Category Archives: Featured

Featured News from the world.

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US Agrees Upon Egyptian President’s ‘Orderly’ Exit

The Egyptian government bans social network Twitter following mass outrage and demonstrations against President Hosni Mubarak.

The United States has finally settled down with a hope that Egyptian president will step down. Seeing the large scale of demonstrations and public protests the US administration has realized it had underestimated Egyptians’ discontent with Hosni Mubarak’s 30 years’ rule.

The US showed its displeasure over Mubarak’s reactions against public demonstrations asking for his exit.

The US authorities also communicated with Cairo government regarding a transitional course of action for conduction free polls after Hosni Mubarak’s exit from president ship.

A former US diplomat Frank Wisner was sent to Cairo on Monday to convey US message to the Egypt Government.

US has so far played no role in Cairo’s politics. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has completely blocked the use of the internet and cell phones—two effective modes of communication through which the United States could affect any movement in the country.

Moreover, the United States also does not seem to be interested in showcasing its sympathy toward Hosni Mubarak against whom entire Egypt has began a campaign and his ouster has become quite evitable.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs called Mubarak’s attempt to include new members in his cabinet as futile and stressed on real action like- freedom of speech, and association, communications and assembly – and most importantly removing emergency laws, freeing political prisoners and modifying the Egyptian Constitution as they are important key issues.

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Israel tested Stuxnet virus with consent of US administration

Israel tested the notorious computer virus Stuxnet authorized by the US administration reportedly. Israel used centrifuges to test out the computer worm  taking Teheran’s nuclear program as its target to destroy. Everything was executed in a planned way with the authority of Bush administration, the report revealed.

The virus was first tested in Dimona, reported English daily from the United States. The centrifuges used by Israel for testing Stuxnet were very similar to those used Iranian nuclear sites.

In 2008, Siemens allowed the Idaho National Laboratory, to rectify problems in its computer controllers. The same computer controllers were present in the Iranian nuclear plants. Idaho National Laboratory is part of the American Energy Department that provides nuclear equipment and weapons to the United States. Testing of Stuxnet was based on the problems in the computer controllers of nuclear programs found in 2008.

The virus destroyed control over the Iranian nuclear centrifuges and recorded all activities going at the nuclear plant. When checked by the operators, the virus showed a normal routine of the plant and this confused the operators.  They stayed unaware till all the centrifuges were destroyed.

The Stuxnet virus entered the nuclear plant’s computer network through some external drives or probably through the internet. The virus was partially successful as it delayed Iran’s nuclear development, however could not completely destroy their sites.

George W. Bush, former president of the United States had allowed dissemination of this worm in 2009 reportedly and Barack Obama too nodded to develop the virus further.

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Obama adds Clinton-era policy adviser Bruce Reed in team

US Vice President Biden recommended Clinton era policy adviser Bruce Reed  as the new head for his team. This is an addition all veteran members of Clinton’s administration, who had been given key responsibilities in Obama administration.

Democrat leader Reed replaces Ron Klain as domestic policy adviser whereas Klain will now work for former AOL chairman Steve Case in his business and charity works.

The reshuffle of staffs in the White House indicates the changing political scenario in US post-Nov elections. Reed had played a key role during Clinton’s rule in promoting free trade and minimize deficit. Moderates are happy for the return of Clinton’s right wings and hope their experiences would manage the US economy in more efficient way.

Reed has also served in Obama’s deficit reduction panel as executive director. He is considered as an expert to handle issues of budget deal and social security.

Bruce Reed is going to play a crucial role in the deficit commission, stated a white House official. He would be carving out strategies to set priorities for the budget and social security deals.

However, William Galston, Clinton’s ex-policy adviser has termed this reshuffle a blunder citing Reed’s past work against the liberal views.

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US not to desert Pakistan in aftermath of Afghan war: Biden

ISLAMABAD:–Vice President Biden said that the United States will not desert Pakistan in the aftermath of Afghan war. He rejected the notions of many who believe that the US is seeking help of Pakistan for the sake of own interests in the region and will ditch its ties once its objective is attained.

During his unexpected one-day visit to Islamabad, Biden said that both countries are successfully fighting war against terror and it is in the interest of both the United States and Pakistan that al-Qaeda and other militant groups are defeated. While addressing media persons along with Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Taza Gillani, Biden said that the Islamist extremists are defaming the country’s name and threatening its sovereignty. He further said that the main objective of the US administration is to strengthen sovereignty in the region and bring back peace and normalcy in the lives of Pakistani people.

The US vice president reached Islamabad on Wednesday and it is being said that the objective behind the visit could be pressurizing Pakistan to review its economic policy and making its government think seriously about tackling extremists. During his visit, Biden had a detailed discussion with Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani, President Asif Ali Zardari and Army Chief Ashfaq Kayani.

According to president office, President Zardari assured Biden that Pakistan will keep fighting against all odds and come out a winner in its war against terror and a handful of militants cannot enforce their inhuman agenda on the people of Pakistan.

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New York prepares for redemption storm

New York’s mayor claims the city is ready to combat storm.

Michael Bloomberg, New York City Mayor has assured people after failing to help people x during blizzard that the administration would be prepared to tackle with any problems from now taking a lesson from their failure in post-Christmas storms.

It has been predicted however, by the National Weather Service that New York may experience 8-14 inches of snowfall along stormy winds with a speed around 25 miles per hour. Visibility would also be reduced. Therefore, the claims of the administration are not so far from being tested once again.

The Mayor admitted that the city lacked adequate equipment to clear roads and assist emergency needs of people in time but they would ensure this does not happen again.

He declared a “weather emergency” on Tuesday and advised people not to drive. drivers were given caution for parking their vehicles at proper places and it is hoped that no traffic jam will occur due to too many vehicles parked on the roads.

Schools are yet not opened till Wednesday.

Transportation, Parks, and Environmental Protection departments are assisting in clearing off snow from streets and roads. A new 15-point plan has been launched by the city administration to give quick response to people at the time of blizzard. GPS systems and Sanitation Department have also offered their services for emergency hours.

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Congresswoman Giffords’ alleged shooter appears in federal court

Phoenix:  While Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is still on a path to recovery from the gunshot injury in Tucson, her shooting suspect, Jared Loughner, has made the first appearance in the court. Jared Loughner, 22, has already been facing five criminal charges that include murders also. Loughner appeared in court with shaved head and a scar marks on his right temple. It is said that he did not have a smooth relation with his family members.

Meanwhile, doctors have said that Gabrielle Giffords’ condition is still critical and not shown any big improvement since Sunday.

US President Barack Obama and other Congress leaders express condolence toward the victims and their families. The president has a schedule to attend a condolence ceremony in Tucson in Wednesday.

The people who are known to Loughner have revealed that for past few years he has had a bitter relations with family and friends; he grew into an extremely erratic personality due to some tragic experiences in life.

Loughner’s parents have not been available for their comments since their son was arrested on Saturday.

As per US voters’ registration details, Loughner decided to move out of his parents’ residence in 2008 and got an apartment for himself in northwest Tucson, but he was forced to go back to his parents as he had no sources of income at all.

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US fails to negotiate over enhancing military ties with China

The U.S. Defense Chief Robert Gates agrees to his Chinese counterpart to enhance military cooperation between the two nations.  However, the two delegates remained stubborn over the issues of Taiwan and Chinese ammunition.

Gates and Chinese Defense Minister General Liang Guanglie stated that they are heading toward strengthening military cooperation but the two issues of conflict remained unresolved regarding Taiwan and China’s continuous efforts for modernizing military power.

Gates is on a three-day visit to China. He has also offered Guanglie to visit Washington and discuss nuclear posture, cyber warfare and missile defense.

The US could, however only convince the Chinese diplomat for a strategic dialogue with Chinese military leaders.

Robert Gates also aimed to get some deal over military ties in this visit and expressed this while talking in a joint press conference with Chinese defense minister Gates further stated that the two nations acknowledge the need to minimize misunderstandings between the two countries and establish strong cooperation ties.

However, the Chinese authorities seemed to be interested more in smoothening bilateral relations right now prior to Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to Washington.

Liang made it obvious once again that China would never support US for providing weapons to Taiwan. US had recently sold arms worth $5.4 billion to Taiwan following which China showed its displeasure strongly and discontinued military cooperation.

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WikiLeaks chief faults US for asking Twitter, Google to divulge information

U.S. administration is trying to pressurize social networking sites to reveal information about WikiLeaks. Under their investigation, the US officials have asked court to order Twitter for disclosing details about WikiLeaks chief –Julian Assange–as he has illegally disclosed government’s secret documents.

The US administration is trying to constitute a criminal case against Assange. Assange stated that the government might also force other social networks and websites as Facebook and Google to divulge information about him. All these sites are owned by American companies.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has issued an order to Twitter Inc. to disclose all information about accounts related to Assange and his friends and colleagues exchanging messages on the website.

Pfc. Bradley Manning, an intelligence analyst is also under suspicion of providing important information to Twitter. The list of suspects includes parliamentarian Birgitta Jonsdottir, from Iceland and Rop Gonggrijp, WikiLeaks ex-collaborator; and Dutch hacker and Jacob Appelbaum, a U.S. programmer. The court has asked Twitter to give all information about these suspects.

The order was issued on Dec. 14 by Virginia District Court.

Assange severely criticized court’s order and stated that this was aimed to harass him. He has pledged to fight against violation of his right to privacy. He added that had it been Iranian government asking for somebody’s private information from social networks and websites, human right activists would have raised their voices against it, but everybody was silent over actions of the US administration to suppress him.

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Obama pins hopes on economic advisors from Clinton’s team

US President chooses his new economic adviser, who had also served to the former president Bill Clinton.  Gene Sperling worked as a senior economic adviser in White House during Clinton’s rule.

Obama finished selecting his core economic team members on Friday and selected Gene Sperling as senior economic adviser.

Sperling will work as the director of Barack Obama’s National Economic Council, He has succeeded Lawrence Summers. Summers will resume teaching economics at Harvard.

Sperling has also assisted Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner as his counselor. Obama has retained many other members of Clinton era in his team. Ex- commerce secretary, William Daley, who also worked with Clinton, has been given a position in Obama’s West wing as the new White House chief of staff.

“Obama stated that Gene’s work during Clinton’s era was well acclaimed leading an economy suffering deficits to surpluses and thus he was the best choice for White House.

The president appreciated increase in employment as mentioned in Friday’s report by the government however added that unemployment was still high and needed more efforts to improve the situation. Jason Furman, who had served Clinton will remain in the National Economic Council and also get a higher rank this time as a deputy director.

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Experts say Repeal of healthcare law would cost $230 billion to US

Repealing health care law will be the first objective of Republicans in the House. However experts are saying that the revoke will endanger financial security of more than 32 million people of the USA due to lack of insurance coverage for them.

This would also cause to a larger financial deficit with a raise of $230 billion for the American economy. People will be forced to pay for private health insurance after the cancellation of Obama’s health care law.

Though the opposition has already initiated the process of repeal, they would need a majority in the House. The Republicans have also pledged to minimize financial deficit by introducing a better bill that would replace the health care law.

The experts predict a new trend in the changing political scenario, where the Republicans will control  the House. for Democrats President Obama’s healthcare law is one of their landmark achievements that they will try to retain any how. But even if they succeed in retaining the law, the opposition will create obstacle in its funding.

According to the financial analysis made by CBO [Congressional Budget Office], the repeal of health care law will cost around $145 billion in the initial stage and will reach $230 billion approximately by 2021. Thus, not only it would raise the burden of taxes on Americans but would also hamper many other activities due to shift of funds.