Arabic World - Week of Mass Rallies

جمعة الحشود في العالم العربي

Week of Mass Rallies in the Arabic World

An extraordinary week in the Arabic world, characterized
by mass rallies, bloodshed and the fear of national leaders.
The following news items have been taken from an Arabic
language special published by Al-Jazeera on February 25.
UPDATES for the following days have been embedded !


المنطقة العربية على صفيح ساخن

The Arabic Region on a Hot Iron Plate


LIBYA ليبيا

الخناق يضيق على القذافي
Suffocation is hampering Gadafi.

المتظاهرون يسيطرون على معظم ليبيا
Protesters controlling major part of Libya.

مقتل و إصابا العشرات في طرابلس
Fierce fighting and dozens wounded in Tripolis.


Gadafi speaking to a few followers
from above a fortified town gate.


Excited group of Libyan soldiers ap-
proaching protesters near Benghazi.

UPDATE from February 27, 2011:
صور لكاميرا الجزيرة في قصر للقذافي بمدينة البيضاء تظهر سردابا محصنا ضد هجمات نووية
Pictures taken by Al-Jazeera in Gadafi's palace in
the town of al-Baida are showing a fortified atomic
bunker in the souterrain.


Ventilation and particle filter only recently tested:



UPDATE from February 26, 2011

تشييع قتلى الاشتباكات في مدينة مصراتة الليبية
Public funeral of those killed in [an armed] conflict
in the Libyan town of Misurata ["Masrata"].
[For further information on the cited armed conflict,
please, refer to the February 25 blogspot.]



For further information on U.S. response to events in Libya,
please use the embedded link to Al-Arabiya TV.

---

YEMEN اليمن

تواصل المظاهرات المطالبة بإسقاط النظام
Continued demonstrations demanding
the abolishment of the regime.

11
نائبا يستقيلون من الحزبالحاكم
11 deputies [of parliament] resign from the ruling party.

59
نائبا يعتزمون الاستقالة
59 deputies [of parliament] decide to return [their seats].

---

JORDAN الأردن

مظاهرة احتجاجية في العاصمة عمان
Demonstration of protest in the capital of Amman.

مطالب بإصلاحات سياسية و اقتصادية
Calls for political and economic reforms.

اتهام الحكومة بالاستبداد و الفساد
The government is being accused of dictatorship
and corruption.

---

IRAQ العراق

مقتل شخصين و إصابا 5 في الموصل
People died, five were wounded in Mosul.

مظاهرات في بغداد و كركوك و مدن أخرى
Demonstrations in Baghdad, Kirkuk and other towns.

---

BAHRAIN البحرين

الألاف في دوار اللؤلؤة للتظاهر ضد الحكومة
Thousands on Pearl Square demonstrating against
the government.

وزير الخارجية البحريني: يمكن طرح كافة القضايا على المائدة
According to the foreign minister of Bahrain, it is
possible to get rid of all problems at a [negotiating]
table.

---

TUNISIA تونس

اعتصام يطالب بسقوط الحكومة الأنتقالية
The government of transition needs to be saved from failure.

اتهام حكومة محمد الغنوشي بأنها امتداد للنظام السابق
The government of Mahmud al-Ranushi is being accused of
prolonging the former system.


UPDATE from February 27, 2011:
الغنوشي يعلن استقالته من الحكومة التونسية و اتجاه لتكليف باجي قائد السيسي لخلافته
Al-Ranushi declares his resignation from the Tunisian government [amidst] controversial tendencies [for the] political leader to follow.

---

EGYPT مصر

المتظاهرون يتمسكون بمطالب الثورة
Protesters stick to their demands [made during] the uprising.

المتظاهرون يطالبون بمحاكمة مبارك و إقالة شفيق
Protesters demanding the punishment of Mubarak and a pitiless
treatment.

---

Visitor statistics for the current blogspot, registered 24 hours after its creation. As visitors will be registered only, if their web address is containing a country denominator which is rather rarely the case, the real number of visitors within 24 hours has to be estimated based on further statistical material of my main site. Therefore, a number of 50+ visitors within 24 hours can be regarded as a realistic estimation.

Libya - News of the Day

Here are the daily news from Libya as they appeared in the late evening news program on Al-Jazeera Arabic TV, February 24, 2011, posted by Ulysses at 11:28 pm GMT:

مصادر للجزيرة في الزاوية:عناصر من الجيش يلتحقون بالمتظاهرين و يفتحون مخازن الذخيرة

Al-Jazeera's sources at al-Zaouia (*) are saying that essential elements of
the army are joining the protesters and are opening the army depots.
* al-Zaouia = Small town west of Tripolis.

الرابطة الليبية لحقوق الإنسان: لدى مجلس حقوق الإنسان ملفات كاملة لإدانة نظام القذافي

The Libyan association for human rights says their organisation is keeping
complete dossiers to accuse the Gadafi regime.

أ.ف.ب عن مصدر رسمي : سويسرا تجمد أرصدة محتملة للقذافي و المقربين منه

AFP [= Agence France Press] is the official source [of the following]:
Switzerland will freeze the eventual assets of Gadafi and his family.

قتيلا 16 على الأقل في مواجهات متواصلة في الزاوية غرب طرابلس

At least 16 died in enduring confrontations in al-Zaouia west of Tripolis.

أحمد قذاف الدم الممثل الشخصي للقذافي يقدم استقالته

Ahmed Gadaf al-Dam, personal representative of Gadafi, has resigned.

رائد بسلاح الجو الليبي يدعو الطيارين الليبين للنزول في مطار مصراته بعد سيطرة الثوار عليه

A commander of the Libyan air force calls for Libyan pilots to land on
the airstrip of Misurata (*) to get the rebels there under control.
* Misurata = Town of the coastal region, east of Homs and Tripolis.

صحفي للجزيرة: كتائب القذافي تشن عمليات كر و فر على الزاوية و أسرنا العديد من عناصرها

Reported by Al-Jazeera: Units [loyal to] Gadafi are launching operations
of attack and retreat on al-Zaouia and [ethnic] families [or: tribal clans]
with their numerous members.

Comment:
By the way, after having read the Arabic writing of the dictator's
name, I came to think that the accurate transcription to be used in
Western media should be GADAFI rather than Gaddafi (Al-Jazeera) or
anything else. Nevertheless, I don't intend to correct the writing
I used in my older blogspots or in my videos. He isn't worth such
additional work any longer.

LIBYA - Partly Freed

Screenshot from Al-Jazeera Arabic TV on February 23

Ghaddafi's son trying to warn and intimidate the people of
Libya on behalf of his father only a few days ago. [Photo]

"The Italian minister of foreign affairs says that Eastern
Libya is not any longer under the control of the Libyan
government." [Arabic footnote white on red]

"Libyan military units of the Green Mountain region openly
announce their participation in the revolt of the people."
[Arabic footnote white on blue]

---

Summary of News on February 23, 2011:

- Benghazi folks celebrating their victory while shooting is going on.

- Commanding Libyan general in Tobruk declares he has broken with
the regime.

- The country seems to be split between regions where the army is taking
sides in favour of protesters and such parts where private militias are
chasing enemies of the system on behalf of Ghaddafi who cannot trust his
own army any longer.

- There are rumours that Ghaddafi might intend to blow up Libyan oil wells.

- Former minister of justice says there is evidence that Ghaddafi was
directly involved in the Lockerbie incident.

LIBYA - Collapse of the System

Ash-Shura / The Counsel
[Koran Sura 42]

And whoso defendeth himself after he hath suffered wrong -
for such, there is no way (of blame) against them. (41)
The way (of blame) is only against those who oppress mankind, and
wrongfully rebel in the earth. For such there is a painful doom. (42)

سُوۡرَةُ الشّوریٰ
وَلَمَنِ ٱنتَصَرَ بَعۡدَ ظُلۡمِهِۦ فَأُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ مَا عَلَيۡہِم مِّن سَبِيلٍ -٤١
إِنَّمَا ٱلسَّبِيلُ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ يَظۡلِمُونَ ٱلنَّاسَ وَيَبۡغُونَ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ بِغَيۡرِ ٱلۡحَقِّ‌ۚ أُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ لَهُمۡ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ۬ -٤٢




Al-Jazeera Evening News on February, 21, 2011:


Summary of News on February 22, 2011:

Defiant Gaddafi speech shows he would rather die "a martyr"
than leave the country while blaming drugged and drunken
youths as well as foreign spies to be behind what he calls an
"international conspiracy" to damage the Libyan revolution
which he is decided to defend by any means that is needed.
He aggressively insists that "these rats" will "beg for mercy
but not receive it".
Gaddafi is now said trying to open talks with tribal leaders
who are considered to be very influential among the people.

Closed door meeting of UN Security Council on Libya. Disturbing
differences between statements of Libya's UN ambassador who is
still pro-government and his deputy who openly demanded Gaddafi's
resign the day before when several Libyan diplomats all over the
world resigned from their posts.

Arab League holds emergency meeting in Kairo.

At a State Department press conference, U.S. spokesman Crowley
gave moderate comments about Libya while stating that repatriation
of U.S. citizens from the airports controlled by Libyan government
had first priority in the current state of urgency.
At the same time, Democratic U.S. Senator John Kerry expressed his
opinion on violence in Libya as follows: "The Qadhafi government's
use of deadly force against its own people should mean the end of
the regime itself. It's beyond depictable, and I hope we are wit-
nessing its last hours in power. Libyans should have the opportunity
to choose leaders who respect their basic rights." The White House
like the Department of State offer condolences for the victims of
"appalling violence".

Libyan naval ship floating in the waters of Malta, possibly intending
to defect like the pilots of two military jets the day before. Pilots
said they refused to bomb protesting citizens at Benghazi.

Recent reports say that foreign pilots and other mercenaries are
deployed by the government to bomb or shoot protesting citizens.
Some people are said to have been burnt alive by mercenaries.

Libyan soldiers in Tobruk announced that Libyan government is
not in control of the region any longer.

According to Italy, marine oil terminals in Libya hold operations.

Lots of foreigners are leaving the country. Rescue operations are
being prepared in the United States, in Egypt, Korea and in the
Netherlands. Egyptian citizens in Libya are under pressure as the
Libyan government is blaming Egypt for inciting unrest in its
country.

Ghaddafi speech on February 22, 2011:

Comment by Ulysses: Such must have behaved the German "Fuehrer"
Adolf Hitler in his bunker during his very last days in 1945.

LIBYA - The Honourable Mr. Ghadafi

Britain's Tony Blair and Libya's Ghadafi shaking hands.

While Tripolis and Benghazi are facing a bloody revolt
against Libya's president Ghadafi, there is still Libyan oil
flowing to the European Union. As 79% of Libyan crude
oil is being delivered to Europe, such making Libya the
No. 3 oil supplier for the EU after Norway and Russia,
Europe's politicians are interested in good relations with
Muhamar El-Ghadafi. The former godfather of Arabic
terrorism, once punished by an international boycott on
behalf of the U.S., since then turned into an "honourable"
business partner whose "oily handshake" pleased many
European politicians until now.

Percentage of total Libyan oil export to European countries:



Shortened video of Al-Jazeera's latest evening news:
- Another day of unrest in Yemen, Bahrain and Libya.
- The Libyan oil connection (see above).
- Iranian naval ships passing the Egyptian Suez canal
on their way to Syria for a purported arms delivery.
Israel protesting.

The Arab World - Point of No Return

UPDATE from Feb. 19, 2011:
Evening News on Al-Jazeera ( Shortened Arabic version
with English subtitles; الثورات في ليبيا و اليمن )


Historic Unrest in the Arab world

Today, it seems that rebellion in Bahrain, Libya and Yemen reached a point of no return, a final breach of the dyke, that will sooner or later lead to replacement of the actual leadership. Whatever time it might take to achieve the peoples' goal of freedom, democracy and an end to corruption, now, the predicted development received its final impulse in all of those countries: Huge numbers of dead and wounded civilians from the streets of Manama can't be forgotten quickly enough to enable Bahrain's ruling family a return to "business as usual". As to Libya and Yemen, the rebellion has already lasted too long and required too many victims that a kind of status quo could be reached again.

The Arab World - On the Brink of Explosion

One hour ago, I recorded a news special on the Arabic channel of Al-Jazeera which has everything in it to describe how the Arabic world is driving into a chaos that, we hope, might finally generate a new era of freedom and democracy.

When traditional structures of power finally broke away in Tunisia and Egypt, opposition groups of other Arabic nations took the initiative to give vent to their anger.

The Algerian opposition had already taken to the streets when the Tunisian revolution just began and nobody even imagined that Egypt's citizens, by starting their own revolution from scratch, would bring about enough manpower on the streets of Kairo, Alexandria and Suez as to overtake the Algerians in their fight for freedom and democracy.

And now, the virus of protest has even infected the people of Bahrain, that tiny Arabic nation living on an island which has already become known as the "biggest U.S. aircraft carrier" because of its U.S. naval base. A deeply rooted mistrust against the ruling family has now driven the people into an open resistance. Public unrest first showed up only three days ago. Latest news: The Bahrain military deployed lots of tanks to support police forces. Then, both, police and military obviously succeeded in cracking down on the demonstrators to restore "silence and order" once again, but who knows for how long that fragile peace will last while problems still remain unsolved....

Bahrain's foreign minister, a member of the
ruling Khalifa family. Protesters in Manama.


A similar situation emerged in Yemen where protests against the Yemenite president are already lasting six days. Lots of protesting students and other demonstrators meet with pro-government protesters.

The Yemenite president and protesters on
the streets of Aden in Southern Yemen.


Protesters on the streets of Yemen's capital Sanaa.
From here, the uprising spread to all over Yemen.


Even Libya under the rule of its notorious president Ghadafi and Sudan, ruled by its despotic president Basher, are on the list of ideal candidates for the next revolutions to come.

Libyan opposition volunteers and pro-government groups fighting each other on the streets of Benghasi and elsewhere. Some of them tearing
down pictures of president Ghadafi while others are showing their support
for the "leader of the Libyan revolution". We already knew that such pro-
government groups existed, ready to interfere in case that ordinary people
might take to the streets. How else, Ghadafi could have politically
survived during all those years when he was either marked as one of
those grey figures behind Arabic terrorism in the so-called Lockerbie
incident, or when he surprised his Arabic fellow-statesmen once and again
with his peculiar statements on how to solve regional problems ? During
all those years of economic boycott on behalf of the U.S. that temporarily
drove his oil producing country into poverty, people in Libya had already
been fed up with their leader's style of ruling the country and the way
of life led by Ghadafi's family clan.

The below picture is showing organized pro-government protesters.



During yesterday's uprising, heavy shooting has been reported
that left demonstrators severely wounded or dead. Hours later,
the flames of revolution reached other important towns of Libya
according to Al-Jazeera. Up to now, it is still difficult to get
enough and reliable pictures out of Libya.



Al-Jazeera's Arabic subtitle to the above picture:
"Two died and tens were wounded in Benghazi when Libyan security
clashed with protesters the day before demonstrations (took place)
against the (political) system in Libya."


Not to speak of Iraq and Jordan, both countries being closely linked together because of a common history under the rule of the Hashemite dynasty. By the way, the border between Egypt and the Gaza strip is still closed. That might change within the days to come, such enabling Palestinian habitants of Gaza to get in some aid.

Iraqi citizens taking to the street.

---

EGYPT - Transition of Power

قيادات الثورة طالبت المجلس العسكري بوضع دستور جديد يمهد لجمهورية برلمانية
Leaders of the revolution demanding from the military council
the establishment of a new constitution intended to prepare for
a parliamentary republic.

خطوات أولى لتنظيم الانتقال بمصر

First Steps on the Way to Transition in Egypt

عين المجلس العسكري الأعلى الذي يدير مصر مؤقتا مساء أمس
رئيسا للجنة صياغة التعديلات الدستورية التي يتوقع استفتاء الشعب
عليها خلال شهرين، بما يمهد لإرساء حكم مدني ديمقراطي, وأقال
مسؤولين أمنيين بارزين على خلفية إطلاق النار على المتظاهرين

The supreme military council for the administration of Egypt
yesterday evening determined the president of the commission
(in charge) to provide constitutional reforms (within a certain
time) that should be subject to a plebiscite within two months,
such facilitating the firm establishment of civil and democratic
administration.
The dismissal of former security (officers) responsible for the
shooting of protesters (was announced as well).

---

Yemen: Students taking to the streets on February 12, 2011.

Egypt - Mubarak Resigns

An Arabic Awakening


Comment by Ulysses

Today, the resignation of the Egyptian president Mubarak
finally took place after almost 30 years of despotic rule and
many days of nationwide uprise. In the end, it was the military
that put an end to the presidency of Mubarak in order to keep
the Republic of Egypt together amidst of turmoil.

Whatever political currents within the Egyptian people might now
begin to compete for legal power after the revolution, all foreign
nations regarded as partners of Egypt, even though for different
reasons, will have to face an independent country that will be
less likely to follow the route of appeasement, a feature that
made Egypt under the Mubarak administration such a valuable ally
when it came to close all eyes on Israel's militant policy towards
the Palestinians and their wish to establish an independent state
of Palestine.

And if the flame of revolution was spreading from Tunis and
Cairo to other nations of the Arabic world, the behaviour of
Israel, seen by the Arabs (and not only by them) as the top
aggressor in the Middle East, might finally lead to an anti-
Israeli alliance based on the common will of the Arabic peoples
and tribes and powerful enough to reduce Israel in its regional
influence and perhaps in its borders as well...

As can already been seen in Algeria where public turmoil began
at about the same time as in Tunisia, this point of view is not too
far from reality. Even influential jews within the U.S.A. might then
be unable to stop the predicted development under a President
Obama who is decided to accept the spreading of democracy
whereever it appears.

Al-Jazeera reporting live from Cairo after
the resignation of president Mubarak:


When Algerian citizens took to the streets in
December 2010, at a time when the Tunisian
people already demanded an end to the long-
lasting dictatorship of their president Ben Ali,
the Egyptian revolution was not yet in sight:

EGYPT - Days of Violence

Updates embedded !

Leadership of the ruling party of Egypt resigns

استقالة قيادة الحزب الحاكم بمصر

According to the political bureau of the ruling National-
Democratic Party (المكتب السياسي للحزب الوطني الديمقراطي الحاكم),
its leadership has stepped down (February 5, 2011).


صفوت الشريف وعن يمينه جمال مبارك
Picture showing Safut Sharif and, at his right, Djamal Mubarak,
both leaders of the ruling National-Democratic Party in Egypt.

Mubarak - Private Assets Abroad

ذكرت صحيفة غارديان البريطانية أن ثروة الرئيس المصري حسني مبارك
وعائلته تتراوح بين 40 و70 مليار دولار، وفقًا لتحليل خبراء في الشرق الأوسط

The British Journal Guardian remembers that private assets of
the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and his family comprise
about 40-70 million Dollar and are allegedly deposited in the
Middle East (February 5, 2011).

---

On Feb. 1, 2011, the end of Mubarak's 30-year-presidency
is finally in sight. This seems to prove the truth delivered
by Al-Jazeera's recent opinion poll (below).






Online opinion poll of Al-Jazeera
published on their Arabic website
for the period from January 28
till January 31, 2011 :


Do you consider that (all these)
protestations of the Egyptian
people are having an effect on
the realization of their demands ?

voting YES : 177.267 (85,9%)

voting NO : 29.117 (14,1%)

total number of participants in this enquiry: 206.384

"In almost every successful social movement of the
last century, from Gandhi's campaign against British
rule to the Solidarity movement in Poland to the
antiapartheid movement in South Africa, democracy
was the result of a local awakening."
[Barack Obama, "The Audacity of Hope"]

By the way, such numbers remind me of the early days
of Al-Jazeera opinion polls, at the beginning of the war
against Iraq and when thousands and thousands of Arabic
speaking voters on Al-Jazeera already gave an idea of
what would happen in the years to follow. The increasing
number of participants finally began to annoy U.S. friendly
elements who then tried to manipulate the outcome of one
important poll. Without success, as Al-Jazeera quickly
blocked the attack and made it the news subject of the
day. Since then, I haven't heard of further incidents
of the kind, maybe because times and opinions have
changed even in the U.S.A.. [Ulysses]

---

Suite of videos covering the development of the current situation:



Some years ago, I recorded the above video on the Egyptian National TV.
Together with an add I produced myself, it is now showing how different
the art of Arabic writing is being practised by military forces under the
guidance of Hosni Mubarak and by the ordinary people of Egypt.

The following two videos have been recorded on Al-Jazeera during the last
days (January 29/30, 2011):





A terrible increase of violence took place after Mubarak's speech.
Street fighting between protesters on one side and followers of
Mubarak as well as police agents on the other side (Feb. 2, 2011):



In order to fully understand how recent turmoil came into being, you
should watch the following video. It is about the rigged parliamentary
election in December 2010 where opposition candidates lost almost all
of their seats even though enjoying broad public support.

AFGHANISTAN - Drugs and Trade

Recommendation of a brandnew website
on another blog of mine:
Afghanistan - Production and Traffic of Opium

CUBA 1961 - How CIA Tried to Kill Fidel

While Western media are just about to remember the notorious
attempt on behalf of the former Soviet Union to install some of
their nuclear missiles on Cuba, CUBAVISION, the satellite channel
of Cuba, has just broadcast a documentary showing how the U.S.
tried to kill Fidel Castro and such destabilize his government in
early 1961.

Of course, U.S. President Kennedy's harsh response in October
1962 to the installation of nukes in the neighbourhood of his
country was a mere necessity and could not be praised enough
for the sake of worldwide peace.

Nevertheless, it should not be ignored that U.S. efforts to
kill Cuba's revolutionary leader and overthrow his young
government from the very beginning left no real choice for
the Cubans than to make friends with the Soviet Union. The
economic blockade that followed and held for many decades
until now made things even more difficult for Fidel Castro
and drove him into a far-reaching dependency on Moscow.

I can't guarantee that every single fact included in the following
documentary has its truth, but the proven facts are sufficient
enough to blame the U.S. for their policy of intolerance which
earned them many enemies during the last decades, not only
from within such countries behind the Iron Curtain that once
separated Cold War enemies, but from independent countries
as well. Even today, U.S. treatment of the Cuban people and
their government is enraging Cuba's Latin American friends.
Maybe it's time now for the United States to come to terms
with their old enemy Cuba which they are still treating like a
Caribbean ship of pirates whose legendary captain refuses
to die.



As to the documentary itself, it recalls the killing attempt
of the Cuban leader with the help of some insiders, a former
military commander who served under Fidel and a member
of cabinet of his first government after the Cuban revolution.
The plannings on behalf of the CIA became known to Cuban
authorities, 16 participants were arrested with 5 CIA agents
among them, and lots of weapons, ammunition, explosives
and communication material were confiscated.

Historic pictures are showing how enemies of the revolution
used bombs to destroy a building in Havana. The bombing
of Cuban airports that left many civilian losses and, finally,
the CIA invasion that failed are documented as well. All
these incidents took place in 1961 and within a short time.
Apparently there should have been another incident when
Fidel was to be infected with anthrax, a biological weapon.

Other attempts to kill Castro on behalf of the CIA are not
included. There's for instance the mysterious case of that
German girl Marita Lorenz who came to Cuba, fell in love
with Fidel and became pregnant, was abducted and dragged
to the U.S.A. where she was brainwashed and sent back in
order to kill the Cuban leader. I think that was the case with
the poisoned cigars, the only point I'm unable to remember
any longer. Marita Lorenz obviously failed as well. Even
though being brainwashed, she seemed to be unable to
kill her ex-lover. She then returned to the U.S.A. where
she worked for the CIA in different secondary positions.
According to her, she belonged to a kind of "hitting squad",
following the traces of people who were on a CIA black list.
One day when she was in Dallas, together with her group,
a certain Lee Harvey Oswald was with them. Nobody objected
when he disappeared for some hours: It was the day he shot
President Kennedy from a nearby building. Later, Mrs. Lorenz
was interrogated by a commission of the U.S. Congress that
had to explore the Kennedy murder, and she told them all
she new about L.H. Oswald. Nevertheless, her statement was
regarded as of less importance, maybe because of her earlier
brainwashing background. As L.H. Oswald was shot himself
immediately after his arrest, nobody remained to relate the
Kennedy murder with the CIA any longer. Instead, another
theory came into being, relating Fidel Castro with the Dallas
incident.
Postscript: Many years later, a pitiful elderly lady arrived in
Havana, together with her son who had to care for her and
a West-German television team. Marita Lorenz was unable
to see her ex-lover but was warmly received by Fidel Castro's
private secretary who spoke to her behind closed doors. ...

VENEZUELA - Chavez on Economy

As Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez has become the inofficial
speaker of a Latin American Alliance (*) that comprises some of the
continent's most important countries ruled by socialist governments
and in the frame of Venezuela holding the greatest reserves of crude
oil worldwide, it should be interesting to hear what Chavez says
about the latest development of his country's economy. Here are
some quotations from his speech held before the National Assembly
of Venezuela [TELESUR, Caracas, Jan. 18, 2011; Translation Spanish-
English by Ulysses]

"It is necessary to achieve control over [national] expenses
in order to fight speculation."
This is hinting at, both, the market prices of food stuff and,
as well, all expenses on behalf of the government.

"Venezuela must turn into a power of agriculture [ and such
enlarge its power as a country that is providing crude oil ]."
As to the planned development of agriculture, livestock
breeding and the fishing industry have been particularly
named.

Referring to the decay of economy during the last two years
2009 and 2010, Chavez said:

"We finally regained the path of economic growth."

"I did not forget the four years of 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008
when Venezuela was the number one place of economic growth
in Latin America if not one of the first places worldwide. What
came then, was the impact of dropping prices for crude oil,
the dropping of oil production, the climatic effect. - And facing
such situation, now, some are saying that the reason of economic
decay is nationalization or rather socialism. - No, this is not
the reason !"
When hinting at the climatic effect, he was referring to latest
enormous floodings and earlier consequences of the notorious
climate effect called El Niño.

Finally, Chavez pointed out that minimum wages of workers in
his country have risen for about 20% this year.

The following video contains additional information on
Venezuela's recent economic development in the frame
of an interview TELESUR held with Orangel Rivas, an
expert of Venezuela's National Institute of Statistics. It's
about consumption and employment during the last two
years.


_________________________________________________________

(*) At present, that alliance of Latin American states is
including Argentine, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador,
Nicaragua and Venezuela, all countries being ruled by left-
wing governments.

TUNISIA - Dictator Fleeing the Country

الهرب من الرئيس التونسي بن علي


Pictures above:
"Ben Ali, you killed (y)our people !" - "Ben Ali, get out !"

Tonight, Tunisia's president Ben Ali fled the country after days of uprising in the capital of Tunis. As he was expected to seek asylum in France, the international press was surprised when Ben Ali's plane headed for the Arabian peninsula where he finally landed in Djedda in the middle of the night.

It is considered that French authorities were unable to arrange something for Ben Ali because of his urgent flight that made any preparations impossible. Nevertheless, France should still be seen as the dictator's first choice because of manifold relations between Tunisia and its former colonial power. Furthermore, personal relations between French president Sarkozy and Ben Ali have always been regarded as fine.

After the president's retreat, the Tunisian prime minister immediately declared his intention to serve as an interim president. He promised to stick to the constitution and prepare for general elections in the very next future. Some hours later, another politician, the president of parliament, was definitely installed as the interim president of Tunisia.

Meanwhile, fierce fighting is taking place between Tunisian riot police and civilian protesters while at least parts of the military are tending to take sides in favor of the people. For example, military vehicles have been observed that accompanied protesters who were engaged in clashes with the police.

Pictures below:
- The true purpose of police in a totalitarian state.
- Military sympathizing with the people.

EGYPT - Bombing of Christian Church

الهجوم على الكنيسة المسيحية في المصر بالمدينة الاسكندرية



سُوۡرَة 82.5

۞ لَتَجِدَنَّ أَشَدَّ ٱلنَّاسِ عَدَٲوَةً۬ لِّلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱلۡيَهُودَ وَٱلَّذِينَ أَشۡرَكُواْ‌ۖ وَلَتَجِدَنَّ أَقۡرَبَهُم

مَّوَدَّةً۬ لِّلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱلَّذِينَ قَالُوٓاْ إِنَّا نَصَـٰرَىٰ‌ۚ ذَٲلِكَ بِأَنَّ مِنۡهُمۡ قِسِّيسِينَ وَرُهۡبَانً۬ا وَأَنَّهُمۡ لَا يَسۡتَڪۡبِرُونَ

Certainly you will find the most violent of people in enmity for those who believe (to be) the Jews and those who are polytheists, and you will certainly find the nearest in friendship to those who believe (to be) those who say: We are Christians; this is because there are priests and monks among them and because they do not behave proudly.

Military Focus on Santa Claus

Today, CNN revealed that, both, U.S. and Canadian military are tracking Santa Claus on his way to America. Using satellite, GPS and jet fighters they are now ensuring Santa's safe arrival. Barbara Starr, CNN political correspondent reporting from Washington DC while NORAD is feeding in life pictures from Santa Claus.

First Commercial Space Launch

Two hours ago, a new era in space travel began
when, for the first time, a commercial space
launch took place. The Falcon 9 carrier and the
attached Dragon capsule are intended to provide
the International Space Station ISS with all
goods needed and then return safely to earth.
On later flights, the Dragon capsule should
carry astronauts as well. One single mission
is expected to last about two days, two orbits
before landing included.
This comes at a time when the U.S. national
space shuttle program is expected to end.

Obama in Afghanistan

Yesterday, U.S. President Obama unexpectedly appeared in Afghanistan where he held an encouraging speech in front of U.S. troops. One year after his announcement of an increase in U.S. military presence, he said that Afghanistan had become more safe and that U.S. troops controlled more Afghan regions than before such that a handing-over of power to the Afghan security forces had already come in sight.




UPDATE from Dec. 6, 2010:

German Troops in Afghanistan as
Evaluated by the Afghan People

The following polls have been carried out in Afghanistan
and published by German National TV Channel 1 (ARD).
They are showing a significant drop of trust into German
military presence as seen by Afghan civilians:


"Your estimation of the German Federal Republic ?"
The 2007 poll showed an overwhelming positive
estimation of Germany of 75% that turned into a
mere 46% in the December 2010 poll.


"Do you consider any attack on foreign troops
to be justified ?"
While in January 2010 an overwhelming 87%
said "no" to this option with only 2% answering
"yes", the December 2010 poll showed only 57%
"no" votes in comparison with 39% "yes" votes.


Increasing mistrust into German
military presence in Afghanistan

Personal Remark by Ulysses:
As Obama stated in his speech at Bagram Airbase,
the alliance of nations cooperating with the U.S.
in Afghanistan (ISAF) has risen to 49 members (*).
Unfortunately, this fact doesn't necessarily imply
an improved military efficiency in the fight
against their common enemy, the Taliban and
Al-Qaeda. Indeed, we are now being confronted
with an increasing mistrust of the Afghan people
into all ISAF operations and even more into the
presence of any foreign troops in Afghanistan.

(*) = This passage at the beginning of Obama's
speech was not recorded because of technical
reasons (restriction to 15 min. of duration).

EGYPT - Muslim Brotherhood

The Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt (الزاوية الإسلامية في المصر), representing the most powerful opposition group in Egypt's General Elections, is now launching their candidates. As the Brotherhood is officially forbidden and, therefore, excluded from the elections, their members are acting as "independent" candidates who, nevertheless, don't hide their real origin. An interesting feature by Al-Jazeera [Nov. 26, 2010].



Another video: Two days before the 2010 General Elections, a spokesman of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt describes the situation of Egypt's most powerful opposition group. Its all about how to resist the dictatorship of President Mubarak's National Democratic Party that is expected to sweep parliament with the help of ruling power and secret police, ignoring, both, the basic rules of democracy and the outcome of earlier lawsuits on election fraud [Nov. 26, 2010].



UPDATE after General Elections:
Outcome of the first round of elections in Egypt. "Independent" candidates related to the Muslim Brotherhood lost all their seats in parliament. As the Brotherhood is known to enjoy broad public support in Egypt, the elections should be considered as rigged. Al-Jazeera report from December 1, 2010.

WIKILEAKS ويكيليكس - Latest News

موقع ويكيــــليكس يعتزم نشر وثائـــــق جديدة
يقول إنها أكبر سبع مرات من الوثائق السابقة

الـسفـيـر الأمريكــي في بغداد يقول إن
نشر وثائق سرية جديدة أمرسيئ للغاية


Wikileaks announced its decision to publish a new
set of documents that should include seven times
more documents than those earlier published.

U.S. ambassador in Baghdad is considering the
latest Wikileaks publication as extremely serious.

Yesterday, November 26, and in its feature "Behind the News", the Arabic channel of Al-Jazeera broadcast a discussion including two correspondents from Washington and Beirut on the impact which latest publications by Wikileaks, expected to come this weekend, might have on diplomatic relations between the U.S. and their international partners like Russia and China.
Above all, regional relations have been discussed that are considered to be extremely difficult. As to the Iraqi subject, for instance, U.S. relations with Turkey and Iraqi Kurds might be affected. The same problem might arise for the negotiations between Israel and Palestine, now being pushed forward by the Obama administration at a very critical state.

The British daily "The Guardian" which is among the few papers of international repute that got an exclusive taste of Wikileaks' upcoming release, already wrote about an expected publication of secret cables from U.S. diplomats in their November 27 edition.



To get an idea of the range of subjects Wikileaks is dealing with, here a screenshot of Wikileaks' table of contents extracted from an earlier release, dating back to October 22, 2010. Click to the image and load the attached pdf file !



UPDATE from December 2, 2010:
Further news from the WikiLeaks release of U.S. diplomatic cables. This time it's about Russia. Different U.S. sources hold Russia as a Mafia state where organised criminals and parts of the government are working "hand in hand".



UPDATE from December 3, 2010:

ويكيليكس و المخطط الحرب ضد الايران من العربية السعودية

Viktor Bout - Master of War

The famous Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout has been
surprisingly extradited from Thailand to the U.S.A. on
behalf of the Thai government.

After two years in a Bangkok prison, he is now facing
charges of supporting terrorism by selling all kinds
of arms to Africa, Central Asia and Central America.
It is namely his arms delivery to the Latin American
rebels of FARC organization that makes him wanted by
U.S. authorities. He had been captured by Thai troops
under the guidance of U.S. specialists in March 2008.

Despite accusations against the Thai prime minister
made by Bout's wife Ala and angry comments from the
Russian government, Viktor Bout has already been flewn
out on a U.S. military plane and accompanied by several
U.S. agents. Nevertheless, it seems that some Thai laws
have been "bended" in this case.

By the way, it's the same Viktor Bout that served as a
model for the 2005 motion picture "Master of War"
or "El Señor de la Guerra", starring Nicholas Cage as
the main character.

[Source: RUSSIA TODAY TV, Spanish service]



UPDATE, November 18, 2010:
[Source: Al-Jazeera TV, English service]

AFGHANISTAN - Reduction of Foreign Troops Demanded

President Karzai recently urged the reduction of foreign troops in his country. As well, he demanded that foreign units should refrain from military activity at night.
Source: Al-Jazeera.

PAKISTAN - Bombing Karachi into Ruins

Yesterday, a huge blast hit the center of Karachi, Pakistan's most important center of commerce and industry. An enormous crater has been formed by the detonation of a truck loaded with about 1.000 kilograms of explosives. This happened on a police compound housing a crime investigation unit of the Pakistani anti-terror squad. The building itself has been totally ruined and about one square kilometer of the town has been affected as well. Even in distant houses lots of windows have been knocked out by an enormous wave of pressure. The incident left at least 15 dead and 100 wounded, most of the victims being security personnel.

G 20 Summit 2010 - Saving Western Economy

U.S. President Obama's speech at the end of the actual G20 Summit in Seoul has two crucial points: How to restore U.S. trade balance and urging China to allow their currency being driven by the laws of the market.
In fact, there are dark clouds in the sky when it comes to the relation between western markets and eastern expansion.

G.W.Bush on Terrorism - Torture OK !

In his 481-page memoirs "Points of Decision", former
U.S. president George Bush jun. now justifies the use
of a special torture called "waterboarding" when it
comes to harvest information from detained suspects
of terrorism.
Seen in the frame of widespread international mistrust
against the U.S. way of dealing with that matter and of
fruitless efforts by the Obama administration to imme-
diately close the detainee camp at Guantánamo, such
stances are not really helpful to restore U.S. credibility
in the world.
But what else did you expect from the Bush league ?

Islamic Terror - Bloody Harvest

Today, 70 persons died in two different bomb explosions in Peshawar province in north-western Pakistan while about 120 were injured. UN secretary general Ban Ki Mun expressed his concern about these attacks that had two mosques as their targets.
Similar attacks in the past have been related either to the Taliban or Al-Qaeda. As more and more "foreign mercenaries" are closing the ranks of the Taliban, it is difficult to decide from the outside which element of Islamic resistance is now dominating each operation of the Taliban forces.
Arabic source



Another Arabic source is analyzing the position and performance of Al-Qaeda in Pakistan in the frame of regional political relations and tensions in Central Asia:
طالبان و القاعدة في باكستان
شكلت طالبان باكستان ما يشبه درعا لكل من القاعدة وطالبان أفغانستان ووفرت لهما ملاذا آمنا رغم كل الضربات التي كالتها لها أميركا بنفسها أو من خلال الضغط على الجيش الباكستاني لتنفيذ عمليات عسكرية في منطقة وزيرستان والمناطق الحدودية. لكن ما لعب لمصلحة طالبان والقاعدة معا هو أن باكستان تدرك أنه ليس من مصلحتها القضاء على طالبان أفغانستان والقاعدة نهائيا، لكون ذلك يصب في نهاية المطاف لصالح الهند والأحزاب والأفغانية الموالية لها. كما أن إسلام آباد لا تثق بالنوايا الأميركية، خاصة وأنها سمحت سابقا للتحالف الشمالي الموالي لإيران والهند بالسيطرة على كابول وفرض رؤيته الخاصة، وقامت راهنا باستقبال رئيس الوزراء الهندي مانموهان سنغ في البيت الأبيض قبل إعلان الرئيس الأميركي باراك أوباما لإستراتيجيته الجديدة في أفغانستان



أوباما و سنغ

Obama backing permanent
membership of Pakistan's
arch-enemy India in UNO
Security Council (Nov.2010)

---

The same day, it was published by the Arabic service of Al-Jazeera that the crash of a UPS cargo plane in Dubai on September 3 has to be related to Al-Qaeda because Bin Laden's organization took over responsibility for bombing that plane in a video recently found on the internet. Now, the United Arab Emirates UAE will review the possibility that a bomb caused the UPS plane to crash in Dubai although no proof has emerged so far. Read more !



Earlier information on "UPS explosive parcels" is available on another blogspot of mine (=> look at further news of the day).

Latest news (November 9, 2010):
Now, the Jemenite government decided to hunt down Awalaki (picture
below) who is seen as one spiritual leader of Al-Qaeda terrorists in
Jemen, deemed to be responsible for building and mailing parcel bombs.


Arabic source

U.S.A. - Republicans Win The House

Just minutes ago, CNN prejected that U.S. Republicans are going to win over the House of Representatives on Capitol Hill in the 2010 Midterm Elections. Such elections in the middle of a presidential term are putting about one third of the House's seats at stake. At the same time, there are new senators to be voted to the second chamber of Congress. In addition, some states are voting for new governors this night.

Bad luck for President Obama whose healthcare program and economy stimulus plan are being rejected by the Republicans and their pacemakers, the Tea Party Movement, their common neoliberal position being: "Too much involvement of state endangers freedom of individual enterprise."

Yet, distribution of seats in the Senate is still undecided at this time. Maybe, the majority in Senate held by Obama's Democratic Party will turn out to remain solid.

U.S.A. - Where did all the jobs go ?

Globalization and U.S. Employment

It's time for the U.S. Midterm Elections, and President Obama
finds himself in an akward position. Even though he has reached
a compromise in his healthcare reform and brought initiatives on
their way to stop the financial crisis, he is steadily losing voters,
due to increasing unemployment that is above all hitting his Afro-
American supporters. Even the "American Dream" seems to be
damaged for those who are desperately looking for a job in one
of the most developed countries in the world.


But jobs did not simply vanish; instead, they have gone abroad to
all those people who are willing "to work more for less". That effect
of globalization could be predicted and handled if it had not been
accelerated by an unexpected global financial crisis and by national
development in China and India where an own infrastructure of
highly skilled workers and employees came into being.
It's a CNN feature that makes us understand what has happened in
the U.S. and what might influence European economy as well sooner
or later. Four CEOs, representing powerful U.S. companies like
Coca Cola, IBM, the world's greatest Aluminium smelter Alcoa and
Google, tell us what has happened in the frame of an unrestricted
globalization.



Another feature, produced by AL-Jazeera, is dealing with Obama's
Federal Stimulus Act that was intended to boost small enterprises
in areas characterized by high unemployment. Here, it seems that
government stimulus helped in some cases while others are doomed
because the stimulus plan ended too early for them after the U.S.
Congress showed itself unwilling to extend that program.



Further News of the Day:

As both, the U.S.A. and the European Union, are on the alert
because of explosive parcels from Jemen reaching their countries
via UPS cargo planes, the Jemenite government now decided to
investigate that affair. On October 30, the Jemenite president
declared that the residence of one suspect has been besieged
by Jemenite security forces (picture 1 below). The UPS office
in Sanaa, capital of Jemen, has been closed (picture 2 below).
In the meantime, the German government decided to stop all
passenger and cargo flights from Jemen and ordered to search
every item that has already arrived.
Latest news from November 1st have it that a 22-year-old woman
and who had been arrested as a suspect the day before has been
released only some time later. Jemenite efforts are now concentrated
on hunting Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri (picture 3 below), regarded as
"Al-Qaeda's senior bombmaker" in Jemen while he is still at large
in an area of the country that is difficult to be controlled by regular
security forces.