IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigns, will make new bid for bail (Associated Press, 19 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Associated Press (AP)", 19 May 2011

IMF chief resigns, will make new bid for bail

By TOM HAYS and COLLEEN LONG

NEW YORK (AP) -- Hours after Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned from his post as manager of the International Monetary Fund - saying he felt compelled to focus his energy on the sexual assault charges he faces - the French politician will try to get out of jail.

Behind bars on New York's Rikers Island since Monday, the beleaguered former IMF chief is scheduled to return to a Manhattan court Thursday afternoon to again ask for bail on charges he sexually assaulted a hotel maid - a move seemed certain to face vigorous opposition by prosecutors.

Late Wednesday, Strauss-Kahn resigned as managing director of the International Monetary Fund, according to a letter released by its executive board.

In the letter, Strauss-Kahn denied the allegations but said he felt compelled to resign with "great sadness" because he was thinking of his family and also wanted to protect the IMF.

International Pirates: Price Tag for Somali Piracy Surges (Spiegel International, 18 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Spiegel International, Germany", 18 May 2011
The Booty Business
Price Tag for Somali Piracy Surges 
International piracy is emerging as a market in its own right, one that cost the global economy an estimated $8.3 billion in 2010. Efforts to contain the problem are having little impact, and the costs of lost booty, ransom and other costs associated with pirates could double within a few years.

Pirates of yesteryear have been romanticized in literature through books like "Treasure Island" and in films like "Pirates of the Caribbean". But the modern day piracy off the coast of Somalia is no swashbuckling fun and adventure. It is an expensive and dangerous problem that is escalating at an alarming rate.

Piracy cost the international economy up to $8.3 billion last year and "has emerged as a market it its own right," states a new report by political and economic intelligence consulting firm Geopolicity. Already in the first quarter of 2011, Somali pirates have attacked more than 117 ships, killed 7 crew members and held 338 hostages for ransom, the study finds. But international efforts to scupper the problem are failing, and it is predicted that piracy-related costs could more than double in just the next three years.

11 Afghans killed in Protests against NATO's killing of Civilians in Raids (Associated Press, 18 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Associated Press (AP)", 18 May 2011

Afghan rally over NATO raid turns violent; 11 die

By RAHIM FAIEZ and HEIDI VOGT

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Hundreds of protesters, angered by an overnight NATO raid that they believed had killed four civilians, clashed on Wednesday with security forces on the streets of a northern Afghan city. Eleven people died in the fighting, government officials said.

The demonstrators fought with police and tried to assault a German military outpost in the city of Taloqan, the capital of Takhar province, the officials said, adding that some 50 were injured.

The protest was triggered by an overnight NATO raid on the outskirts of the city. The coalition said four insurgents died in the operation and that two others were detained.

Night raids targeting insurgents regularly stir up controversy in Afghanistan, where angry residents often charge the next day that international forces go after the wrong people or mistreat civilians as they search compounds. Success by NATO in reducing civilian casualties and agreements to conduct night raids alongside Afghan forces have not managed to stem the tide of accusations.

Arnold Schwarzenegger: Revelations could tarnish His legacy (Associated Press, 18 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Associated Press (AP)", 18 May 2011

Revelations could tarnish Schwarzenegger's legacy

By JULIET WILLIAMS

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Arnold Schwarzenegger's political legacy in California already was tenuous.

He left the governor's office after seven years without making good on his central campaign promise to fix the state's budgeting system, then commuted the manslaughter sentence for the son of a political ally in one of his final official acts, drawing the condemnation of prosecutors and the family of a slain college student.

Now he's revealed to be the father of an out-of-wedlock child, a secret he kept during two gubernatorial terms.

No matter his accomplishments in office, Schwarzenegger may be best remembered as yet another philandering politician who got caught.

Barack Obama: Mideast peace bid needed more than ever (Reuters, 17 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Reuters", 17 May 2011
Obama: Mideast peace bid needed more than ever
By Matt Spetalnick 
WASHINGTON | Tue May 17, 2011 1:56pm EDT
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday it was "more vital than ever" to work to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts even as political upheaval engulfs much of the broader Middle East.
Speaking after talks with Jordan's King Abdullah at the start of a week of intense diplomacy, Obama pledged to keep pressing for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, despite his failure so far to break the impasse.
But Obama, who wants to reconnect with an Arab world showing signs of frustration with his approach to the restive region, offered no new concrete ideas for advancing the long-stalled peace process.
The president plans to deliver a major policy speech on the "Arab spring" on Thursday, meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday and address an influential pro-Israel lobbying group on Sunday.
With the Jordanian monarch sitting at his side in the Oval Office, Obama suggested that unrest sweeping the Middle East offered a chance for Israel and the Palestinians to seek progress toward resolving their own long-running dispute.

Successor of Dominique Strauss-Kahn: Europe and Asia Set for Battle over Top IMF Post (Spiegel)

Courtesy: "Spiegel International, Germany", 17 May 2011
Debate Over Strauss-Kahn's Successor
Europe and Asia Set for Battle over Top IMF Post

By Christian Teevs

The sex charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn have triggered a search for his successor as head of the IMF. Europe, mindful of the fund's role in the debt crisis, wants to keep the system of having a European at the helm. But emerging economies say it's time for a change, heralding a dispute over the succession.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn's term as president of the International Monetary Fund doesn't formally end until October 2012 but the sex charges against him have cast serious doubt on whether he can carry on, and have prompted a push for a quick decision on a possible successor.

Dmitry Medvedev, Vladimir Putin & 2012 Elections: Long Wait Rattles Nerves in Moscow (Spiegel)

Courtesy: "Spiegel International, Germany", 17 May 2011
Political Limbo Over 2012 Election
Long Wait Rattles Nerves in Moscow

By Benjamin Bidder in Moscow

President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin are confusing friends and foes alike with their determined silence on which of them intends to stand as presidential candidate in the 2012 Russian election. Lawmakers, civil servants and business leaders are tearing their hair out over the political limbo.

For years, Gleb Pavlovsky was a common sight in the power corridors of the Kremlin. Some Moscow media referred to him as the "grey cardinal." He pulled strings behind the scenes and was regarded as one of the most influential "political technologists" -- that's what advisors and spin doctors are called in Russia, people who set up political parties and movements on behalf of their masters.

North Korea's Food Shortage: 'We Cannot Leave the Children to Die' (Spiegel International, 17 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Spiegel International, Germany", 17 May 2011
North Korea's Food Shortage
'We Cannot Leave the Children to Die'
Interview with Bernd Göken
Yet another hunger crisis is taking shape in North Korea. The government in Pyongyang has asked for help and aid groups have already begun shipments. Bernd Göken, from the German group Cap Anamur, described for SPIEGEL what he saw on a recent visit to the country.

At the invitation of Pyongyang's embassy in Berlin, the head of the German relief organization Cap Anamur, Bernd Göken, 45, recently visited two provinces and four cities in North Korea, which is facing new food shortages and a dramatic hunger crisis.

"With every visit and every discussion, the enormous scale of the shortages was confirmed," said Göken. "The people are starving. They have nothing left to eat. For the rural population and orphans, the shortage of food will become a real threat during the coming weeks."

Dominique Strauss-Kahn denied bail; Pressure mounts on the IMF chief to resign (Associated Press, 17 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Associated Press (AP)", 17 May 2011

Pressure rises against IMF chief held at NYC jail

By JENNIFER PELTZ

NEW YORK (AP) -- Pressure built Tuesday for Dominique Strauss-Kahn to consider resigning as chief of the International Monetary Fund after he was charged with trying to rape a maid at a New York hotel.

Strauss-Kahn spent the night at the infamous Rikers Island, a 400-acre penal complex, after being denied bail Monday. Prosecutors had warned the wealthy banker might flee to France and put himself beyond the reach of U.S. law like the filmmaker Roman Polanski.

Strauss-Kahn's weekend arrest rocked the financial world as the IMF grapples with the European debt crisis, and it upended French presidential politics. Strauss-Kahn, a member of France's Socialist party, was widely considered the strongest potential challenger next year to President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Austria's finance minister suggested Tuesday that Strauss-Kahn consider stepping down to avoid damaging the IMF, which provides emergency loans to countries in severe distress and tries to maintain global financial stability.

The Strauss-Kahn Arrest: Fall of the Global Economy's Top Steward (Spiegel International, 16 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Spiegel International, Germany", 16 May 2011
The Strauss-Kahn Arrest: The Fall of the Global Economy's Top Steward

By Gregor Peter Schmitz in Washington

Dominque Strauss-Khan is as much a charmer as he is a banker, making him an unusual choice to head the IMF. But his stewardship of the institution during the global financial crisis drew praise. The rape allegations now lodged against him are creating havoc for a summit addressing the rescue of the euro this week.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn speaks English with only a slight accent. He likes to share his considerable knowledge of photography and cinema during conversations. All in all, he comes across very much the Frenchman. But the first person who comes to mind when one visits his office on a top floor of the Washington headquarters of the International Monetary Fund is a certain Bill Clinton.

IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn appears in NY court in sex assault case (Reuters, 16 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Reuters", 15 May 2011
Strauss-Kahn appears in NY court in sex assault case

By Basil Katz and Edith Honan 
NEW YORK

(Reuters) - IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn appeared in court on Monday for the first time since he was accused of trying to rape a hotel maid in a case that sent shockwaves through French politics and left the IMF in turmoil.
A handcuffed and drained Strauss-Kahn, whose hopes of becoming France's next president appear to have been wrecked, faced a barrage of cameras when he was escorted to the booking station at Manhattan Criminal Court on Sunday night.
His lawyers said he would plead not guilty to charges of a criminal sexual act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment that could bring a humiliating end to his public career and political ambitions.

Thailand: Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin sister to run for PM from Opposition 'Puea Thai party'

Courtesy: "Aljazeera English", 16 May 2011

Thaksin sister to run for Thai PM

Opposition party picks relative of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra to challenge PM Abhist Vejjajiva in July elections.

Thailand's biggest opposition party has chosen the sister of Thaksin Shinawatra, the exiled former prime minister, as its prime ministerial candidate in July's general elections.
Yingluck Shinawatra, 43, is expected to boost the electoral chances of the Puea Thai party and return power to allies of Thaksin, who won two election landslides before his overthrow in a 2006 military coup, analysts said.
The election is expected to be a close contest between Abhist Vejjajiva, the incumbent prime minister from the ruling Democrat Party, and Yingluck, who is said to have limited political experience.
The nomination of Yingluck comes days after Abhist announced the dissolution of parliament to pave the way for the vote.

Is American Whistle-Blower Thomas Drake an 'enemy of the state'? - By Jane Mayer (The New Yorker)

Courtesy: "The New Yorker" May 2011
A Reporter at Large 
The Secret Sharer: Is Thomas Drake an enemy of the state? 

by Jane Mayer

On June 13th, a fifty-four-year-old former government employee named Thomas Drake is scheduled to appear in a courtroom in Baltimore, where he will face some of the gravest charges that can be brought against an American citizen. A former senior executive at the National Security Agency, the government’s electronic-espionage service, he is accused, in essence, of being an enemy of the state. According to a ten-count indictment delivered against him in April, 2010, Drake violated the Espionage Act—the 1917 statute that was used to convict Aldrich Ames, the C.I.A. officer who, in the eighties and nineties, sold U.S. intelligence to the K.G.B., enabling the Kremlin to assassinate informants. In 2007, the indictment says, Drake willfully retained top-secret defense documents that he had sworn an oath to protect, sneaking them out of the intelligence agency’s headquarters, at Fort Meade, Maryland, and taking them home, for the purpose of “unauthorized disclosure.”

Kerry says US, Pakistan to cooperate on `high value targets' (Associated Press, 16 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Associated Press (AP)", 16 May 2011

US, Pakistan to cooperate on `high value targets'

By CHRIS BRUMMITT

ISLAMABAD (AP) -- The U.S. and Pakistan agreed Monday to work together in any future actions against "high value targets" in Pakistan, even as U.S. Sen. John Kerry defended Washington's decision not to tell Islamabad in advance about the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

The pledge, which was made in a joint statement, could help mollify Pakistani officials and citizens, who were enraged that one of the country's most important allies would conduct a unilateral operation on its soil. But details of the promised cooperation were unclear.

Kerry said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will soon announce plans to visit Pakistan - a sign of confidence in the relationship - and announced that he and Pakistani leaders have agreed to a "series of steps" to improve relations. But he did not specify what those steps were.

Washington hits "Debt Ceiling": U.S has 11 Weeks to avoid Default (WSJ, 16 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Wall Street Journal (WSJ)", 16 May 2011
As Debt Limit Reached, Agreement Still Far Off
By DAMIAN PALETTA And CAROL E. LEE

The U.S. government is expected to hit the $14.294 trillion debt ceiling Monday, setting in motion an uncertain, 11-week political scramble to avoid a default.
The Treasury Department plans to announce Monday it will stop issuing and reinvesting government securities in certain government pension plans, part of a series of steps designed to delay a default until Aug. 2.
The Treasury's moves buy time for the White House and congressional leaders to reach a deficit-reduction agreement that could clear the way for enough lawmakers to vote to raise the amount of money Congress allows the nation to borrow.
Gene Sperling, director of the National Economic Council, said reaching the debt ceiling "should be a warning bell to the political system that it's time to get serious about preserving our full faith and credit." The Obama administration says a default would tip the U.S. back into a financial crisis.

Holocaust guity, John Demjanjuk: The Deeper Meaning of the Verdict (Spiegel International, 16 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Spiegel International, Germany", 16 May 2011
'It Was Clear What Happened': The Deeper Meaning of the Demjanjuk Verdict

By Gisela Friedrichsen

Some were critical that Holocaust helper John Demjanjuk was sentenced to just five years and then released. But the verdict came as a profound relief to victims' families. It also demonstrates that the German justice system has changed -- for the better.

The purpose of a criminal trial can also be that it takes place in the first place and ends with a convincing verdict. Were this the 1960s and 70s, John (Ivan) Demjanjuk would have either never been put in the dock, despite the more conclusive evidence that could have been presented at the time, or the proceedings would have been discontinued with the stereotypical remarks that the defendant was merely a cog in the Nazis' killing machine -- or that he never dared to refuse orders or flee out of fear for his life.

Recordings recovered from crashed Air France jet (Associated Press, 16 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Associated Press (AP)", 16 May 2011
Recordings recovered from crashed Air France jet

PARIS (AP) -- French investigators said Monday they have recovered all the flight data and cockpit voice recordings from the recorders of an Air France jet found in the Atlantic depths nearly two years after it crashed.

The recorders were located by underwater robots and hoisted up from depths of nearly 4,000 meters earlier this month, in one of the most expensive and complicated air crash investigations in history.

The cause of the crash is unclear, and investigators and victims' families are hoping the recorders will shed light on what sent Air France Flight 447 into the sea June 1, 2009, en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. All 228 people aboard were killed.

The French air accident investigation agency BEA said Monday that an international team downloaded the material from the "black box" voice and data recorders over the weekend.

Greece Reality Check: Euro Crisis Worsens as EU Leaders Play for Time (Spiegel International , 16 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Spiegel International, Germany", 16 May 2011
Greece Reality Check
Euro Crisis Worsens as EU Leaders Play for Time

By SPIEGEL Staff

Europe's leaders are still opposing a Greek debt restructuring, and they are exacerbating the euro crisis as a result. The Greek economy is at risk of collapse and resistance to further loans for the troubled nation is mounting. The continent urgently needs a new bailout plan.

The formal act was quickly settled, but German Finance Minister had no time to celebrate. The members of the budget committee in the German parliament, the Bundestag, had hardly given their blessing to billions in new aid for ailing Portugal last Wednesday before parliamentarians were drilling the finance minister with questions about the next troublespot -- Greece.

The lawmakers wanted to know more about the secret meeting held the previous Friday, which had been reported by SPIEGEL ONLINE and which top European politicians were still denying as their limousines were pulling up to the Château de Senningen in Luxembourg. Was it true that Greece needs billions more in financial assistance?

Olympic marathon champion Sammy Wanjiru dies in balcony fall (Associated Press, 16 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Associated Press (AP)", 16 May 2011

Olympic marathon champion Wanjiru dies in fall

By TOM ODULA

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Kenyan Olympic marathon champion Sammy Wanjiru died in a fall from a balcony after a domestic dispute involving his wife and another woman, police said Monday.

One police official said Wanjiru committed suicide, while another said he jumped to stop his wife from leaving the house after she discovered him with another woman.

The 24-year-old runner died late Sunday after jumping from a balcony at his home in the town of Nyahururu, in the Rift Valley, said John Mbijiwe, the police chief in Kenya's Central Province.

"The fact of the matter is that Wanjiru committed suicide," national police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said.

Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere also said initial reports indicated Wanjiru killed himself, though a local official offered a different account.

Swiss voters reject ban on assisted suicide for foreigners (Guardian)

Courtesy: "Guardian, UK", 15 May 2011
Swiss voters reject ban on assisted suicide for foreigners

Early projections in Zurich referendums show 80% are against proposals to outlaw 'suicide tourism'

Agencies in Zurich

Voters in Zurich have rejected proposed bans on assisted suicide and "suicide tourism" in which foreigners travel to Switzerland to receive help in ending their lives.
Out of more than 278,000 ballots cast in the referendum, the initiative to ban assisted suicide was rejected by 85% of voters and the initiative to outlaw it for foreigners was turned down by 78%, according to Zurich authorities. About 200 assisted suicides are carried out each year in premises in Zurich rented by the assisted death group Dignitas.
Assisted suicide has been allowed in Switzerland since 1941 if performed by a non-physician who has no vested interest in the death. Euthanasia, or "mercy killing", is legal only in the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium and the US state of Oregon.