Rudolf Elmer, a former Swiss banker, has handed over two data discs containing sensitive details of the accounts of 2,000 prominent people to Julian Assange, the boss of Wikileaks.
Wikileaks has not yet published the data on its website, but Assange promised full disclosure once the data had been vetted. (more…)
Somali pirates released a hijacked German-owned chemical tanker and its crew of 22 on Tuesday. But the release came at a price-$5.5 million was paid in ransom, Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers Assistance program told.
The 13,000-ton MV Marida Marguerite was hijacked on the morning of May 8, 120 nautical miles south of Salalah, Oman, according to The Epoch Times. (more…)
Russia is ready to build a nuclear power plant in Egypt at its own expense, to manage the plant, and even find markets for the electricity. Early next year Egypt is expected to announce a tender for the construction of nuclear power plant with the capacity of 1 GW 150 km from Alexandria. Russia’s Rosatom will participate in the tender.
A meeting of Russian-Egyptian intergovernmental commission on trade, economic and scientific-technical cooperation was held on Monday. From the Russian side it was chaired by the Minister of Industry and Trade Viktor Khristenko. (more…)
ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Taxes on executive bonuses, financial transactions and excess profits are a few of the taxes proposed or enacted to punish banks for their role in the recent financial crisis, but most of these ideas have shortcomings, says a University of Michigan economist.
“A number of potentially complicated and ambitious new taxes on the financial sector are currently being discussed,” said Joel Slemrod, professor of economics and the Paul W. McCracken Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at Michigan’s Ross School of Business. “While the recent financial crisis shows how important it is to consider whether such instruments might help to improve incentives, reform efforts should not unduly focus on the exotic and new at the expense of the familiar and old. (more…)
U.S. accused of sending spies to Russia, Britain, France, China and UN Secretary General
UN Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, and diplomats from Russia, Britain, France and China in the Security Council were monitored (spied on) entities by order of the Secretary of State of the United States, Hillary Clinton.
The charge is from Wikileaks, a website dedicated to revealing the secret military documents of the U.S. and other countries. The site has already released 400,000 secret documents about the war in Iraq and 90,000 confidential reports on abuses in Afghanistan. (more…)
Russian guided missile cruiser SLAVA. Source: Wikipedia
Russia may open new naval bases in other countries, President Dmitry Medvedev stated November 25 at a meeting with Russia’s top brass.
“Unfortunately, the reality is that a number of our previous opportunities have disappeared,” Medvedev said. Medvedev said that he now had “certain ideas” about how these could be replaced. “But for obvious reasons, I will not say them out loud,” he added.
First and foremost, it goes about support points for Russian vessels on the territory of foreign countries. It is necessary to build such objects to support Russia’s military presence in strategically important parts of the globe. (more…)
For the first time since establishing itself as a world super power following World War I, the United States appears like it may be losing its footing. The prosperous nation’s economy is tanking. Thousands of Americans are jobless, with houses being foreclosed left and right. Americans have little confidence in their beleaguered government, which is in serious debt. There is little consensus amongst politicians or citizens regarding important issues, which has led to great party-based divisions in the country. The country is fighting a losing battle in the Middle East, and has been at war continuously since World War II. (more…)
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Residents of the Middle East who are heavy viewers of Arab television news networks like Al Jazeera are more likely to view their primary identity as that of Muslims, rather than as citizens of their own country, a new study suggests.
Because networks like Al Jazeera are transnational – focusing on events of interest across the region rather than those in any one country – they may encourage viewers to see themselves in broader terms than simply residents of a particular nation, the researchers said.
“The goal of these relatively new networks is not to represent specific national interests, but to appeal to audiences across the region,” said Erik Nisbet, lead author of the study and assistant professor of communication at Ohio State University. (more…)
