Obamas to travel to Tucson Wednesday in wake of weekend rampage

Shooting heroes tell their stories

 

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The president will attend a memorial service and visit with victims' families
• He has spoken to many of the family members already by phone
• Obama led the country in a moment of silence on Monday

Washington  President Barack Obama will travel to Arizona on Wednesday in the wake of the weekend shooting there that left six people dead and 14 wounded, including a member of Congress, two senior administration officials told CNN Monday.

Australia's prime minister: Flooding expected to rise in St. George

January 8, 2011 -- Updated 1246 GMT (2046 HKT)

Australian PM Julia Gillard flies in an army helicopter to view the flooded Fitzroy River in Rockhampton on January 8, 2011.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Gillard says $4 million has been allocated, but hundreds of millions more are needed
• Flooding recedes in Rockhampton but could still peak in St. George
• Parts of eastern Australia are forecast to get above-average rainfall until March
• Queensland official: The repair could take months or years to complete

Rockhampton, Australia While floodwaters in Australia have begun to recede in some areas, the worst could still be on the way for at least one city, the country's prime minister said Saturday.
"Today I've been in St. George, and they are still bracing for the peak of the flood," Julia Gillard told Australia's Nine Network, according to a transcript from the prime minister's office. "They're very well prepared, but of course they're anxious as they await the peak."

In Iraq, a popular cleric cranks up anti-U.S. rhetoric

"We continue to resist the occupier militarily, culturally and by all means," Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr tells Iraqis on Saturday.

 

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Muqtada al-Sadr returned to Iraq after three years in Iran
• He delivers his first public speech in Iraq in years
• The cleric calls for Iraqis to unite and resist

Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, the anti-American political figure who returned to Iraq this week from self-imposed exile, told tens of thousands of his followers Saturday to "resist" and "disturb" the United States.
"We have not forgotten the occupier. We remain a resistance," said al-Sadr, delivering a fiery speech in the holy Shiite city of Najaf, his first public address in Iraq in years. "We continue to resist the occupier militarily, culturally and by all means of the resistance."

Report: Iran says it can create its own nuclear fuel plates, rods

The reactor at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran. The Iranian atomic chief says Iran can build nuclear fuel plates.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Salehi reportedly says Iran wants nuclear technology for "peaceful purposes"
• The West's behavior "facilitated our successes," Salehi tells Fars news agency
• Fars: Iran hopes to inject self-produced uranium into a reactor by the middle of next year

 Iran can now make its own nuclear fuel plates and rods, spurred in part by the West's behavior, the country's atomic chief and acting foreign minister told the nation's media.

Is the Federal Reserve Really Purchasing Over 60% of 2011’s Fiscal Deficit? In a Word, uh . . . Yeah.

The other day, in my post “The Lull Before the Storm”, I mentioned that for fiscal year 2011, the Federal Reserve would be purchasing over 60% of the Federal government deficit.

Literally.

In other words, the Fed would be dancing the Monetization Waltz, just like Latin American countries used to back in the 1970’s: Proof positive that America is indeed a banana republic—only with nukes.

A lot of people didn’t believe me—or wanted me to check my figures. Or wanted to know if I was having an acid flashback from those aformentioned 1970’s. A lot of people couldn’t believe it.

Mark Twain said it best: There are lies, damned lies, and statistics. If you want to deceive your audience, you source your numbers from some shifty salesman with an ideological ax to grind, gussy it up with percentage signs and charts and graphs, and thereby “prove” any damned foolishness you like.

But deceit in this context serves no purpose: It’s in all of our best interests to know exactly what is going on, in fiscal year 2011. 

So in this brief post (yes I know—shocker), I’m gonna check the figures for my observation—but I’m gonna get ‘em right from the horse’s mouth: From the White House, and from the Federal Reserve. 

To begin—

British lawyer calls for international inquiry into RAB

A high-profile British lawyer has called for a UK-led international inquiry into the activities of Bangladeshi elite force RAB. The objective of the inquiry will be to uncover the truth behind RAB’s highly dubious human rights record.

If it is found that RAB consistently violated these rights in carrying out their operations, the UK government can be dissuaded from providing the training and support facilities that it has been to RAB over the last three years, as revealed in US embassy cables relating to Bangladesh released by whistleblower site WikiLeaks.
Talking to UNB over phone from his office in Birmingham, Phil Shiner, who has gained a reputation as arguably the most combative human rights lawyer in Britain, sounded in no doubt about RAB being a reckless, Latin American-style “death squad”, as described in a damaging report published by left-leaning British newspaper the Guardian, on December 23.
“There must be a full inquiry initiated by the UK into the activities of the RAB,” said Shiner, before adding, “all states owe duties to each other to cooperate and uncover RAB’s activities, and to bring all unlawful activities, including of executions, to an immediate end.”
The law firm Shiner founded, Public Interest Lawyers, wrote a letter to the UK government’s Home, and Foreign offices following publication of the Guardian report, seeking a judicial review of the legality of UK support for RAB.
Asked what sort of evidence this legal challenge would rely upon to make its case, Shiner said “it’s all there, in the cables.”
When it was pointed out that any evidence contained in the cables may not be admissible in court, the man who came to fame by representing Iraqi prisoners against the British government added that past reports from groups like Amnesty and Human Rights Watch also amounted to evidence, apart from answers to specific questions related to the issue provided in Britain’s parliament.

Police silent on security as threat level for London is raised

London  British Transport Police are not commenting on reports that it has beefed up security presence at subway stations and airports after new information emerged about the possibility of an attack being planned in or near London.
"We don't have armed officers in our stations," the agency said Friday. "We have been briefed about how to respond to a Mumbai-style gun over the last few months. We don't comment on deployment of officers but I can tell you that we haven't cancelled any leave."
Several media outlets in England, citing anonymous security officials, had reported a stepped-up police presence in response to the potential threat.

Britain, Canada reject Gbagbo's authority on envoys

Laurent Gbagbo pressured to step down

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Britain says it has recognized Alassane Ouattara as president of Ivory Coast
• Official: "Canada does not recognize Laurent Gbagbo's claim to government"
• Announcement comes after British, Canadian envoys were rejected by Gbagbo officials

London -- Canada and Britain announced Thursday that they have rejected the authority of self-proclaimed President Laurent Gbagbo to make any decision regarding their representatives.
Britain noted it has recognized Alassane Ouattara as the democratically elected president of Ivory Coast, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said.

U.N.: Southern Sudanese head back home

Clooney to monitor Sudan election

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• An average of 2,000 people are crossing into the south daily
• For many, the return is an "opportunity to start afresh"
• The important secession vote is next week

 Southern Sudanese have been steadily trickling back home from their country's northern region ahead of next week's historic election, the U.N. refugee agency said on Friday.