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May 1st, 2001 - All headlines and news are moved from the Home page to this page from now on. News in English and Serbian are entirely different. Serbian news are located under Editorial section and include Serbian independent news agency FONET and Yugoslav state news agency TANJUG. This may change when freedom of press returns to Serbia. Currently, all daily and weekly papers are under heavy government control and there is no reason for getting overwhelmed with government garbage at this point. English news currently consist from BBC headlines and stories from various news agencies.

LONDON (AFP) – Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Tuesday he is urging European countries to commit to deeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, amid EU division over the issue, as crunch climate talks continue.

Brown told the Guardian that he hoped the European Union will agree to cut emissions 30 percent by 2020 rather than the 20 percent already agreed.

EU nations were divided Monday at a meeting in Brussels over a linked proposal to boost the cuts to 30 percent if the rest of the world makes ambitious pledges at the Copenhagen conference.

France, Britain and others are keen to up the ante, amid reticence from Poland and other eastern European members, dependent on heavily polluting coal-fired power stations for much of their electricity needs.

"We've got to make countries recognise that they have to be as ambitious as they say they want to be," Brown told the Guardian.

"It's not enough to say 'I may do this, I might do this, possibly I'll do this'. I want to create a situation in which the European Union is persuaded to go to 30 percent."

A landmark UN conference on tackling climate change opened in Copenhagen on Monday to tackle man-made emissions that cause global warming.

Full story here.

Editor's commentary: There is a video footage from undercover agent investigating UK Climate Center where recently E-Mails were hacked and travesty of global warming fully exposed:

After agent submitted his findings in writing he immediately fell from grace and became a dissident. Current UK PM Gordon Brown is known as "Scottish Stalin." We have another video footage:

As seen in the first video footage, crazy scientists are manipulated by shady ninja agent connected to secret international criminal society. All who disagree with global warming scam are brutally persecuted as seen in the second video footage. If you think this is not so serious then you are right, this is exactly the same as entire global warming scam which is nothing but a joke. As UN and global warming scammers have adopted Dylan's song "A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall" as unofficial anthem of Copenhagen summit so we have decided to adopt Dolby's "She Blinded Me with Science" as unofficial anthem of "Global Warming Is Scam" campaign. On top of that, Dylan's songs are boring and utter crap. We prefer fun not doom proposed by global warming scammers. They should have chosen some song by Joy Division and then all of them can commit mass suicide by hanging themselves. Instead of that, just take Dolby's Cube and head for Rio where weather is always sunny and hot and women are like hot sauce. With enough carbonated cold drinks and beer, World Cup and Olympics will be blast. Who needs cold rainy England and 2012 London Olympics when all the fun is in the south.

PRAGUE (Reuters) – Saddam Hussein ordered his secret agents to attack the Prague headquarters of U.S. run Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to end broadcasting to Iraq, a Czech intelligence service spokesman said Sunday.

The attack was ordered by the then Iraqi leader in 2000 and Iraqi intelligence agents planned to use weapons including rocket propelled grenades, Kalashnikov rifles and submachine guns, spokesman Jan Subert told Czech TV Nova.

"Saddam Hussein ordered his intelligence to violently disrupt Iraqi broadcasting of the Radio Free Europe and for this operation he provided significant financial means," Subert told the station.

He said the weapons had been stockpiled for the attack after they were brought into the country in an Iraqi diplomatic car.

It was not known when the attack was due to take place but Subert told the television station that Czech intelligence discovered the plot and the Iraqis submitted the weapons to Czech authorities in 2003.

The plan was for the attack to take place from the window of a nearby flat that the Iraqis planned to rent as an office for a fake company, he said.

In 2003, the police and the army temporarily boosted security in and around the radio station's offices, located at the top of Wenceslas square in the historic center of Prague at an old communist parliament premises.

The headquarters have since been moved to a new closely guarded building in a neighborhood on the outskirts of Prague.

Full story here.

A French court has jailed Tamil Tiger militants convicted of extorting millions of dollars from the Tamil community in France.

Twenty-one people were found guilty, including the leader of the Tamil Tigers in France, Nadaraja Matinthiran, AFP news agency reported.

He received the longest sentence - seven years in jail.

The prosecution said the Tigers imposed what was described as a "revolutionary tax" on Tamil immigrants to France.

Many of the immigrants were political refugees living in Paris and neighbouring areas.

The court heard that Matinthiran was the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) organisation in France.

He was accused of extorting about 5m euros (£4.5m) from France's 75,000-strong Tamil community.

The court also ordered that the Co-ordinating Committee of Tamils-France be dismantled after ruling that it was a front for the LTTE, AFP reported.

LTTE is considered a terror group by the European Union.

Most of the suspects were arrested in April 2007 and charged with criminal conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism, financing of terrorism or racketeering to finance terrorism.

Full story here.

Note: Don't forget LTTE attempt to bribe US State Department official with 2 million dollars to remove them from the list of terrorist groups.

LONDON – Computer hackers have broken into a server at a well-respected climate change research center in Britain and posted hundreds of private e-mails and documents online — stoking debate over whether some scientists have overstated the case for man-made climate change.

The University of East Anglia, in eastern England, said in a statement Saturday that the hackers had entered the server and stolen data at its Climatic Research Unit, a leading global research center on climate change. The university said police are investigating the theft of the information, but could not confirm if all the materials posted online are genuine.

More than a decade of correspondence between leading British and U.S. scientists is included in about 1,000 e-mails and 3,000 documents posted on Web sites following the security breach last week.

Some climate change skeptics and bloggers claim the information shows scientists have overstated the case for global warming, and allege the documents contain proof that some researchers have attempted to manipulate data.

The furor over the leaked data comes weeks before the U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen, when 192 nations will seek to reach a binding treaty to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases worldwide. Many officials — including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon — regard the prospects of a pact being sealed at the meeting as bleak.

In one leaked e-mail, the research center's director, Phil Jones, writes to colleagues about graphs showing climate statistics over the last millennium. He alludes to a technique used by a fellow scientist to "hide the decline" in recent global temperatures. Some evidence appears to show a halt in a rise of global temperatures from about 1960, but is contradicted by other evidence which appears to show a rise in temperatures is continuing.

Jones wrote that, in compiling new data, he had "just completed Mike's Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (i.e., from 1981 onwards) and from 1961 for Keith's to hide the decline," according to a leaked e-mail, which the author confirmed was genuine.

One of the colleague referred to by Jones — Michael Mann, a professor of meteorology at Pennsylvania State University — did not immediately respond to requests for comment via telephone and e-mail.

The use of the word "trick" by Jones has been seized on by skeptics — who say his e-mail offers proof of collusion between scientists to distort evidence to support their assertion that human activity is influencing climate change.

"Words fail me," Stephen McIntyre — a blogger whose climateaudit.org Web site challenges popular thinking on climate change — wrote on the site following the leak of the messages.

Full story here.

Editor's commentary: This is the best proof so far that global warming is one big scam organized by world communists and socialists. They used poorly paid leftist scientists, organized crime and various left green terrorist groups to steal billions. Scientists are like artists, starving and happy to sell themselves like whores for fistful of dollars. Organized crime is the one controlling waste management, recycling business and future green management. Terrorist groups were used to set up massive forest fires that destroyed thousands of homes, caused billions of dollars in damages and even killed hundreds of people in the process. Chicago mobster Obama, well connected with world crime syndicates, is pushing for this scam to go through. Leftist political parties, organized crime and leftist scientists will steal billions and impose leftist world dictatorship where democracy will cease to exist, religion banned and Stalin like terror become real once again. Leftist media like CNN is spreading lies for years with Photoshop edited images and videos made who knows where and when. They use Nazi propaganda method in which people constantly flooded with lies become to believe in them after certain time period. Contrary to liberalism and democracy these criminals are preaching, they deny any attempt to challenge their false findings. For them this case is closed forever. Obama will downplay this scam revelation and continue with even more propaganda lies on CNN to push for biggest theft known in human history.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Accused hedge fund billionaire Raja Rajaratnam and his family's foundation were sued in a U.S. court on Thursday over allegations that they provided $5 million to Tamil Tigers militants in his native Sri Lanka's civil war.

The lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New Jersey on behalf of 30 people who were victims or survivors of attacks by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the South Asian country's civil war said the money assisted "crimes against humanity."

Last Friday, Rajaratnam and five others were criminally charged by U.S. prosecutors and the FBI in New York in what they described as the biggest hedge fund insider trading case ever.

The Sri Lankan is known for his charitable donations and denies allegations that money found its way to the LTTE. Last month, the Sri Lankan government accepted his pledge of $1 million to rehabilitate former LTTE fighters after the end of the 25-year-long war in May.

The lawsuit names Rajaratnam, his father J.M. Rajaratnam and the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) foundation, which had a branch in New Jersey during the 2001 to 2007 period covered by the civil lawsuit. The foundation's funds have been frozen in both Sri Lanka and the United States.

It accuses them of "aiding and abetting, intentionally facilitating and/or disregarding crimes against humanity in violation of international law."

Rajaratnam gave at least $5 million to the foundation in 2005, to help rebuild after the tsunami hit Sri Lanka in late 2004.

Two years later, U.S. authorities proved that the TRO was funneling money to the Tigers, which were on a U.S. list of banned terrorist groups. Rajaratnam is Tamil, but his supporters point out that his personal foundation donated millions to help all ethnic communities hit by the tsunami.

The lawsuit was filed under the U.S. Alien Tort Claims Act, which allows nonresidents to sue in U.S. courts for alleged violations of "the law of nations."

They "knowingly provided financial and material support to LTTE with the intent to advance the LTTE's terror campaign," the complaint said.

The case is Karunamunige Chamila Krishanthi et al v Rajakumara Rajaratnam et al, U.S. District Court in New Jersey (No. to be assigned)

Full story here.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Billionaire hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam and executives from some of the most prestigious U.S. companies were charged on Friday with the largest hedge fund insider-trading scheme ever.

Investigators said they used court-approved telephone wire taps for the first time in a Wall Street insider trading case, sending shivers through the hedge fund industry which has traditionally picked up and shared trading tips to make big profits.

At the center of the case are Rajaratnam, his Galleon hedge fund and two executives from hedge fund New Castle, which was a unit of Bear Stearns Asset Management before Bears Stearns Cos collapsed in 2008, but is still in operation.

Rajaratnam, born into a family of well-to-do Tamils in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, is one of the largest investors on the Colombo Stock Exchange.

Last month, he pledged $1 million to help pay for the rehabilitation of former soldiers of the separatist "Tamil Tigers," which fought 25 years to create a separate state for Sri Lanka's minority Tamils but were defeated in May.

The cases are USA v Raj Rajaratnam et al No. 09-mj-2306 and USA v Danielle Chiesi et al No. 09-mj-2307, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Full story here.

Editor's commentary: As you can see he is Tamil from Sri Lanka. It makes you wonder who helped him become the richest Sri Lankan in the world? Billionaire Tamil living in New York and operating fraud schemes on Wall Street!? For decades we were told lies about LTTE and how they survive all government attempts to be crushed for good. Who is really financing them from abroad and why? As we see in this case it is the matter of billions of dollars and not many can afford that kind of money to be spent on terrorist groups. The worst thing of all is that Raj Rajaratnam is big contributor to Democrats. He donated $87,000 to various Democrats during last five years. That is legal money only, who knows how much he really siphoned from these hedge funds into pockets of Democrats. The list of names he contributed is very impressive and includes President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Remember her blocking IMF 2 billion dollars loan to Sri Lanka during final government offensive against LTTE? Now it makes perfect sense. She and the rest of Democrats are terrorist paid whores who don't care at all for world peace and riddance of terrorism. It is very strange that Obama recently got Nobel Peace Prize although he supported LTTE and asked for cease fire repeatedly to help LTTE survive. This is just like in 1984 and during Stalin days where those who "fight for peace" are actually the one sponsoring world calamity, anarchy and chaos. They are for the peace as in "rest in peace" people. The more you kill them the more "peace" you get. We also know that Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt is also big supporter of LTTE. That is why Sri Lankan government refused to give him visa to visit Sri Lanka. He has private affairs as a businessman with interest in Russian gas giant Gazprom, and Lundin Petroleum, an oil company with operations in Sudan. A good indicator that he is closely connected to Democrats is that on February 4th 1994, he sent an e-mail to U.S. president Bill Clinton, which was the first ever electronic mail sent between two heads of government. In the e-mail he praised Clinton's decision to end the trade embargo on Vietnam. Since Nobel Prize is awarded by Sweden-based international monetary prize (Alfred Nobel was Swedish) it now explains why Obama got this prize. It is clear that Stalin founded world conspiracy to instigate death and chaos while officially claiming "fight for world peace" is behind all this. It is imperative for true world peace to remove Bildt from international politics and arrest all financiers of world terrorism. Read note for explanation on why Peace Prize is presented in Norway although it has nothing to do with Norway.

Note: The Nobel Peace Prize is presented at the annual Prize Award Ceremony in Oslo, Norway on the 10th of December. At the time the Nobel prizes were instituted, Norway and Sweden were joined together in a union known as the Swedish-Norwegian Union.

BERLIN – German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday won the center-right majority that eluded her four years ago — nudging Europe's biggest economic power to the right as it claws its way out of a deep recession.

Voters sent the nation's main left-wing party, the Social Democrats of Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, into opposition after 11 years as part of the government. It was the party's worst parliamentary election result since World War II.

"There is no talking around it: this is a bitter defeat," a subdued Steinmeier said, vowing to lead a strong opposition.

The conservative Merkel managed to end her four-year "grand coalition" with the Social Democrats thanks to a very strong showing by her new coalition partner, the pro-business Free Democrats. Her own Christian Democrats produced an underwhelming showing.

"Tonight we can really celebrate," said a beaming Merkel, greeted by chants of "Angie! Angie!" from supporters. "(But) there are many problems in our country to be solved."

Projections by the nation's public broadcasters, based on partial vote counts, put support for Merkel's Christian Democrats at up to 33.8 percent of the vote and for the Social Democrats at about 23 percent. The Free Democrats captured nearly 15 percent, the Left Party had 12 percent or more and the Greens above 10 percent.

Both ARD and ZDF television channels said that would produce a stable center-right majority in parliament. It was a major shift from the 2005 election, in which Merkel's conservatives just squeaked by the Social Democrats.

The White House said President Barack Obama called Merkel to congratulate her and "looks forward to continued close cooperation" with her. French President Nicolas Sarkozy also congratulated her.

Merkel's second four-year term will be markedly different from her first, in which she presided over a middle-of-the-road government that was fractious but enjoyed a huge parliamentary majority.

Guido Westerwelle, the leader of the Free Democrats, is expected to be the next foreign minister. His party is returning to government after an 11-year absence.

"We are pleased with this exceptional result but we know that above all else, this means responsibility," he said.

Merkel vowed "swift and decisive" coalition talks, likely to be shorter than the two months of haggling that produced the "grand coalition" in 2005.

One change should be easy: Both the conservatives and the Free Democrats want to halt a plan to shut down Germany's 17 nuclear power plants by 2021, and extend the lives of some until more renewable energy is available.

Germany's three opposition parties gained support in the past four years, with all heading for their best results ever. In 2005, all three parties scored less than 10 percent of the vote each.

Full story here.

WASHINGTON – Students beware: The summer vacation you just enjoyed could be sharply curtailed if President Barack Obama gets his way.

Obama says American kids spend too little time in school, putting them at a disadvantage with other students around the globe.

"Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas," the president said earlier this year. "Not with Malia and Sasha, not in my family, and probably not in yours. But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom."

The president, who has a sixth-grader and a third-grader, wants schools to add time to classes, to stay open late and to let kids in on weekends so they have a safe place to go.

"Our school calendar is based upon the agrarian economy and not too many of our kids are working the fields today," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

Fifth-grader Nakany Camara is of two minds. She likes the four-week summer program at her school, Brookhaven Elementary School in Rockville, Md. Nakany enjoys seeing her friends there and thinks summer school helped boost her grades from two Cs to the honor roll.

But she doesn't want a longer school day. "I would walk straight out the door," she said.

Domonique Toombs felt the same way when she learned she would stay for an extra three hours each day in sixth grade at Boston's Clarence R. Edwards Middle School.

"I was like, `Wow, are you serious?'" she said. "That's three more hours I won't be able to chill with my friends after school."

Her school is part of a 3-year-old state initiative to add 300 hours of school time in nearly two dozen schools. Early results are positive. Even reluctant Domonique, who just started ninth grade, feels differently now. "I've learned a lot," she said.

Does Obama want every kid to do these things? School until dinnertime? Summer school? And what about the idea that kids today are overscheduled and need more time to play?

Obama and Duncan say kids in the United States need more school because kids in other nations have more school.

"Young people in other countries are going to school 25, 30 percent longer than our students here," Duncan told the AP. "I want to just level the playing field."

While it is true that kids in many other countries have more school days, it's not true they all spend more time in school.

Kids in the U.S. spend more hours in school (1,146 instructional hours per year) than do kids in the Asian countries that persistently outscore the U.S. on math and science tests — Singapore (903), Taiwan (1,050), Japan (1,005) and Hong Kong (1,013). That is despite the fact that Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong have longer school years (190 to 201 days) than does the U.S. (180 days).

Researcher Tom Loveless of the Brookings Institution looked at math scores in countries that added math instruction time. Scores rose significantly, especially in countries that added minutes to the day, rather than days to the year.

"Ten minutes sounds trivial to a school day, but don't forget, these math periods in the U.S. average 45 minutes," Loveless said. "Percentage-wise, that's a pretty healthy increase."

Charter schools are known for having longer school days or weeks or years. For example, kids in the KIPP network of 82 charter schools across the country go to school from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., more than three hours longer than the typical day. They go to school every other Saturday and for three weeks in the summer. KIPP eighth-grade classes exceed their school district averages on state tests.

In Massachusetts' expanded learning time initiative, early results indicate that kids in some schools do better on state tests than do kids at regular public schools. The extra time, which schools can add as hours or days, is for three things: core academics — kids struggling in English, for example, get an extra English class; more time for teachers; and enrichment time for kids.

Regular public schools are adding time, too, though it is optional and not usually part of the regular school day. Their calendar is pretty much set in stone. Most states set the minimum number of school days at 180 days, though a few require 175 to 179 days.

Summer is a crucial time for kids, especially poorer kids, because poverty is linked to problems that interfere with learning, such as hunger and less involvement by their parents.

That makes poor children almost totally dependent on their learning experience at school, said Karl Alexander, a sociology professor at Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University, home of the National Center for Summer Learning.

Disadvantaged kids, on the whole, make no progress in the summer, Alexander said. Some studies suggest they actually fall back. Wealthier kids have parents who read to them, have strong language skills and go to great lengths to give them learning opportunities such as computers, summer camp, vacations, music lessons, or playing on sports teams.

"If your parents are high school dropouts with low literacy levels and reading for pleasure is not hard-wired, it's hard to be a good role model for your children, even if you really want to be," Alexander said.

Extra time is not cheap. The Massachusetts program costs an extra $1,300 per student, or 12 percent to 15 percent more than regular per-student spending, said Jennifer Davis, a founder of the program. It received more than $17.5 million from the state Legislature last year.

Aside from improving academic performance, Education Secretary Duncan has a vision of schools as the heart of the community. Duncan, who was Chicago's schools chief, grew up studying alongside poor kids on the city's South Side as part of the tutoring program his mother still runs.

"Those hours from 3 o'clock to 7 o'clock are times of high anxiety for parents," Duncan said. "They want their children safe. Families are working one and two and three jobs now to make ends meet and to keep food on the table."

Full story here.

Note: See Obama plan in action and student response here.

Editor's commentary: This perfectly illustrates our conclusion that Obama is just a puppet in Democrats machine rather than president deciding on his own. He personally doesn't believe in this nor his family but he will go with it because that is what they told him to do. But the question here is who told him that? This is done by some Washington DC bureaucrats studying statistics. Everything is based on math tests where American students are outperformed by others. It is well known fact that math is the most difficult subject that most of people rarely use in their lives. Do you need differential equations to be pilot or football player? Social studies are not even mentioned here indicating clear bias. Agrarian calendar? Should it be seasons calendar based on climate changes? What about bio clock of humans that is tied to this cycle? They want brainwashed kids working like ants 24 hours a day. Ditch the freedom and creativity, we need more bureaucrats. Shut down theaters and restaurants, open offices like in Matrix movie. Be a cog in the machine, reject your humanity. It must be wonderful going in school on 100F (40C) degrees heat and spending terawatts of electricity. It is nothing about agrarianism it is fact of nature. It is interesting that Democrats have no mind of their own on any topic. They always want to implement what other people in the world do. If they go more to school then Americans should too. It is certainly not true that kids in Afghanistan go more to school than Americans so what countries we are talking about? Democrats usually quote socialist and communist countries like Cuba as an example. They often forget to mention that main reason for more school in communist countries is brainwashing of kids with state ideology not education. Hitler liked schools very much as well to produce Hitler Jugend or as today Putin's Youth. Listen to that Loveless guy who found that ten minutes extra per day in school result in better scores. We have no idea what students are doing ten minutes extra so what's the point. Maybe they are smoking marijuana or having sex in the restrooms. Shouldn't we be more concerned with what students learn rather than just stay in school. Education Secretary Duncan wants kids to stay more away from their parents, that is his primary goal. We remember how Hitler regime taught children to report on their parents or even better, Orwell's 1984. He is totalitarian bureaucrat that wants family destroyed, kids brainwashed and used as slaves for government sinister purposes. Report is also heavily biased toward poor kids. Democrats believe that education will help them fight poverty. If they check up on statistics in former communist countries and USSR they would find out that most people with college degrees are in poverty while criminals and Kremlin mafia with no education or little basic one rule. The richest man today in the world never finished his college, he was busy with creating Microsoft. Some didn't even finish high school and yet they earned billions. Be fool, stay in school! Waste your life on government lies and becoming servant to evil machinery.

Not to be just critics so here are our proposals for better education and society in general. We need less school! All kids need is 4+4 basic education. Four years of elementary schooling plus four years of high school. This way they can graduate in 15. Adult status should change as well making them adults at 15 so that they can drink, drive, vote and get married. 18 year adult status is based on 19th century average first menstruation period of girls. At that time, most girls got their first period in 18-19. Why girls that get their first period at 11 should wait to have kids at 21? Society needs more children not militant feminists or religious hypocrites linking sex with satanism. Why teens have to wait until 18 or even 21 to have sex. Few years of waiting until you are 15 is reasonable enough. Why bother with old standards that do not reflect current state of people? It is fact of nature not some bureaucratic rule. Another good reason for getting rid of four years of pointless schooling is that more and more people need to complete graduate studies. Under current rules you can't become PhD before 27. Some even have to study in their early 30s thanks to the requirements of some schools for 6+6 years of college and graduate education. With our system you can become PhD in 21 with 4+2 college plus graduate studies. That is full ten year difference and we all know that young minds are fastest learners which makes perfect sense. While basic education is of general type including social studies and science, high education should be by the subject or profession. No need to waste time learning more English if you want to become engineer or differential equations if you want to be writer. Society needs their children to be able to take care of themselves sooner rather than later. Wasting years on unnecessary education only makes society more vulnerable, slow and inefficient. That is not the way of 21st century.

WASHINGTON – Tens of thousands of protesters fed up with government spending marched to the U.S. Capitol on Saturday, showing their disdain for the president's health care plan with slogans such as "Obamacare makes me sick" and "I'm not your ATM."

The line of protesters clogged several blocks near the Capitol, according to the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency. Demonstrators chanted "enough, enough" and "We the People." Others yelled "You lie, you lie!" and "Pelosi has to go," referring to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Throngs of people waved U.S. flags and held signs reading "Go Green Recycle Congress" and "Obama Bin Lyin.'" Men wore colonial costumes as they listened to speakers who warned of "judgment day" — Election Day 2010.

Other signs — reflecting the growing intensity of the health care debate — depicted President Barack Obama with the signature mustache of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. Many referred to Obama as a socialist or communist, and another imposed his face on that of the villainous Joker from "Batman."

Richard Brigle, 57, a Vietnam War veteran and former Teamster, came from Paw Paw, Mich. He said health care needs to be reformed — but not according to Obama's plan.

"My grandkids are going to be paying for this. It's going to cost too much money that we don't have," he said while marching, bracing himself with a wooden cane as he walked.

FreedomWorks Foundation, a conservative organization led by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, organized several groups from across the country for what they billed as a "March on Washington."

Organizers say they built on momentum from the April "tea party" demonstrations held nationwide to protest tax policies, along with growing resentment over the economic stimulus packages and bank bailouts.

Armey and other speakers directed their ire at Pelosi — Armey took a photo, telling the crowd he wanted to be able to prove to her they were there.

"If it's necessary, we'll come back here next year," he said.

Many protesters said they paid their own way to the event — an ethic they believe should be applied to the government. They say unchecked spending on things like a government-run health insurance option could increase inflation and lead to economic ruin.

Terri Hall, 45, of Starke, Fla., said she felt compelled to become political for the first time this year because she was upset by government spending.

"Our government has lost sight of the powers they were granted," she said. She added that deficit spending is out of control, and said she thought it was putting the country at risk.

Race also became an issue when a black Republican leader denounced African-American politicians that she said had an "affinity" for socialism.

"I'm outraged prominent black politicians use the race card" to cover up their failed policies, said Deneen Borelli of New York.

One woman held a sign with images of Martin Luther King Jr. and Obama, with the words printed alongside: "He had a dream, we got a nightmare."

Lawmakers also supported the rally. Rep. Mike Pence, chairman of the House Republican Conference, said Americans want health care reform but they don't want a government takeover.

"Republicans, Democrats and independents are stepping up and demanding we put our fiscal house in order," Pence, of Indiana, told The Associated Press.

"I think the overriding message after years of borrowing, spending and bailouts is enough is enough," Pence said.

Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., and Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., also spoke at the rally.

Other sponsors of the event include the Heartland Institute, Americans for Tax Reform and the Ayn Rand Center for Individuals Rights.

Erica Coyle, who's in her 50s and is from Louisville, Ky., said problems began before Obama took office, but she said the situation has worsened and people are "finally waking up."

"This is his Waterloo," Coyle said of Obama.

Full story here.

YANGON, Myanmar – Stung by international outrage over the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's ruling generals agreed Saturday to hand an American prisoner involved in her case to a visiting U.S. senator.

Sen. Jim Webb was also granted an unprecedented meeting with the junta chief, and was allowed to hold talks with Suu Kyi, the first foreign official permitted to see the Nobel laureate since she was sentenced to 18 more months of house arrest on Tuesday.

American John Yettaw, who was sentenced to seven years of hard labor for swimming uninvited to Suu Kyi's lakeside house in Yangon, will be deported on Sunday, Webb said in a statement from his Washington office.

The impending deportation indicates "good relations between the two countries and hope (that) these will grow," Yettaw's lawyer Khin Maoung Oo said. Webb echoed the sentiment.

"It is my hope that we can take advantage of these gestures as a way to begin laying a foundation of goodwill and confidence-building in the future," Webb said in the statement.

While Washington has traditionally been Myanmar's strongest critic, applying political and economic sanctions against the junta, President Barack Obama's new ambassador for East Asia, Kurt Campbell, recently said the administration is interested in easing its policy of isolation.

The regime has shown no sign it will release Suu Kyi before next year's general elections, which critics say will perpetuate the military's decades-old rule, but Webb's visit appeared to show the junta is sensitive to international censure.

Suu Kyi was driven from her residence to a nearby government guest house in Yangon for her 40-minute meeting with Webb. She was later driven back to her rundown, lakeside home.

Webb described his talk with the democracy icon as "an opportunity ... to convey my deep respect to Aung San Suu Kyi for the sacrifices she has made on behalf of democracy around the world."

Earlier Saturday, Webb held talks with junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe, the reclusive military council chief who had never met a senior U.S. official.

Activists have complained that the visit — the first by a member of the U.S. Congress in more than a decade — conferred legitimacy on a brutal regime, but the Obama administration gave the Virginia Democrat its blessing.

Webb, a highly decorated Vietnam War veteran, is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's East Asia and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee.

In a letter to Webb, dissident groups warned the junta would use the senator's trip for its own ends.

"We are concerned that the military regime will manipulate and exploit your visit and propagandize that you endorse their treatment on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and over 2,100 political prisoners, their human rights abuses on the people of Burma, and their systematic, widespread and ongoing attack against the ethnic minorities," the letter said. Daw is a term of respect for older women in Myanmar.

Reflecting a similar wariness, a spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy said the party "has no interest in Jim Webb because he is not known to have any interest in Myanmar affairs." He did not elaborate.

State TV has heralded Webb's arrival, featuring his meetings with the country's leaders in Saturday's broadcasts.

At Suu Kyi's trial, Yettaw of Falcon, Missouri, testified that he swam to Suu Kyi's home to warn her after he had a vision that she would be assassinated. He was convicted of helping Suu Kyi to violate the terms of her house arrest.

Some of Suu Kyi's supporters have referred to the 53-year-old Yettaw as a "fool," but his lawyer, Khin Maoung Oo, described him as "a compassionate, considerate and loving person" who had hoped to save Suu Kyi's life.

Full story here.

Editor's commentary: There were many idiotic foreign policy moves by Democrats since Jimmy Carter became president in 1976 but this one is the most idiotic ever. Foreign policy of Obama administration is as following: "We'll send American hostages to hostile countries and then we'll beg for their release and offer any concessions they want. In return we'll be perceived as rescuers and saviors." This is similar to what communist Prodi administration in Italy did by paying millions of dollars in ransom to Qaeda and Taliban. They send some idiot to be captured by them and then they pay millions for their release. It is like big money laundering scheme where you deliver dirty money legally to criminals and terrorists to help their terror flourish further. Do you still remember those two stupid reporters sent to North Korea to get arrested on site? Bill Clinton then left for North Korea and obtained their release. No one ever told us what in exchange Bill offered Kim Jong-Il but he for sure didn't release them for nothing. In case of Burma it is even worse because thanks to Yettaw, Suu Kyi was arrested and forced to serve additional 18 months on house arrest, long enough for general elections in Burma to be over. This time, not only Obama administration is offering abolishment of sanctions and who knows what else but they even helped Burmese junta sentence Suu Kyi to further home arrest and practically deliver them instant victory on upcoming one party elections in Burma. This is perfect example and proof that Obama administration has no intention of getting rid of these terrorist, gangster regimes that are enemy of entire world, including America. As Prodi had to step down in Italy it is obvious that Obama will go down fast as well. There is good probability of extraordinary elections in second half of 2010. Don't forget 3 American hikers caught in Iran. We just wonder who will go to Iran to offer appeasements to gypsy Nejad and let him have his nuclear weapons and destruction of Israel. Even if it is from Democrats this time is too much, this is the end.

BANGKOK – A Thai court on Tuesday rejected a U.S. request to extradite a Russian arms dealer who allegedly sold weapons to dictators and warlords around the world, raising the prospect that he could be freed by the weekend.

The unexpected ruling in favor of Viktor Bout was welcomed by Russia. The United States, which had mounted the sting operation that led to his arrest at a Bangkok hotel, said it was "mystified" by the court's decision.

Bangkok Criminal Court Judge Chittakorn Pattanasiri said Thai prosecutors have 72 hours to indicate whether to appeal, and, if not, Bout will be set free. If an appeal is filed, Bout will be held pending further proceedings.

"Round one has gone to Bout, but the battle for justice for this international menace is not over. It is unacceptable that this man goes free," Ed Royce, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on terrorism, said in a statement. "Politics seems to have trumped the law. Something is rotten in Bangkok."

There was no immediate comment from the Thai government.

Bout has never been tried despite being the subject of U.N. sanctions and a Belgian money-laundering indictment. Over the past two decades, he has allegedly supplied weapons used in civil wars in South America, the Middle East and Africa.

He was arrested in March 2008 after U.S. agents posed as arms buyers for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which Washington classifies as a terrorist organization.

Two months later, he was indicted on charges of conspiring to sell millions of dollars worth of weapons to FARC, including more than 700 surface-to-air missiles, thousands of guns, high-tech helicopters and airplanes outfitted with grenade launchers and missiles.

If convicted in the U.S. of the most serious terrorism-related charges, he could be sentenced to life in prison.

When the Thai court took up the request to extradite Bout in June 2008, it seemed like an open and shut case. Under the Thai-American extradition treaty, authorities only needed to identify Bout, prove his crimes merit a trial and show the case was not political.

But from the start, Bout's extradition hearing was marred by repeated delays as a defense attorney fell sick and witnesses failed to turn up. The delays inspired a Cold War-era tug of war between Russia and the United States.

Arms trade experts have alleged Bout has been useful for Russia's intelligence apparatus, and that Russia did not want him to go on trial in the United States. American lawmakers led by Royce accused the Russians of influencing the process. The Russian Foreign Ministry has publicly criticized the pressure it said was being applied on Thailand by the Americans.

In interviews with The Associated Press, representatives on both sides have leveled unproved accusations of Thai officials being bribed by the other side.

Still, Bout's extradition appeared inevitable after a Thai Foreign Ministry official told the court in May that the request met the conditions of the Thai-American extradition treaty.

Yet on Tuesday, Judge Chittakorn rejected the extradition request because he deemed FARC a political movement, rather than a terrorist group, which meant that Bout's alleged crimes were political offenses. Extradition cannot be granted when it involves a political offense.

Chittakorn also ruled the extradition treaty did not apply because Bout's alleged crimes couldn't be prosecuted in Thailand and did not involve Thai citizens or Thai interests.

U.S. Embassy deputy chief of mission James F. Entwistle said Thai prosecutors have said they will appeal.

"We're disappointed and mystified by this lower court ruling," Entwistle said. "We think the facts, relevant Thai law, and the terms of the bilateral extradition treaty clearly supports the extradition of Viktor Bout to the United States to stand trial on serious terrorism charges."

In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters any appeal would be up to the Thai government. "We're disappointed in the court decision," he said.

Russian Embassy official Andrey V. Dvornikov said Moscow was "satisfied" with the court's decision and he was awaiting the Thai prosecutors' decision on an appeal. "This case will be over when Mr. Bout is home," he said.

The U.N. suspects Bout's clients have included warlords and dictators, including Liberia's Charles Taylor and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, the late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire and both sides of the civil war in Angola. Bout, whose network of companies had as many as 50 airplanes, also reportedly supplied arms to the Taliban and, indirectly, al-Qaida — charges he has repeatedly denied.

In their 2007 book, "Merchant of Death: Money, Guns, Planes, and the Man Who Makes War Possible," Steve Braun and Douglas Farah alleged Bout sold as many as 10,000 AK-47 assault rifles to FARC in the late 1990s through a front company.

The FARC has been trying to overthrow successive Colombian governments for a half-century. It has been put on the defensive in recent years by Colombia's U.S.-backed military.

Bout's nickname, the "Merchant of Death," came in 2000 from a minister at Britain's Foreign Office who was concerned about Bout allegedly ferrying weapons around Africa. Bout is widely believed to be a model for the arms dealer portrayed by Nicolas Cage in the 2005 movie "Lord of War."

David M. Crane, an international law professor at Syracuse University and former prosecutor of the Sierra Leone tribunal that indicted Charles Taylor, said Bout would likely return to weapons dealing if he is set free.

"He was a player and could be a player again. This guy has nine lives," Crane said. "He certainly has the capability of showing up in the wrong place at the wrong time and providing weapons for cash or diamonds."

Full story here.

Editor's commentary: The only time we remember someone called FARC a political group was during Clinton administration which implies that Bill Clinton and his political advisers backed by Hillary stand behind this. Clinton administration repeatedly refused to fight against FARC and it seems they will continue this practice even further by openly supporting FARC and all other leftist terrorists groups around the world like Hamas, IRA, ETA and some remnants of LTTE. Nothing is rotten in Bangkok, the only rotten country right now is US. President that can't say one word without consulting Bill Clinton's political advisors is nothing but Clinton's puppy. His wife is Secretary of State which seals foreign policy control. Bush administration didn't spent 8 years of fighting FARC, Taliban, Saddam, Al-Qaeda and Hamas so that Bill Clinton comes back again and try to undone everything. If things are that bad then there is nothing left but to start another civil war in America. Americans can't act like drunks, walking left for 8 years and then walking right for another 8 years because this is the same as standing ground for 16 years. If there is no consensus on foreign policy then America days are outnumbered. Calling FARC a political movement is the same as calling LTTE, Hamas and Al-Qaeda political movements. If deranged Clinton thinks that terrorists are his best friends in winning leftist policies around the world then he himself is a terrorist and should be tried as one in US. To further backup these claims, Hillary and Obama didn't say one word regarding this scandalous decision clearly indicating that they stand behind it.

Victor Bout didn't sell political pamphlets or printing presses to FARC but illicit weapons. Even if FARC would have been political group it would be clear violation. On top of that, this idiot corrupt judge said that extradition treaty between Thailand and US is invalid!? He doesn't even have jurisdiction to that because Thai government and Thai Constitution say otherwise. Following his logic, Al-Qaeda terrorist that kills thousand people in Indonesia and then it is arrested in Thailand must be freed because his act didn't involve Thai citizens of Thai interests. He is so stupid not to notice this hilarious gaffe. This is supposed to be said if Thai citizen alleged of committing crime in another country should be extradited or not, not for foreign citizens. No one requested Thailand to prosecute Victor Bout and if Thai court would be able to prosecute him then what would be the point of extraditing him in the first place? This argument is often used by Serbia to avoid extradition of war criminals.

HAVANA – It's hard to find a spare tire in Cuba these days, or a cup of yoghurt.

Air conditioners are shut off in the dead heat. Factories close at peak hours, and workers go without their government-subsidized lunches.

Cuba has ordered austere energy savings this summer to cope with rising budget deficits and plummeting export profits, and the Communist Party Central Committee on Friday lowered 2009 economic growth projections by nearly a full percentage point. The committee also announced that it was suspending plans for the first Communist Party congress in 12 years in order to deal with the financial crisis.

A report in official Cuban newspapers cited President Raul Castro as saying the island is struggling through a "very serious" crisis and hinted that further belt-tightening was on the way.

The government already has imposed conservation measures even as it continues to get free oil for services from Venezuela, fueling rumors that Cuba is selling President Hugo Chavez's crude on the side to raise cash.

More likely, the shortages result from a global recession that hit an already struggling economy still reeling from last year's hurricanes. President Raul Castro scolded Cubans in a national address Sunday to work harder because they have no one to blame but themselves.

"The only thing I know is that we're screwed," said one 27-year-old who only gave the name Raul because he sells cement and housing materials on the black market. "I don't work. I find a way to survive."

The latest cuts are small compared with strict measures imposed during the so-called special period, when Cubans nearly starved after subsidies dried up with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Nor are they as severe as the blackouts of 2004, when technical problems at power plants left much of the island in the dark for hours at a time. Fans and water pumps were idled. Milk and food spoiled, while electrical surges damaged refrigerators, televisions and other costly appliances.

Still, every bit of belt-tightening stings in a country where almost everyone works for the state and average wages are less than $20 per month.

The price of nickel, Cuba's chief export, is down more than 50 percent from last year, according to Toronto-based Sherritt International Cooperation, Cuba's largest energy partner.

The company's oil production on the island was down 19 percent last quarter compared to the second quarter of 2008, mainly because Sherritt suspended drilling earlier this year when Cuba fell behind on its payments.

The government and Sherritt have worked out a plan to pay down the debt, and the company says Cuba has been sticking to it. But the situation could have spurred the mandatory energy savings. Neither Sherritt nor the Cuban government would provide more details.

Or Cuba may be trying to save unused oil to bolster strategic reserves while prices are still relatively low, said Dan Erikson of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington.

But he also said the strict measures lend credence to whispers that Cuba is selling Venezuelan oil overseas — something the communist government did with some of the discounted oil it got from the Soviet Union.

"It's been alleged they've been selling Venezuelan oil on the side. They've denied that, but if they are open to doing it, now would be the time," Erikson said. "Cuba's in a real cash crunch."

Workers at a tire factory in San Jose de las Lajas, a rugged farming town 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Havana, said production is down and the factory goes dark when demand for electricity is high — leaving gas stations and mechanics short on spare tires.

In the central province of Cienfuegos, a large dairy that supplies ice cream and other products to much of the country and exports cheese has been ordered to cut production, according to the Communist Youth newspaper Juventud Rebelde. Yogurt is scarce in Havana — sold only in upscale grocery stores that cater to tourists and are too expensive for most Cubans.

Some government office workers say their hours have been cut to between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., and others are being told to come in only twice a week.

State companies also have stopped offering employees low-cost lunches in worker cafeterias to save power.

Other government offices, businesses, banks and stores have ordered air conditioners turned off for much of the day, rather than close early.

Customer service, never stellar in state-run institutions, has suffered even more. In the sweltering banks, barbershops and boutiques, listless employees are more interested in fanning themselves than serving sweating customers.

Full story here.

The UK government has come under rising pressure from MPs to start making contact with Palestinian group Hamas.

A Foreign Affairs Committee report also said it was "regrettable" UK-supplied military items were "almost certainly" used by Israel in the Gaza conflict.

The cross-party group, which monitors foreign policy, called on the EU to make relations with Israel conditional on its peace-making efforts.

But committee chairman Michael Gapes said the committee saw "few signs that the current policy of non-engagement with Hamas" was effective.

He added that the government "should urgently consider engaging with moderate elements within Hamas" as it had with the political wing of Hezbollah in Lebanon earlier this year.

The wide-ranging report condemns Israel for the continuing growth of settlements and for its blockades around the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip.

It was unacceptable, said Mr Gapes, to deny unrestricted access for humanitarian assistance.

And the report also called for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to declare whether it considered war crimes had been committed during the December 2008 to January 2009 conflict in Gaza and southern Israel.

The committee added that the split between Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank was a central obstacle to creating a united and democratic Palestinian state, and called for elections that could be accepted by all parties.

Hamas takes its name from the Arabic initials for the Islamic Resistance Movement.

Designated a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US and the EU, it is seen by its supporters as a legitimate fighting force defending Palestinians from a brutal military occupation.

Full story here.

Editor's commentary: We couldn't agree more that non-engagement policy with terrorists is wrong. They shouldn't be ignored but fully engaged and destroyed just as LTTE was pulverized recently. Same people that advocate support for Hamas did the same thing with LTTE and Taliban. Obama recent statement that US should support "moderate" Taliban and now this show clearly that leftists openly support terrorism. What is the difference between "moderate" and extreme terrorist? He won't rape and kill 9-year old girl but he will do the same to 19-year old woman? Let's support this guy to make "peace" and let terrorists go unpunished. In addition to that, leftists advocate legalizing opium, marijuana and other drugs to help terrorists legitimize their drugs business. This was recently proposed by "girlie" men in California, members of Democratic Party to cut California budget deficit. To quote Agamemnon from movie Troy: "Peace is for women and the weak." No one remembers peacemakers, everyone remembers conquerors and warriors. With Hillary in charge of foreign affairs and weak president seating in the White House, all we can expect is some humiliating peace with Taliban, Hamas, Al-Qaeda and countries that openly support terrorism like Iran, Syria, North Korea. UK and US should send their own troops to battle Hamas in Gaza together with Israel not give Hamas "humanitarian" money to buy rockets and kill Israeli civilians.

Solution to Middle East is not peace at this moment but further fight against Arab terrorism. History teaches us that separated territories and corridors are doomed and cause wars just like it was the case with Pakistan that had to split east (Bangladesh) and west parts or existence of Danzig Corridor (In The Shape of Things to Come, published in 1933, H.G.Wells predicted the Corridor as the starting point of a future Second World War). Gaza and West Bank therefore can't be part of the same Palestinian state. There can be only two separate states with no corridors through Israel. It is obvious that Hamas has full control of Gaza and Palestinian Authority of West Bank. No elections will produce unifying solution ever.

Labour government in UK is at all time low popular support and this is no surprise. People want strong leadership to bring prosperity to their country not weaklings begging on their knees terrorists and countries supporting terrorism. As soon as elections are called in UK, Labour is out of power for good. Same fate awaits Democrats in US and we all remember how they booted out Carter from Oval office in 1980 being sick and tired of his endless appeasements to terrorists and world communism while he openly abandoned American allies around the world.

There is no world peace and there never will be one. It is just an illusion for weak and impotent. There is only eternal struggle of forces of good and evil.

Human rights groups in South Korea say North Korea has stepped up executions of Christians, some of them in public.

The communist country, the world's most closed society, views religion as a major threat.

Only the founder of the country, Kim Il-sung, and his son, Kim Jong-il, may be worshipped, in mass public displays of fervour.

Despite the persecutions, it is thought up to 30,000 North Koreans may practise Christianity secretly in their homes.

A report by a number of South Korean groups highlights one particular case of a woman allegedly executed in public last month, in a northern town close to the Chinese border.

She was accused of distributing Bibles, spying for South Korea and the United States and helping to organise dissidents.

Her parents, husband, and children were sent to a prison camp.

Full story here.

COLOMBO (AFP) – Sri Lanka's president proclaimed victory over the Tamil Tigers on Tuesday after decades of civil war, with state television showing what it said was the corpse of rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

The images were shown after the Tigers announced the guerrilla leader was still alive and well, and that they would continue fighting for a separate Tamil homeland despite President Mahinda Rajapakse's call to unite the nation.

Under international pressure to reach out to the Tamil minority, Rajapakse vowed in a nationally televised speech that "terrorism" had been defeated and that a political solution to the island's ethnic divisions would be found.

"We are a government that defeated terrorism at a time when others told us that it was not possible," the president said. "The writ of the state now runs across every inch of our territory."

With the end of a civil war that began when Prabhakaran founded the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1972, Rajapakse stressed that their defeat did not mean subjugation for the country's Tamils.

Full story here.

Editor's commentary: He is "alive and well" just like Fidel Castro and Saddam Hussein.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka's president said his country has defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels on the battlefield and emerged victorious from its quarter century civil war as troops seized control of the island's entire coastline Saturday for the first time in decades.

Fighting continued to rage in the war zone along the northeast coast and huge explosions could be heard across the battlefield as rebels detonated their ammunition stocks and artillery dumps, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam had been vanquished.

"My government, with the total commitment of our armed forces, has in an unprecedented humanitarian operation finally defeated the LTTE militarily," Rajapaksa said.

"I will be going back to a country that has been totally freed from the barbaric acts of the LTTE," he said in a speech at an international gathering in Jordan that was distributed to the media in Sri Lanka.

On Saturday morning, soldiers took control of the coastline, sealing the Tamil Tigers in a tiny pocket of territory and cutting off the possibility of a sea escape by the rebels' top leaders, the military said.

The rebels, who once ran a de facto state across the north, had controlled a formidable navy and sea smuggling operation.

Full story here.

Editor's commentary: Only a dead terrorist is a good terrorist to negotiate with. Kill them all is the only working policy against them. Check out their atrocities:

CHICAGO – Ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and five others were indicted Thursday on charges of scheming to auction off President Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat, pressuring a congressman for campaign money and lying to FBI agents. The 19-count indictment alleges Blagojevich and his aides discussed the possibility he could get a Cabinet post in the new president's administration, substantial fundraising assistance or a high-paying job in exchange for the Senate seat.

The indictment also charged that Blagojevich was involved in a corrupt scheme to get a massive kickback in exchange for the refinancing of billions of dollars in state pension funds. It said he took part in a plan with convicted political fixer Antoin "Tony" Rezko and two others to make money while Blagojevich was governor, then split the profits after he left the office.

Blagojevich, 52, and others are accused of illegally pressuring an Illinois congressman for help in raising funds and lying when FBI agents came to question him.

Blagojevich was arrested Dec. 9 on a criminal complaint, and U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald had faced a Tuesday deadline to supplant it with an indictment from a federal grand jury.

The Democrat's arrest meant curtains for his political career: The Illinois House impeached him Jan. 9, and the Senate convicted him and removed him from office Jan. 29.

Others charged in the indictment include the former governor's brother, Robert Blagojevich, one-time chief fundraiser Christopher G. Kelly, former aide Lon Monk, Springfield lobbyist-millionaire William F. Cellini and former chief of staff John Harris.

Prosecutors said Harris has agreed to cooperate in the case.

Blagojevich's administration has been under federal investigation for years. Kelly and Rezko already have been convicted of federal crimes and are facing prison.

The former governor's wife, Patti, had been mentioned prominently in the complaint and was the focus of considerable speculation, but she was not charged in the indictment.

Full story here.

BRUSSELS, Belgium – Albania and Croatia became NATO's newest members Wednesday in a historic expansion into the volatile western Balkans region where the alliance fought its first war a decade ago.

The two Balkan nations will be ceremonially inducted into NATO during a summit in Strasbourg, France, and Kehl, Germany, on Friday and Saturday to mark the alliance's 60th anniversary. The two new states will take total members nations to 28.

"This is very welcome news" NATO spokesman James Appathurai said. "Albania and Croatia have worked very hard to meet alliance standards with regard to democracy, and the reform of their militaries."

NATO forces have operated in the Balkans since the mid-1990s, when thousands of troops were deployed to Bosnia to act as peacekeepers in the aftermath of a 4-year civil war between ethnic Serbs, Muslims and Croats in which nearly 100,000 people perished.

In 1999, the alliance mounted its first-ever combat operation, when its air forces pounded Serbia for more than two months.

The operation was designed to end the crackdown by strongman Slobodan Milosevic on ethnic Albanian separatists in the southern province of Kosovo, which sparked the flight of hundreds of thousands of the province's two million people.

The two newest members have already deployed troops to the NATO-led force in Afghanistan, where Croatia has 530 soldiers and Albania 140, according to NATO.

Founded in 1949, NATO has twice taken on new members since the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, its Soviet-dominated Cold War foe. Seven former-communist nations entered in 2004, following Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic who joined in 1999.

In contrast to the alliance's previous eastward expansion which infuriated Russia, Moscow has not objected to the inclusion of Albania and Croatia in NATO.

This is partly because neither Albania nor Croatia were members of the old Communist military alliance. The former six-member Yugoslav federation broke free of the Soviet Union in 1948, while Albania followed suit in the early 1960s.

Albania and Croatia officially joined Wednesday after the alliance received necessary paperwork from all member states, Appathurai said.

Full story here.

Note: Croatia will help Albania build nuclear power plant on Skadar lake in late April.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States said Monday that elections in Montenegro generally met international standards and amounted to another step toward Euro-Atlantic integration.

Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic's "European Montenegro" coalition claimed between 47 and 49 places in the 81-seat parliament after estimates suggested it had garnered 50.8 percent of the votes in Sunday's snap legislative election.

"The elections have met, by and large, the standards that were set by the OSCE to provide for free and fair expression of the will of the Montenegrin people," said Gordon Duguid, a State Department spokesman.

Election watchdogs the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe said the polls "met almost all international commitments and standards, but the process again underscored the need for further democratic development."

More than 1,200 local and international observers, including around 200 working with the OSCE, monitored the polls.

"We welcome the result. We view these elections as a further step in Montenegro?s progress towards its Euro-Atlantic aspirations. And we commend Montenegro?s progress since independence," Duguid said.

Full story here.

BAGHDAD – An Iraqi judge has given death sentences to three former officials in Saddam Hussein's regime for slayings and abuses against Shiites a decade ago.

The defendants include Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali," for ordering poison gas attacks in the 1980s.

This is Chemical Ali's third death sentence for brutalities during Saddam's rule.

The sentences Monday are for a 1999 crackdown that sought to quell a Shiite backlash to the slaying of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad al-Sadr. His supporters blame the killing on Saddam's agents.

A former intelligence chief and a former top Baath party official also got death sentences.

Three other former Saddam officials received life sentences while two were acquitted, including former Foreign Minster Tariq Aziz.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Gov. Rod Blagojevich was thrown out of office Thursday without a single lawmaker coming to his defense, brought down by a government-for-sale scandal that stretched from Chicago to Capitol Hill and turned the foul-mouthed politician into a national punchline.

Blagojevich, accused of trying to sell Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat, becomes the first U.S. governor in more than 20 years to be removed by impeachment.

After a four-day trial, the Illinois Senate voted 59-0 to convict him of abuse of power, automatically ousting the second-term Democrat. In a second, identical vote, lawmakers further barred Blagojevich from ever holding public office in the state again.

"He failed the test of character. He is beneath the dignity of the state of Illinois. He is no longer worthy to be our governor," said Sen. Matt Murphy, a Republican from suburban Chicago.

Blagojevich's troubles are not over. Federal prosecutors are drawing up an indictment against him on corruption charges.

Democratic Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn, one of Blagojevich's critics, was promptly sworn in as governor and said he would work to "restore the faith of the people of Illinois in the integrity of their government."

The verdict brought to an end what one lawmaker branded "the freak show" in Illinois. Over the past few weeks, Blagojevich found himself isolated, with almost the entire political establishment lined up against him. The crisis paralyzed state government and made Blagojevich and his helmet of lush, dark hair a punchline from coast to coast.

Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a former top fundraiser for Blagojevich, was convicted of shaking down businesses seeking state contracts for campaign contributions. Witnesses testified that Blagojevich was aware of some of the strong-arm tactics. Rezko is said to be cooperating with prosecutors.

Full story here.

MOSCOW (AP) -- The interim leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, seen as a modernizer who could seek a historic reconciliation with the Vatican and more autonomy from the state, was overwhelmingly elected patriarch Tuesday.

Metropolitan Kirill received 508 of the 700 votes cast during an all-day church congress in Moscow's ornate Christ the Savior Cathedral, the head of the commission responsible for the election, Metropolitan Isidor, said hours after the secret ballot was over.

Kirill defeated a conservative rival, Metropolitan Kliment, who received 169 votes, Isidor said. Another 23 ballots were declared invalid,

It was the first vote for a Russian Orthodox patriarch since the fall of the officially atheist Soviet Union in 1991.

Kirill, 62, will be installed Sunday as the successor to Moscow Patriarch Alexy II, who had headed Russia's dominant church since 1990. Alexy II died Dec. 5, at age 79, after leading the church in a powerful post-Soviet revival.

The son of a priest, Kirill has headed the external relations department of the world's largest Orthodox Christian church for nearly 20 years, making him point man for ties with the Roman Catholic Church. He met with Pope Benedict XVI in December 2007.

Efforts toward a reconciliation nearly a millennium after Christianity's east-west schism have been stymied by accusations by the Russian church of Catholic missionary activity on its traditional territory and disputes over property and influence in Ukraine.

Kirill has echoed Alexy's warnings that those disagreements remain obstacles to a long-awaited meeting between pope and patriarch -- the unrealized dream of the late Pope John Paul II. But he has also promoted unity with the Roman Catholic Church against the secularism and immorality he says threatens humanity.

The Vatican ''rejoiced'' over Kirill's election, said its spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi. He said Kirill was esteemed in the Vatican and expressed hope his service would ''continue to deepen our path of reciprocal understanding and collaboration for the good of humanity.''

In Russia, Kirill is seen as a politically savvy figure who may seek a more muscular role for the church, which has served the state for much of its 1,000-year history. Church and state are officially separate under the post-Soviet constitution, but ties have tightened again since Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000.

Kirill will face opposition from a strong conservative movement within the church that sees him as too modern and too eager for a rapprochement with Catholics.

''He's perfectly aware of the risks he will be taking,'' political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky said. Regarding ties with the Vatican, Belkovsky said, ''He will go for it if he feels the moment has come, but he won't fast-track it.''

Kirill will be under pressure to live up to Alexy's reputation as a unifying figure.

''He is a true successor of Alexy's work. Once again he will help consolidate and unite our society,'' said Metropolitan Feofan, a church leader in southern Russia. ''There is joy in my heart.''

The Kremlin tightened its control over all aspects of life under Putin, now prime minister, and is wary of any other institution gaining too much independence. Alexy strongly supported Putin and the government; whatever Kirill's intentions, observers say a major shift in the relationship with the state is unlikely.

Some nonreligious Russians complain the church has tailored its doctrine to suit the government, which has justified Russia's retreat from Western-style democracy by saying the country has a unique history and culture.

Kirill, the best-known church figure after Alexy, was the front-runner to replace him. His chances improved after Metropolitan Filaret -- one of three candidates picked by church leaders Sunday -- withdrew and urged supporters to back Kirill.

After the announcement of his election, Kirill bowed and asked the clergy ''to be indulgent for my weaknesses, to help me with your wise advice, to be close to me as I perform my pastoral duties -- and most of all I ask you always to pray for me.''

The Russian Orthodox Church counts in its congregation more than 100 million people in Russia and tens of millions elsewhere. But polls show that only about 5 percent of Russians are observant believers.

State television broadcast much of Tuesday's session live. In opening remarks, Kirill thanked President Dmitry Medvedev's administration for ''warm and very benevolent greetings.''

Both Putin and Medvedev called Kirill later to congratulate him.

Editor's commentary: Kiril is Archbishop of Smolensk and Kaliningrad (Königsberg, former capital of Prussia) and known to work for KGB and pursuing interests of state instead of church. His KGB agent's codename was "Mikhailov". He is also known as "tobacco metropolitan". The Department for External Church Relations acted as the largest supplier of foreign cigarettes in Russia. Kirill's personal wealth was estimated to be $1.5 billion by a religion sociologist from Russian State University for the Humanities Nikolai Mitrokhin in 2004, and at $4 billion by The Moscow News in 2006. Russian Church was one of those who profited heavily from breaking embargo against Iraq and getting huge kickbacks from Saddam. "The Sword and the Shield" book (ISBN: 0465003125), page 507:

The most prominent agents of the past include DROZDOV - the only one of the churchmen to be officially honored with an award by the KGB of the USSR, in 1988, for outstanding intelligence services - ADAMANT, OSTROVSKY, MIKHAILOV, TOPAZ and ABBAT. It is obvious that none of these or the less exalted agents are preparing to repent. On the contrary, they deliver themselves of pastoral maxims on the allegedly neutral character of informing on the Church, and articles have appeared in the Church press justifying the role of the informer as essential for the survival of the Church in an anti-religious state.

Take a note that Putin, Medvedev and Kiril were all born in Saint Petersburg (former Leningrad).

A team of environmental researchers in the US has warned many effects of climate change are irreversible.

The scientists concluded global temperatures could remain high for 1,000 years, even if carbon emissions can somehow be halted.

Their report was sponsored by the US Department of Energy and comes as President Obama announces a review of vehicle emission standards.

It appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"People have imagined that if we stopped emitting carbon dioxide the climate would go back to normal in 100 years, 200 year - that's not true," said researcher Susan Solomon, the lead author of the report, quoted by AP news agency.

Their conclusions come as President Obama ordered the US Environmental Protection Agency to review rules on carbon emissions from passenger vehicles.

Full story here.

Editor's commentary: Forcing companies around the world to upgrade their technology and reduce carbon emissions seems insane during financial crisis that hit entire world hard. Money is needed for creation of new jobs and bailing out companies out of bankruptcies not wasting it on something that is going to stay for the next thousand years. This was OK 10-20 years ago but today it is impossible. Recent data showed that temperatures on Antarctic raised 0.5C for the past 50 years!? Is this reason to spend billions of hard earned cash on something that may pay in thousand years? Definitely not! Many like to cite endangered species or native tribes as reason for global warming measures but we are sure that moving them to another location immediately is far less expensive and effective than spending billions to produce results in the year 3010. Until then they would already be long dead. Many species got extinct during millions of years of climate changes like dinosaurs or mammoths so it is natural for life to evolve and create new species. Living in the past will not help us, only prevent human evolution.

Leading US indexes saw their biggest one-day fall in nearly two months, with banking shares falling sharply amid concerns over the sector's outlook.

The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 332 points or 4% to 7,949.09 while the Standard & Poor's dropped 5.2% and the Nasdaq shed 5.7%.

As he became the 44th US president on Tuesday, Barack Obama highlighted the economic challenges ahead.

A number of banks have posted poor earnings recently, compounding jitters.

"There's just tremendous fear and uncertainty in the banking sector," said Richard Cripps, chief market strategist for Stifel Nicolaus.

Bank of America fell 28%, JP Morgan dropped 20.7% , while Citigroup fell 20%.

Merrill Lynch also recently posted a fourth-quarter 2008 loss of $15.31bn.

Full story here.

Editor's commentary: Financial markets around the world are in turmoil since Obama was declared presidential nominee by Democrats last summer. Some of them see him as American Hugo Chavez going for nationalization of big companies, hiking huge taxes to businesses and allowing more frivolous damage law suits against companies. He is big supporter of global warming campaign that will require businesses to spend billions of dollars on upgrading their infrastructure which will cause further bankruptcies and stock market turmoil. Democrats and Obama are to simply put bad for business and good for freeloaders and criminals.

MEXICO CITY – A Latin American billionaire looks to expand his empire in the United States in a deal that could make him the largest shareholder of The New York Times Co.

The $250 million investment by Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim could provide some synergies with his telecommunications holdings in Latin America, analysts say.

Perhaps more importantly, Slim, reputed to be the world's second-richest man, would gain the prestige of owning one of the world's best-known and most influential newspapers.

"By having a stake in the New York Times, he's basically projecting himself as a powerbroker in this country, regardless of how his investment does," said Armand Peschard-Sverdrup, a senior associate of the Center For Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

The Times announced late Monday the financing agreement with Slim's companies Banco Inbursa and Inmobiliaria Carso for $125 million each. Times President Janet L. Robinson said the cash infusion will be used to refinance existing debt and will provide the company with increased financial flexibility. Slim's office declined comment before the Times' announcement.

The Times, which also publishes The Boston Globe and International Herald Tribune, has been trying to conserve cash as advertising revenues continue to slide. Newspaper publishers across the country are hurting amid the economic downturn and as advertisers shift spending online. The Times slashed its quarterly dividend by 74 percent in November and plans to raise $225 million from its new, 52-story Manhattan headquarters, either by selling the building and leasing it back or borrowing against it. It also put its stake in the Boston Red Sox up for sale.

In September, Slim and members of his family purchased 6.4 percent of the company's publicly traded shares. The Times said the value of Slim's investment has since fallen to $58 million from $128 million.

The Times reported that Slim would buy six-year notes in the company with warrants that are convertible to common shares. The notes carry a 14 percent interest rate, with 11 percent paid in cash and 3 percent in additional bonds, the newspaper reported.

Those terms could be similar to those insisted upon by Warren Buffett, when he invested billions in Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and General Electric Co., with the promise of 10 percent annual dividends.

Slim would get no representation on the Times' board, and no special voting rights. But when he exercises the warrants, he would own up to 17 percent of the company's common stock, becoming its largest shareholder, the Times reported. The Ochs-Sulzberger family owns about 19 percent of the company but controls it through a special class of supervoting shares.

Slim is part of a crop of emerging-market billionaires, from Mexico to Russia, who are on a shopping spree now that the recession has slashed the prices of some of America's best-known companies.

Slim recently upped his stakes in Saks Fifth Avenue, and his Inbursa brokerage in Mexico bought at least $150 million of Citigroup's sinking shares.

"A lot of foreign business tycoons are bargain shopping, and this is something the U.S. has no choice but to get used to," Peschard-Sverdrup said. "We're going to have all these various foreign interests owning various U.S. assets. It's one of the things that the recession ultimately has accelerated."

Slim has built his fortune by turning troubled companies. He learned how to make his money from his father, a Lebanese immigrant and Mexico City shopkeeper who bought cheap property.

Slim got his start in the cigarette business and made it big in 1990, taking control of Mexico's state-owned telephone monopoly. Telefonos de Mexico SA, or Telmex, still operates more than 90 percent of the nation's fixed-line phone services, while his America Movil SAB is Latin America's largest mobile phone service provider.

"He transformed a state-owned company into one of the most profitable businesses in the country," said analyst Jose Coballasi of Standard & Poor's in Mexico City.

Now worth an estimated $59 billion, Slim owns hundreds of businesses in Mexico, from bakeries to clothing stores to record shops and drug stores. His industrial-retail conglomerate Grupo Carso is solid, enjoying liquidity despite the crisis, Coballasi said.

Opponents say Slim, 68, runs ruthless monopolies that illegally block competitors, and is known for hostile takeovers. After Slim boosted his stake in Saks from 17.2 million shares to 25.3 million shares late last year, the company's board introduced a "poison pill" into its share structure, apparently to prevent a Slim takeover.

Slim has said he knows how to seize an opportunity. These days, there is no better place to buy businesses on the cheap than the United States.

"I don't see him meddling," said George Grayson, a Mexico expert at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. "Those of us who read the New York Times everyday, I think will be uncorking champagne bottles because unless these papers are infused with capital they are going to cut back services."

The Times Co. reported having about $46 million in cash and $1.1 billion in debt in September. A $400 million loan expires in May.

Full story here.

Editor's commentary: Not even winning Nobel and Pulitzer Prize editors can't help NY Times to make profit. There is something seriously wrong with NY Times. Now they have to sell their brand new HQ to pay their debts. They can try to rent some Harlem building near Bill Clinton's office. It's cheap and homeless there need lots of paper to cover themselves during cold winter. I guess that new changes in Times will mean more Taco Bell ads and few soccer pages. That will replace editorial pages that didn't sell Times well. People need to eat and they need something to warm them, not pointless essays written by cultural elite.

WASHINGTON – Roland Burris took his place as Barack Obama's successor in the Senate on Thursday, ending a standoff that embarrassed the president-elect and fellow Democrats who initially resisted the appointment by scandal-scarred Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

"I do," Burris said with a grin as Vice President Dick Cheney administered the oath of office to the former Illinois attorney general who takes Obama's place as the Senate's only black member.

More than a week after his colleagues were sworn in, Burris was seated without objection or a roll call vote, even though Majority Leader Harry Reid had said senators would have their voices heard on whether to accept his appointment.

Illinois delegation members and members of the Congressional Black Caucus joined Democratic and Republican senators in giving Burris a congratulatory standing ovation, handshakes and hugs on the Senate floor.

Senate Democrats wanted to move beyond the distracting controversy and its racial undertones.

Both Reid and Illinois' senior senator, Dick Durbin, smiled broadly and praised Burris in speeches, insisting anew that their previous resistance wasn't about Burris personally but rather about how he was appointed.

"To Senator Burris, on behalf of all senators — Democrats and Republicans — we welcome you as a colleague and as a friend," Reid said.

Durbin also offered his congratulations before throwing a reception in his new colleague's honor, saying: "I know this was a rocky road to this great day in his life but a road well traveled."

Full story here.

Editor's commentary: This is how new Democrat administration is going to work. Lies, lies and even more lies will be told to the people all the time. They show that they have no moral principles of any kind, that there goal is to rob people blind with their empty promises. Just imagine hypotethical situation where some Americans are kidnapped by Al-Qaeda. They ask for 10 million ransom, Obama says that American government doesn't negotiate with terrorists and then you suddenly hear that he has paid ransom because this incident mar his wedding anniversary. Just watch his popularity rating goes down the toilet within few months. He was big on taxes, promising huge increase although current financial situation doesn't allow it and it would be suicidal to do it. "Doesn't matter", says Obama. He is going for tax breaks just as Bush did. No one is saying anything bad about it but when Bush did it they were screaming like crazy. If you think "Don't ask, don't tell" Clinton days were nightmare then just watch what is going to happen during Obama days. His inauguration is the most expensive ever at the time when people lose their jobs and their future is bleak.

Press Trust of India
Thursday, January 15, 2009 11:28 PM (Chicago)

US President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration on January 20 is expected to cost a whopping $150 million, making it the most expensive in the American history.

Obama's inauguration expenses are likely to be to the tune of over $150 million, overshadowing the $42.3 million spent on George Bush's inauguration in 2005 and $33 million on Bill Clinton's in 1993, a media report said.

Full story here.

He is similar to Robert Mugabe that doesn't mind people dying of cholera and inflation setting world record while he and his cronies live in luxury. Huge support from abroad for Obama is all but gone:

Don't be surprised if Obama himself become impeached within two years or if there is a presidential recall by popular demand. Schwarzenegger is out of his job in 2010 so Washington might just be the right job for him. And not to forget that major terrorist attack against America is to happen soon just after his inauguration. We'll see how that will change his perception of water boarding methods and warrantless surveillance.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has again lashed out at the Dalai Lama, accusing the exiled Buddhist leader of "sabotage" to slow the development of Tibet that China sees as key to creating support for its rule there.

Fifty years after the Dalai Lama fled Tibet and China quashed a Tibetan uprising, China has stepped up its defense of its rule over the mountainous region.

"It's the current Tibet that allows Tibetans to enjoy the fruits of the reform and opening up and the feeling of being their own masters," the official Xinhua news agency quoted Tibet Communist Party secretary Zhang Qingli as saying.

Tibet plans to start construction this year on the region's first expressway, a four-lane road stretching 40 km (25 miles) from Lhasa, and to provide all counties with roads by next year and electricity by 2015, Xinhua said, citing officials.

"The Dalai Lama and his followers have constantly organized sabotage activities and had tried 'by all means to prevent Tibet's development'," Xinhua quoted Legqog, the ethnic Tibetan head of the region's congress, as saying.

Demonstrations by monks in Lhasa last March escalated into deadly riots and triggered protests against Chinese rule across the Tibetan plateau, especially in the run-up to the August Beijing Olympics.

China blamed the unrest of the Dalai Lama, whom it regularly brands a "splittist," or separatist. The Dalai Lama denies the charge, saying he is only seeking greater autonomy for the region.

Rights groups say China has suppressed religious freedom and employed strongarm tactics against dissidents in the tightly policed region.

China this week is likely to establish a "serfs' emancipation holiday" to mark the start of Chinese rule after the Dalai Lama fled into exile following the failed 1959 uprising.

Editor's commentary: I'm sure that Japanese had exactly the same intentions when they occupied Manchuria. Manchurians lived happily ever after. This news doesn't say anything about forceful colonization of Chinese people that are massively pushed into Tibet by Chinese government. It doesn't say anything about poor Tibetans being driven from their homes, beaten, imprisoned and even killed. No Tibetan will have any benefits of this brutal occupation rivaling the one Japanese did to Manchuria 70 years ago. That's why the only solution is Tibet free of Chinese occupation and colonization.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Sunday it is unlikely that ailing former Cuban leader Fidel Castro will ever appear in public again.

''That Fidel in his uniform who walked the streets and towns late at night, hugging the people, won't return,'' Chavez said during his Sunday television and radio program. ''That will remain in memories.''

He did not discuss the 82-year-old Castro's current medical condition or say why he thought Castro would not return to the public stage.

Chavez has continued to meet occasionally with his friend Castro in private since the former Cuban leader underwent emergency intestinal surgery about 2 1/2 years ago. Castro was last seen in public on July 26, 2006, at a celebration in eastern Cuba.

Since then, Cuban authorities have periodically released photos and videos of Castro meeting with Chavez and other foreign leaders.

Fidel has ceded power to his younger brother Raul Castro, but continues to write essays published in official Cuban media.

Chavez, who says he is steering Venezuela toward socialism, fondly recalled the last time he and Castro appeared in public together during a trip to Argentina in July 2006.

''He walked to the door of the plane and we hugged. My God. I didn't think it would be the last time.''

''Fidel will live forever, beyond the physical life,'' Chavez said Sunday.

Since taking office in 1999, Chavez has forged strong ties with Cuba. Venezuela ships 190,000 barrels of crude oil a day to the communist-led island at preferential rates while Cuba has sent thousands of doctors and sports trainers to Venezuela.

Editor's commentary: Charade seems to be over. For more than two years since July 2006 when Castro died, they fooled media with fake photos, fake writings and pathetic body doubles. All that just to deprive Bush of victory over communist dictatorship in Cuba. As soon as Obama takes office they will declare Castro's death. Now we know that zombies can't walk for more than 2 years. Your favorite zombie game Resident Evil 5 is scheduled for March but there will be no more zombies like it was the case with previous 4th installment.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Gov. Rod Blagojevich was impeached Friday by Illinois lawmakers furious that he turned state government into a "freak show," setting the stage for an unprecedented trial in the state Senate that could get him thrown out of office.

The 114-1 vote in the Illinois House came exactly a month after Blagojevich's arrest on charges that included trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat. The debate took less than 90 minutes, and not a single legislator rose in defense of the governor, who was jogging in the snow in Chicago.

Later, a defiant Blagojevich insisted again that he committed no crime, and declared: "I'm going to fight every step of the way." He portrayed himself as a victim of political payback by the House for his efforts to extend health care and other relief to the ordinary people of Illinois.

"The causes of the impeachment are because I've done things to fight for families," the 52-year-old Democrat said at an extraordinary news conference where he surrounded himself with some of the people he claimed to have helped, including a man in a wheelchair and a transplant recipient. He took no questions.

Blagojevich becomes the first U.S. governor in more than 20 years to be impeached. Arizona's Evan Mecham was impeached, convicted and removed from office in 1988 for trying to thwart an investigation into a death threat allegedly made by an aide.

No other Illinois governor has ever been impeached, despite the state's storied history of graft. Blagojevich's immediate predecessor, George Ryan, is behind bars for corruption, and two earlier governors also went to prison.

During the House debate, lawmakers complained that Blagojevich had made a laughingstock out of the state.

The criminal case against the governor included charges he tried to sell the Senate seat for campaign cash or a plum for himself or his wife, and pressured people into making campaign contributions.

The impeachment case was based on the criminal charges plus other allegations — that Blagojevich expanded a health care program without authority, that he circumvented hiring laws to give jobs to political allies, that he spent millions on flu vaccine that he knew couldn't be brought into the country.

After his arrest, Blagojevich defied practically the entire political establishment by appointing someone to the Senate, former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris. That provoked a furor as state and federal officials struggled over whether to seat Burris.

On Friday, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that Burris' paperwork was valid and that Illinois' secretary of state did not have to sign his appointment. But that may not be sufficient for Burris to take his seat: Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said the Senate will not accept Burris without the signature.

The Illinois Senate is working to draft rules for the impeachment trial. The state constitution does not specify what is an impeachable offense and does not lay out a standard for conviction, other than that senators must "do justice according to law." The chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court will preside.

Full story here.

WASHINGTON – Roland Burris failed to capture President-elect Barack Obama's old Senate seat Tuesday in a wild piece of political theater, but the Democrats' opposition cracked when a key chairwoman said seating him was simply the legal thing to do. Democratic leaders, set to meet with Burris on Wednesday, were searching for a way to defuse the dispute before it further overshadows the 111th Congress.

Knowledgeable Senate officials of both parties widely predicted that the saga would end with Burris being seated. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Seating Burris seemed more likely late Tuesday, when Sen. Dianne Feinstein rejected the reasoning that all of the chamber's Democrats, herself included, had cited in a letter last week — that corruption charges against Burris' patron, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, tainted his appointment.

"Does the governor have the power, under law, to make the appointment? And the answer is yes," said Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Rules Committee, which judges the credentials of senators.

Burris marched into the Capitol earlier Tuesday, declaring himself "the junior senator from the state of Illinois." But Secretary of the Senate Nancy Erickson rejected his certification, as he knew she would, saying it lacked Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White's signature and the state seal.

Late Tuesday, Feinstein urged the Senate to settle the matter.

"If you don't seat Mr. Burris, it has ramifications for gubernatorial appointments all over America," the California senator said. "Mr. Burris is a senior, experienced politician. He has been attorney general, he has been controller, and he is very well-respected. I am hopeful that this will be settled."

A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier, Reid had said, "Mr. Burris is not in possession of the necessary credentials from the state of Illinois."

Burris, meanwhile, pivoted from his rejection at the Capitol to the Illinois Supreme Court, asking it to order White to certify his appointment.

Burris was expected to meet with Reid on Wednesday.

It would be his second appearance at the Capitol in as many days. His first included an escort by Capitol police officers to Erickson's third-floor office for what was described as a highly cordial, 21-minute meeting.

Burris, 71, then led a small mob of lawyers, consultants, police and reporters across the street in pouring rain, to a news conference which Burris aides said Reid had tacitly allowed.

Erickson, Burris reported, had advised him that "I would not be accepted, and I will not be seated, and I will not be permitted on the floor."

The former Illinois attorney general said he was "not seeking to have any type of confrontation" over taking the seat. In addition to his court filing late in the day in Illinois, Burris said he was considering a federal lawsuit to force Senate Democrats to seat him.

It was a distraction for majority Democrats eager to project an image of progress with Obama on an economic stimulus package estimated to cost as much as $800 billion.

Democrats and Obama have said that the corruption charges against Blagojevich would strip credibility from anyone he appointed to the seat.

Full story here.

Editor's commentary: While Blagojevich is well known supporter of Serb war crimes mafia, Feinstein showed up that California is also their stronghold. Feinstein is now defending Blagojevich in his attempt to blackmail Democrats and save his hide which BTW is not going to happen. After Serb war crimes mafia made deal with Putin and sabotaged Kosovo status in UN, Americans clearly started to clean their act and disassociate themselves with these criminals for good. Kostunica and war crimes mafia openly supported Obama because of his connections with Blagojevich thinking that next American president would whitewash their crimes and let them continue with their evil enterprise. Obama clearly disassociated himself with anyone connected with Serb war crimes mafia and the biggest blow to them was appointment of Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State. As wife of Bill Clinton, man who bombed them to the dust in 1999 and ended their genocidal campaign on Kosovo she is perceived by these butchers as their enemy. Regardless of these pathetic efforts to change something that can't be changed, Blagojevich is finished for good and now it seems that Feinstein is digging her political grave as well. While Blagojevich can use his Serb ancestry to justify his association with these criminals, Feinstein can hardly do the same. She is supposed to be liberal champion especially for women and yet she is now helping criminals who systematically raped, tortured and murdered women. What is liberal in that is hard to understand.

Watch Justice Louise Arbour reading Indictment of Milosevic and her interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour: The tribunal's chief prosecutor, Louise Arbour, announces the indictment of Milosevic and four others for war crimes (May 27 1999)

CNN's Christiane Amanpour interviews Louise Arbour, chief prosecutor of the war crimes tribunal (May 27 1999)