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HEADLINE Economic, Financial & Global News...
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Friday 06.22.2012
Moody's downgrades credit ratings of giant global banks
The credit rating downgrades included Goldman Sachs Group, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Bank of America.
By E. Scott Reckard, Los Angeles Times
Moody's Investors Serviceslashed the credit ratings of more than a dozen giant global banks amid worries that Europe's economic turmoil could slow both profit and growth.
The downgrades, announced after the close of U.S. financial markets Thursday, included Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley,Citigroup Inc. andBank of America Corp.
Moody's downgrades 15 of the world's biggest banks
By Peter Schroeder - TheHill.com
Moody's Investors Service issued downgrades to 15 of the world's biggest banks Thursday, saying that they all had "significant exposure" to volatility and risk inherent in their global trading activities.
Banks such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America were among the firms downgraded by the rating agency — a move that could require the banks to pony up billions in additional collateral to cover their derivatives transactions, and also make it more expensive for them to borrow.
The Government's Plan to Steal Your Money
By Simon Black - DailyReckoning.com
06/21/12 New York City – There are consequences to being flat broke. There are consequences to investing any level of confidence in a financial system underpinned by debt and the creation of paper currency. There are consequences for ignoring reality and pretending that everything is normal.
This is one of them: European officials have flat-out admitted that they were discussing rolling out a series of harsh capital controls across the continent, including bank withdrawal limits and closing down Europe's borderless Schengen area.
Iceland PM: Europe should copy us
Europe should follow Iceland's model of winning public support for austerity measures and returning to economic growth after a crisis, according to Iceland Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir. Speaking in an interview with Reuters, the union activist-turned-politician said the euro zone should learn lessons, such as how to mix unorthodox policies with measured austerity, from the tiny island nation.
"We believe, and so does the IMF, that our case can be a role model for some of the countries in crisis now," she told Reuters. "I've met with several leaders over the past years, some from Greece, and many prime ministers have been surprised by our economic turnaround and asked how we did it."
Bank 'throws kitchen sink' at credit problem
The eurozone crisis seems on the cusp of some kind of denouement. The trouble is that no one can possibly know what that long-awaited outcome will be.
By Liam Halligan - Telegraph.co.uk
Maybe Germany will finally relent and agree to massive monetisation and "debt-pooling" – effectively bailing out the rest of the eurozone. Or perhaps, once again, the eurocrats will "extend and pretend", building an even higher financial firewall, while continuing to muddle through.
The danger is, though, that the markets lose patience, sparking a violent "Lehman style" financial meltdown, with all the global fall-out that would entail. While that would be disastrous, the worst of all possible outcomes, there is a growing sense that it is only another "Minsky moment", combined with some serious civil unrest, that will force the eurozone's main policy players to face the really tough decisions.
The IMF helping the euro
is feeding the monster on our doorstep
IMF help would set the eurozone on the road to fiscal and political union – let's not encourage it
By Jeremy Warner - Telegraph.co.uk
Europe will "receive lessons from nobody" on democracy and the economy, José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, angrily declared at the G20 meeting in Mexico this week. Whenever a politician petulantly resorts to use of this tired old cliché, you know he's lost the plot. But, unconsciously, Mr Barroso was making an important point. Viewed collectively, the 17 nations that make up the eurozone are still one of the two richest regions in the world, and on many other measures of economic success – balance of trade, overall size of budget deficit and national debt relative to GDP – they beat the US by a country mile. A visitor from Mars, looking at the aggregate data, would declare the eurozone a model economy.
IMF Sees Euro Crisis at Critical Stage
By Jeff Kearns - Businessweek.com
The euro area crisis has reached a "critical stage" and member nations must make a "strong commitment" to the shared currency to stop the plunge in investor confidence, the International Monetary Fund said in a report that recommended issuing common debt as one solution.
Mario Monti: we have a week to save the eurozone
Italian prime minister warns that there is no room for failure in talks between single currency's big four countries
By John Hooper in Rome - The Guardian
Italy's prime minister, Mario Monti, has warned of the apocalyptic consequences of failure at next week's summit of EU leaders, outlining a potential death spiral whose consequences would become more political than economic.
The Italian leader is to hold talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, the French president, François Hollande, and Spain's prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, in the hope that the single currency's big four countries can pave the way for a breakthrough at next week's meeting.
The End of the Euro Is Not About Austerity
By SIMON JOHNSON - NYTimes.com
Most current policy discussion concerning the euro area is about austerity. Some people, particularly in German government circles, are pushing for tighter fiscal policies in troubled countries (i.e., higher taxes and lower government spending). Others, including in the new French government, are more inclined to push for a more expansive fiscal policy where possible and to resist fiscal contraction elsewhere.
Debt crisis: desperate Monti needs Merkel summit deal
to stop revolt at home
Italy's technocrat government risks a parliamentary mutiny unless premier Mario Monti can secure major concessions from Germany at a crucial summit of the eurozone's Big Four powers in Rome on Friday.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
"Monti is desperate. Reform fatigue has breached breaking point," said a top Italian official. "There is a feeling here that the euro is basically dead already. Unless Germany offers a road map out of this crisis, Monti is not going to be able to hold it together much longer."
The main Left and Right parties have until now backed Mr Monti's fiscal squeeze – a net tightening of 3.2pc of GDP this year – and radical reform of pension and labour markets.
Keiser Report: Runaway Greek Cash (E304)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss economic Jack and the Beanstalk style miracles that look a whole lot like simple ponzi schemes that Lilliputian financial journalists fail to report. In the second half of the show Max talks to Satyajit Das, author of Extreme Money, about the European debt crisis, how much longer Germany can stay solvent and whether German banks would have survived if the Irish taxpayer had not bailed them out in the first place.
Greek coalition government unveiled
Former anti-junta activist Vassilis Rapanos named finance minister in cabinet that new PM says will be long-lived
by Helena Smith in Athens - Guardian.co.uk
A new coalition government has been announced in Greece, as eurozone finance ministers met in Luxembourg.
In a surprise move, Vassilis Rapanos, a renowned economist with a radical past as an anti-junta activist, was given the post of finance minister.
With the country's future in the eurozone hanging in the balance despite the elevation to power of pro-European parties in Athens, Rapanos's appointment was greeted with enthusiasm.
Greece Sells Assets, Including Island Resorts,
Planes, Highways, Buildings To Pay Down Debt
The Huffington Post | By James Sunshine
When governments announce that the sale of assets, they usually mean industries and companies owned and operated by the state. Greece has something slightly different in mind.
According to Bloomberg, Greece is preparing to sell its ownership stake in Astir Palace, described by the news agency as an "Athenian Riviera resort." The resort includes almost 3 million square feet of beachfront property where guests can experience "the city and the seaside," according to its website. Aristotelis Karytinos, the general manager of real estate for the National Bank of Greece, called Astir Palace a "trophy asset."
Size of Spanish banking crisis revealed
as British banks brace for downgrade
By Giles Tremlett in Madrid and Jill Treanor - Guardian.co.uk
Britain's banks were facing downgrades of their credit ratings on Thursday night – just hours after the markets began digesting an admission by Spain that its own banks might need up to €62bn (£50bn) of bailout money to see them through the next three years.
The result of an independent audit of Spain's banks put the gap in their finances at between €16bn and €62bn – close to the €50bn calculated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) two weeks ago.
Spanish banks need up to $78BN
APNews.MyWay.com
MADRID (AP) - Spain's troubled banks could need as much as (EURO)62 billion ($78.76 billion) in new capital to withstand future economic shocks, independent auditors have calculated.
Presenting the results of the auditors' reports into the country's struggling financial sector, Deputy Bank of Spain Governor Fernando Restoy noted that this worst-case scenario was far below the (EURO)100 billion ($127.04 billion) loan lifeline offered by the 17 countries that use the euro.
Abandoning Ship
The Eurozone Is Failing at an Accelerating Rate
BY ALASDAIR MACLEOD - FinancialSense.com
It will be no surprise to PeakProsperity.com readers that the news coming out of the Eurozone just gets worse and worse. The reality is that Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Greece, and France (in no particular order) are all in debt traps from which there is no escape. A debt trap is sprung when bankruptcy becomes the only outcome. With corporations, this usually becomes readily apparent and directors are forced by law to stop trading, but countries conceal this reality by printing money. Otherwise there is no difference in the two cases, despite what politicians and neoclassical economists would have us believe. This is why we are painfully aware that the Eurozone is in trouble, since nation states are unable to cover and conceal their obligations by printing money, having surrendered this role to the European Central Bank (ECB).
German, Chinese and US industry
suffer flattening effect of euro crisis
Recession spending decline and drop in output
and orders for goods hit manufacturers
By Phillip Inman, Economics correspondent - Guardian.co.uk
German manufacturing nosedived and US production slowed down last month amid concern that the euro crisis was dragging the world's biggest economies back into recession.
Stock markets fell on the news and the FTSE 100 lost 51 points to end the day at 5571, leading the French CAC and German Dax into negative territory.
A Wet Blanket of Debt
BY PAUL NOLTE - FinancialSense.com
The markets are rarely satisfied, wanting more monetary easing to help the liquidity "problem" that no longer exists or alternately wishing the Fed to tighten, if only to drain out the liquidity that has been poured over the financial markets since 2008. The global financial markets are beginning to paint themselves in a corner, expecting much more than politicians or central banks are ready or able to provide – at least right now. The not so little known secret is that everyone in power wishes to stay there, whether a central banker or politician (or CEO for that matter). It is when the unstoppable force meets the immovable object that things begin to get interesting. Those two forces are playing out in Europe and we all have a front row seat to the festivities.
Does Ben Bernanke Have Any Ammo Left?
By CHRISTOPHER MATTHEWS - Time.com
The Federal Reserve can't seem to get any love these days. Within hours of the bank's announcement that it would lower its growth and employment forecasts and continue its "Operation Twist" bond-buying program through the end of the year, the financial blogosphere was thick with criticism of Ben Bernanke and the central bank he heads.
From the left, the refrain has been that the Fed is not doing enough. The central bank has a duel mandate to keep prices stable and unemployment low, and inflation has been consistently low while unemployment remains stubbornly high. Writes Matthew Ylglesias in Slate:
Money As Debt II: promises unleashed (FULL MOVIE)
Paul Grignon's second presentation of "Money as Debt" tells in very simple and effective graphic terms what money is and how it is being created. It is an entertaining way to get the message out. The Cowichan Citizens Coalition and its "Duncan Initiative" received high praise from those who previewed it. I recommend it as a painless but hard-hitting educational tool and encourage the widest distribution and use by all groups concerned with the present unsustainable monetary system in Canada, the United States and in whole Europe.
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The JPM Derivatives Propping Up U.S. Debt
Why the Senate Won't Touch Jamie Dimon
by ELLEN BROWN - Counterpunch.org
When Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase Bank, appeared before the Senate Banking Committee on June 13, he was wearing cufflinks bearing the presidential seal. "Was Dimon trying to send any particular message by wearing the presidential cufflinks?" asked CNBC editor John Carney. "Was he . . . subtly hinting that he's really the guy in charge?"
The groveling of the Senators was so obvious that Jon Stewart did a spoof news clip on it, featured in a Huffington Post piece titled "Jon Stewart Blasts Senate's Coddling Of JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon," and Matt Taibbi wrote an op-ed called "Senators Grovel, Embarrass Themselves at Dimon Hearing." He said the whole thing was painful to watch.
The Fiscal Cliff Just Got Steeper
Posted by: Joshua Green - Businessweek.com
The Federal Reserve's announcement yesterday that it is extending "Operation Twist" through the end of the year means the economy will get a much-needed (though probably modest) boost: The Fed will sell an additional $267 billion of short-term bonds and buy long-term bonds in an effort to push down long-term interest rates. The idea is to spur investment and possibly lower already record-low mortgage rates.
Rio + 20 Times Eco-Tyranny We Faced in 1992:
Lord Monckton Reports on Agenda 21
Lord Christopher Monckton of the U.K.Independence Party breaks down the global Depopulation Agenda hiding behind the mask of Green Environmentalism in this interview on the Alex Jones Show.
Treasuries Remain Higher On Stocks
As Gross Warns Of Risk Assets
By Masaki Kondo - Bloomberg.com
Treasuries remained higher following a gain yesterday before German data forecast to show a gauge of business confidence in the euro region's biggest economy slid to a two-year low.
Demand for the safety of U.S. government securities was bolstered as Asian stocks extended a global rout. Bill Gross, who runs the world's largest mutual fund at Pacific Investment Management Co., said risk markets are vulnerable as the "monetary bag of tricks empties." Moody's Investors Service slashed credit ratings on 15 global banks, including Credit Suisse Group AG and UBS AG.
Factory, jobs data highlight struggling recovery
By Lucia Mutikani and Steven C. Johnson
(Reuters) - U.S. manufacturing grew at its slowest pace in 11 months in June and the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment aid fell only slightly last week, further evidence the economy was weakening.
Other reports on Thursday underscored the difficulty the economy was having breaking out of a soft patch. Factory activity in the Mid-Atlantic region tumbled to a 10-month low in June and home resales slipped in May.
How to make U.S. healthcare even worse
If the Supreme Court tosses the individual mandate yet keeps the rule that all consumers must be offered coverage despite their health, both rates and the number of uninsured will rise.
By David Lazarus - LATimes.com
What can we expect when the Supreme Court rules on healthcare reform in coming days? The prognosis isn't good.
I've spoken with various healthcare experts, and the consensus is that the conservative wing of the high court will probably strike down the so-called individual mandate that requires most people to buy insurance.
Pelosi: 'Let's Hope and Pray the Court
Will Love the Constitution More Than It Loves Broccoli'
By Elizabeth Harrington - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) – House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday poked fun at an analogy, used in the argument over the individual mandate in Obamacare, that likens the federal government ordering individuals to buy health insurance to the federal government ordering people to buy broccoli.
"Let's hope and pray that the court will love the Constitution more than it loves broccoli," Pelosi said at her Capitol Hill press conference.
Justice Antonin Scalia used the broccoli analogy when the Supreme Court was hearing oral arguments on the constitutionality of the Obamacare individual mandate in March.
Sebelius: Congress 'Carefully Weighed Its Authority' on Obamacare--Even Though Members Couldn't Say Where Constitution Authorized It
By Matt Cover - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) – In a commentary published Sunday in Politico, Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius defended Obamacare's individual mandate that says people must buy health insurance, stating, "Congress carefully weighed its authority in writing the law."
However, as CNSNews.com reported at the time, many U.S. lawmakers were unable to answer the simple question, "Where specifically in the Constitution does Congress get its authority to mandate that individuals purchase health insurance?"
Wichita City Council faces big decision on airport terminal
Wichita Business Journal by John Stearns, Reporter
The Wichita City Council, in its capacity as the Wichita Airport Authority, is facing a whopper of a decision when it tackles Dondlinger & Sons Construction's protest over its bid to build the new terminal at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport.
Last week, an Airport Authority committee found Dondlinger's low bid of $99.4 million — submitted in conjunction with a partner, Hunt Construction Group of Phoenix — inadequate because of what the committee deemed to be a failure to make a "good-faith effort" to get minority and other disadvantaged subcontractors — known as DBEs, or disadvantaged business enterprises — on board.
The Economic Abuse Of Veterans In America
By Attorney Christy Brandon - CollapseNet.com
Volunteering to join the military has always been a process rife with internal and external conflictions. A vital aspect of one's ultimate decision to do so often depends greatly upon the era in which one becomes eligible. U.S. citizens leaped at the chance to defend their country at the onset of World War II because the enemies were indeed a legitimate and obvious threat to the freedom and sovereignty of all nations. During Vietnam, the waters were muddied (at least in the view of millions of citizens), and many Americans did not see the fight as their own. The line between our system, and the enemies we were supposed to despise, had become progressively more foggy and disjointed. For any wise and honorable man to go out of his way to risk his life, the fight must be clearly just, otherwise, he may feel that his death will serve no purpose.
WWII Vet Warren Bodeker Needs Your Help:
Being Forced From Home and Forced to Exhume Wife's
Huh? Oh yes you SHOULD BE ALARMED - If you live in St Louis... ASK WHY... expose it for what it really is.
U.S. Army training in St. Louis
KSDK.com
St. Louis (KSDK) -- St. Louis City residents should not be alarmed if they see military vehicles in their neighborhoods.
The U.S. Army is conducting training in St. Louis June 21-28.
Police said residents in the police department's sixth district may be most likely to see the vehicles. The sixth district includes neighborhoods in north St. Louis.
Billionnaire CEO Larry Ellison buys Hawaiian island
Reuters - Independent.co.uk
Oracle's chief executive Larry Ellison has bought 98 percent of Hawaii's sixth-largest island, Lanai, the state's governor has announced.
Ellison, ranked in 2012 as America's third-richest man, is purchasing the property from fellow billionaire David Murdock. Murdock's Castle and Cooke, which owns all but 2 per cent of Lanai's 141 square miles, filed a transfer application with Hawaii's Public Utilities Commission.
Dr. Bill Deagle w/ Jeff Rense 2012/06/19 -
Radiation While Flying At 30,000 Feet
Drone strikes threaten 50 years of international law,
says UN rapporteur
US policy of using drone strikes to carry out targeted killings 'may encourage other states to flout international law'
By Owen Bowcott in Geneva - Guardian.co.uk
The US policy of using aerial drones to carry out targeted killings presents a major challenge to the system of international law that has endured since the second world war, a United Nations investigator has said.
Christof Heyns, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, summary or arbitrary executions, told a conference in Geneva that President Obama's attacks in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere, carried out by the CIA, would encourage other states to flout long-establishedhuman rights standards.
Google reveals 'alarming' increase
in government requests to censor content
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE - Independent.co.uk
US authorities are leading the charge as governments around the world pepper Google with more demands to remove online content and turn over information about people using its Internet search engine, YouTube video site and other services.
"It's alarming not only because free expression is at risk, but because some of these requests come from countries you might not suspect — Western democracies not typically associated with censorship," Dorothy Chou, Google's senior policy analyst, wrote in a Sunday blog post.
Detained for Open Carry, Portland, Maine
"I was detained by Portland PD officer J McDonald on 26MAY2012. He detains me without suspicion of any criminal activity in violation of Delaware v Prouse. He admits his sole reason for stopping me is my legally carried firearm in violation of US v DeBerry. He seizes my weapon with no reasonable suspicion that I've committed a crime in violation of Terry v Ohio. He demands my ID without reasonable suspicion in violation of Hiibel v Nevada."
Senate passes five-year farm bill cutting subsidies for some
AP - FOXNews.com
The Senate on Thursday completed a five-year, half-trillion-dollar farm bill that cuts farm subsidies and land conservation spending by about $2 billion a year but largely protects sugar growers and some 46 million food stamp beneficiaries.
The 64-35 vote for passage defied political odds. Many inside and outside of Congress had predicted that legislation so expensive and so complicated would have little chance of advancing in an election year.
Rick Santelli & Congressman Huelskamp (R-KS)
Discuss Debt Limit, Food Stamps
80% of Farm Bill has to do with FOOD STAMPS
On Thursday, June 21, 2012, Congressman Tim Huelskamp of Kansas joined CNBC's Rick Santelli to discuss the fiscal and economic challenges facing America and the decisions Washington will have to make surrounding the debt limit and the Farm Bill. Congressman Huelskamp told Santelli that he does not support the Senate version of the 2012 Farm Bill because it fails to make any major changes to the food stamp program, which accounts for about 80% of the Farm Bill (and which has grown tremendously in the past decade). They also discussed the possibility of another downgrade to the United States' credit rating.
House committee suspects 'Fast and Furious' cover-up
Answers may be in 1,300 pages it wants
By Jerry Seper-The Washington Times
The House committee investigating Fast and Furious has received more than 7,600 documents from the Justice Department, but Republican lawmakers say none addresses who approved the gunrunning probe, who failed to stop it before a U.S. Border Patrol agent was killed and why department officials initially lied to Congress about it.
Now the panel has its sights set on an additional 1,300 pages of documents it believes will answer those questions and also expose a political cover-up at Justice.
Half of Current Workers Won't Be Able to Retire at 65
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
For all the trauma your 401K has probably suffered over the past few years, here's a bit of news to take heart in: According to researchers at Boston College, most Americans are only going to have to work a few extra years to make it to retirement.
The new figures come out of BC's Center for Retirement Research, and are summed up in the graph below. Only about 48 percent of current working households will be ready for to pack it in and enjoy their golden years by the traditional retirement age of 65. But thanks in part to the premium Social Security recipients get from delaying their benefits, 86 percent of households will be prepared by 70.
Obama's Overplayed Hand
and Blatant Disregard for the Constitution is Appalling
The Meister - ItMakesSenseBlog.com
In order to become President, Barack Obama had to swear to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. But three years later, I am disgusted with the disregard that the President continues to show to our Constitution. Has he forgotten about the separation of executive, judicial and legislative branches found in our founding document? Our founders gave us a system of checks and balances so that one person could never seize more power than was provided in the Constitution.
President Obama's actions demonstrate that he thinks he's above the law. When he doesn't get his way, he creates new policies to his liking.
Verbally Abusive Middle School Kids
Make A 68 Year Old Bus Monitor Cry
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
A video of a bunch of verbally abusive middle school bullies making a 68 year old bus monitor cry has gone viral all over the Internet. This video is a perfect example of the social decaythat is destroying this nation. We are raising a generation of young people that do not have respect for anyone or anything. In the video, 68 year old Karen Klein is repeatedly called poor, fat, ugly and a whole bunch of other things that I cannot repeat in this space. The bullies refer to "her sweat" and "her flab" over and over throughout the ten minute video. They call her a troll and an elephant and make numerous sexual comments about her. This video is beyond horrifying, but the truth is that this is the kind of thing that happens in classrooms and in school buses all over America every single day. If you have not seen it yet, you have got to see this incredibly disturbing video.... The good news is that a campaign has been started to send Karen Klein on vacation. After dealing with those kids, she sure could use one. The original goal was to raise $5,000, but close to a quarter of a million dollars was raised in less than 24 hours.
iLawyer: What Happens When Computers Replace Attorneys?
After decades of killing low-end jobs in retail, software is finally doing the people's bidding by creating a world with fewer lawyers.
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
In the end, after you've stripped away their six-figure degrees, their state bar memberships, and their proclivity for capitalizing Odd Words, lawyers are just another breed of knowledge worker. They're paid to research, analyze, write, and argue -- not unlike an academic, a journalist, or an accountant. So when software comes along that's smarter or more efficient at those tasks than a human with a JD, it spells trouble.
Storm may be brewing in Gulf of Mexico
(Reuters) - A large weather disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico could develop into a tropical cyclone in the next couple of days, forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Thursday.
The mass of thunderstorms had a 50 percent chance of developing into a tropical depression or tropical storm within 48 hours and could bring flooding rain to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, western Cuba and southern Florida, the forecasters said.
Petrus Romanus The Final Pope is Here:
The Prophecy of St. Malachi of Papal Succession
Tom Horn and Cris Putnam, authors of Petrus Romanus The Final Pope is Here, reveal new information on the possible identity of the person who will lead the world to worship the Antichrist world dictator.
Vatican Insider Malachi Martin Revealed
Pope John Paul II Role in New World Order
Vatican Insider Malachi Martin the Author of The Final Conclave, Windswept House, Keys of This Blood, and The Decline and Fall of the Roman Church reveals the Vatican's role in establishing a New World Order, and the emergence of the infamous AntiChrist in the near future.
Iran's President Renews Call for New World Order
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed out at the world powers for their wrong policies, and reiterated his call for the establishment of a new world order based on justice and friendship.
"The widening North-South divide and various crises and worries, including crises of family and identity, wars, occupations and revenge-seeking, endless arms races and economic, moral and ethical crisis and the failure to realize human principles are all the results of the current order and system dominating the world," Ahmadinejad said, addressing the Rio+20 Earth Summit in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday.
"We must cure such old wounds in the human society by reforming the existing global state and outlining a more transparent prospect for the future," he added.
Shimon Peres on the New Middle East
As told to Diane Brady - Businessweek.com
Many people say I was wrong when I talked about the new Middle East and the need for more ties with our Arab neighbors. I'm not wrong. It's just taking more time than I thought. I wish we could shorten the time in moving from one world to another.
The present Arab uprising didn't stem from Israel. The old guard is trying to keep down the young chickens. The old guard is better organized. They may win elections, but unless they have a solution to poverty, to corruption, to oppression, they will not last. I am with the young people.
Clemency With a Catch:
UK, US luring Assad into stepping down
As part of their push to see Syria's President Assad step down, Britain and the US are now thought to be considering giving him clemency. That's if he agrees to attend an upcoming international conference on a transition of power in Syria. RT's Peter Oliver is following the story for us.
Meanwhile, a number of CIA officers are operating secretly in southern Turkey, distributing weapons between the Syrian rebels to fight against the regime. That's according to American officials and Arab intelligence officers. And in Syria itself, people are often forced to join the armed rebellion by threats and intimidation - as Maria Finoshina has found out.
Syrian fighter pilot defects to Jordan
BBC.co.uk
A Syrian fighter pilot has been granted asylum in Jordan after flying his plane to a military air base in the north of the country, officials say.
The defection of the MiG-21 pilot is the first involving the air force.
Syria has condemned the pilot as a traitor, and has asked the Jordanian government for the return of its plane.
Meanwhile ongoing violence has left 170 people dead, activists say, and the Red Cross has been unable to move civilians out of the restive city of Homs.
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