08 Jun 11
China warns U.S. debt-default idea is "playing with fire"
Republican lawmakers are "playing with fire" by contemplating even a brief debt default as a means to force deeper government spending cuts, an adviser to China's central bank said on Wednesday.
Greek joblessness at record as new austerity looms
Unemployment in debt-ridden Greece hit new record highs in March as government officials wrangled over tough new austerity measures required to tap the country's rescue funds. The jobless rate increased to 16.2 percent in March from 15.9 percent in February, the country's statistics agency said Wednesday. The total number of Greeks out of work was 811,340, up 40 percent from a year earlier, when the unemployment rate was 11.6 percent.
Thousands ordered out of Ariz. town as fire nears
Flames from a mammoth forest fire licked the ridges surrounding the eastern Arizona town of Eagar on Tuesday afternoon, forcing the evacuation of about half the 4,000 residents as surrounding towns also prepared to empty.
United Russia pushes for Putin to lead election campaign
Analysts see Putin's project as a bid to boost his United Russia party's flagging popularity and head off a potentially damaging poor showing in upcoming parliamentary elections.
Report: China overtakes US as top energy consumer
Oil company BP said Wednesday that China moved to the top in 2010 with 20.3 percent of global demand, ahead of the United States at 19 percent. The report says China's consumption rose by 11.2 percent last year compared with 3.7 percent in the United States. China's surge led a 5.6 percent increase in global energy demand, the biggest one-year jump since 1973.
Mexican drug gangs building own tanks as war intensifies
Mexico's rival crime gangs are in an arms race, and the latest sign of that are the homemade "Mad Max" type heavily armored vehicles they deploy to withstand fierce clashes with each other.
Adrian Forms in Eastern Pacific
The first tropical storm of the season has formed in the eastern Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico.
The false messiah in the prime minister's office
On his perceived-as-victorious return from Washington, the Rome of today, Netanyahu was welcomed at the messianic core like an anointed king.
Russia Prepares to Throw Qaddafi Under the Bus
The Russians claim that during the recent meeting of the G-8 at the end of May, the Russians were asked to intervene. Dmitry Medvedev's spokeswoman Natalia Timakova revealed"In the bilateral meetings, everyone thanked the president for his constructive position on Libya. More than that, in practically all the discussions it was requested that Russia undertake a mediation mission for a settlement in Libya,".
77% of Jews Oppose Obama ‘Peace’ Formula
Seventy seven percent of the Jews in Israel reject an Israeli retreat to 1949 Armistice lines with small border modifications in a peace deal, a poll sponsored by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs has found. The respondents said they would oppose such a retreat even if it was part of a peace deal in which the Arab Countries declared an end to the conflict with Israel.
Syrian uprising could spill over into region
Carnage in Jisr al-Shughour has taken the Syrian crisis to a new level, even as Bashar al-Assad's regime descends to new depths. Three risks now stand out. The first and most obvious is vicious regime retaliation against residents of the north-western town where 120 army and security personnel are said to have been killed. The second is the very real spectre of civil war raised by this escalation. Third, and most dangerous for Israel and the west, are growing, linked attempts by the regime and its ally Iran to externalise the conflict.
Is the U.N. Trying to Strip Americans’ Second Amendment Rights?
Bell claims that this international treaty, from the Obama administration’s perspective, is an opportunity to increase domestic gun control. If implemented, he believes it will enforce rougher licensing requirements, more red tape, create an “international gun registry,“ ”confiscate and destroy all ‘unauthorized’ civilian firearms’” and severely impede Americans’ right to bear arms.
Solar flare threatens to disrupt Earth's communications and power
The potent blast from the Sun unleashed a firestorm of radiation on a level not witnessed since 2006, and will likely lead to moderate geomagnetic storm activity by Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. "This one was rather dramatic," said Bill Murtagh, program coordinator at the NWS's Space Weather Prediction Center, describing the M-2 (medium-sized) solar flare that peaked at 1:41am Eastern time in the United States, or 0541 GMT.
GM's Akerson pushing for higher gas taxes
General Motors Co. CEO Dan Akerson wants the federal gas tax boosted as much as $1 a gallon to nudge consumers toward more fuel-efficient cars, and he's confident the government will soon shed its remaining 26 percent stake in the once-bankrupt automaker. "I actually think the government will be out this year — within the next 12 months, hopefully within the next six months," Akerson said in a two-hour interview with The Detroit News last week.
UK and France seek UN action over Syria's crackdown
Britain and France are stepping up pressure for a UN Security Council vote condemning the Syrian government's suppression of months of unrest. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said it was "inconceivable that the UN remains silent" in the face of worsening violence. Britain plans to present a draft resolution later on Wednesday.
East Africa faces 'world's worst food security crisis'
The world's worst food security crisis is continuing in the eastern Horn of Africa, a US agency has warned. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (Fewsnet) said areas of particular concern were in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. It said large-scale emergency assistance was urgently needed "to save lives and treat acute malnutrition" in the region.
Erekat: Negotiations will restart If PM accepts 1967 lines
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that the Palestinians were ready to restart peace negotiations if based around the principles US President Barack Obama laid out in his State Department dress on the Middle East, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. ...He also said that according to what the prime minister said at the US Congress during his Washington visit, "he's not a partner for peace."
France: We're moving ahead with Paris peace conference
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe on Tuesday said that France is moving ahead with an initiative to bring together Israelis and Palestinians at a peace conference in Paris this summer, despite US reservations about the plan, The Associated Press reported. Addressing the French initiative on Monday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that "there is no agreement that the parties will resume negotiations. And I think the idea of any gathering, a conference or a meeting, has to be linked to a willingness by the parties to resume negotiating."
Syrians flee to Turkey as Assad sends tanks to quell rebels
At least 120 Syrians fled the restive northern town of Jisr al-Shugur towards the Turkish border, fearing bloodshed as troops with tanks approached, under orders to hit back after the government accused armed bands there of killing scores of its security men. Turkish Prime Minister Recip Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would not "close its doors" to the refugees fleeing unrest.
