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| Joel Skousen |
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The World Affairs Brief is a weekly news analysis service dedicated to providing an understanding of the hidden agendas behind the actions of world leaders and other powerful individuals who influence government from behind the scenes. Although the World Affairs Brief is provided to subscribers only, you can read samples of Mr. Skousen's unique analysis in the archives section. The following daily news items are provided as a sampling of the crucial issues that Mr. Skousen may analyze in this week's briefing. | |||||||||||||||||
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| Sunday, July 6, 2008 |
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'Critical day' for growing Goleta fire; Big Sur blaze only 5% contained Story Firefighters battling more than 300 blazes in the state got bad news Saturday afternoon when the National Weather Service issued a heat warning for coming days. Scorching temperatures are forecast for next week from Santa Barbara to the Inland Empire, with record or near-record highs likely in valleys and foothills.At the peak of the fire siege that began June 20, some 1,783 fires burned, many ignited by lightning strikes.So far, more than 510,000 acres from Nevada to the Pacific Ocean have burned, destroying 34 homes and 32 outbuildings, fire officials said -LA Times |
| Saturday, July 5, 2008 |
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Iran: War or Privatization: All Out War or "Economic Conquest"? Story Tehran is to allow foreign investors, in what might be interpreted as an overture to the West, to acquire full ownership of Iran's State enterprises in the context of a far-reaching "free market" style privatization program.With the price of crude oil at 140 dollars a barrel, the Iranian State is not in a financial straightjacket as in the case of most indebted developing countries, which are obliged by their creditors to sell their State assets to pay off a mounting external debt.What are the political motivations behind this measure? And why Now? -Michel Chossudovsky/Global Research CA |
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Blowback from a Strike on Iran Story Iraq will be plunged into a new war if Israel or the US launches an attack on Iran, Iraqi leaders have warned.The Iraqi government's main allies are the US and Iran, whose governments openly detest each other.The Iraqi government may be militarily dependent on the 140,000 US troops in the country, but its Shia and Kurdish leaders have long been allied to Iran. Iraqi leaders have to continually perform a balancing act in which they seek to avoid alienating either country -Patrick Cockburn/CounterPunch |
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Marines act as paymasters to Afghans Story With the Taliban resurgent in the south, the Marines were deployed specifically to battle entrenched militants.Within a month, they routed the Taliban fighters and disrupted infiltration routes.Now they are trying to win over Afghan civilians who are trickling back to their damaged homes.The Marines also have been forced into other unfamiliar roles -- as quasi-diplomats, humanitarian workers, moneymen and nurses -LA Times |
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Bush's final G-8 appearance starts Sunday in Tokyo Story President Bush will continue his formal exit from the world stage when he arrives in Japan on Sunday for his final annual meeting with leaders from seven of the world's other top economic powers.Some analysts think that Bush's domestic lame-duck status will hinder his effectiveness in Hokkaido.They say that some of his G-8 partners, tired of locking horns with him on issues ranging from the war in Iraq to his administration's staunch opposition to the Kyoto climate-change treaty, aren't sad that this will be his eighth and final summit -William Douglas & Kevin G. Hall/McClatchy Newspapers |
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Inspectors to halt import of some food from Mexico Story Starting Monday, health inspectors will halt the shipment of ingredients common to Mexican cuisine from Mexico to the United States, sources familiar with the salmonella poisoning investigation said.The inquiry, which initially focused solely on tomatoes, has expanded to include cilantro, jalapeño peppers, Serrano peppers, scallions and bulb onions, said Tommy Thompson, former secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, who said he has been informed of the plan -CNN |
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U.S. Freeze on Solar Energy Projects Lifted Story Just as things were really heating up in the solar energy sector, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) pulled the plug on new solar power plants.Just days later, after an uproar of voiced concern, the moratorium was reversed.Not fast enough to avoid drops in stocks, but quick enough to avoid fatally derailing the renewable energy sector off the tracks.The news arrived just a month or so after a new report from the Prometheus Institute projected that the cost of solar panels could be expected to plummet -Ali Kriscenski/Inhabitat |
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Washington on the Threat of Partisan Entrenchment Story George Washington is known for his farewells.But the great farewell is the one delivered as he approached the end of his second term and retired to private life.He takes sum of the challenges he faces and of his accomplishments, but he concludes with some stark words of warning to his fellow citizens.Two of these warnings have a special resonance for us today -Scott Horton/Harper's |
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Iran Says Nuclear Policy Is Unchanged Story Iran’s nuclear policy has not changed, an Iranian government spokesman said Saturday in Tehran, confirming that Iran would not comply with Security Council resolutions requiring it to stop enriching uranium.His remarks came a day after Iran formally responded to a proposal of incentives aimed at resolving the impasse over the country’s nuclear program.A senior European official involved in the negotiations said Saturday that Mr. Solana would meet with Saeed Jalaili, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, in the second half of July -Elaine Sciolano/NY Times |
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'Make Or Break on Climate Change' Story Japan is preparing to test its leadership role at the summit meeting of seven western industrial democracies and Russia (G8) Jul. 7-9 in Toyako on the northern island of Hokkaido.A background paper by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) says that Prime Minister Yasuo Fakuda wants the G8 to send "a strong message to the world for development of a post-2012 framework on climate change (after the commitment period of Kyoto Protocol) to be advanced through the UN process -Ramesh Jaura/IPS |
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Volatile Loyalties, Deep Divisions Story The governing party in Bolivia is reeling from its latest electoral defeat, and beginning to doubt the popularity of President Evo Morales, who is putting his office, the vice president's and those of provincial governors up for ratification in a recall referendum to be held on Aug. 10.If the referendum were to take place today, Morales would lose.Morales is determined to sweep away the "neoliberal" governors -Franz Chávez/IPS |
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Vets Mull Wins and Losses in Benefits Fight Story The new law, which is modeled on the widely popular GI Bill available to soldiers returning from World War II, guarantees Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, and any U.S. citizen who serves in the military for at least three years, a full scholarship at any in-state public university, along with a monthly housing stipend and a stipend for books and materials.But even as Bush signed the new GI Bill, Iraq war veterans received a significant piece of bad news from a federal judge in San Francisco -Aaron Glantz/IPS |
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Little to Cheer on U.S. Independence Day Story The world's biggest economy marked Independence Day Friday with little cause for economic cheer.Job losses are the worst in nearly six years and a de facto recession appears to have gripped all sectors.Statistics released in the run up to the Jul. 4 national holiday offer little hope of an early turnaround.Developing and wealthy countries alike are feeling the effects of the slowdown here.Many economists say the unemployment rate likely will continue to rise well into 2009, topping 6 percent along the way -Abid Aslam/IPS |
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Bringing Down Bear Stearns Story On Monday, March 10, Wall Street was tense, as it had been for months.The mortgage market had crashed; major companies like Citigroup and Merrill Lynch had written off billions of dollars in bad loans.In what the economists called a “credit crisis,” the big banks were so spooked they had all but stopped lending money, a trend which, if it continued, would spell disaster on 21st-century Wall Street, where trading firms routinely borrow as much as 50 times the cash in their accounts -Bryan Burrough/Vanity Fair |
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Down and out in Las Vegas Story Since the day Las Vegas was created in the shimmering Nevada desert, visitors have been drawn by one simple promise: "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas".These days, that motto is imbued with a worrying sense of irony.Because America's most outrageous city is facing a growing multitude of problems, and they all boil down to a single, unavoidable point: right now, far too little happens in Vegas, because not enough people are actually staying there -Independent UK |
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Big Sur, Goleta wildfires threaten 4,500 homes Story A pair of out-of-control wildfires roared along California's central coast Friday, chewing through opposite ends of a parched forest and threatening more than 4,500 homes hundreds of miles apart.In Big Sur, flames from the stubborn wildfire in the northern flank of the Los Padres National Forest inched closer to historic vacation retreats even as milder weather aided firefighting efforts.Farther south, in Santa Barbara County, firefighters braced for the return of evening winds that a day earlier caused a wildfire there to double in size and race dangerously close to hundreds of homes |
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Pakistani government says it's 'serious' in fighting militants in volitile northwest Story A senior Pakistani official said Friday the government is serious about fighting Islamic militants, after authorities said they had rounded up 220 suspects as a military operation proceeded in a volatile tribal region.But critics claimed the offensive along the Afghan border has been largely ineffective because many of those targeted had already fled and no leading militant chiefs were captured |
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Gaza ceasefire breaking down as violations by Hamas and Israel continue Story The ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip was on its last legs yesterday, according to Egyptian officials who spent months mediating the complex accord.An Egyptian official involved with the negotiations said that there was little hope for the ceasefire. “The truce has been active for 15 days, and for nearly half that time there have been violations by both sides. It is questionable whether this is a truce in practice or just in words.” -Sheera Frenkel/London Times UK |
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The French connection Story CERTAIN phrases invite disbelief.In the field of love, “this is not about you”.In criminal justice, any testimony that begins “to tell the truth”.In the European Union, France always earns instant suspicion whenever it swears to be “selfless” and to “put the general European interest first”.This is one reason why so many Europeans were feeling nervous on July 1st, when France took over the six-monthly rotating presidency of the EU.But there are others -Economist UK |
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Alex Allan, Britain's leading spymaster, found at home in a coma Story Britain's most senior spymaster is in a critical condition after being rushed to a London hospital.Alex Allan, the chairman of Whitehall's joint intelligence committee, was found unconscious at his home in west London on Monday night.It was not clear why he had fallen ill, but doctors confirmed that he remained in a coma.There were initial fears that he might have been poisoned -Tom Peterkin & Duncan Gardham/Telegraph UK |
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Poles dent US missile deal hopes Story Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, put a dent yesterday in US hopes that a deal had been reached on locating a missile defence base in Poland, saying Washington's latest offer was "unsatisfactory." The move by the Polish prime minister is a blow to one of the central foreign policies of George W. Bush, the US president.Now that prospects of a swift Polish agreement has receded, it will be much harder for the US to begin construction on the European sites this year -Jan Cienski & Daniel Dombey/Financial Times UK |
| Friday, July 4, 2008 |
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Happy Insurrection Day! Story It has often been said that if voting actually changed things, it would be illegal.In much the same sense it could be said that if the genuine meaning of the event commemorated on the Fourth of July were to become widely known, our rulers would respond by criminalizing the celebration and the document that should be at its center.The sobering truth is that, due to the cultivated docility of the American populace, Jefferson's document, much like the Constitution created eleven years later, poses no threat to the designs of our rulers -William N. Grigg |
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Fed Ponders Private Equity In Banks Story The U.S. Federal Reserve has already taken several unprecedented steps to assist investment banks, including allowing them to access its short-term lending facilities, collateralize their borrowings with illiquid securities of questionable market value, and brokering and funding the sale of Bear Stearns to JPMorgan Chase.Now the Fed is believed to be considering easing rules to allow private equity firms to take substantial holdings in bank shares, as banks are finding themselves increasingly unable to attract traditional sources of capital -Oxford Analytica |
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Two Subplots in Guantánamo’s Long Legal Story Story The long legal story of the Bush administration’s effort to prosecute detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, now has two fast-moving subplots. Either one could soon write something of a final chapter.One plot will proceed in a federal courthouse in Washington, where lawyers for a detainee filed papers on Thursday seeking an injunction that, if granted, could be the death knell for the Bush administration’s military commissions at Guantánamo.The other will play out in a makeshift courtroom overlooking Guantánamo Bay itself later this month -William Glaberson/NY Times |
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Rove Rejects Judiciary Panel’s Demand to Testify in Person Story Karl Rove has declined to testify before a House Judiciary subcommittee, despite a subpoena directing him to appear, his attorney told the committee on July 1.Rove’s attorney, Robert Luskin, cited executive privilege as the reason that the former White House adviser would not appear before the Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee on July 10.Lawmakers indicated they still expect Rove to appear on July 10 -CQ Politics |
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Ingrid Betancourt returns 'home' to France - but doubts emerge about 'daring' rescue Story The former Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt returned to what she called her "other family" in France today as doubt was cast on the apparently daring rescue that won her freedom.Arriving to a warm embrace from Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni, the 46-year-old, who was largely brought up in France as the daughter of a Colombian diplomat and also has French nationality, was welcomed at the Villacoublay military air base near Paris, where she flew in on the French presidential Airbus.But while she was still in the air, the Swiss radio station RSR broadcast a report questioning the official version of the operation -Philippe Naughton/London Times UK |
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Blast shatters Belarus' peaceful facade Story Thursday's bomb explosion in Belarus has come as a complete shock.This former Soviet republic bordering with three EU member states has never seen anything like this.And the consequences could be unpredictable.Belarus is a country of 10 million people in the middle of Europe - a few years ago it even claimed to have the geographical centre of Europe on its territory.Yet you rarely hear any news from there -BBC |
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North Korea Wants Nuclear Negotiating Partners to Speed Aid Story North Korea says it will not take part in any further negotiations about its nuclear activities until the other five nations involved in the talks fulfill their obligations under a deal reached last year.The isolated regime's Foreign Ministry issued a statement Friday saying it had lived up to its end of the bargain by releasing a long-awaited declaration of its nuclear program -VOA |
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Hamas Freezes Talks on Shalit, Cites Closure of Gaza Crossings Story Hamas has frozen all negotiations on freeing kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit because of what Israel's closure of crossings into Gaza following another Kassam rocket attack Thursday.The latest strike represented the sixth day that Arab terrorists have broken the two-week old truce.Hamas explained that the closures of the crossings are a violation of the truce and blamed rival Fatah terrorists for attacking Israel in order to undermine the agreement.However, Islamic Jihad terrorist leaders took responsibility for earlier rocket and mortar shelling attacks -Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu/Arutz Sheva IL |
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A.Q. Khan: N. Korea received centrifuges from Pakistan with Musharraf's consent Story North Korea received centrifuges from Pakistan in a 2000 shipment supervised by the army during the rule of President Pervez Musharraf, disgraced nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan said Friday.Khan told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that the uranium enrichment equipment was sent from Pakistan in a North Korean plane that was loaded under the supervision of Pakistani security officials.His claims contradict his 2004 confession and Pakistan's repeated denials its army or government knew about Khan's nuclear proliferation activities |
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Iran Gives 'Constructive' Reply to Incentives Package Story Iran has given a "constructive'' response to an incentives package from world powers intended to persuade the Persian Gulf nation to suspend uranium enrichment, the country's chief nuclear negotiator said.The government in Tehran has prepared and presented its reply "with a focus on common ground and a constructive view,'' state television cited Saeed Jalili, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, as saying today in a telephone call with European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana -Ladane Nasseri/Bloomberg |
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Debate Over Guantanamo's Fate Intensifies Story The Bush administration is developing a long-range plan to empty the Guantanamo Bay military prison that could include asking Congress to spell out procedures for scores of suspected terrorists whom the government does not plan to bring to trial, administration officials and others familiar with high-level White House discussions on the issue said yesterday.Under one scenario being considered by President Bush's Cabinet, about 80 detainees would remain at the facility in Cuba to be tried by military commissions, and about 65 others would be turned over to their native countries -Washington Post |
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Nebraska Beef Ltd. recall now 5.3 million pounds Story Nebraska Beef Ltd. is expanding a recall announced earlier this week to include all 5.3 million pounds of meat it produced for ground beef between May 16 and June 26.Federal investigators have linked Nebraska Beef's products to an outbreak of E. coli illnesses affecting 41 people in Michigan and Ohio.The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service said in a statement Thursday that it concluded Nebraska Beef's production practices were insufficient to effectively control E. coli bacteria |
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Massive wildfires threaten two California towns Story California firefighters made a desperate stand as darkness fell on Thursday to save more than 4,000 homes and other structures from a pair of out-of-control wildfires burning about 170 miles (273 km) apart along the California coast.The most imminent danger was to homes around Goleta, near Santa Barbara, where flames were fast approaching 2,600 homes and transmission lines supplying power to 100,000 people on the central coast |
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U.S. Pushes U.N. Sanctions on Zimbabwe and Mugabe Story Seeking to force President Robert Mugabe into negotiations with the opposition, the United States on Thursday formally proposed United Nations Security Council sanctions on Zimbabwe.The proposed sanctions include an international arms embargo and punitive measures against the 14 people the United States deemed most responsible for undermining Zimbabwe’s presidential election through violence.The United States expects to bring the resolution to a vote as early as next week -Neil MacFarquhar/NY Times |
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Polish Officials Say No Firm Deal Yet on Missile Shield Story U.S. officials said Wednesday they have reached a tentative deal on the plans. But Poland's defense minister, Bogdan Klich, said Thursday that negotiations were still ongoing, and that no firm agreement has been reached.A Polish government spokesman issued a statement saying Prime Minister Donald Tusk and U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney discussed the state of negotiations for about 40 minutes by telephone Thursday evening.The spokesman did not reveal any details.Any agreement on the missile shield still will need final approval from the Polish government in Warsaw -VOA |
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"State Secrets" Privilege Derails Rendition Suit Story Maher Arar, whose "rendition" to Syria is widely viewed as an egregious example of mistaken identity, has again been denied the right to appear in court.Late last month, a federal court of appeals ruled that the lawsuit brought by Arar against former Attorney General John Ashcroft, FBI director Robert Mueller and other senior government officials could not be heard.After government lawyers invoked the "state secrets" privilege, the court concluded that hearing Arar's claims would interfere with sensitive matters of foreign policy and national security -William Fisher/IPS |
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Journalist Charges Censorship by U.S. Military in Fallujah Story U.S. journalist Zoriah Miller says he was censored by the U.S. military in the Iraqi city of Fallujah after photographing Marines who died in a suicide bombing.On Jun. 26, a suicide bomber attacked a city council meeting in Fallujah, 69 kms west of Baghdad, between local tribal sheikhs and military officials.Miller was embedded with Marines on a patrol one block from the attack when it occurred.Miller ran with the Marines he was with to the scene of the attack -Dahr Jamail/IPS |
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Mohammed Omer’s Statement Story As you may know, the IPS correspondent in Gaza, Mohammed Omer, was detained last Thursday by Israeli authorities on his return from Europe where he received the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism and went on a brief speaking tour.He is currently in a hospital back in Gaza recovering from the physical wounds incurred during his interrogation.Earlier this week, colleagues sent me a lengthy — but quite eloquent — statement by Mohammed about his experience that, with his permission, I am posting on the blog -Jim Lobe/IPS |
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U.S. Arms Dealer Tests Legal Bounds in Middle East Arms Bazaar Story Defense Solutions has proposed teaming with the Russian arms-export agency, Rosoboronexport, for several arms deals, including supplying Mi-17 helicopters to Afghanistan. Rosoboronexport is blacklisted by the U.S. government for allegedly violating the Iran and Syria Nonproliferation Act.Former congressman Curt Weldon is helping broker deals between Russian and Ukranian weapons suppliers and the Iraqi and Libyan governments as part of his new job with a private American defense consulting firm, Wired.com has learned -Sharon Weinberger/Wired |
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Happy birthday, America: A nation of spoiled, whiny brats Story The American executive and legislative branches of government are in dire need of an aggressive purge in the form of a no-confidence referendum.Do the American people even want the government of Jefferson, Madison, Adams, et al? Take a look at what the Americans have done in Iraq: a country in ruins, millions killed, maimed and displaced internally and externally. Americans raped Iraq and remain unrepentant for their crimes.Happy Birthday America! The founders would be appalled -John Stanton/Online Journal |