At November's end, Mohammed Elbaradei will be stepping down as the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency. He will be replaced by Japan's Yukiya Amano, who won the vote after a deadlock of a month"s time.
There has been talk about Elbaradei vis-à-vis the Egyptian presidency. However, in what must have been quite embarrassing to the current administration, Elbaradei stated that he might consider running if:
'There would have to be built-in guarantees hat the election be run properly' and adding: 'I will only consider it if there is a free and fair election and that remains a question mark in Egypt', Elbaradei said on an interview with CNN.
Only a month and it will be 20 years from the death penalty of Nicolae Ceausescu and from the communism fall in Romania.
But today, young people don't really know what happened only a few years ago. http://www.inaltreparole.net/en/world/romania20annidopoceausescu191109.htmlOnly a month and it will be 20 years from the death penalty of Nicolae Ceausescu and... more
Italy is gripped by crisis and unemployment and with democracy in danger, but is not the only nation in Western Europe in these conditions. Greece experience a similar situation in many respects. Even though recently there the Socialist Party won the election, still isn't ended the social unrest that followed the death of a 15 years old student, killed by police on 6 December 2008. New clashes between students and the Greek police took place on November 17. http://www.inaltreparole.net/en/world/grecia191109.htmlItaly is gripped by crisis and unemployment and with democracy in danger, but is not... more
Major Nidal Hasan, accused of killing 13 people at Fort Hood Army base, has been described by former colleagues as "psychotic." As more details emerge about Hasan's troubled state, gun safety advocates are launching fresh attacks on a Senate bill they say would make it easier for mentally unstable veterans to buy firearms.
Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) says his "Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act" will protect veterans' gun rights. But the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence calls it a "dangerous" proposal that could allow "over 100,000 mentally incapacitated or incompetent persons" to buy guns—people who would previously have been barred from doing so by the Veterans Administration (VA).
(click on the link for the full story and for the in-text links)Major Nidal Hasan, accused of killing 13 people at Fort Hood Army base, has been... more
Tony Blair's hopes of becoming president of the European Council are fading after his supporters failed to secure the backing of EU leaders.
Earlier Gordon Brown said Mr Blair would be an "excellent candidate" but Downing Street is now less optimistic.
Earlier Mr Brown had told the leaders at a fringe meeting at the EU summit that they should "get real" and grasp a unique opportunity to get a "strong progressive politician" like Mr Blair as president.
The prospect of a Blair presidency has also proved controversial in the UK.
Both the Tories and Liberal Democrats have said they would oppose it.
And a YouGov poll in Friday's Daily Telegraph suggested that less than a third of British voters would support Mr Blair's candidacy
What I want to know is who exactly makes up the almost a third, that would support Tony Blair's presidency, must have been his and the bush family.
But seriously, whether he gets the job or not, the fact that his name was even mentioned just shows how the EU actually works, they obviously don't care about the thoughts and feelings of the hundreds of millions in the EU and they will just do what they like. And soon we are to sign over all our rights to undemocratically elected leaders hell bent on money, power and destruction, but mind you, thats the kind of government we've had all along.
Tony Blair should be made head of a stronger European Union that would be able to compete with China and the United States on the world stage, the Foreign Secretary said yesterday.
David Miliband said that the new EU president needed to be someone who “stopped the traffic” in Washington and Beijing and was guaranteed the highest access to world leaders.
The Foreign Secretary told the BBC that a Blair presidency would be “very good for Britain as well as very good for Europe”.
Mr Miliband is a Blairite, but Gordon Brown has also supported Mr Blair’s candidacy from the start. Labour MPs believe that the Prime Minister’s short-term ambitions would be helped by an EU president who so antagonised the Tories. In addition, if Mr Brown lost the election and hoped for an international post, having Mr Blair in such a powerful role would be no disadvantage.
Mr Miliband told the Andrew Marr Show that the Lisbon treaty gave Europe a more efficient system for running its affars. “It needs to take that opportunity, otherwise we will find the world run by America and China without any reference to us,” he said. “It all comes down to what the heads of government want the job to be. It’s about whether or not Europe wants a strong leader in that position. I think that hasn’t yet been resolved in the minds of a number of Europe’s leaders.”
It appears us mere humans are missing something here, Tony Blair, one of the most deplorable and hated (by normal thinking people anyway) could rule over the EU, and in turn the EU will rule over us, are people forgetting we chased him out of office as he was so detested?!
Further proof to the fact that this is a dictatorship, not a democracy, and we do not choose our leaders, and we do not make the rules, hell we don't even have the slightest say!
And why Blair? for his wonderful work in the middle east? why didn't he get the Nobel prize then?
also i'm guessing George Bush turned the job down, so second best ey?Tony Blair should be made head of a stronger European Union that would be able to... more
Uruguayans may have the most interesting presidential race in years with the far left ex-rebel Jose Musical 74, running against former president Luis Alberto Lacalle, 69, the National Party candidate who was president in 1990-95. Lacalle who privatized government services while he was president is currently behind in polls.
Uruguayans also were voting for two other important issues. One would remove amnesty for human rights violations during Uruguay's 1973-85 dictatorship, opening up dozens of former military officials to prosecution. Another would allow Uruguayan citizens living overseas to vote by mail. Mujica favored both measures; Lacalle opposed them.
In many ways they are voting for the future and the past, of Uruguay.Uruguayans may have the most interesting presidential race in years with the far left... more
Report calls Eritrea world's worst country for press freedom
Posted: 05:36 PM ET
(CNN) - How bad is it to be a journalist in Eritrea? Even reporters who leave the Horn of Africa nation are fearful of talking about what happens there, according to Reporters Without Borders.
The group rated Eritrea as the world's worst place to be a journalist in its annual report on press freedom, issued Tuesday.
"Nobody knows about that country, because you can't report on what's going on there," said Clothilde Le Coz, the Washington director of Reporters Without Borders. Eritrean journalists who travel abroad won't talk, she said, because "they really fear for their lives."
The group's report offered a mixed view of how much freedom journalists had in 175 nations from September 1, 2008, through August 31, 2009, based on a 40-question survey completed by hundreds of media figures around the world.
It showed the Baltic Sea region as the best place for media freedom, with five of the top six nations on the list - Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Norway and Sweden - located there.
Conversely, Eritrea was rated the worst - No. 175 - slightly behind North Korea, Turkmenistan, Iran, Burma and Cuba.
The United States was rated No. 20, an improvement of 20 places over the previous year, with the report citing "Barack Obama's election as president and the fact that he has a less hawkish approach than his predecessor."
What blackmarket crazy stuff are these people hiding?!Report calls Eritrea world's worst country for press freedom
Posted: 05:36 PM ET... more
China and Iran are certainly not the only dictatorship in the world but are leading the ranking of countries applicating the death penalty. In China, in 2008 more than 1700 were executed, in Iran 350. But the worst thing is that a good proportion of those convicted hadn't a fair trial and probably many of them had committed no crime other than to oppose the dictatorship. Iran has just sentenced to death 4 opponents who would had participated in recent protests.China and Iran are certainly not the only dictatorship in the world but are leading... more
On October 4, Mercedes Sosa is dead. Her songs were a musical symbol of the fight against violent Argentina dictatorship. She has been censored first, then she was arrested and, at the end, she was forced into exile in 1979.On October 4, Mercedes Sosa is dead. Her songs were a musical symbol of the fight... more
He controls the vast majority of italian media but denies it and says unashamedly that newspapers are all against him. He has been investigated and convicted with reasonable grounds in different trials, but says that the judiciary is biased against him. He attacked and insulted anyone who criticizes him for years and then complains because they hate him. He says he is libertarian and then destroys freedom. He says he is christian and then pass the most anti-christian laws and has a not christian at all private behavior.He controls the vast majority of italian media but denies it and says unashamedly that... more
On October 3 in Piazza del Popolo in Rome, 300,000 people demonstrated for press freedom. Italians citizens who are worried by the increasingly menacing authoritarianism of this government, headed by a prime minister who doesn't want talks on television about his many dark sides, enact laws like the return to nuclear power, the security decree, the destruction of public school, the rejections of refugees and other not-so-good things.On October 3 in Piazza del Popolo in Rome, 300,000 people demonstrated for press... more
The reactions to the first two episodes of the news show Annozero have made it very clear to what extent freedom of information is at risk in Italy and so why we need a rally to defend it as the one of 3 October in Rome. The show of Santoro had simply showed what all international newspapers and televisions have reported in recent months: the statements of Patrizia D'Addario and Tarantini.The reactions to the first two episodes of the news show Annozero have made it very... more
Africa is the land where humanity was born and is also the mirror that shows the world all the problems that humanity has never been able to solve. Corrupt governments controlled by oligarchic groups, international companies that seek to control them at the expense of citizens, environmental destruction, poverty, diseases and social problems which aren't solved yet. But the real drama of modern Africa is still the heavy legacy of colonialism.Africa is the land where humanity was born and is also the mirror that shows the world... more
The newspapers, at first Italians and then international, haven't scared him much. The sexual scandal, Noemi, Patrizia D'Addario and everything that has happened in recent months have annoyed him and subsequently he ordered his faithful thugs to attack anyone, even the very moderate editor of italian bishops' newspaper. But only now Papi is really in a panic. The fear that grips him arises from the feeling of being abandoned by his one true God: Audience.The newspapers, at first Italians and then international, haven't scared him much. The... more
As always happens with the news from far away countries, Burma is remembered only when there are street protests or when there is one more trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader imprisoned for years. But of course the tragedy of the Burmese people continues, and sometimes manifests itself externally in other ways, as in the mass exodus to China of certain minorities, which occurred recently.As always happens with the news from far away countries, Burma is remembered only when... more
Obama in 2016? Yes we can! Work has already begun to repeal the 22nd amendment, making possible a third term for President Barack Obama. We, the good people of this great nation, already did what some thought impossible. We helped elect an enigmatic junior Senator, Barack H. Obama, the 44th President of the United States.
Once again the good people of this nation are coming together to support change. The time is now to repeal the 22nd amendment. We must preserve our ability to choose. The right man for the job, the right man for the time, the right man for the circumstance, is President Barack Obama.
For more info: End22.com
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Obama in 2016?Obama in 2016? Yes we can! Work has already begun to repeal the 22nd amendment, making... more
Iran and Venezuela strengthen ties as Venezuela’s president Hugo Chavez met with Iran’s Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Yesterday, the two countries signed an agreement yesterday for Venezuela to export 20,000 barrels of gasoline to Iran each day.
Fernando Coronil, a professor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, joins Daljit Dhaliwal to discuss the export of oil to Iran that undermines any new sanctions against Iran, as well as this weekend’s protests in Venezuela and Hugo Chavez’s suspension of radio stations.Iran and Venezuela strengthen ties as Venezuela’s president Hugo Chavez met with... more
More and more people realize that our premier is anti-democratic and dangerous for democracy. The Church realize that, too, after the attacks against its newspaper and the inhumane immigration laws. The European Union, the foreign press, even the Italian economists realize it. Because his attacks multiply and spread.More and more people realize that our premier is anti-democratic and dangerous for... more
Historically, dictators are stupid and almost always manage to destroy themselves. One can say that's in their nature. The attempt to seize more power as possible, rampant paranoia , the pathological need for adulation, and the tendency to surround themselves with men more stupid than they are often cause their downfall. Besides if they were of sound mind they would not be dictators.Historically, dictators are stupid and almost always manage to destroy themselves. One... more
