Sunday, April 05, 2009

SPB News for Sunday.


Describe camp as 'very interesting', waters 'so beautiful'.

US to fight 'anti-Israeli crap' at UN The US envoy to the United Nations says that Washington has a duty to fight the growing anti-Israeli sentiments in the world. In a Friday interview with the Politico, Susan Rice said that the Obama White House was determined to "fight against the anti-Israel crap" at the UN. The anti-Israeli sentiment began to become commonplace after Tel Aviv launched an all-out military strike against the Gaza Strip using conventional and uncomventional weapons against the Palestinians.

Obama Condemns North Korean Rocket Launch President Obama, in Prague to deliver a speech in which he vows to reduce the proliferation of nuclear weapons and material, condemned North Korea's launch of a ballistic missile, calling it a threat to the region and to international peace and security. In a statement released just before midnight Eastern time, the president urged North Korea to abide by the United Nations Security Council resolutions which govern ballistic missile tests and to refrain from further "provocative" actions.

Administration to ask for $500 million for Pakistani military in war-funding proposal --Obama wants to spend the same amount during each of the next four years. A bill sponsored by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard L. Berman (D-Calif.) would authorize $3 billion in aid to train and equip the Pakistani military over the next five years, along with $7.5 billion in economic and development assistance... The administration plans to ask for $500 million for the Pakistani military in a supplemental war-funding proposal next week, and to spend the same amount during each of the next four years.

Administration Seeks an Out On Bailout Rules for Firms --Officials Worry 'Constraints' Set by Congress Deter Participation [!] The Obama administration is engineering its new bailout initiatives in a way that it believes will allow firms benefiting from the programs to avoid restrictions imposed by Congress, including limits on lavish executive pay, according to government officials. The administration believes it can sidestep the rules because, in many cases, it has decided not to provide federal aid directly to financial companies, the sources said. Instead, the government has set up special entities that act as middlemen, channeling the bailout funds to the firms and, via this two-step process, stripping away the requirement that the restrictions be imposed, according to officials. Some experts are questioning the legality of this strategy.

Banks could bet on toxic assets with taxpayers' money U.S. banks that received billions of dollars of taxpayer money to bolster their capital could place bets on the same toxic assets that got them into trouble in the first place -- and with government support. It is unclear whether U.S. regulators will prevent banks receiving government aid from participating as buyers in the $1 trillion Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP) designed to unclog credit markets and bank balance sheets.

Top Economics Aide Discloses Income --Summers Earned Salary From Hedge Fund, Speaking Fees From Wall St. Firms Lawrence H. Summers, one of President Obama's top economic advisers, collected roughly $5.2 million in compensation from hedge fund D.E. Shaw over the past year and was paid more than $2.7 million in speaking fees by several troubled Wall Street firms and other organizations.

Times co. threatens to shut down Globe The New York Times Co. has threatened to shut the Boston Globe unless the newspaper's unions swiftly agree to $20 million in concessions, union leaders said. Executives from the Times Co. and Globe made the demands Thursday morning in an approximately 90- minute meeting with leaders of the newspaper's 13 unions, union officials said.


Europeans Offer Few New Troops for Afghanistan — STRASBOURG, France — European leaders offered few extra troops on Saturday for President Obama's intensified effort in Afghanistan, with most of the soldiers only on temporary security assignment, underlining deep divisions within the alliance over the war.

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