Headlines

Politics

• Obama: US Diplomatic “Surge” Should Include Iran
• Hillary Opposes Columbia Agreement, Bill Supports It

US

• General Petraus Tells Congress Troop Withdrawal May Have To Be Halted This Summer (Video)
• Olympic Flame Arrives In San Francisco, City Braces For Massive Protests (Video)
• Emotional Bush Awards Posthumous Medal Of Honor To SEAL Who Dove On Grenade (Video)
• Congress Threatens To Shut Down Domestic Spy Satellite Program
• CBS Denies CNN Outsourcing Deal In Works

International

• World Poverty To Halve By 2015, Except In Africa
• Iran Installs 6,000 New Uranium-Enriching Centrifuges, Expanding Nuclear Weapons Program (Video)
• Al-Sadr Calls Off Major Protest In Baghdad Citing Security Fears
• Former Israeli President Abandons Plea Bargain, Faces Rape Charges
• Mob Violence Resurfaces In Kenya
• Zimbabwe Election Violence Spreads (Video)
• Haitians Riot Over Soaring Food Costs, Attacking Presidential Palace (Video)
• Russia Demands Permanent Access To Missile Defense Stations, US Says No
• US Guarantees Philippines’ Rice Supply

Business & Economics

• Fed Pumps Another $50 Billion Into Credit Markets, Bringing Total To $310 Billion
• IMF: Mortgage Crisis May Cost $1 Trillion
• Greenspan Defends Fed Actions, Says Economy Is In Recession
• Oil Expected To Average Over $100 In 2008 

Photo of the Day

“A baby with two faces was born in a northern Indian village, where she is doing well and is being worshipped as the reincarnation of a Hindu goddess, her father said Tuesday.”

Politics

Obama: US Diplomatic “Surge” Should Include Iran

Speaking during yesterday’s Senate hearings that featured top US Iraq commander General David Petraus and Iraq Ambassador Ryan Crocker, Obama called for the US to launch a “diplomatic surge”, that includes Iran in a plan to stabilize Iraq. Ambassador Crocker has recently gone on record saying he is ready to continue talks with Iran, after the US held three rounds of talks with them to talk about Iraq’s security situation. Iran is funneling weapons, money, and expertise to Shia insurgent groups inside Iraq, waging their own proxy war against the US.

Hillary Opposes Columbia Agreement, Bill Supports It

In a strange marital twist, Hillary Clinton’s campaign announced yesterday that despite her ardent opposition to a free trade agreement with Columbia, her husband supports such an agreement, complicating her campaign in Pennsylvania, a state with a large number of union workers. Many traditional Democrats oppose free trade agreements as they claim the agreements send US jobs overseas.

US

General Petraus Tells Congress Troop Withdrawal May Have To Be Halted This Summer (Video)

“The top U.S. commander in Iraq told Congress Tuesday that hard-won gains in the war zone are too fragile to promise any troop pullouts beyond this summer, holding his ground against impatient Democrats and refusing to commit to more withdrawals before President Bush leaves office in January.” General Petraus has proposed a 45-day evaluation period this summer - a proposal that President Bush is expected to endorse - at the conclusion of which the decision will be made whether to further withdraw troops or maintain troop levels. The General testified that despite the progress made since the “surge” last year, there are still a host of concerns that warrant taking a conservative approach. Both Democrat Presidential candidates support a rapid, phased withdrawal of US forces from Iraq in 12 to 18 months of the next President taking office.

Olympic Flame Arrives In San Francisco, City Braces For Massive Protests (Video)

“The Olympic torch arrived [in San Francisco] for its only North American stop amid heavy security Tuesday, a day after its visit to Paris descended into chaos and activists here scaled the Golden Gate Bridge to protest China’s human rights record. Meanwhile, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said the body’s executive board would discuss Friday whether to end the international leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay because of widespread protests.
The torch’s global journey was supposed to highlight China’s growing economic and political power. But activists opposing China’s human rights policies and a recent crackdown” on Tibetan freedom demonstrators.

Emotional Bush Awards Posthumous Medal Of Honor To SEAL Who Dove On Grenade (Video)

President Bush a posthumous Medal of Honor - the military’s highest honor - to the parents of Navy SEAL Michael Monsoor yesterday, in recognition of his heroic act that saved the life of two other SEAL snipers and three Iraqi soldiers. When in September of 2006 a grenade was thrown onto the roof on which they were positioned, Petty Officer Monsoor dove on top of the grenade, killing himself but saving the lives of the other soldiers. Prior to his death, Monsoor had already been awarded the Silver Star - the military’s third-highest decoration - and the Bronze Star - the fourth-highest - for his service in Iraq.

Congress Threatens To Shut Down Domestic Spy Satellite Program

Congress is threatening to shut down a program - the benignly-named National Applications Office - being launched by the Department of Homeland Security that will use US spy satellites to provide emergency responders and security officials with domestic imagery. Congressional Democrats are not satisfied that the program has safeguards in place to prevent the agency from using the imagery for domestic spying purposes, and they say it is not even clear whether using spy satellites for domestic purposes is even legal.

CBS Denies CNN Outsourcing Deal In Works

Responding to a report in yesterday’s New York Times, CBS News denied they were in talks with CNN to outsource news gathering to the cable network. CBS News shows consistently place last in the ratings, despite its legendary history in pioneering network news.

International

World Poverty To Halve By 2015, Except In Africa

“The world is on course to halve extreme poverty by 2015, but Africa will fall far short of the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.”

Middle East

Iran Installs 6,000 New Uranium-Enriching Centrifuges, Expanding Nuclear Weapons Program (Video)

Iran’s President Ahmadinejad defiantly announced yesterday that his country has successfully installed 6,000 new uranium-enriching centrifuges in addition to the 3,000 it already has in place, prompting condemnation from world leaders who claim Iran is building a thinly-disguised nuclear weapons program. Ahmadinejad also announced the successful testing of new centrifuges that are five-times more efficient than their current ones. The UN Security Council has already hit Iran with two rounds of sanctions for failing to halt uranium enrichment and allow nuclear inspectors unfettered access to the program, with the US piling on additional financial sanctions of its own. Leaders are meeting in China next week to discuss further action, with military force becoming an increasingly viable option of last resort. One of Israel’s cabinet ministers reiterated a promise to “destroy the Iranian nation” in response to any attack.

Al-Sadr Calls Off Major Protest In Baghdad Citing Security Fears

“The radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr on Tuesday called off a huge demonstration in Baghdad, citing fears for his supporters’ safety if they confronted Iraqi government and American forces, while his fighters continued to battle those forces.” The demonstration was to protest the fifth anniversary of the US capturing Baghdad. The Iraqi army has been intermittently battling al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army since two weeks ago, when the army launched a rushed offensive designed to crack down on the militia’s influence and control over the major southern city of Basra.

Former Israeli President Abandons Plea Bargain, Faces Rape Charges

“In a dramatic courtroom twist, Moshe Katsav, the former president of Israel, backed out of a plea agreement on Tuesday that required him to admit to having committed sexual offenses against female employees. The decision could lead to the spectacle of a long, sordid trial and possibly the reinstatement of rape charges that had been dropped in the plea bargain.”

Africa

Mob Violence Resurfaces In Kenya

“Riots erupted in Kenya on Tuesday as opposition leaders announced that they were suspending talks with the government over a stalled power sharing agreement. According to witnesses, dozens of young men stormed into the streets of Kibera, a sprawling slum in the capital, Nairobi, lighting bonfires, ripping up railroad tracks and throwing rocks at police officers in a scene reminiscent of the violence that convulsed Kenya in the wake of the Dec. 27 election.” After the disputed election, mob violence erupt across the country, with fighting along tribal lines and roaming gangs of men hacking their neighbors with machetes. The fighting surprised the world as Kenya was known as a bastion of stability in the tumultuous continent.

Zimbabwe Election Violence Spreads (Video)

“Ten days after Zimbabwe voted and by most accounts rejected its long-serving, autocratic president, Robert Mugabe, the mood of the country grew more ominous on Tuesday. The opposition reported widespread attacks on its supporters, black youths drove white farmers off their land and election officials were accused of vote tampering and arrested. As Mr. Mugabe sought to cling to power beyond his 28th year in office, the High Court began to weigh the demand of the opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change, for the immediate release of the presidential election results. They have still not been announced, but the opposition says they will give it victory. With international pressure building on Mr. Mugabe’s government to tell his nation who won, the police, part of his apparatus of power, arrested five election officials accused of tampering with the vote to the detriment of Mr. Mugabe’s tally.”

Americas

Haitians Riot Over Soaring Food Costs, Attacking Presidential Palace (Video)

“Haitians stormed the presidential palace in Port-au-Prince to demand the resignation of Rene Preval, the country’s president, while going on a rampage in the capital over soaring food prices.”

Europe

Russia Demands Permanent Access To Missile Defense Stations, US Says No

Russia is demanding it have permanent, unfettered access to the radar stations the US is proposing to install in Poland and the Czech Republic as part of its missile defense shield. The missile defense system is intended to protect the US and its allies against attacks from rogue nations such as Iran and North Korea, but Russia opposes the system since it negate part of its nuclear arsenal and claims the radar stations will be used to monitor Russian activities. The US and partner countries have agreed to a series of measures that will give Russia access to the system’s workings, but reject the idea that Russia will be allowed permanent access.

Asia

US Guarantees Philippines’ Rice Supply

“The U.S. vowed to supply the Philippines with as much rice as the world’s biggest buyer of the cereal needs after some of the largest exporters cut sales to safeguard domestic stockpiles. Rice, the staple food for half the world, has doubled in price in the past year as China, Egypt, Vietnam and India, representing more than a third of global shipments, reduced sales to secure domestic supplies.”

Business & Economics

Fed Pumps Another $50 Billion Into Credit Markets, Bringing Total To $310 Billion

The Federal Reserve announced yesterday that it had auctioned off another $50 billion in loans to banks who continue suffering from the credit market meltdown, bringing the Fed’s total commitments to $310 billion since last December. The International Monetary Fund released a report ahead of its meetings this week that called on national governments to be prepared to do more to prop up the international financial system as it continues to show signs of strain. Private lending has all but dried up after banks around the world were forced to write off billions in bad loans, a cycle was kicked off when the housing market started collapsing, making billions of risky mortgage-backed securities worthless as defaults soared.

IMF: Mortgage Crisis May Cost $1 Trillion

“The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday that financial losses stemming from the U.S. mortgage crisis might approach $1 trillion, citing a ‘collective failure’ to predict the breadth of the crisis.”

Greenspan Defends Fed Actions, Says Economy Is In Recession

In an interview with CNBC, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said he thinks the US economy is in recession, that it’s appropriate for the government to be using public funds to stop the mortgage credit crisis, and defended his actions at the helm of the Fed, saying global economics forced the Fed to keep interest rates low, which led to the housing bubble and its subsequent bust.

Oil Expected To Average Over $100 In 2008

“Federal energy officials expect oil to average $101 a barrel this year, a sharp upward revision from its earlier forecast that suggests prices will remain above $100 for some time.“