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 ?