Yesterday and for the second time, the Republicans thwarted the Democrats’ efforts to overhaul financial regulations. They released an alternative proposal that had some important differences in the regulation of consumer lending and they added provisions to tighten regulations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage giants, which the Democrats had not included in their proposal. Read the rest of this entry »

George Papandreu, the Greek prime minister, said on television that due to pressure from the markets, which had not responded in a positive way to Greece austerity measures, it was now a pressing necessity to get aid. Read the rest of this entry »

After disclosures were made about Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates having written to White House officials back in January to warn them that more options were needed to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, people interpreted it as a possibility that an attack to Iran could be in the cards. Read the rest of this entry »

The chaos in European airports due to a volcanic ash plume from Iceland continue today and nobody knows really when things will go back more or less to normality. The hope is this weekend those hundreds of thousands of travelers who have been stranded all over Europe will be able to reach their destinations. Read the rest of this entry »

Is it a case of different cultures and their approach to death, to the way they honor their dead? It might be something of that but it is hard to believe that is the way it is. I am talking about the different ways countries which have troops fighting in Afghanistan honor their dead soldiers. Read the rest of this entry »

Another French woman could have a great importance in the next presidential election in France. After the Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry and the Communist head Marie-George Buffet, Cécile Duflot, the head of France’s Green Party has become a rising politician in Paris. Read the rest of this entry »

The ancient Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan became independent in 1991. Since then political stability has been elusive and corruption a normal thing in the government. Thus Russia and the US were able to establish one base each in the country to use for their own purposes. Read the rest of this entry »