Posts Tagged ‘News’

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How world views Obama Nobel Peace Prize

Monday, October 12th, 2009

Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama only nine months into his term brought surprise and delight in many parts of the world – for those who see it as a broad marker of hope and future global harmony at a time when wars and rumors of wars are deeply troubling.

But the Norwegian Nobel committee announcement Friday brought ample doses of befuddlement and skepticism among officials used to years of hard work to end conflict. Absent a significant peace deal, they worry, awarding the prize to a new president is premature, or could backfire by creating unreasonable expectations of the White House.

The Nobel committee said the award was for Obama’s efforts to bring “a new climate in international politics,” for which the American leader is “the world’s leading spokesman.”

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Bluesman who recorded as Freddy Robinson dies

Saturday, October 10th, 2009

Bluesman Abu Talib, who recorded and toured with Ray Charles and Little Walter under his given name, Freddy Robinson, has died. He was 70.

His daughter, Linda Chaplin, said Talib died of cancer Thursday at a hospital in Lancaster, about 70 miles north of Los Angeles.

Talib was born Fred Robinson in Memphis, Tenn., and changed his name to Abu Talib in the 1970s when he converted to Islam.

Chaplin said her father first heard the blues when her grandfather, Otis Robinson, took him along to a “juke joint.” He was too young to go in but he’d watch the musicians through a window.

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New media measures take effect in Honduras

Saturday, October 10th, 2009

Honduras’ interim leaders put in place new rules Saturday that threaten broadasters with closure for airing reports that “attack national security,” further restricting media freedom following the closure of two opposition stations.

The latest decree is sure to anger supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya and appears to be a challenge to the Organization of American States and a team of regional diplomats who were in the country Thursday to push for a resolution of the crisis.

A statement released by the OAS delegation urged the coup-installed government to, among other things, allow the resumption of operations at the two broadcasters, which backed Zelaya’s return to office.

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Marshalls landowner sues government over US base

Friday, October 9th, 2009

A powerful traditional chief in the Marshall Islands is suing the western Pacific nation’s government over a treaty which gives the US the use of his land for a missile testing base.

Former Marshall Islands president and powerful traditional chief Imata Kabua said Thursday he was challenging the treaty negotiated between the Marshall Islands government and the US covering the years after 2016 when the current lease for the missile base expires.

The Compact of Free Association between the two countries approved in 2003 provides the US with use of the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein Atoll until 2066.

The Marshall Islands government has “refused to engage in good faith bargaining to secure a new lease”, Kabua said.

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Investors Real Estate Trust stock sale nets $62.6M

Friday, October 9th, 2009

Investors Real Estate Trust said it expects $62.6 million in net proceeds from a follow-on offering that closed Friday.

The real estate investment trust sold 8 million common shares at $8.25 per share.

President and CEO Timothy Mihalick said the infusion of capital will better position the company for potential acquisitions. It currently owns both multifamily residential and commercial office properties.

Robert W. Baird & Co. and RBC Capital Markets were the bookrunning managers for the offering. Janney Montgomery Scott, D.A. Davidson & Co. and J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L. Lyons LLC were co-managers.

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Yemen’s strikes against Shiite rebels leave 30,000 refugees

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

Since mid-August, a long-simmering conflict between the Yemeni government and Shiite rebels has flared up in the north of the country, threatening the stability of one of the Arab world’s poorest states and raising fears that it may become a new haven for Al Qaeda.

But while the central government continues to expend its resources and energy on shutting down the rebels, known as the Houthis, the dire humanitarian crisis it has spawned is also in urgent need of resolution. Since early September, 30,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been in refugee camps and 120,000 more are in need of aid, according to the United Nations.

Fighting first broke out between the Yemeni government and the Houthis in the northern Yemeni town of Saada in 2004. Central among its grievances with the militants, the Yemeni government accuses the Houthis of striving to restore a Shiite imamate – which was originally abolished in the 1962 – in the north of the country.

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Diplomats leave; talks go on in Honduras crisis

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

Diplomats pushed the two sides of the Honduran political conflict into direct talks for the first time in nearly three months, but left the country Thursday with no commitment from the coup-installed government to reinstate ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

Members of the delegation sponsored by the Organization of American States characterized the result of their one-day visit — the establishment of a “table of dialogue” and an agenda for the talks — as a positive step even though the rivals appeared as far apart as ever.

Costa Rican Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno said representatives of Zelaya and the government of interim President Roberto Micheletti agreed to discuss the main international proposal for resolving the crisis and will have “logistical” support from OAS staff left behind.

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Afghanistan: Taliban Attacks on NATO Convoys Increase

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

To supply nearly 100,000 troops in Afghanistan, the U.S. and its Western allies rely on road convoys with dozens of trucks to carry in everything from jet fuel to frozen pizza. But increasingly these convoys are coming under savage attack by the Taliban. And experts say that if the ambushes get worse, it could impair NATO’s efforts to keep a supply lifeline running to its troops in forts and camps scattered across the mountainous country.

Often, the death of a private security contractor in Afghanistan goes unheralded; after all, they risk their lives for money, not country. Yet the drivers and guards who ride shotgun on the long convoys snaking over the mountains also suffer heavy casualties. Many have died heroically. Figures released to TIME by NATO showed that from June to September, more than 145 truck drivers and guards were killed in attacks on convoys and 123 vehicles were destroyed.

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Small tsunami causes Pacific islanders to flee

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

Three strong earthquakes rocked the South Pacific near the Vanuatu archipelago Thursday, generating a small tsunami just over a week after another, massive wave killed 178 people in the Samoas and Tonga.

There were no immediate reports of damage, and all tsunami warnings and watches were soon canceled.

Still, the alerts caused thousands of residents to flee to higher ground in at least three Pacific islands.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a regional tsunami warning for 11 nations and territories after a quake with a magnitude of 7.8 struck 183 miles (294 kilometers) northwest of the Vanuatu island of Santo at a depth of 21 miles (35 kilometers). Two other quakes of magnitude 7.7 and 7.3 followed in the same area.

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Republicans press Obama to send more troops to Afghanistan

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

Republican congressional leaders urged President Barack Obama on Tuesday to send more U.S. troops in Afghanistan , saying he should act quickly lest any delay endanger troops who already are there and are facing a deteriorating situation.

“Time is not on our side,” said Sen. John McCain , R- Ariz. , as he left the White House after a bipartisan meeting with Obama. “We need to act with deliberate haste.”

“He wants ample time to make a good decision. Frankly, I support that,” added Rep. John Boehner , R- Ohio , his party’s leader in the House of Representatives .

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