middle East, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton told reporters in Cairo on Monday that Europe was "determined" to move the Middle East peace process forward.
Ashton, who has faced criticism in Europe for not being visible enough since her appointment in December, arrived in Egypt on Sunday evening to start a tour that will take her to Israel, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan over the course of the week.
Worst-in-Century Drought to Linger in SW China
A severe drought in southwest China, which local people say is the worst in a century, is forecast to linger till the start of the rainy season in May, according to two provincial meteorological stations. The region and other three provinces in southwest China have been ravaged by severe drought since last October. This is a twelve page pictoral essay presentation of the crisis.
Nor'easter cuts power to hundreds of thousands
Hurricane-force winds over the weekend toppled trees, taking power lines with them. Heavy rain caused flooding and airport delays across the region.
Social Security to start cashing Uncle Sam's IOUs
The retirement nest egg of an entire generation is stashed away in this small town along the Ohio River: $2.5 trillion in IOUs from the federal government, payable to the Social Security Administration.
Obama administration monitors Jews on Temple Mount
The planners of Tuesday's Temple awareness day are asking Israelis to arrive at the Mugrabi Gate, the entrance to the Mount, at 7:15 in the morning local time in accordance with directions posted on the institute's site. Institute leaders stressed they are seeking a peaceful public demonstration of solidarity with the Mount.
Huge police deployment in Jerusalem for synagogue dedication
Pamphlets distributed in East Jerusalem claimed the opening of the synagogue was the first step toward the reconstruction of the Temple,
Israel envoy: U.S. ties at their lowest ebb in 35 years
Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, has told the country's diplomats there that U.S.-Israeli relations face their worst crisis in 35 years, despite attempts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office to project a sense of "business as usual."
Does Barack Obama give a damn about us?
Unlike George W Bush and Bill Clinton, Obama has made little effort to strike up friendships with European leaders. At the G20 summit in Pittsburgh last year he was pictured walking out with the leaders of China and India, his administration’s evident priorities, along with Russia, at the expense of America’s traditional allies.
Is China's Politburo spoiling for a showdown with America?
Within a month the US Treasury must rule whether China is a "currency manipulator", triggering sanctions under US law. This has been finessed before, but we are in a new world now with America's U6 unemployment at 16.8pc.
Russia to float out new nuclear sub on May 7
Graney-class nuclear submarines combine the ability to launch a variety of long-range cruise missiles (up to 3,100 miles or 5,000 km) with nuclear warheads, and effectively engage submarines, surface warships and land-based targets.
ACORN activities 'insidious' and 'evil'
despite evidence of massive voter registration fraud by the controversial group ACORN, the Obama administration shut down a federal investigation looking into the organization.
Mexico gunmen kill American consulate staff
An American woman working at the consulate in Ciudad Juarez, just over the border from El Paso, Texas, and her U.S. husband were shot dead by suspected drug gang hitmen in broad daylight on Saturday as they left a consulate social event, U.S. and Mexican officials told Reuters.
Social Security to Start Cashing Uncle Sam's IOUs
The retirement nest egg of an entire generation is stashed away in this small town along the Ohio River: $2.5 trillion in IOUs from the federal government, payable to the Social Security Administration.
...This year, for the first time since the 1980s, when Congress last overhauled Social Security, the retirement program is projected to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes — nearly $29 billion more.
Dodd to Unveil Plan That Expands Fed Powers
Combining Obama administration and Republican priorities, the leading Senate author of a sweeping rewrite of the nation's financial regulations is looking for consensus with a proposal that neither side of the political spectrum is ready to embrace.
Sen. Christopher Dodd, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, plans to unveil a proposal Monday that expands the powers of the Federal Reserve but creates a consumer protection entity with less authority than President Barack Obama once demanded.
Is China's Politburo spoiling for a showdown with America?
China has succumbed to hubris. It has mistaken the soft diplomacy of Barack Obama for weakness, mistaken the US credit crisis for decline, and mistaken its own mercantilist bubble for ascendancy. There are echoes of Anglo-German spats before the First World War, when Wilhelmine Berlin so badly misjudged the strategic balance of power and over-played its hand.
Within a month the US Treasury must rule whether China is a "currency manipulator", triggering sanctions under US law. This has been finessed before, but we are in a new world now with America's U6 unemployment at 16.8pc.
Justice's wife launches 'tea party' group
Reporting from Washington
As Virginia Thomas tells it in her soft-spoken, Midwestern cadence, the story of her involvement in the "tea party" movement is the tale of an average citizen in action.
"I am an ordinary citizen from Omaha, Neb., who just may have the chance to preserve liberty along with you and other people like you," she said at a recent panel discussion with tea party leaders in Washington. Thomas went on to count herself among those energized into action by President Obama's "hard-left agenda."
Obama Supports DNA Sampling Upon Arrest
Josh Gerstein over at Politico sent Threat Level his piece underscoring once again President Barack Obama is not the civil-liberties knight in shining armor many were expecting.
Gerstein posts a televised interview of Obama and John Walsh of America’s Most Wanted. The nation’s chief executive extols the virtues of mandatory DNA testing of Americans upon arrest, even absent charges or a conviction. Obama said, “It’s the right thing to do” to “tighten the grip around folks” who commit crime.
Brazil's Lula in Israel at start of Middle East tour
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has arrived in Israel where he begins a tour of the Middle East.
He is visiting Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan ahead of a more controversial visit to Iran in May.
While in the region Lula will throw his country's growing diplomatic weight behind the Middle East peace process.
EU foreign ministers ponder their post-Lisbon role
With some foreign ministers feeling slightly disenfranchised by the European Union's new legal set-up, they are seeking to find a new public role for themselves in the EU.
Capitalising on this sentiment, Finland's foreign minister Alexander Stubb invited six of his EU counterparts, plus the Turkish foreign minister, for an informal brainstorming session on foreign policy strategy and possible future tasks for EU ministers in Lapland's Saariselka, some 250km north of the Arctic Circle.
Fatah holds ceremony naming square after terrorist
Despite the Palestinian Authority’s announcement that it had postponed the inauguration of a square in el-Bireh named after Dalal Mughrabi, the Fatah woman who led the 1978 Coastal Road massacre in which 37 Israeli civilians and an American photographer were killed, and 71 were wounded, Fatah officials on Thursday evening went ahead with the ceremony.
In addition, the PA on Sunday launched a seminar named after Mughrabi. The four-day seminar, called “Martyr Dalal Mughrabi Camp,” is being held in Jericho under the auspices of the PA’s Military Science Academy. Its main goal is to discuss the legislative and local elections in the PA territories.
Cabinet okays barrier along Sinai border
The cabinet on Sunday approved the construction of a NIS 1.35 billion barrier along the border with Egypt, designed to prevent terrorism, drug smuggling, illegal infiltrations and human trafficking.
“There is broad agreement that we need to protect the State of Israel and its future as a Jewish and democratic state,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said duringthe cabinet discussion on the matter about the need to keep out infiltrators.
Even Labor ministers oppose halting east Jerusalem building
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu received backing from his ministers and the parties in his coalition Sunday as he faced a deepening crisis in Israel’s relations with the American administration.
While officials in Washington were quoted as saying that Netanyahu would have to choose between his ties with US President Barack Obama’s government and his coalition partners, ministers and MKs took steps to ensure that he would not have to make such a difficult choice.
Oren: Worst crisis with US since '75
Israel’s ambassador to Washington Michael Oren convened Foreign Ministry consuls for an emergency briefing, and told them the crisis between Israel and the US is the worst since 1975, Army Radio reported.
Oren was referring to a crisis that evolved when Israel refused to sign a treaty to withdraw forces from Sinai in 1975.
'Hamas used kids as human shields'
Hamas gunmen used Palestinian children as human shields, and established command centers and Kassam launch pads in and near more than 100 mosques and hospitals during Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip last year, according to a new Israeli report being released on Monday that aims to counter criticism of the IDF.
The detailed 500-page report, obtained exclusively by The Jerusalem Post, was written by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (Malam), a small research group led by Col. (res.) Reuven Erlich, a former Military Intelligence officer who works closely with the army.
