In just two weeks -September 27- the Germans will go to the polls to elect members of the Bundestag, the federal parliament of Germany. But not great changes are expected and so far it has been a lackluster race with no many surprises expected. Read the rest of this entry »

Today as bells tolled throughout New York City and mourners observed the moment in silence, people honored the nearly 3,000 nationals of over 90 countries who died in the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. People of all walks of life, from the president of the United states on remembered the dead. Read the rest of this entry »

No, I did not watch President Obama’s speech last night. It was 2 am where I live! But today I have read lots of articles about it in American and European papers plus lots of blogs. Quite interesting as while in the blogs one can see which side the writer is from, in the papers there is not great criticism of the president. Which does not mean everybody though he was great or 100 percent right. Read the rest of this entry »

Tonight at 8pm US eastern time, President Barack Obama will deliver an address on health care to a joint session of Congress. It is expected that he will press for a government-run insurance option in an overhaul of the U.S. health care system. Health care reform has dominated the news in the country for weeks and created lots of expectation and anger. Read the rest of this entry »

The first reports we had were of an air strike by US fighter jets that appeared to have killed Afghan civilians last Friday. Since then we have learn that there were German troops who had ordered the attack on two tankers. The bombing by the US jet created many dead and injured people. And then the information or misinformation began. Were they civilian casualties or Taliban fighters? Read the rest of this entry »

I keep putting off my promised article about Afghanistan as everyday there are new and never pleasant developments. Here are some of the latest happenings. A Swedish charity in central Afghanistan has accused American troops of storming a hospital, breaking down doors and tying up staff and some visitors in a search for militants. Read the rest of this entry »

Remember the Artic Sea? The vessel with a full cargo of timber that disappeared en route from Finland to Algeria at the end of July was finally recovered off west Africa on August 17 and eight alleged hijackers were arrested. From the beginning there were all sort of rumors (see article “A ship is missing: pirates, terrorists? from August 13) while Russia denied the vessel was carrying a secret cargo claiming it was hijacked by criminals for a ransom. Read the rest of this entry »