Germany's Merkel: strengthen the euro in 2011

Bloomberg, Dec 31, 2010 12:00 AM GMT+0100, (By The Associated Press)

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel says in her New Year message that Europe is dealing with a major test and must strengthen the euro, even as she celebrates Germany's emergence from the economic crisis.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives for a weekly cabinet
meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday,
Nov. 3, 2010. (AP / Michael Sohn)

Merkel said in her televised message being broadcast Friday that "it was a good year for Germany." Powered by strong exports, Europe's biggest economy has bounced back strongly in 2010 — leading growth in the eurozone, while unemployment has sunk at home.

"Germany mastered the crisis like barely any other country," Merkel said. "We achieved what we resolved to do: we even emerged strengthened from the crisis."

Still, Merkel said that "we will have to prove our strengths in future too."

Europe is "in the middle of a major test," she said. "We must strengthen the euro. This is not just about our money — the euro is far more than a currency."

"The united Europe is the guarantor for our peace and freedom; the euro is the basis of our prosperity," Merkel added. "Germany needs Europe and our common currency."

Eurozone members Greece and Ireland required financial rescues in 2010 amid a persistent government debt crisis, and Europe remains under pressure to take more action to resolve its woes.

European Union leaders agreed earlier this month to change their main treaty to allow for a permanent rescue plan for countries overwhelmed by debt after 2013, when the existing bailout fund of euro750 billion (nearly $1 trillion) expires. They haven't agreed on details of the mechanism yet.

Financially solid Germany has come in for some criticism over recent months for taking a hard line in the crisis, recently declining to increase the existing rescue fund and consider a proposal for pan-European bonds.

China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu speaks during a news conference in Beijing in this December 7, 2010 file photo. (Credit: Reuters/David Gray)

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"2010 in Review" - Dec 11, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)

"The End of History" – Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects:Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Muhammad, Jesus, God, Jews, Arabs, EU, US, Israel, Iran, Russia, Africa, South America, Global Unity,..... etc.) (Text version)

(Live Kryon Channelings was given 7 times within the United Nations building.)

Israel's former president falls to disgrace

BBC News, By Yolande Knell, BBC News, Jerusalem, 30 December 2010

Related stories

• Israel's Katsav rape trial opens
• Katsav claims 'lynching' by media

Israel's former president, Moshe Katsav, was visibly shaken as the judge in Tel Aviv read out his guilty verdict on two counts of rape. His son, similarly distraught, called out from the courtroom, "It's not true, it's not true".

Moshe Katsav leaves court after hearing the verdict
in his trial for rape

With live reports on Israeli television, this unprecedented criminal conviction of a top public official marked the climax of a four-and-a-half year saga that gripped the nation.

Claims that Katsav had raped and sexually assaulted his young, female staffers first surfaced when he was still president.

In 2006, he complained that a female employee was trying to blackmail him. The woman then went to police with allegations of sexual assault, prompting others to come forward with similar complaints.

A year later, Katsav resigned in disgrace.

'Grave mistake'

As well as the lurid details that emerged in the press, portraying a sexual predator who had abused his power in ministerial posts, there were many strange twists to the case.

Most notably, in 2008, Katsav reneged on a plea bargain that would have seen him avoid rape charges and a possible jail term in exchange for admitting lesser sexual offences.

MOSHE KATSAV

• Convicted of rape and sexual harassment, 2010
• Born in Iran - first Israeli president to come from a Muslim country
• Became Likud MP in 1977 at the age of 30
• Married since 1969, with five children
• Profile: Moshe Katsav
• While handing down the verdict, unanimously agreed by three judges, George Karra, who was presiding, told a packed courtroom this had been "a grave mistake".

He also roundly dismissed suggestions the Iranian-born former president had been a victim of ethnic prejudice or a media "witch-hunt".

Both of the latter allegations were repeatedly made by Katsav.

At a news briefing outside the presidential residence, Beit Hanassi, four years ago, he railed at reporters, telling them, "You crossed every ethical journalistic line," and hinted at discrimination. "You wrote when I was elected as president, that this is the end of Zionism," he said.

After his indictment in March 2009, he shook with anger at a news conference and insisted he was "the victim of a lynching". His increasingly erratic behaviour began to raise questions about his judgement and psychological state.

As he pushed through a media scrum outside the Tel Aviv district courthouse today to make his way home, there was no comment from the former president.

He is expected to return next month to be given a prison term of at least four years. However, legal experts point out he may appeal to the Supreme Court.

Hailed as shining example

A jail sentence would be the final mark of disgrace for the former leader whose rise from a poor background was once hailed as a shining example for disadvantaged Jewish immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa.

At age 24, Katsav was Israel's youngest mayor. He entered the Knesset for his Likud party in his thirties and went on to hold a succession of ministerial posts.

In 2000, parliament elected him president in a surprise victory over Israel's Nobel Prize-winning elder statesman, Shimon Peres who eventually succeeded him.

The guilty verdict has been welcomed by women's rights activists, who held up placards outside the court while yelling, "Go to jail, Katsav".

"It's a very significant and important day," said Miriam Schler, director of Tel Aviv's Sexual Assault Crisis Centre. "We feel very satisfied that the court actually did justice with all of these women who were severely abused by Katsav."

Others see the affair as another stain on Israel's already tarnished political record. An earlier president, the late Ezer Weizman, was pressed to resign in 2000 after revelations he received about $450,000 (£292,000) from a French millionaire while he was a minister. The former prime minister, Ehud Olmert is also facing corruption charges.

However, like the prosecutors, many officials and commentators argue it points to a well-functioning judicial system.

"I detect below the surface, a surge of satisfaction," the former chief editor of Haaretz, David Landau told the BBC. "People are saying, 'Our democracy works, our system works. Everyone is equal before the law: the highest and the lowest."

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“Those who love and care for Israel,” writes contributor Starhawk, “need to stand with her true interests now, by demanding an end to the occupation, an end to the siege of Gaza, the dismantling of the settlements, restitution, and real justice. These are the preconditions that will lead to true security and peace.”

Some Israelis Question Benefits for Ultra-Religious

The ultra-Orthodox make up 10 percent of Israel’s population of 7.5 million, but are increasing rapidly amid a growing backlash to the privileges and subsidies long granted to the ultra-religious. (Rina Castelnuovo for The New York Times)

Wikileaks: Iranian president slapped by top Revolutionary Guard

Times Live, Dec 30, 2010 3:27 PM | By Sapa-dpa

The chief of the Revolutionary Guard angrily slapped Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in early 2010, as Tehran was still dealing with the fallout from last year's election, according to a leaked US diplomatic cable.

Afghan men burn a painting of Iran's President Mahmood
Ahmedinejad during a protest outside the Iranian Consulate
in Jalalabad May 13, 2010. File Picture. Photograph by:
STRINGER / AFGHANISTAN Credit: REUTERS

The cable, written in February, said Revolutionary Guard Chief of Staff Mohammed Ali Jafari blamed Ahmadinejad for the post-election "mess" in 2009, which saw the country roundly criticized by the West amid allegations of fraud and tough crackdowns on large-scale protests in Tehran.

The guard was founded after the Islamic revolution in 1979 to prevent dissident activity and is a strong internal force within the country, with economic and military wings.

Jafari is seen as close to the most conservative Iranian elements, but Ahmedinejad himself is also deemed a stalwart hawk.

The cable, titled "He who got slapped," quotes an Iran watcher in Baku, Azerbaijan, who related that Ahmedinejad felt that in the aftermath of the post-election street protests, which turned violent, "people feel suffocated."

In a meeting with his national security council, the president "mused that to defuse the situation it may be necessary to allow more personal and social freedoms, including more freedom of the press," according to the source.

This provoked an angry retort from Jafari, according to the cable:

Revolutionary Guard Chief of Staff Mohammed Ali Jafari

"You are wrong! (In fact) it is YOU who created this mess! And now you say give more freedom to the press?!"

The top guard then slapped the president in the face "causing an uproar and an immediate call for a break in the meeting" which did not resume for another two weeks, the cable said.

It took the intervention of Ayatollah Ahmad Janati, a senior member of the top oversight body, the Guardian Council, to get Jafari and Ahmedinejad back to the table, according to the cable.

The source cited in the cable released by WikiLeaks "predicted that events are trending towards major developments and a new phases" during 2010.

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"2010 in Review" - Dec 11, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)

"The End of History" – Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects:Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Muhammad, Jesus, God, Jews, Arabs, EU, US, Israel, Iran, Russia, Africa, South America, Global Unity,..... etc.) (Text version)

Iran shops banned from selling Valentine gifts

China issues first anti-corruption white paper, pledging firmer actions

English.news.cn 2010-12-29

Full text: China's Efforts to Combat Corruption and Build a Clean Government

BEIJING, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- China Wednesday released its first ever white paper on the nation's anti-graft efforts, expressing its resolve to strengthen the fight against corruption.

The document, titled China's Efforts to Combat Corruption and Build a Clean Government, was issued by the Information Office of the State Council, or Cabinet.

Ren Jianming, director of the Anti-Corruption and Governance Research Center at Tsinghua University, said corruption is a sensitive issue, and the white paper shows "China has a more open and cooperative attitude toward the problem."

The report will help eliminate bias and misunderstanding about China's anti-graft battle as it details both achievements and problems, said He Zengke, a researcher at the Central Compilation and Translation Bureau, a prominent research institute on Marxism and Chinese policies.

"It will help people develop a correct, objective and comprehensive understanding of China," he said.

China's efforts to combat corruption and build a clean government have been managed systematically and promoted comprehensively and "achieved results," the report said.

From 2003 to 2009, prosecutors at all levels investigated more than 240,000 cases of embezzlement, bribery, dereliction of duty, and rights infringement, according to the report.

From January to November, the Party's discipline watchdogs investigated 119,000 graft cases, resulting in 113,000 people being punished, of whom 4,332 were prosecuted, said Wu Yuliang, secretary general of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of Communist Party of China (CPC), at a press conference Wednesday.

From 2005 until 2009, over 69,200 cases of commercial bribery -- involving some 16.59 billion yuan in funds -- were investigated, it said.

In 2009, some 7,036 officials were held responsible for serious mistakes, breach of duty, and failing to manage and supervise subordinates, the report said.

The report quoted a National Bureau of Statistics survey as saying that 83.8 percent of Chinese thought corruption was reduced to some extent in 2010, which was up from 68.1 percent in 2003.

The document warned that the task of curbing corruption remains arduous.

China has undergone dramatic economic and social change, and the ideas and concepts of the people have altered, leading to increased social conflict, the report said.

"Since the relevant mechanisms and systems are still incomplete, corruption persists, some cases even involving huge sums of money," the report said. "Breaches of law and discipline tend to be more covert, intelligent and complicated."

The CPC and the government understand the "long-haul, complicated and arduous" nature of the antigraft mission, the report said.

"They will resolutely punish and effectively prevent corruption with more resolutions and powerful measures," the report said.

The report introduces the principles, working mechanisms and legal framework for China's antigraft system. It also sets out the progress made in combating corruption and international anti-graft cooperation.

Despite the achievements made, more work has to be done to meet the people's expectation for anti-graft efforts, especially with improving the transparency of decision making, He said.

Many difficulties and problems facing the anti-graft work will be solved through the reform of the systems, he said.

PUBLIC SUPERVISION

"In China, the channel is unimpeded for citizens to be involved in the combat against corruption by means of impeaching and lodging lawsuit," the report said.

China's governments have departments to handle letters and calls of complaints and suggestions from the people.

In addition, discipline inspection organs of the CPC, procuratorates, and government supervisory and audit departments have all established tip-off systems with hotlines and websites.

The report also noted that the Internet has become a new form of supervision by the public.

"China highly values the positive role played by the Internet in enhancing supervision," the report said.

The country has worked hard to collect, research and manage the anti-graft information it has obtained from the Internet, it said.

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Israeli diamond trader banned for 'blood diamond' link

BBC News, 29 December 2010

An Israeli diamond trader has been expelled from the Israel Diamond Exchange after he was suspected of smuggling "blood diamonds" into Israel.

The Kimberley Process certifies that diamonds
are "conflict free"

David Vardi was arrested in connection with a consignment of Zimbabwean stones, whose exports are banned under the Kimberley Process (KP).

This was set up in 2002 after the diamond trade was accused of fuelling war in Africa.

KP rules include certifying the origins of diamonds - 75 countries abide by it.

Israel is the current chairman of the Kimberley Process.

"Blood diamonds" are rough diamonds used by rebel groups or their allies to finance wars and conflicts.

Suspicious acts before 7.3 Christmas quake terrorizes Vanuatu people

examiner.com, December 25th, 2010 3:19 pm ET

Only several weeks before the 7.3 earthquake hit the South Pacific Island, Vanuatu on Christmas Day, terrorizing locals, all of its seismic monitoring equipment had been stolen, leaving no way to monitor earthquakes in the vicinity of the Port Vila city, no means to warn of tsunami triggers, and less means to determine if the U.S. military is to blame due to testing environmental warfare technology.

Vanuatu earthquake: The earthquake location map on
Dec. 25 at 13:16 UTC time, or 8:15am EST. (USGS.gov)

The criminal act of stealing the equipment is suspicious in lieu of military Weapons of Mass Destruction that can trigger or cause what appears to be "natural disasters" for geopolitical gain. (See: What are environment modification techniques and environmental warfare? Human Rights info 101, Dupré, D., Examiner, Dec. 6, 2009 and Global warming and intellectual climate change crisis: Myths, military and WMDs, Examiner, Dec. 14, 2009)

The Christmas 7.3 magnitude quake hit the Least Developing Country, Vanuatu just after midnight on December 25. It struck about 140 miles (225 kilometers) south of Vanuatu's capital, Port Vila and near Tana Island according to Associated Press. The quake was unusually shallow, only 15 miles below the ocean floor.

On November 9, over vt 1 million dollars worth of earthquake prediction and monitoring equipment was stolen from Vanuatu's Meteorological and Geohazards Department station at Devils Point on Efaté Island according to the nation's newspaper, the Vanuatu Daily Post in its article, Over Vt1 million worth earthquake equipment stolen again.

The criminal act is reported as professionally executed, unlike most reported crimes in the Third World nation where developed nation weapons such as guns are highly atypical. Among the world's hungry, Ni-Vanuatu people live on less than a dollar a day and use spears and hand-made weapons for food gathering. "Professional" criminal acts are also atypical.

The Vanuatu Daily Post reported that Acting Director, Ms Patricia Mawa said the equipment was stolen around 8:30 a.m. by "thieves that seemed to be familiar with the seismic monitoring devices and telemetry system." The apparent insiders "cut the fence wire, and carefully dismantled the instruments."

"These vital equipment included: one Solar Panel – 80 Watts (as sold by Pacific Power at Fresh Water); a VLF – (Very Low Frequency) Receiving/ Transmitting System, and the cables."

“Without these stations, the people of Vanuatu will no longer be able to get accurate information and timely warnings during events of earthquakes and tsunamis."

On October 1, vital equipment was stolen at one of the other two stations in the Efate Seismic Network, the station at Klem’s Hill, according to the Acting Director.

The center stated, "There is apparently no tsunami threat to Hawaii, but 'some coastal areas in Hawaii could experience small non-destructive sea level changes and strong or unusual currents lasting up to several hours" and "sea level changes are expected around 10:51am HST."

God or ENMOD?

Many people attribute the surge in earthquakes and other "natural disasters" to God's work. Others recognize that these disasters can be attributed to military technology applied in a war against the world.

The term, "Environmental modification techniques" refers to any technique for changing - through the deliberate manipulation of natural processes - the dynamics, composition or structure of the Earth, including its biota, lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere, or of outer space. (Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques, United Nations, Geneva: 18 May 1977)

"Environmental warfare" is defined as the intentional modification or manipulation of the natural ecology, such as climate and weather, earth systems such as the ionosphere, magnetosphere, tectonic plate system, and/or the triggering of seismic events (earthquakes) to cause intentional physical, economic, and psycho-social, and physical destruction to an intended target geophysical or population location, as part of strategic or tactical war." (Eco News)

Michel Chossudovsky has reported about military manipulations of the environment in his article, Excluded from the Copenhagen Agenda: Environmental Modification Techniques (ENMOD) and Climate Change - The manipulation of climate for military use:

"The possibility of climatic or environmental manipulations as part of a military agenda, while formally acknowledged by official government documents and the US military, has never been considered relevant to the Climate debate. Military analysts are mute on the subject. Meteorologists are not investigating the matter, and environmentalists are strung on global warming and the Kyoto protocol." (Chossudovsky, M., Environmental Modification Techniques (ENMOD) and Climate Change, Global Research, December 5, 2009; Also see D. Dupre, A gory truth about climate change mind control, Examiner, December 6, 2009)

Wayne Hall reports on Rense.com, that "there remains the task of breaching the secrecy that surrounds the subject. Given that the ecological organizations are clearly not going to do this, we must initiate discussions with them to decide who should be assigned the task. Who is going to bell the cat?" (Hall, W. Chemtrail Secrets: Strategies Against Climate Change?, Rense.com, January 2004)

Vanuatu's stretch of small islands is north of Fiji, south of the Solomon Islands and about 1,200 miles from the coastal Australian city of Brisbane. It is in the archipelago called the “Pacific Ring of Fire” where a large amount of volcanic and seismic activity occur, perfect military testing ground for new weapons of mass destruction.

Related Articles:

Over Vt1 million worth earthquake equipment stolen again

The Earth as a weapon in 21st Century of Wars

Mikhail Khodorkovsky: The latest victim of Vladimir Putin's vendetta politics

Former oil magnate one of a long line of opponents to fall foul of Russian leader

guardian.co.uk, Simon Tisdall, Monday 27 December 2010

Vladimir Putin: Unbending after more than a decade in power. Photograph: Reuters

Vladimir Putin's unforgiving brand of vendetta politics today claimed another prominent victim with the guilty verdict against Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former oil magnate who dared oppose the Kremlin strongman.

There was never going to be any other result. In modern-day Russia, challenging Putin is like standing in front of a tank. Either get out of the way or expect – sooner or later – to be flattened.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev are escorted to the
courtroom in Moscow. Photograph: Sergey Ponomarev/AP

Whatever else he is, Putin is implacable, relentless and unpitying when dealing with perceived enemies. In this, he follows a long-established Russian leadership tradition, and the public seems to like it, affording him approval ratings of 70% or above.

But the lengths (and depths) to which the former KGB spy appears ready to go have fuelled claims, such as those publicised by WikiLeaks, that Russia has become a corrupt "mafia state" under his tutelage.

An early example of the vendetta as a policy tool came in 1999 when Putin, then a largely unknown appointee of President Boris Yeltsin, took down Yuri Skuratov, Russia's powerful prosecutor-general.

Putin and the then interior minister, Sergei Stepashin, held a press conference to discuss a video, aired on state-controlled television, in which a naked man similar in appearance to Skuratov was shown cavorting with two young women.

Putin said the women were prostitutes engaged in an orgy paid for by criminals.

Skuratov's real offence appears to be that he had begun a high-profile corruption investigation involving Yeltsin and his inner circle, of which Putin was a part. He hit back after the exposé, accusing Putin of personally shielding corrupt Kremlin aides.

But the following year, with Putin by now installed as the president-elect, Russia's parliament decided (with only 10 votes against) to sack Skuratov at Putin's express request. Like Khodorkovsky, he was finished.

Putin's ruthlessness was seen again and again as he cemented his grip on power in the years following Yeltsin's departure.

Opposition parties were crushed under the juggernaut of United Russia, Putin's home-made political platform. Able politicians such as Mikhail Kasyanov, who he appointed prime minister, were discarded for showing too much independence.

Unbiddable former patrons like the oligarch Boris Berezovsky, now in exile in London, became personae non grata.

Even after more than a decade in power as the president and prime minister, Putin remains unbending. Speaking this month, he accused the opposition figures Boris Nemtsov, Vladimir Milov and Vladimir Ryzhkov of seeking power in order "to line their pockets".

He went on: "I think that if we allow them to do this … they'll sell out all of Russia."

Swallowing thoughts about pots and kettles, the three men vowed to sue him for "moral damages" – though much good may it do them, given the state of Russia's justice system.

In 2006 Anna Politkovskaya, a renowned journalist and human rights activist who opposed Putin's policies in Chechnya, was assassinated. Despite a state investigation, her murder remains unexplained. Others have suffered a similar fate, at home and abroad.

Seen up close in Helsinki earlier this year, Putin did not look the ogre his critics sometimes make him out to be. A physically small man who compensates by working out and pursuing outdoor sports, he appeared by turns arrogant, insecure, angry and resentful. It could explain his aggression towards those who criticise him.

Whatever the reasons, he has frequently exported personal animus into the foreign arena, too. The 2008 Russian invasion of Georgia followed a long, vindictive dispute between Putin and the Georgian president, Mikhail Saakashvili.

Much the same poisonous dynamic applied in Putin's dealing with Ukraine's former Orange Revolution leader, Viktor Yushchenko.

On issues such as European missile defence, Kosovo's independence and the row with Britain over Alexander Litvinenko's murder in London in 2006, Putin often appeared to take things personally – and rather badly at that.

In other cases, he would co-opt rather than confront, as he has managed to do with weaker individuals such as Germany's former chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Italy's PM Silvio Berlsuconi.

By refusing to back down, Khodorkovsky has become the latest in a long line of opponents to fall foul of Putin's vendetta politics. It is likely that he will not be the last.

Related Articles:

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Germany investigates 'poisoning' of Russian dissidents

Woman, 27, found dead at August Busch IV 's home

Google/AP 

HUNTLEIGH, Mo (AP) — Police found the body of a 27-year-old woman in the upscale suburban St. Louis home of ex-Anheuser-Busch CEO August Busch IV though it could take at least a month before authorities know how she died.

ex-Anheuser-Busch CEO August Busch IV

The woman was identified as Adrienne N. Martin, of St. Charles. Police were called Sunday afternoon to the St. Louis suburb of Huntleigh and found her body in Busch's gated home. St. Louis County forensic administrator Suzanne McCune said Thursday there were no signs of illness or trauma. An autopsy was conducted but results could take four to six weeks.

Art Margulis, an attorney for Busch, said Martin was a friend of Busch who was visiting the home and there was "absolutely nothing suspicious" about her death.

"It was a tragic death of a young woman," he said. Margulis told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Martin and Busch had been dating for at least a year.

Frontenac police, whose area of coverage includes Huntleigh, provided information in a news release that did not say if the death was considered suspicious. Phone messages seeking an interview were not returned. The release did not say why news of the death was not announced until four days later.

The statement from police said the department received a 911 call at 1:15 p.m. Sunday about an "unresponsive person" at the home. Martin was deceased when paramedics and officers arrived, the release said.

McCune declined to speculate on the investigation or the cause of death. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch quoted an unnamed law enforcement source as saying the case was being investigated as a possible overdose. 

McCune would only say that an overdose was among the possible causes.

Citing a divorce file, the Post-Dispatch reported that Martin was married in 2002 to a 45-year-old man but they separated in February 2009. The couple had joint custody of an 8-year-old son, the paper reported.

Adrienne Nicole Martin

A woman identified as Adrienne Nicole Martin, from the St. Louis area and the same age as the victim, posted on the website iStudio.com that she was studying to be an art therapist and was hoping to become a model. "I really would like to do beer advertising," the woman wrote in the posting.

Busch, 46, was chief executive at Anheuser-Busch from 2006 until the maker of Budweiser, Bud Light and other beers was purchased by InBev in 2008. The $52 billion merger created the world's largest brewery. Busch remains a member of the board of directors for InBev.

The Post-Dispatch reported that Busch and his wife of 2 ½ years divorced in 2009.

In 1983, Busch, then a 20-year-old University of Arizona student, left a bar with a 22-year-old woman. His black Corvette crashed and the woman, Michele Frederick, was killed. Busch was found hours later at his home. He suffered a fractured skull and claimed he had amnesia. After a seven-month investigation, authorities declined to press criminal charges, citing a lack of evidence.

Israeli FM vows no apology to Turkey on raid

RNW, 26 December 2010

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman vowed on Sunday that Israel would not apologise to Turkey for a commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship that killed nine Turkish activists.

Speaking in Jerusalem at a meeting of Israel's ambassadors, Lieberman said Ankara's demand for an apology before normalising relations between the former allies was "a cheek".

"The ones who have to apologise are the government of Turkey for supporting terror," he said.

People gather to welcome home the Mavi Marmara, the flagship of the ill-fated Gaza flotilla attacked by Israel this summer, in Istanbul, Turkey, Dec. 26, 2010. The Mavi Marmara departed from Turkey in May to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza and deliver humanitarian aids. On May 31, Israel raided the ship in international waters before it could reach its destination and killed nine activists aboard. (Xinhua/Chen Ming)

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Adnan Gheith, who has been arrested by the Israeli military seven times in the past few months and who now faces banishment from his East Jerusalem home. The Israeli military is making rare use of an emergency regulation enacted by the British Mandate in 1945 to order the temporary banishment of a Palestinian activist from his home city of Jerusalem.

Ironically, the order invoked by the Israeli military was part of a package of emergency defence regulations codified by the British military at the end of the Second World War to combat growing Jewish unrest.

Daniel Seidemann, a prominent Israeli lawyer, said resort to the 1945 order smacked of "desperation" on the part of the authorities. (The Independent)

Nomads No More: Arabs lose land in fight against Israeli desert demolition

Some Israelis Question Benefits for Ultra-Religious

The ultra-Orthodox make up 10 percent of Israel’s population of 7.5 million, but are increasing rapidly amid a growing backlash to the privileges and subsidies long granted to the ultra-religious. (Rina Castelnuovo for The New York Times)

Mr Katsav, president for seven years until 2007, had rejected a plea bargain

Former Israeli President Katsav convicted of rape

Israeli diamond trader banned for 'blood diamond' link

Shifting Sands: Jewish Women Confront the Israeli Occupation - New

“Those who love and care for Israel,” writes contributor Starhawk, “need to stand with her true interests now, by demanding an end to the occupation, an end to the siege of Gaza, the dismantling of the settlements, restitution, and real justice. These are the preconditions that will lead to true security and peace.”

"2010 in Review" - Dec 11, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)

"The End of History" – Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Muhammad, Jesus, God, Jews, Arabs, EU, Euro Currency, US, Israel, Iran, Russia, Africa, South America, Global Unity,..... etc.)

(Live Kryon Channelings was given 7 times within the United Nations building.)